Always An Adventure

     Driving around town with the boys is always an adventure.  Craig and Chaz tend to communicate using a special language of their own.  They can just look at each other and launch into a "yes", "no" batttle that ends in belly laughter from the two of them.  Sometimes, if Craig is upset Chaz knows just what to do to calm him down and before you know it they are trying to slap hands and make each other laugh again.      

     Craig like to talk when we are driving...he usually follows his brother's lead by asking questions about stuff he can see out the window.  So, getting questions about everything from manure to birds is not uncommon.

     Chaz is very curious and asks lots of questions...lots of weather questions...lots of questions about sealife and which animal would win in a battle against a shark or an alligator, or of course a T-Rex.  Since I know the most about weather and dinosaurs (since I am one..haha!)...those are the questions I love.  Chaz once asked me if lightning could make a snowflake explode.  I said, I wish...that would be cool.

 

     Here is a picture of Craig..."going to town" on a coloring sheet at Johnny Rockets.  Look at him...he is in the zone...Go Craiggy!

The Hottest Songs According To Chaz

To say that Chaz loves music is quite an understatement and he has interesting taste for a 5 year old. When I visit, he can't wait to listen to my iPod...and we always rock the iPod in the car as we cruise around town. Chaz shouts out songs and my challenge is to find them in my playlist. Here is a list of his favorite songs.

The Beastie Boys, Intergalactic

The Crash Test Dummies, MMM,MMM,MMM, MMM

Dabrye, The Lish

Shiny Toy Guns, Le Disko

Interpol, The Heinrich Maneuver

The Bravery, Believe

The Killers, When You Were Young

Matthew Good, Born Losers

Weezer, Beverly Hills

More 2008 pictures...

When I go for visits to see the boys...we always have a blast...  Usually, Chaz and Craig choose what we do each day..and needless to say, Chaz likes to stay busy all day long.  Normally, the boys want to go to several different places each day...like the dinosaur museum, the science center, the zoo, and a great little gem in downtown phoenix called The Great Arizona Puppet Theatre.  We try to do as much as possible when I'm in town because the boys usually don't get to do much of those things...and it is a nice treat for them.  

Chaz and Craig both love the puppet theatre...it is such a great experience...the shows are all original stories and the performances are all done by local puppeteers and voice actors.  The shows are great...just long enough for little attention spans and it is highly interactive as well.  

This is a picture of Chaz...with his shark puppet in front of the puppet theatre stage...he loves this puppet..he picked it from the puppet theatre gift shop.  

These are some awesome glasses that Craig found at his cousin Kailey's house...I think I need a pair too.

 

More 2008 Flashbacks...

Here is Chaz...wearing one of his favorite shirts...it is one of his favorites because it combines two things he loves very much...Dinosaurs of course and Drums. Chaz loves the drums...I bought him some computer animated DVDs that show robots playing drums and other instruments. Chaz loves those DVDs and can drum along with them...keeping great time.  

On one of my trips to visit the boys, we went to the mall...I needed to go to the Apple Store and between all three of us...we like to never got out of there.  

Looking Back On 2008

     I thought since you took the time to click on over to see what was up with me...I will give you some pictures of the boys.  I took these during my visits this year...I will share several with you but will refrain from posting all 500 pictures of the boys that I keep on my iPhone.

     I'll start with one of my favorite pictures of Craig...he thought he was being sly...looking around the corner to see if I had noticed him going through my suitcase.  He did eventually get into my suitcase...he found one of my polo shirts and wore it around for a while.     

     Getting to hang out in the early morning hours with the boys is such a treat for me when I go visit.  During those morning hours, the boys are always busy talking...trying to make up for lost talking time while they were asleep.

Chaz loves to watch Sesame Street...and truth be told...so do I.  Craig is also pretty slick at getting into the pantry and helping himself to a snack.

I know... I know...

     Well, if you didn't read the comment from Chuck Suede on my last post...he said..."oh my God, I thought you died! ...now get bloggin'..."  HAHAHA!  Yea, it does seem from time to time that I have "passed on" when it comes to my blogging duties. 

      Sorry...

     I actually really enjoy getting to sit down and write things that are not broadcast on the news just a few minutes later.  

     OK...so, no promises but I'll try harder during this new year. 

      VIVA 2009!!

      

Yes, Virginia...I do remember how to post on my blog!

Well, well, well...it certainly has been a long time since I logged on and posted on this blog.  So long in fact, you might be wondering...do I use a telegraph line in order to log onto the web?  If not, I'm sure you probably thinking...hey, he's just being lazy...he's on the computer all the time...why doesn't he just log on and say something...type something...if he's not going to use actual words then at least sit on the keyboard with your lazy backside and post the random letters that would pop up afterward.

True!  Everything you say and think is true...

So...just for you...here goes..  hosghougoytw4 hggBh]ig jph hpghb;b ;hh pibDpn N:DFL

WOW!  That is an odd letter pattern for butt typing...

OK..now I need to clean my keyboard.

More Pictures and Stuff

I thought I would start this entry with a look back Chaz's 4th birthday...and the pictures of his cake, that you will find below, need a little explanation. For part of the explanation we need to go back to his 3rd birthday, Chaz had the most awesome dinosaur birthday cake a little boy could ask for. It was a scene from millions of years ago...it had a volcano, a pond made of gel with fish in it, little trees and several homemade dinosaurs cookies to complete the scene. The cake was made by a co-worker and close friend of mine, her family used to own a local bakery. The cake was awesome and Chaz still remembers it to this day.

So, when it was time to ask chaz what kind of party and cake he wanted for his 4th birthday...I was not really prepared for what he was going to say next...Chaz said he wanted a "dinosaur race car cake"...that statement was immediately followed by the kind of thought provoking question that only a journalist could ask..."a what?" Chaz said again..."a dinosaur race car cake." The only thing I could think of to say was..."OK." But truthfully, inside I was utterly confused and panicked by what I just agreed to.

A dinosaur race car cake...I guess it makes sense...right...I mean he loves dinosaurs more than anything in the world and he loves the Disney / Pixar movie "Cars." Although, I personally would have never in a million years dreamed of combining the two...without a doubt, that kind of crazy combination is exclusive to imagination of a child. So, now I'm faced with making sure he has a dinosaur race car cake for his birthday...I don't know about you but my first thought was...what the heck would a dinosaur race car cake look like AND if I have someone make this cake it is going to cost more than a car. The only solution was to figure out how make it myself.

After some consultation and several crude drawings I finally came up with a design. The next tasks were to figure out how to make the design come to life in cake form...and how to do it in Phoenix. I asked my friend and her mom for some help and they were such an awesome resource. This cake would never have happened if it wasn't for them and their incredible patience. After coming up with the design, my friend and her mom taught me how to do everything I needed to know in order to make this cake a reality for Chaz.

This is a picture of just the cake itself. Each big time race has a name so I called this race the "Dinosaur 400"...because Chaz was turning 4...and I named the track the "Chaz Motor Speedway." The track part is made of black fondant...the inner area is green icing pushed through a pastry bag tip that makes it look like grass. I used a T-Rex cookie as the center track logo and placed the little cars all around the track area.

This is a picture of the cake including the fans and the grandstands. Yeah, that's right...every race needs fans...and the fans gave me the opportunity to incorporate the dinosaurs. The grandstands are made from foam core...cut and glued into a grandstand shape. The fans are homemade dinosaur sugar cookies that were decorated by hand.

Here is a closer look at the dinosaur cookie fans. The cookies were stuck to the grandstands using royal dry icing...as I learned, royal dry icing dries fast and acts very much like an edible glue. The fans had checkered flags and Happy Birthday signs.

The party was held at the dinosaur museum in Mesa and the cake was a huge hit with everyone...including the museum staff. I can only imagine what next years cake request will be...whatever it is I'm sure I'll have to keep my thinking cap close by.

Since I'm talking about dinosaurs and such...thought I would share this picture with you...Craig is taking on his nemesis...inflatable T-Rex!

Some New Pictures Of Chaz and Craig

OK...so I finally took a few minutes and downloaded the 115 or so pictures from my iPhone into a special folder so I can share them with you. I know it has been a super long time since you have seen new pictures of the boys so I hope you enjoy them.

This is a picture taken back in October of 2007...a great example of what these two do best...wrestle each other.


This is a picture from March of this year...I took the boys to the Phoenix Zoo and they have this temporary exhibit where you can touch small stingrays and sharks. The stingrays have had their barbs removed so there is no danger of actually getting stung...and the sharks are Nurse Sharks...nocturnal sharks that like to nap during zoo hours so it is a little safer to pet them without the risk of getting bitten. The concept is simple...stick your arm in the water and the sringrays come to you.


Chaz loved petting the stingrays so much that he spent about two hours with is arm in the water. I think Chaz touched each and every stingray at least a dozen times. Craig however got bored pretty quick because he is much too little to pet the rays.


Craig was so bored in fact he thought it would be funny if he put cookie crumbs up his nose.