Parker's Party

After our humble beginnings in Colton, we found a rental home in the "Wood Streets" near downtown Riverside (Rosewood). Not only did we love the old fashioned home and the quaint street, but we found out that a couple from church, Josh and Marla Ontko, lived just a few houses away. They, like us, were expecting and, before long, we both had newborn little boys. Carter came in December and Parker arrived a few months after that. It was great fun to watch them as they progressed. Since then, both of us have moved on and added more children to our respective families but, thankfully, we've remained friends despite the fact we don't see each other that often (mostly because Josh is a terrible fisherman and one of the requirements of my friendship is that one must be at least decent in terms of angling ability).

A few weeks ago the Ontkos, threw a little bash for their son, Parker, who recently turned three. He and Carter have been little buddies since the beginning of their lives which, of course, wasn't that long ago (those of you who are perceptive know that "the beginning" was-duh, duh, duh, daa!-around three years ago!). All of the mommas and kids met at "John's Incredible Pizza" in Moreno Valley during the day and then, later that evening, they had some friends and family over. Sarah, who works one day a week, was working on the night of the party so I showed up solo with Carter and Claire in tow. Here are some photos from that day(thanks for remembering to send them on Marla!):

*By the way, if the photos look a little pixelated it's because they are downsized to fit on the blog. Click on them to link to high resolution versions.

Carter and Parker at John's Incredible Pizza

Sarah, Carter and "Claire Bear"

How Grandma (and all of us sometimes) Sees the Remote

In this comic by Roz Chast really sums it up nicely, for grandmas, parents and, let's be honest, sometimes even ourselves during our darkest moments of troubleshooting.

Chuck Norris "Facts"

When you visit google and enter a word or phrase, you generally click on the button "Google Search" which then searches millions (billions?) of websites searching for the term(s). By clicking the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button, it shows you only one web page. Sometimes the page is perfect and has the information you're looking for, other times it is not. It's sort of a gamble. Apparently the folks at google have a good sense of humor. Check this out (thanks for the tip Wes):

Go to www.google.com

Enter the words: find Chuck Norris

Hit the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button

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In case you don't know, the idea of Chuck Norris being the coolest, toughest guy on the planet has become an internet meme. It's called "CHUCK NORRIS FACTS." People take turns coming up with the most ridiculous, and funny, ways of describing the awesomeness of Chuck Norris. For example:

		If you have five dollars and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you.
		There is no 'ctrl' button on Chuck Norris's computer. Chuck Norris is always in control.
		Apple pays Chuck Norris 99 cents every time he listens to a song.
		Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open.
		Chuck Norris can eat just one Lay's potato chip.
		Chuck Norris is suing Myspace for taking the name of what he calls everything around you.
		Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.
		Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.

Family

It's almost bed time but I want to post some misc. photos before I go to sleep. I am currently working on editing a lot of content (photos mostly) that I plan on preparing for Sarah's scrapbooking endeavors as well as this blog so I've been transferring files back and forth from the various memory devices, cameras, and hard drives we have. In the process I'm finding miscellaneous photos here and there.

Here's one I found of my mom, dad, April, Ella, Weston and Ned that was taken in October when they all went up to a pumpkin patch. Heidi must be the photographer because she's the only one who went who's not pictured, so nice shot Hide! I love this photo because everyone seems to happy in it.


Baby Claire and I at Disneyland some months ago:


"Nanna" and her grandchillun' on a Sunday eve sometime in the recent past
(or the Eternal Now depending on your perspective...):


Last, but not least, an awesome picture from Halloween I should have posted some time ago. I'd love to go into my theories as to why little boys such as Carter and Ryan love Spiderman so much (it has to do with style, color, and archetypes), but suffice to say there was a lot of webslinging going on that night and spider moves being flashed:

My "Army" Uncle Roger Delivering Mail to a Bucket?

My Uncle Roger delivers mail in Northern Utah. He's a great guy who has stood as a good example for me and many others over the years due to his strong principles, faith, hard work, and consistency. He recently received his fifteen minutes of fame in the Standard Examiner, a paper up there. Why is he delivering to a bucket? Well, apparently people's mailboxes were covered with snow. Read the whole article HERE.

This reminds me of the "profile" series I want to do in which I profile members of my family one at a time. Be on the look out for that one of these days. I think I'll start with Sarah, my favorite person! (;

The Universe...a Matter of Perspective

Unlike most of my friends' blogs, my blog not only provides blurbs from out lives and the accompanying photos, but also some of my thoughts on the world, the universe, and on spirituality in general. I guess the best word to describe this blog is eclectic which is perfect, since that's a word that I feel aptly describes me. So, here's another item I personally found fascinating. I had forgotten how small our planet and sun are compared to some of the known stars of the universe. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO WATCH THE SHOW.

Creepy Old Ads

Here are two particularly funny and disturbing ads from back in the day (the first one is almost enough to make one go vegan):

The Food Battle

Carter rarely takes issue with eating. On occasion, however, he refuses to even try something. In this case it was mashed potatoes (or as he kept referring to them, "hot potatoes") and spinach leaves. Now, I am not particularly fond of spinach leaves either, but when momma makes them, you grin and bear it.

This brief video depicts Carter who is strapped into his chair until he eats at least one bite of potatoes and one of the spinach. He eventually ate the potatoes but gagged on the spinach. Since he at least tried, we "released" him.


I have a ton of great photos to upload, but I just haven't had the time to edit and prepare them (mostly because the main computer's in Claire's room and she's usually asleep when I have time to work on them in the evening).

Oh yeah, if you look closely, you can still see a small bump over Carter's left eye from when he fell and hit his head at my parent's house. It's hardened up and we are going to have to show our physician to see what she thinks. A friend of ours said that their child had to have a similar bump removed (I'm trying to think of the word to describe his hardening of scar tissue...I think it starts with an "s").