Quick Updates

Things have been way busy here. Sorry for no posts lately.

Here we go....

Colin still loves pizza























Bridget went sans family to Black Butte last weekend. She went with other slacker moms from our ward and they had a great time. I don't know what goes on when a bunch of mothers have escaped their families, and I probably don't want to know. What happens in Black Butte...

The kids and I survived, but with substantial help from Grandma Joan since I had to work Friday night and Saturday. I was very glad when she arrived back home Sunday around 3 or 4. I was counting down the minutes.

Jack learned a new word at church, omnipotent. But when he says it, it sounds more like "Nippleton." Oddly enough, we live near Beaverton. Perhaps Nippleton is just a bit further north of us up in the hills?

Ryan has a heck of a time eating corn on the cob with his newest loose tooth. Yet he wants an ear along with the rest of the family otherwise he feels left out. But he won't let us cut the corn off the cob either. His ear of corn ends up with just a bunch of little nicks in it where he tried to bite with basically his K9 teeth on one side of his mouth.

We went to a swimming pool on Monday and Colin really loved the water. He had a special baby raft that allowed him to have his legs in water. It was great and we all had fun. I will post some pics below the updates of us after we were done at Leroy's country club where the pool was located.

Jack likes to go knock on neighbors doors wearing his Batman Costume from last Halloween. I am sure you can find a picture of him back in October of 2008 in the blog if interested. He wears that costume to play in probably 3 or 4 times per week. Ryan never got in to costumes like Jack does. If he has the mask over his eyes you have to call him Batman. If the mask is raised over his eyes just a bit so you can see all of his face, then you have to call him Jack because then he is not Batman anymore. He is also occasionally Bolt the dog from the recent movie. He will not answer to Jack during those times either.

Ryan seems to go to friends' houses for play dates all of the time. I am happy about this. Having some close friends is a great thing. He seems to have 4 or 5 really good friends from school that he regularly spends time with outside of school.

I have an new cell phone. It is an iPhone. Seriously. This. Is. The. Best. Device. Ever. Made.

We are doing well overall despite a few challenges to ourselves to some around us. We hope all of you are doing well, as well.

Movin'

I tried to put another one up, but it won't load. I will try again tomorrow.

It's a wife thing

#1 and #2 and I were out on the town--you know hang out like men do. I was the designated driver and they were in the back seat chillin' during an evening on the prowl with no ladies to drag us down. Just the boys being boys.

Somehow we got on the topic of marriage, I believe it was #1 that brought it up. #2 said that he was going to get married on day also, but that he wasn't going to go to church, like priesthood nor was he going to work. #1 said that priesthood meeting was cool and that that was what you had to do when he got married. Then #1 said that maybe when he got married his wife would have kids. I asked him what he meant. He said that he didn't really know if his wife would have kids yet when they got married or if it would be after. He wasn't sure because that is a "wife thing" and we don't really know about that stuff since we are guys. "That is their thing you know," I believe is what he said.

I didn't probe too much further. I am really not out to raise male chauvinists. I just don't think he has any idea about the reproduction cycle yet. But he wasn't really too concerned about whether his wife came with kids or not, that was not really an issue for him, he just knew that kids came into play at some point and that this was not really anything within his realm of control, thus it is just one of those "wife things."

#1 said that his wife would have blond hair and #2 said that his would have yellow hair. I asked about brown hair, #1 said no, but black hair would be fine.

I really just let the conversation flow with only an occasional question here and there. Kids are wacky.

Best Teriyaki Beef I have ever had...

Bridget made this recipe last night. Surely, the cut of beef will have something to do with how the dish turns out, but the sauce on steamed rice was really great as well. It had a bit of a kick too, the combination between the ginger and red pepper flakes was perfect for me for this particular dish (1 out of 4 on the spicy scale, 4 being very spicy). For my mother-in-law it was a bit too spicy, but then they aren't into spicy things at all.

1/2 cup of soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons mirin, sherry, or white wine (Bridget used cooking wine)
2 teaspoons grated ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 lbs top blade steak, trimmed and sliced 1/4" thick (flank steak can be used instead). pepper.
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 scallions, sliced thin

1. whisk the soy sauce, sugar, mirin, ginger, garlic, cornstarch, and red pepper flakes together and set aside.

2. Pat the meat dry with paper towels, then season with pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 12 inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown half of the meat, about 5 minutes, then transfer it to a clean bowl. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon and meat.

3. Briefly re-whisk the soy sauce mixture to recombine, then add to the skillet. Simmer scraping up any browned bits, until thickened, about 2 minutes.

4. Return the meat with any accumulated juice to the skillet and toss to warm through. Transfer the meat and sauce to a serving platter and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and scallions.

I was going to take a picture but we ate it too fast. Awesome stuff. Recipe was frome America's Test Kitchen.

Also, if you are adverse to using any sort of wine, or don't have any on hand you can use the following substitute. 1/4 cup chicken broth to 1 teaspoons lemon juice as a substitute to get the ratio--then only use 2 tablespoons as the recipe calls for.

Sleep...or the lack there of

Our boys are notoriously bad sleepers at night. They usually aren't all bad at the same time. Usually just one or two of the three are bad. Colin, the second of the three to have acid reflux has definitely had his issues. Bridget 99% of the time takes care of him. I get the other two. Last night was a bad night. I was tired and it just took too much energy to try and put them back to sleep. So I went and layed down with Jack in his bed to get him to calm down. I fell asleep, too. On an 8 inch wide part of the bed. This is not terribly comfortable and because of the position my arm usually ends up falling asleep. Jack is just a bed hog. Then Ryan woke up scared to death because he had a nightmare about a bug crawling over him. So I took the path of least resistance and climbed up to console him in his bed for the first time in a long time. Ryan let me have a little more room. But I wasn't there long because Jack was awake and yelling about something. Ugh.

It has been a while since I layed in their bed with them. With Ryan, all I have to say is that everything will be alright--without even leaving our bed--and then he can go back to sleep knowing that we are around and he is safe. Jack lately wakes up and doesn't say a word. He just sneaks into our bed. Often he does this and I don't even wake up until he starts his bed hog routine and I realize that I am on the edge of the bed against the wall. I have at times moved him to his bed and other times I just go to his bed to spend the rest of the night. At least this way I know that I will get some sleep...even it I leave Bridget holding the bill so to speak. At least then there is more room...at least that is what I tell myself. Or I just deal with a not having much space in our bed.

A good night's sleep happens for us maybe around once a year for us I think. (sigh)

Colin at 7 months

I am a little late, but here he is a couple of weeks ago.



He is crawling. But prefers to pull to a stand and cruise around stuff. He gets around amazingly well, which is scary. I don't know how long until he is walking without holding on to stuff, but I hope it is awhile (although I doubt it). Why can't we have slow to walk kids like others we know? He also likes to eat any adult food that we let him have.

Bolt

Just a heads up--We all like Bolt. Good movie. Not Kung Fu Panda good in my opinion, but it has a good message and has some good humor. 4 thumbs up (Colin doesn't vote yet).

The Tank is Full

Jack announced this morning that there isn't anything more he can learn at preschool. The teacher can't teach him anything more he said. Such a prodigy.

T-Ball

Shotgun Updates

Ryan is playing T-Ball. His team is the Dodgers. If you want to see comedy, go watch kids play T-Ball.

Colin refuses to crawl. He can roll over, but won't. If you try to make him he gets peavish.

However, Colin will pull himself to stand though from a sitting position. He will cruise around the coffee table while holding on to it. And he will want to to let him walk while you hold on to his hands. If you don't obey he has been known to get cranky.

Jack is still taking a soccer class for pre-schoolers. He loves it. He wants to be on a soccer team like Ryan was. The only problem is that he isn't old enough for another year and a half.

Bridget ran 10 miles on the treadmill the other day. She has a half marathon she is doing in May. She is finally starting to feel like she will make it.

I have been continuing my training for my 70.3 triathlon in June. I started up with the swim class it did last year this week. I had taken about 6 months off of swimming. My biking is fine, and my running is pretty good. I ran 8 miles at a around a 10 minute/mile pace last weekend. I would like to be able to do the triathlon's 13 miles at that pace. Don't know if that will happen, but it would be nice.

Clyde continues to catch mice. Occasionally, they make it into the house depending upon who lets him in. They don't stay long.

Ryan is a really good reader. It is amazing all the stuff he reads. It is weird because he reads very well, but he sometimes struggles to write the very same words that he reads easily. But overall, this year has been awesome for him.

I have had two "clients" come to me for estate planning. I have to figure out how to best do what they want me to do. Which requires time that I have not had recently.

We just finished reading the book, "How to Eat Fried Worms". It was one of my favorites as a kid. We read it to them over the course of a week or so. The last books we read like that were the A. A. Milne Winnie the Pooh books. Next is "The Tale of Despereaux". None of us here have read that one, nor have we seen the movie.

More posts later...