http://familyfrisch.com/blog/ Why have a blog when you can have a blot? en-us Nucleus CMS v3.24 Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://familyfrisch.com/blog//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://familyfrisch.com/blog/ http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=670
A month ago I moved my home computer up to 'Holly's Old Room'. I still haven't reconnected the audio cable, but the webcam is now functional! Last night Holly sat on my lap to wave at Poppy. Though she was confused and looked around the room to see where Poppy might be hiding!

So if you have Yahoo Messenger, and maybe even MSN Live? and you'd like to 'see' the kids - let me know. I know it works with Yahoo... I'm working on what else I use that might support it. I might even venture into Skype... but without my audio cable connected (it's lying on the desk right in front of the machine - you'd think I could get around to doing this so I have sound? ) - we'll see what happens!

We had a great weekend. It was a really nice Fall weekend, with pleasant weather. Kyle had a Den meeting on Friday, then the boys had their Space Derby on Saturday, and we attended the Boy Scouts' pancake breakfast on Sunday. Sunday also included a Family Target Run and general grocery shopping for me. I made a Lemon Herb Chicken Ring for dinner too :) The grownups and Holly loved it - the boys weren't interested. Which is more the norm lately. Totally not interested in new foods. But I keep putting them in front of them! Sometimes they try them. The rule is that they have to try it. Really try it. Unfortunately, I can make them try it, but I can't really make them give it a chance if you know what I mean? When they are convinced they are going to hate it, they usually do. Every once in a while they surprise me and eat more... but if asked they'll tell you they didn't like it. Hmph!

Looks like watermelon is finally, really out of season. They were down to three mini watermelons yesterday. And when I cut open the one I got today it was 90% overripe. Argh. Very dissappointing. Especially since that's what the boys take for lunch. Fruit and a yogurt. It's what they want AND it gets a bunch of fruit servings in them. Today I sent watermelon, cucumber, carrot, celery and yogurt :o) which is actually more veggies than fruit. Not sure if they will touch the celery, and the carrot depends on their mood. We'll see...

The new barn I thought we were going to start riding at isn't working out. They can't seem to complete their scheduling - every time I talk to them I get 'we're working on it' - an the last time I left a message they never returned my call. Since it's been since June that Ky has been on a horse I restarted the search last week. I found what will hopefully be the new barn! They are responsive and have great information. They have individual and group lessons. The prices are better. They are only a 15 minute drive (probably less). I'm bringing Ky by tomorrow to look around, pet some horses, see how the place feels. They I'll sign him up for 'by the month' - which is a great deal if you are doing weekly lessons. Then I'll splurge and ride once in a while. Might even get Ryan there on occasion if he so desires. We'll see what the options are as we get into it.

Ky has been more emotional lately, and there's been a resurgence of self image/confidence problems... "I'm an idiot" - though not frequent. This had all dramatically improved when he started riding, so I'm trying to see if this is the key.

I officially started Christmas shopping! I made the very first gift purchase on Sunday :o) It felt good. Usually I've started long before now - and we pace it out over 4 or 5 months. So we'll have a compressed buying season this year ;o)

Work is crazy at the moment... we're trying to get a release out the door among the 753 distractions that hit us daily. But we'll get there!

Oh! So Steve got me a gift certificate to a local spa last Christmas. About 2 weeks ago I finally used it. I went for a Full Body 1 hour Massage. The best part? Lying there for an hour with absolutely nothing to think about. The massage was great too, but hurt - which I expected because of the problems I've had with my shoulder/neck/back. But she got the pain to go away! I was sore from the massage for a few days - but the old pain was gone. I really, really, have to work harder on strengthening my upper body. To the gym must get!!!

So those are my thoughts this Monday Morning - have a great week!]]> All over the place http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=670 Mon, 27 Oct 2008 08:32:18 -0500 http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=669
I sent the current list into the school... having written them down let's see how many I can remember...

hi, bye, sit, chair, hat, shirt, nose, ears, eyes, hair, teeth, shoes, socks, baby, mine, more, again, Nanna, Mama, Dada, on, off, up, down, please, dressed (as in to get dressed), kitty (though it doesn't sound like much of anything it's consistent always means the same thing), kiss, bye, Alba (teacher), Chelle (teacher), Danielle (teacher), thanks, no-thank-you, wee, uhoh, brush, help, book, ball, train, done 42!

hi mama, hi dada, hi *teacher*
bye Alba
my *item* (my book, my train, my ball...)

So she's quite the little chatter box these days. She's also not afraid to try out new sounds and new words. She's doing a lot more babbling than she used to. All in all we're pretty happy with where she's come. She'll be re-evaluated in November (after 6 months of services). We'll see how things go.

]]> Kidstuff http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=669 Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:00:34 -0500 http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=668
Actually this should be fairly easy :)

This weekend was OctoberFest here in town. Steve went to visit friends for the weekend (left around noon on Friday) and I had the three with me at home. Friday night we made personal pizzas :) though Kyle didn't want to put any effort into. Ryan is ALL ABOUT cooking lately though and eats up (ha! no pun intended!) any opportunity to do so. So we had yummy pizzas Friday night. Tucked Holly in and called Daddy to say good night.

Ryan had a real conversation with him - and then resorted to telling knock knock jokes :o) but hey - he didn't push the phone away. This is improvement.

Saturday I got everyone up and dressed and we headed downtown for the 'Fest. We stuck Holly in her stroller and brought the Cub Scout gear so that we could do some candy selling while out. They were SO not into it - but we managed to sell ONE bar. Good thing we'd already done our part around the neighborhood!!! After 'selling' candy we hit the bounce houses. And the boys spent a few rounds on the obstacle course. As Ry came down the sliding part he was 'singing' (more like humming but singing the notes 'da da') the theme to Indiana Jones. Funny stuff.

After burning off some energy we got hot dogs all around and some fries. Holly ate the whole thing - AND the bun! I broke pieces off so she didn't have to hold the whole unweildly thing, so she had 4 mini-dogs :). Then we got the obligatory ice cream. Which I shared with Holly.

We did more walking, played some Town Trivia - both boys won prizes. They watched Animal Adventures... skunk, hedgehog, bearded dragon (Ky volunteered to be a 'rock' for this one), tarantula, corn snake, ferret, chinchilla, boa constrictor, and an alligator - Fun!

On our way out for the day we stopped at a vendor selling carved boxes. Kyle fell in love with a small pyramid and Ryan picked out a box to act as 'baby giraffey's bed'.

We went home and vegged for the rest of the afternoon (holly took a nice long nap too!).

Sunday came and we had to venture out fairly early (for a sunday). We were at the good old KMart by 10:00 - we needed to pick up a gift for a party Ky was going to at 12:30. I also grabbed some Tinkerbell undies for Holly and some diaper pins. Holly has become very interested in everyone's undies - even came out wearing a pair of Ry's so I thought she might want some of her own. We're not anywhere near officially potty training - still in the potty 'friendly' mode. Occassionally she sits on it, and even less frequently she's successful there. But she's very willing to go and sit when I ask her to. The undies go her excited. She sat on the potty and I let her wear them. Fearful of accidents I had her go back to the potty after about 7 minutes. After sitting she declared 'all done' and handed me the undies back LOL!

The pins are to keep her zipped up at night. Now that we're getting colder weather she's into zip up sleepers at night. And yesterday when I came up to get her she was naked! So we'll go back to what we did with the boys - slip a diaper pin through the top of the zipper to keep it up.

Oh! While in line at the Big K - I noticed their display of pools at the exit. They had this one for just $42.50 - so I snatched it up! Now we have a replacement pool for next summer :)

We dropped Ky off for the party and then me and the smaller two headed off for groceries. Holly took a VERY long nap and I got some cleaning and reading done. Ran out to get Ky from the party and then got dinner in the oven. Steve came home a little before dinner was ready - yay!

We found a new series of books to start reading with the boys - The Secrets of Droon. We're 4 chapters into the first one now. Looks interesting - and very much similar to the Magic Treehouse series.

That's enough for now. It's Monday and we're back at work. Have a great week!]]> Family http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=668 Mon, 6 Oct 2008 08:40:42 -0500 http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=667
I hate politics.

What I'd really, really like is to chat with either one of them on the sidelines of a kids' sporting event. Just the random chatter you get amongst parents. Just random chatter. About nothing. That's the part I want to hear. What do they think about when they aren't 'on'. I think it's interesting that the media has grasped the Republican candidate for VP and the Democrat's candidate for Pres to compare them. Instead of Obama to McCain. I'm sure it would be just as bad if it was office to office, but it's interesting that it's not.

I'm not sure I'm happy with any of the choices and that bugs me. I don't like the system. But that happens a lot with me and I find I have to work within what is given, so I try to make a reasonable choice. I find a reason to like one side and go with it.

Usually, this aligns mostly with Republican thinking. Now there are major holes there - there are definitely Republican stances that I do not align with. But there are more Democrat flaws here, so generally I end up voting Republican.

At first, I really thought this would be the year that changed that. I really liked Obama. But now - he's just another politician trying to get my vote. Not sure when it happened, or even why - but he's lost most of that pull. And I couldn't even really put a finger on it for you.

So there's that.

I've never been a big McCain fan, so when he pulled Palin out of his hat it made things interesting. And funny enough, the more fodder the media throws around about her, the more intrigued I am. Here's this woman... who is coming from Alaska. Who is having all of her faults pointed out relentlessly. And even some of her non-faults - that are made into VeryBadThings - because it's part of the game. It's what you do. But she's there. She's smiling and she's telling us that she's the candidate that can do this. She's stands up there even though they pull her family up there. She's got cajones. I like that.

I think an attitude like that is mandatory for someone who is going to deal in foreign policy.

Does it make me overlook all other things? No. But it's a check in the box on the pro side.... ]]> General http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=667 Thu, 2 Oct 2008 19:47:57 -0500 http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=666
At any rate - it was pointed out that I never posted pics from Ky's birthday. *oops*
I created an album of the 8 pictures I have (see why there wasn't some big picture montage?)
I'll try to get it uploaded and link to it in the near future.

We've mostly been involved in The Great Bedroom Shuffle of '08
If I ever get them clean, I'll take pictures... don't hold your breath!]]> General http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=666 Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:08:39 -0500 http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=665
So in the last few months I've noticed something interesting.

Jeep people wave to each other.

It's pretty funny and I was glad I noticed. So that when I took it out and someone waved at me from another jeep I knew what to do and was prepared... I gave them the finger. OK no I'm just kidding - I waved back of course :o)

So now I wonder... Durango people don't wave to me. On Thursday decided I was going to do just that. Every time I see a Durango I'll wave. Easy peasy - I may get arrested for over-friendly-driving - but we'll see. Since Thursday I have noticed exacly - 0 - durangos. No that's not true - on Friday when we went out and Steve drove (in the jeep) I saw 3 durangos. But when I've been driving big Red? Zero. How am I supposed to start the Durango friendly waving craze if I don't see any.

Sheesh. I'll try to keep watching. I'm sure they're out there and sneak past when I'm lost in thought. Then I see a JEEP and remember the wave thing and I start looking again! LOL]]> General http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=665 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:19:42 -0500 http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=664
So yesterday we visited a *new* barn. This one is closer - about 20 minutes closer! It's only 5 minutes away from us. It's not someone's backyard - it's a business barn. About 15 horses in the main barn (or maybe 17?) and 4 ponies in the 'Pony Barn'. It's owned by a husband/wife. We got to meet both of them and all of the horses that they own (there are also boarders, but since they don't own them they don't vouch for them). Kyle was in love. Ryan was antsy and nervous and shy. So we walked all over and finally found the smallest pony they have - Yellow Brick Road. "Bricker" is I think less than 13 hands. She is blond and cute as a button. She stands about as tall as Kyle. Ryan was petting her and loving her and I even heard him singing to her softly.

Ryan has declared he would like to ride - as long as it's on Bricker.

Poor Mommy. I will sacrifice my own riding so that he can. I won't be able to afford all three of us! But who knows, maybe they'll have some random barn type chores I can do to bring the cost down :o)

A link to a picture of 'Bricker']]> Kidstuff http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=664 Thu, 7 Aug 2008 12:40:28 -0500 http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=663 Unstructured shoes. The guy had me get my feet scanned...

Here is a random image of a foot scan:



Mine was red all through the areas that are orange above - showing all kinds of - well, whatever it is that these images show you ;o)

So he dissappeared and came back with 4 pairs of shoes for me to try out. I ended up liking the Unstructured best for comfort and came home with these:






Comfy comfy! And an exact exchange - they were the exact price of the sandals I was returning - bonus!]]> General http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=663 Sat, 2 Aug 2008 16:28:20 -0500 http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=662
Now that I have been introduced to the comfort of high quality shoes, I have a hard time going back. Even wearing sneakers doesn't compare.

Over the weekend I broke one of my Dansko sandals. On Sunday I made a trip back to the store - WITHOUT A RECEIPT - but I had a print out of the charge hitting my credit card. I pled my case. He took the shoes and told me he'd contact Dansko to see if maybe they would do a direct repair. Fabulous! No guarantees, but I was happy he was going to try. I figured worst case, maybe they could repair it for a charge.

He called last night - Dansko has authorized him to accept the return. RETURN! I get a brandy new pair of shoes! He doesn't have that type in my size, so I'll go on Friday and try some stuff on again. But how thrilled am I? If this was my usual $20 shoe pair I would have just thrown them out. And the number of cheap shoes laying around my house that I never wear because they aren't as comfortable as I thought they'd be? I am now committed to stocking up on a few different pairs of GOOD, QUALITY shoes instead!

Directly related to this new found happiness - www.zappos.com - WOW! If you need shoes, you need to go here. Having successfully worn my sandals for a few months now, I decided not having them was a good time to order an additional pair of non-sandals. I ordered them Monday evening. Zappos offers free shipping both ways... so I figured there was little risk involved - just inconvenience if they didn't fit. I also figured 'free' would be 'slow boat from China' kinda shipping... but OH NO was I wrong! They bumped up my regular shipping for now cost and I got them yesterday! That's overnight for those of you not wanting to do the math ;o)

Sadly, they didn't fit... but there's more happiness here. I log on to my Zappos account and click the big button 'begin return process'. They ask me why and a few other questions and give me a UPS label. I ordered a new pair in the next size up - which they again upgraded shipping on. Woohoo! Even if these don't fit, I am so very thrilled with this level of service!!! ]]> General http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=662 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:43:56 -0500 http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=661
Oh and we work too :) there's that.

At any rate, the new bed is in the house and assembled. Waiting patiently for the mattress and boxspring. Maybe we'll get them down there tonight! And then Holly HAS to sleep through the night because we'll be a floor removed LOL.

Lots to do, lots to do.

Can't believe my baby is 8!!!! ]]> General http://familyfrisch.com/blog/index.php?itemid=661 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:51:06 -0500