The Heart Of Our House

Home experts usually say that the heart and center of the house is the kitchen...and that's normally true. But this time of year our playroom downstairs is the center of the house. Without it I think we'd all go insane from cabin fever. When we're not out and about, at work, or at school...you'll find some of us or all of us downstairs in the playroom.
By now Jenny and I are getting a little tired of the playroom. Just need a change of scenery I guess. But the kids love it, and never seem to get tired of it. I don't know what we would do without this playroom for the kids. I'm thankful for it almost everyday.

Little Talker

Megan is starting to try to say some words now. She's doing a better job of trying to repeat what you say. Here she is showing off some of her vocabulary.

A funny story. Uh...actually...a not so funny story.

So the other night Jenny and I decided to call it a night. We turned off the TV and Jenny headed upstairs to check on the kids one last time while I let the dog out. Jenny then called down to me..."Steve! Megan threw up!" I got upstairs and found Jenny removing Megan's sheets in her crib. Both Megan and the crib sheets were covered in vomit. Lots of it. It was on Megan's clothes, caked in her hair, all over her hands and face, everywhere. Evidently Megan had not only thrown up all over the place, but then she went back to sleep and slept in her own filth. Not once did she ever cry or utter a sound. Jenny and I obviously felt bad for her...lying there in a pool of her own vomit, but we had no idea anything had happened. Not once did we hear a peep out of her on the monitor.

So that was Megan's first night with the stomach virus that has now hit 3 of us...Jenny, Megan, and I. It hit me like a freight train last night. Practically wiped me out. I was close to passing out on the bathroom floor last night...completely flushed out from emptying my stomach. (I'll spare you all the details.) I'm feeling a lot better today, and so is Megan...but now Jenny is coming down with it. So far Ben hasn't been affected. We'll see how long that lasts.

It seems like once a year we all get hit with a stomach virus of somekind. In the past, it's always been Ben that brought it home from school. This year Megan was the one to bring it home from somewhere.

What a day...

Life At Random

Here's some random pictures that I think are amusing.

Detroit Auto Show 2009

Ben and I went to the Detroit Auto Show on Saturday. We had fun walking around and looking at all the different cars and trucks. This year's event was indeed stripped-down, as was advertised in the news around here. We still saw all the lights and fanfare, but minus the Cirque Du Soleil type dancers and indoor waterfalls. Ben loves going to these shows...simply because he gets to hop in every car he sees and start pressing buttons. As for me, I actually enjoy it more for the media displays and motion graphic presentations. I get lots of good ideas for my work. We had a lot of fun. Afterward, we picked up the girls at one of the malls and then we all headed back up north to Midland. The drive home was kind of an adventure, thanks to heavy snow conditions, but it was worth it.

Vaya con dios...my darling!

Chrysler recently announced that it will discontinue production of the PT Cruiser by this summer. Jenny and I always make fun of these cars, along with their cousin...the Chevrolet HHR. We see them ALL OVER THE PLACE up here as you might expect. I've driven a few (rent-a-cars) and they're terrible. Terrible turning radius, limited visibility, no back seat, and all the controls are in unusual locations.
So let's all bow our heads and pay our final respects to these baby-boomer scooters. Glad to see Chrysler is going to stop making these jokes.

Now That's Cold!

When I woke up this morning I looked outside at the temperature gauge. It read "0" degrees. Now that's what I call cold.
I guess if you look close enough it kind of looks like the needle is just below the 0. So I guess it was probably -1 or -2. Anyway...does it really matter at this point how cold it is? What's cold is cold.

More Snow...

This is the worst time of year in Michigan. From January through March it's the coldest and dreariest time of the year. At this point, you're just looking at the calendar waiting for April. Not that April is that much warmer up here, but at least you know Spring is right around the corner.

Anyway, last night I looked at the thermometer outside and it was -4. Tonight it's supposed to be even colder. So we just try to think warm thoughts, keep the heater running, and wear warm clothes.

The other day we got another few inches of new snow, and the next morning I grabbed these shots. The skies were clear and the sun was pretty bright. It made the snow kind of sparkle. It was cool. (Uh...no pun intended.)

Climbing Class

We've enrolled Ben in another Climbing Class at the community center. He really enjoyed it last time we did it, so we thought it would be a good indoor activity for him to do now...especially with the weather being so frigid outside. This time around Ben has a friend from his from school participating with him...so he likes that. He enjoys the class, and he does pretty good on the wall for a 4 year old. At this age it's all about confidence.

Play Date For Megan

If you're frequent to this blog you're probably already aware of Ben's friend Miles. My friend (Miles' Dad) had to go to the doctor's office for an appointment, so he asked me to watch his younger son Quentin for a while. Quentin is Miles' younger brother. He's almost 2 1/2. He's just starting to talk in sentences and is becoming more independent, but he's still close enough in age to Megan for them to interact. So Quentin and Megan had a little play date yesterday. They had fun getting into all of the toys in the playroom and eating snacks together.

Belated Christmas Party

Ben's class recently had their Christmas Party...last Friday. The day they were supposed to have it was the last day of school before the holiday break. But that day we got slammed with about 6 inches of snow and the schools were closed. So last Friday was the "Belated" Christmas Party.
Ben and his friends all got to make crafts and eat snacks. Megan also had a great time getting into everything. It's becoming more difficult to take her to these occasions...because she's at that age where she wants to get into everything. Still though...the kids had a good time.

Ben's Favorite Toys

Ben got these space toys for Christmas, and they have been a huge hit. These are the Mega-Rig Space Toys from Matchbox. What makes these space toys unique is they're interchangeable. Kind of like Legos, the pieces come apart so you can make different ships and rovers. Ben loves these. He's been having a blast with them ever since Christmas.

Magic Treehouse

A co-worker of Jenny's gave us a whole bunch of Magic Treehouse books for Ben. These books are basically short chapter books about a brother and sister who travel through time and space by way of a magic treehouse. They go on all sorts of adventures and go to all sorts of places and locations. There's 10 chapters in each book, and each chapter is about 4 or 5 pages. Anyway, his kids were all too old for them and he was going to get rid of them, but then he passed them along to us. Out of curiosity we tried out the first one on Ben..."DINOSAURS BEFORE DARK." I was a little skeptical because the stories are longer, and while there are pictures they're only on every other page. But surprisingly he loves these books, and he's able to visualize the story just fine and follow along word for word. We'll read about 5 chapters before bed, and then we'll read the rest the next day. He really enjoys them.

Fun With Mr. Potato Head

Tonight the kids were playing with their Mr. Potato Head toys. Somehow the glasses ended up on the kids instead of the Potato Heads.

Out For A Stroll

We're in full-on winter mode up here. These are the days of 15 and 20 degree weather, grey skies, wind chills, and occasional snows. That leads us to spend a lot of our time downstairs in the playroom playing. (I give thanks for that playroom almost every day.)
Anyway, the other day we were surprised to see the sun was out and it was a balmy 30 degrees. So I told the kids we were going to take a short walk outside and get some fresh air. Ben looked at me like I was crazy but he went along with it.
Our stroll was only about 10 minutes long, but it was nice to get outside and see the sunshine.

At The Movies

VALKYRIE - This is the true story of a plot to kill Adolf Hitler during the latter days of World War II. Tom Cruise (curiously) plays German Nazi Claus von Stauffenberg who has had enough of Hitler's tyrannical ways. Stauffenberg conspires with fellow German nationals and Nazi's to attempt to take out Hitler and take over the government. The film plays out as a very interesting war drama, and a lot of the acting is first rate (even though nobody speaks with a German accent for some reason.) However, Cruise's overacting gets in the way too many times here. I think if anyone else played the lead here the film would have been better. Still though...this is a good movie.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON - Wow! What else can I possibly say about this one but "Wow!" Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button, who somehow ages backwards. The story here is wonderfully told, and the directing is top notch from the great David Fincher (SEVEN, FIGHT CLUB.) Set predominately in New Orleans, we see Button's life from beginning to end...or from end to beginning. However you want to look at it the film is great. Cate Blanchett plays Daisy, Button's life-long friend and love interest. The story is very moving, the acting is great, and the overall pace of the film is almost perfect. At 2 1/2 hours I could have sat there for another hour watching this masterpiece. I can't see any other film sweeping the Oscars this year. Best director...best actor, best film. It's all right here. Go see this one.

TROPIC THUNDER - Starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr., this is a very funny satire of the popular over-the-top war movies from the 80's (Platoon, Commando, Missing In Action, Rambo, etc.) The trio are actors who think they are making another war movie, only to find themselves in the middle of a real conflict. The first half hour was probably my favorite of the whole movie. It's very funny...and the jokes make you laugh out loud (especially the fake movie trailers at the beginning.) As the movie wears on the gag starts to wear a little thin, but overall the jokes are plentiful. About the only thing I didn't like in this movie was Tom Cruise as the ruthless agent. Still though...a very good movie.

THE SOPRANOS: SEASON 4 - So Jenny and I are now 4 seasons into THE SOPRANOS. I keep waiting for some kind of "dip" in this series, but season after season it delivers. Such a great show. Great storylines. Great characters. First rate acting. Can't say enough.

DEADWOOD: SEASON 1 - I've tried to check out this series before in the past, but I always came into it in the middle of the season...so I was always lost. So after enjoying THE SOPRANOS so much I decided to give this series a second chance. This is a show about the real-life western town of Deadwood. Both the location and lead characters are all based on fact, and the storylines and acting is so well done. In fact, the character of Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) is almost as dynamic as Tony Soprano in THE SOPRANOS. Make no mistake though...this is not your typical western. Instead of good guys wearing white hats and bad guys wearing black ones...here you have everyone wearing shades of grey. The characters and town are all dark and dirty and rough around the edges. And oh boy...then there's the language. But all in all this is a great show. I'll definately be checking out Season 2.

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET - I'll admit first off I'm not a big fan of musicals. The only one that I recall that blew me away was RENT, but other than that I enjoy them at times and then they fade from my memory. I caught this one on cable because of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. Depp plays Sweeney Todd, a barber in London bent on revenge. Stylistically the film looks great, and the song numbers are pretty good...but I did get bored with this one as well. I guess overall it was okay, but this one didn't really grab me.

AMERICAN GANGSTER - Denzel Washington plays Frank Lucas, a true New York gangster in the 60's and 70's. Russel Crowe plays Richie Roberts, a New York detective who wants to bring him down. The film seems to be divided into two parts that run parallel to one another. One half follows the course of Lucas, and one follows Roberts. Director Ridley Scott provides us two character studies packed into one film. The film is great and the acting is so well done (as you might expect from these two actors.) Comparing this one to other gangster movies (Godfather, Goodfellas, etc.) I'd say this one is very different in look and feel but still very good.

ROCKET SCIENCE - This is a coming-of-age story about a stuttering 16 year old boy who enrolls on the school debate team. His parents are recently divorced, he has few friends, his older brother is a pest, and of course there's a girl in his life. Taken from the same mold as RUSHMORE, (another coming-of-age tale) ROCKET SCIENCE focuses more on drama than humor. In fact, the humor is so slight here that you almost fail to notice it. However, I did like this one. Right when you think you know where it's going it surprises you and takes a different direction. I liked this one. It's no RUSHMORE, but few films are.