Christmas, Moses & Indianna Jones

Nana came to visit this week, and you know what that means... early Christmas! We decided not to decorate the house for the holidays this year because we were going to be spending Christmas in Colorado. So when nana showed-up with a bundle of goodies, we didn't have a tree to put them under. In typical nana-creative fashion, her and the kids colored-up a tree and stuck it on the wall. We even hung the stockings from my camera tripod for added effect. Note the photo.

Katie came to me just before dinner on the day Nana arrived:

Katie: *Excited* "Daddy, We are opening presents tonight!"

Me: "Who decided this?"

Katie: "We voted."

Me: "But I didn't vote"

Katie: *smiling* "You didn't need to!"

OK: 1) when did this become a democracy? and 2) since when does my vote not count? I guess 3 votes is all you need for a majority around here! No problem, I like gifts, so we did the Christmas thing that night. Lots of great presents, thanks Nana!

Andy got an Indiana Jones Lego set which we built last night. It features the "Ark of the Covenant" from the first movie. Andy asked me what the ark was, so I told him the story of Moses, and the Ten Commandments. The story was a bit long and Andy's eyes began to wander toward the end, he was clearly getting bored by my rendition. So at the end to spice it up, I told him that the Ark had the power of God, and some people say that it can shoot fire and lightening. Andy's eyes then immediately lit up, followed by, "WOW, COOL!"



The next morning Andy was telling Nana bout the Lego set:

Andy: "And snakes drop down here, and there's a skeleton on a chain, and these traps fall down...

Andy: :...and Indiana Jones has LASERS!"

Apparently the Moses story translates to 'Indiana Jones has Lasers' Oh well, I still got a few more chances to work on the details.

Gingerbread, Skating, Bolt and Flooding

Here are the pics of the awesome gingerbread cookies Jen and the kids came up with. Pretty rad eh? Also, note the plate they are displayed on. I made that plate 34 years ago!

Yesterday Katie and I went Ice Skating together at the local rink. The Adventure Guides program reserved the whole thing for 2 hours. I was really nervous cause I had no idea how to ice skate. I think I've done it a couple times as a kid -- it's just not a big SoCal thing! So we got there and laced up and hit the ice. It was funny both Katie and I started-out CLINGING to the side of the rink, looking like total noobs as we tried to find some way to stand on our own.

I found it's not too different from roller-skating and was able to get some stability after a few minutes. Then we took each other's hands and started venturing out into the traffic of skaters. After a few laps, I must say we were looking pretty good. Katie would occasionally lose her balance and daddy would pull her back-up, never letting go all the while. By the end of the 2 hours, we had progressed to "advanced-noobs".

Also we participated in "Roostisha-on-Ice", and were treated to a performance from one of the local ice-ballerinas. I think Katie's favorite part was when they turned off all the lights and we skated on the crazy dark disco colors to High School Musical Songs. It was a lots of fun to be sure.

Also earlier in the day, we went and saw Bolt. I was totally happy with the movie and would recommend it. Funny, clever, and a nice new take on a tired genre of dog-based kid's movies.

Unfortunately I came down with a rough cold today. On top of that, it rained like crazy here today, and our driveway started flooding. Jen and I frantically tried to bail out the water, that was pooling in our driveway and called the emergency drain people. We seem to have been successful in thwarting what could have been a major disaster if no-one was home.

Exciting 24 hours.

Digital Natives

A number of things have happened recently to contribute to this post. At work, I have been spending a lot of time trying to figgure out how to identify the next big thing in consumer electronics. One of the perspectives regarding the youth of today, is that they are Digital Natives. This term refers to someone who 'grows-up' in a world where everything is digital... i.e. our kids.

Examples of this mind-shift between us and our kids are common. I am reminded of times when I have to explain to Andy why we can't 'fast-forward' when watching a show because it's 'live TV'. Or when Katie looks at me like I'm lying when I tell her that we can't just watch anything she wants on TV, whenever she wants, that some shows aren't available.

This notion of 'on-demand' pervades the little-tykes heads. The idea that everyone and everything is always available whenever the whim presents itself. It's a bit frightening actually, and I'm sure our parents said the same thing about us when the PC came about, or the Internet.

OK, so what's my point, why all the tech-talk? Hang-on, still more preamble... Well, I was talking with a buddy of mine the other day. He has a few kids who have taken on the video-camera as a new toy. They are making movies and uploading them to YouTube. His kids are scarcely older than mine. They actually have some pretty entertaining stuff. So we have started messing around as well...

Then earlier this week we were getting a new tape in the camera to get ready for Christmas. We decided to watch the old tape that was in the camera for giggles and came across some of our Hawaii video from May. There was one scene in there where Katie did the filming. Katie was emulating the kinds of things her parents say when they interview you on film. It's pretty cute, I especially like how she moves the camera around. Notice how Jen wrestles with either a) to tell her to hold it still, or b) to try and move her face to the center of where Katie is pointing. Check it out.



OK, so to my point, finally. Well, actually I didn't really have one. Just a bunch of semi-related video type stories that I thought might become interesting if spewed forth on the blog. Hey, not every post is a masterpiece.

Suzie Homemaker

I gotta give cred to the wife when it comes to cooking. One of the many things I need to continue to remind myself not to take for granted. This christmas, mommy has been furiously baking for the many Christmas events we have been a part of. Ill post some shots of the masterpieces soon.

Christmas Parade

Last weekend we had the annual La Jolla Christmas Parade here in the village. It's a pretty big deal for our little community, and it feels like the whole town shows up for it.

This year, Katie was supposed to be in the Parade for BOTH Brownies and Adventure Guides. Well, since you can't be in two places at once, we decided she'd walk with the Brownies this time around. Her and Mommy spent all morning making her a 50's costume, and then daddy and Andy sat on the curb and waited for the big 'passing'. It was pretty neat. I think this was the first parade for us where a kid was in the line-up.

Andy and I had a fun time checking out the stuff before the parade, and we got to see the Nativity camel up real close, which was a thrill. Those camels are some funky animals for sure. Good stuff!

There was also this one really strange and wonderful moment that also happened during the parade. Well, let me back-up. So during the parade, the people walking down the street throw a lot of candy at the kids on the curbs. Andy was delighted by this fringe benefit (like most kids) and pounced on the showers of sugar as soon as they came near him. Being the strict dad that I am, I let him eat 4-5 'fun sized' treats in the course of about 10 minutes.

Then the sugar rush took over.

The parade came to a halt and there was a band nearby that was playing some typical marching music, heavy on the drums. The beat and the sugar triggered a reaction in Andy's brain and motivated him to get up and start dancing in street. Like, WAY out there. I think he kinda 'became' part of the parade for about a minute, completely entertaining me, and about 2-300 other watchers. He was seriously shakin' his stuff. I think I saw renditions of the robot and a few other moves that have yet to be invented. The crowd was literally clapping and cheering him on. I was so stunned that I totally neglected to take any pictures!

Anyhow, it was a classic Andy moment that will go on his list of 'very cute things I did when I was a kid'.

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

Tonight Jennifer went out for dinner with her girlfriends. The kids and I decided to make the most of our 3-some quality time and did a bunch of fun things. After we finally got Andy to eat his dinner, we did a scavenger hunt for dessert. I made a bunch of clues on paper and hid them aroound the house. As Katie is now reading, she would struggle through the clues and the two kids ran all over the place until they finally found some lollipops and candy at the end of the trail.

We then did a reindeer craft that we had picked up last week in Palm Springs, and then finally settled into watch "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" on the DVR. You know, the old animated puppet version with Bing Crosby.

The kids are really thinking a lot about Santa right now, and there were lots of questions from the get-go. I found myself really enjoying the show as the kids would ask questions about Santa and the show was answering them as they went along. They have 100% faith in Santa and are ready for him to come visit. Katie was especially curious aobut the naughty and nice part, and kept asking is she had been 'good' this year. You could tell she was worried about some of her less than perfect moments. I told her that Santa is always watching, and that he knows we aren't good all the time, but the more-good we are, the more presents he is allowed to bring us on Christmas.

As I tucked the kids in for bed, I first put down Andy, and then Katie. As I was leaving the room and turning off the lights, she started to get out of bed...

Me: "What are you doing Katie?"

Katie: "I'm going to say a prayer."

(I smiled and nodded, and walked about the door. Of course I couldn't help myself but to linger and eavesdrop a little... her prayer was something like this...)

Katie: "Dear God, thank you for making me happy, and thank you for my friends and my school. I love Andrew. And I love all my family. I will be really good and I will not fight with Andrew. And he will be good too. I promise to be nice and to sing Christmas Carols..."

At this point our noisy heater came-on and I couldn't hear anymore! Realizing that god was probably trying to tell me to stop eavesdropping on a private conversation, I walked off feeling pretty good about life, and thankful for my kids, and for Santa himself.

I am ready for Christmas now, it's gonna be awesome!

Here's the youtube on the show we watched in case your own Chrismas spirit needs a little kindling...

Upside Down

Katie is definitely developing her motor skills. I see her climbing trees, doing the monkey bars, and most recently... cart-wheels. Oh and how can I forget, climbing counters and cabinets... The last ones are becoming quite a concern as you can imagine. We can officially say that nothing is out of reach in the house anymore and we are needing to get more creative and resolute with hiding things in the name of protection.

Also last night our Indian Guide's 'vests' arrived. These are suede vests that Katie and I wear for our events, we put patches on them, and so on. They are kinda cool, however, they arrived pre-assembled! So daddy busted out the needle and went to town on the sewing last night. I was up into the wee hours of the morning stitching these things together. My fingers are so sore today I can barely type on my PC! However, those home-economic classes from high-school really paid-off as I can say that the look pretty sweet.

Thanksgiving

We decided to have a rather non traditional Thanksgiving this year. We packed up the kids and headed out to Palm Springs for a few days. Our room was super tiny so we crunched-in and tried to spend most of our time at the pool and outside. The weather was great and there were all kinds of fun events going on at the resort where we stayed. Each day they would bring in some fun activities for the kids, right on the front lawn. Here were some of the activities: Jumpie-jumps, hula hoops, carmel apple stations, petting zoo, reptile show, train ride, mini-golf, bubble making stations, craft stations, and more.

Thanks mommy for arranging it all!

Summer 2008 Slideshow

With my new PC, I find it a lot more convenient to blog since we have all the media stuff in one place once again -- so I've been on a tear here, trying to make-up for my weak-sauce posting frequency. Hopefully my small but dedicated readership can keep up!

I made the Summer 08 Slideshow tonight. Watching it, I guess I don't feel too bad about slacking with the posts. We did a LOT over the last few months. I didn't even relize how much less stressful life has been, but I guess it has. Kinda like when you have a cold, and you don't notice when it's finally gone... it's like that.

Enjoy the show.

Summer 2008 Slideshow

Legos and iPhones

Cool new app on on my iPhone called Voxie lets me do voice recordings. So I got one of Andy today talking about his Legos and why he likes them.

Click here to hear Andy talk about Legos

Along the lines of amazing innovations like Legos... Thos of you who know me, know I'm a gadget guy, but I gotta say, the iPhone is by far the most awesome peice of technology to hit the planet since the PC. It's really amazing to have the Internet at your fingertips wherever you go, and the open source app development is making for some very useful capabilities. I highly recommend it to anyone.

Top things I use my iPhone for other than making phone calls:

Driving Directions - Integrated GPS and Google Maps
Text - Keeping tabs on my homies during a boring meeting
Music - Integrated iPod
Flashslight - iPhone Flashlight works great late at night
Alarm Clock - The Phone is now my default alarm clock, with lots of different preset times
Calculator - I know, I still do some math in Marketing
Email - Both work and home emails (Try to stay away from this as I need to de-tether)

Thankgiving Sing

Katie had her Thanksgiving sing in class today. Mommy brought the video camera so I ripped a little clip for you guys. While I realize that watching other kid's school performances are often similar to going to the dentist, I tried to keep it short so you get the highlights.

Video of Katie's Thanksgiving Sing

an Oldie but a Goodie

Found this file of Katie singing one of the songs from The Little Mermaid when I was cleaning up the hard drive. Ill add a photo here from the same era to complete the experience for you. I think we took this when we were at a playground in Santa Barbara.

Click here to hear Katie sing The Little Mermaid

Turkey-Head

Andy just had his Thanksgiving "sing" at preschool. As you can see, the little guy wasn't too pleased with the wardrobe element. He was very nervous about having to get up in front of the school and sing the Thanksgiving songs with his class, but his mother bribed him with some pizza and video-games. This gave him the needed motivation and confidence to belt it out like the best of em.

sandpics 2.0

Updated to the new blogger template. Fixed the slideshow links, try em out and let me know if they work.

Adventure Guides

Katie and I have started the Adventure Guides program.

Its the same thing as the old Indian Guides program, and it's set-up for fathers and kids to spend time togehter, kinda like the scouts. I have been really looking forward to this thing since I had such a great time at it when I was a kid. The program asks each person to name themselves with an American Indian name. Katie's name is "Fluffy Fawn" and my name is "Big Buck"... (try not to laugh too hard)

So anyhow, we went up to Warner Springs for our first outing a few weeks ago. Its a really neat place with a natural hot spring. While there, Katie got to ride a horse for the first time. Of course she asked me to buy her one when she was done. I told her to talk to her Auntie Tanya to find out how much work it is but somehow I don't think hat's going to discourage her.

Pretending to be July

It has been spectacular in San Diego weather-wise. We have had these amazing clear days, perfectly still, with 80 degree weather. Yesterday, Andy and I went up to the top of our little mountain here, to the memorial on top of Soledad. you could see so far it was overwhelming. I could see Orange County, Catalina, San Clemente Island and clear to Mexico past Tijuana. It was one of those special days that I will definitely remember for a long time.

The memorial is also a special place, there are thousands of plaques of solders from all branches of the military, young and old dating back to the turn of the century. Again, overwhelming to think of the span of time and people who have fought for this country and its beliefs. Andy was mostly concerned with where these beople were buried. He has seen my dad's resting place and thought the same thing was true here... I had to exaplin to him that this was just a place for remembering those people, and that they were laid to rest elsewhere.

Andy seems to have a special insight when it comes to history and people who are no longer with us. He is always asking me about my dad, and my grandfather, our relationships, and the things we used to do togehter. When he sees me doing things, he often asks, "Did Papa teach you that?" I realize his grasp of this stuff is limited, but it brings me a great satisfaction that he is curious about it. Helps me feel like those people are continuing to live-on in ways that I hadn't anticipated. I guess I didn't have that same interest as a kid and it's great to see improvements on the gene pool.

So later in the day we headed down to the beach. The water was a miraculous 80-something and we set-off to climb around in the tide pools. The kids are getting big enough now to where they are climbing on the rock and gettting pretty adventureous. We saw lots of starfish, sea anenomes, hermit crabs and the like. Katie is definitely the little oceanographer of the family -- she sticks her fingers RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of those giant anenomes and squeals with delight as they close-up and suck on her finger. Man, even I'm not that brave...

Halloween!

Here are the goblins from this year's Halloween. Katie was a flapper (and so was mommy!) Andy was Wolverine from the X-men. Daddy was a disco country rock star. We trick-or-treatred here in LaJolla. Fun as always!

October

We sure have been busy with life lately. Katie is doing balet/tap and cheerleading. She is also doing some ice skating. AND she is doing Adventure Princesses and Brownies. Man that is a lot of stuff. Andy is working on soccer and school. Halloween around the corner, we bought pumpkins yesterday -- still using the good ol' Sandwisch tradition of "If you can lift it, you can have it" rule. Works pretty good.

Also just had Dick and Kari come visit. Kari brought many halloween outfits for Katie to try-out (see above). We had a great time together. Also want to mention that Jen's mom Kari is having a rough time right now with her hip. We are all thinking about you every day Kari, and hope you get better soon. Here are some pics to remind you of us.

Fluffy Ranger-X

So we have a 5th resident staying somewhere near us here at our new place. This little bunny showed up on the first day and frequently comes into our backyard to help us with the lawn-mowing. Katie and Andy get very excited when he shows-up and we usually go find some nice produce to encourage him to stay.

They kids decided they wanted to name him, and so they each came up with a name and put the 2 names together to come up with "Fluffy Ranger-X". I'll leave it to you to determine which kid donated which part of the name.

In other news, I went to SB last weekend for my 20th high school reunion. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone and catching up. Wierd, but fun. It seems like all the nerds are now cool and all the cool people are now in sales. :) Big change from the 10 year, where eveyone now is pretty much 'settled in' to their lives. I got to spend time with some of my close friends from those days and it makes me wish we could stay in touch better.

Other than that we've been busy. Kids are into lots of activities and school is in full swing. Katie being in Kindergarten is a kick. She is learning to read and constantly amazing me with her cleverness. Andy is working on Soccer and hoplessly addicted to "Lego Batman" on Xbox. We limit him to about 30 minutes a day... which means that the other 12 hours is mostly filled with him asking when he gets to play.

Easy Rider

Katie has learned to ride her bike without training wheels! We have been practicing a lot recently and Katie has been both fearless and dedicated to learning to ride. After about 3 sessions without training weheels, suddenly she 'got it' and was off. She can ride pretty much indefinitely without putting her feet down. Turns are still a little tricky however. We went out an got her a new 'powder puff' girls bike (not shown) and we plan to be doing a good deal of riding in the coming months.

Go Katie go!

Green Fire Monkey

Andy just played his first ever soccer game! His team name is "The Green Fire Monkeys", which is inspired by Andy himself who won't stop chattering about his Fire Monkey Pok-e-mon card. His favorite parts of the game seem to be the snack time, and when you do the cheers at the end. :)

Kindergarten!

Katie started Kindergarten this week. Lots big changes for this big girl. New school, new friends, new teacher, new shcedule. (Not to mention new matching Hello Kitty Backpack, Lunchbox, and other stuff.) She is handling it all like a champ and is very excited.

Quotes from Katie:

"I like my school"

"I like playing with my friends"

"My teacher is fun"

"I have a fun playground, I can swing high on my swings, we have a park right at school so I dont have to go in a car to get there"

"And that's it."

Breaking-in the Backyard

We did something last night that I haven't done since I was a kid. We camped in our own backyard.

Austie and Devin joined us for the psuedo-wilderness retreat. We did all the standard stuff; cooked hotdogs, smores, told stories, played with flashlights, etc. The only real difference was that we had indoor plumbing when needed and also a big screen TV for a quick show before bedtime. :)

Fun stuff. Sure is a lot cleaner and easier than real nature!

9 Years

And they said it wouldn't last...

Well, no one really said that, at least not to my face, but it sure feels like an accomplishment.

Yes, we just reached our 9 year anniversary. It seems like just yesterday that we were living in Pacific Beach and flirting with the idea of becoming more than 'just friends'. We haven't yet celebrated and have a night set aside next week to go out on a date. (Gasp, what a concept!)

I couldn't ask for a more beautiful, talented, wonderful wife, and I am lucky to have someone who is willing to put up with the insanity that is me.

Little Man

Yes, Andy is now 4. For those of you who know him well, you know that this kid is developing to be one heck of a character. Andy is currently way into Power Rangers, Star Wars, Bakugon Transformers, Learning to Ride his Bike and many other toys and action figures. Happy Birthday buddy!

She was an American Girl

The recap on Katie's Birthday and Nana's Visit:

So little miss Katie is now a big 6 years old! Katie celebrated by having Jennifer and Nana take her to "American Girl". For those of you who don't know what American Girl is, Google it. It's kinda like Cabbage Patch kids meets Disneyland. The marketing machine behind it is very powerful, and the resulting drain on my bank account is frightening...

Nonetheless, Katie loved it to death. Note the coordinated outfits, and the whole thing is designed for Katie and her dollie (Kyla) to do everything together. A true girlie experience for a true girlie girl.

Even though we were moving, we still found time to have some cupcakes, sundaes, and have decorations to boot.

Nana was a huge help during the move. She did a lot of heavy lifting with us, watched the kids, and allowed us to do a lot of other things. We never would have pulled it off without her help, thanks Nana! One of nana's favorite things about out old house was the pool, and considering how hot it was, nana took full advantage of cooling down in the water. Those are Andy's goggles on upside down :)

Big Changes

Wow, not only am I behind in my blogging, but I also have a TON of things to update you all on. At least I have an excuse, its been a pretty big week.

In the last 7 days we did the following:

- Sold our House
- Moved to a New House
- I Started a new Job
- Katie Turned 6
- Andy Turned 4
- Nana Came to Visit

Is that enough change for ya? It is for us, we are tired. So Ill try to follow-up with posts on each topic in the next week.

Starting with the Move...

MOVING

Yes, its goodbye to the old 1500 sqft place in University City, and hello to the new 2700 sqft place in La Jolla. Quite a change. Feels like living in a mansion. I must admit I love the new space. I have a den that casts a view over San Diego, the kids have a play-room sun-room, and Jen has... well a lot more to clean up.

Things I miss about the old house:
- The pool, by far the most
- All the memories, the baby steps, where the family began
- Knowing where everything is
- The nice neighbors

Things I dont miss about the old house:
- The size
- The landscape work (which I never really did a very good job at)
- The absence of a backyard
- The crazy neighbors

Things I like about the new house:
- The backyard
- The view
- The space
- My home office
- My wife's support to make the move

Things I don't like so much about the new house:
- The exploding plumbing (yeah, that's a lot of fun on the move-in)
- Renting (we decided to rent for a year for a number of reasons, mainly to give us time to find the 'right house')
- The added 15 minutes to my commute

All in all, its been quite a transition. I think the kids have adapted amazingly well and are excited about their new rooms, the yard and the prospect of continuing school with their La Jolla preschool classmates. Oh and the fact that we seem to have a pet already: there is a cotton-tail bunny that lives somewhere near here and comes into our yard to snack on the grass. More pics and details on that later.

We are actually pretty much there in terms of being unpacked. The rooms look a little barren considering we dont have a lot in the way of stuff.

Here are the photo journal highlights:

Sold!

Wow, all our stuff really CAN fit in the garage!

...which is good cause it has to go in this truck...

Bye bye old house!

Hello new yard, a little Bocce Ball

Andy gets a little air on the backyard swing

Moving boxes aren't just for packing stuff