Giftgiving, Guitar and Games, Oh My!

A few days ago, I decided to take a video of my boys opening their Chanukah presents.

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As you can see, NHL’s present was a Super Hero Squad game for the Wii. I won this from Mommies With Style and we decided to give it to NHL for Chanukah. (Thanks, MWS!) A little while after this video was filmed, NHL was playing the game on the Wii, and beating my super-hero (Falcon) up as he played as The Incredible Hulk.

JSL already had seen his present when we bought it. Ever since we had gone to the Wiggles concert, he’s wanted a guitar like Murray. Strange, since his favorite Wiggle seems to be Anthony and not Murray. Anyway, he was there when we bought it in Toys ‘R Us, but threw a tantrum when he didn’t get it right away. He kept screaming "Want my Hanukah! Want my Hanukah!" He didn’t realize that he needed to actually wait for Chanukah before getting his gift. Once the box was opened and the guitar handed to him, he started playing…. Maybe not playing his guitar like Murray, but he did have fun.

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Gotta love the excitement kids have opening gifts! Happy Chanukah, everyone!

My Wonderful Wife’s ‘Exciting’ Birthday

This post is a day late thanks to a lot of Birthday excitement. And by “excitement”, I mean things going wrong left and right. The plan for B’s birthday was to drop the kids off at her parents’ house and then go out to eat. B had even decided that we would go to a nice Japanese steakhouse for her birthday meal.

Then the excitement arrived and our plans went out the window.

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Boys Day Out

While I go off to work, my wife gets to stay home with the boys. While this means that she gets to have fun with them more than I do, it also means that she gets to be there during the "challenging moments." She needs to deal with these moments alone over nine hours a day, five days a week. It is easy to see how one could get burned out. So I like taking the boys out every now and then for "Guy Time." Sunday was one of those days. (B did laundry then, but at least she didn’t need to take a break from the laundry to break up a fight or send NHL to his room.)

First up was the grocery store. We needed some food for the coming week and so I had made a list all ready. Unfortunately, I forgot that list at home. No problem, though. Text messaging to the rescue. B texted me the list and I checked my phone from time to time to get everything we needed.

After the grocery store, we quickly stopped back home just to drop off the groceries. Then it was back out. This time, the boys and I went to the playground so they could let off some steam. The minute we got out of the car, they took off towards the slides and didn’t stop until we left. I’m going to miss playgrounds when the snow falls.

Like I said, they first went down the slides.

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Next. we went to some tunnels they had.

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Once they were done crawling through the tunnels, JSL rode in a plane while NHL sat atop a dinosaur. Eventually, NHL joined JSL in the plane.

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Then a quick trip to another set of slides.

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And next, it was swing time.

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At one point, I got on the swings myself and decided to shoot video… a rather nausea inducing video. Watch at your own risk.

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After the swings, we went on the spinner and got a bit dizzy.

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Then, after a failed trip to the "big slides" (failed because they were too wet to slide down), the boys climbed a tower. Ok, NHL climbed a tower. JSL flew up to the top (with a little dad-assist).

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Finally, it was back to the original slides for some more sliding fun.

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Reluctantly, they bid farewell to the playground and followed me back to our car to head home. How I love Boys Day Outs!

Not So Wordless Wednesday: Clowning Around And Giving Thanks

Yes, I know that Wordless Wednesday posts are supposed to be, well, wordless, but I felt that this one needed some words.  After all, this is not only my "Wordless Wednesday" post, but also my "What I’m Thankful For" post.  Therefore, in no particular order:

My Wife

I’m thankful every day that B has been in my life.  She’s such a wonderful and caring person and I love everything about her.  She’ll deny it left and right, but she’s also incredibly sexy.  (Yes, you are B!)  I’m even more attracted to her today than I was the first moment I laid eyes on her.  (And trust me, I thought she was very attractive then also!)  I don’t know what I’d do without her in my life.  So thank you, B for being such a great wife and friend to me and such a great mother to our boys.  Speaking of our boys….

My Boys

I couldn’t have asked for two better kids.  Ok, there are times when they’re getting into trouble when I might think I could have , but still they are good kids.  NHL rarely gets into trouble at school and loves learning.  He enjoys spending time with me, B or just playing with JSL.  JSL loves helping people out.  He’ll actually get upset and shout "I help Dada!" if I don’t need his help.  He adores his older brother and loves spending time with him.  The little copycat looks to his brother constantly for cues on how to act and what to say.  (This does lead to us telling NHL to stop doing something and then immediately having to tell JSL to stop also…. cute though it may be!)  I’m so glad that they love each other and us so much.  Every day when I go to work, I wish that I could spend more time with them and every day when I’m packing up to leave, I look forward to seeing them soon.

My Mother

First off, I’m also thankful for my father, sister and other friends and relatives, but this year I’m particularly thankful for my mother.  Last week, she had a little accident.  And by little, I mean she almost died.  She was in her attic cleaning things up and fell.

Now, their attic isn’t exactly safe.  You get to it via a fold down ladder in the garage.  That staircase is about as old as I am (i.e. over 30 years old).  Once you get into the attic, you can’t just walk around.  The floor of the attic is thin enough that it can’t stand the weight of a person.  You need to balance on support beams which run all along the attic.  Years back, my father actually fell through the attic floor and got wedged in the hole he made.  His legs were dangling down in the garage, a sight which was scary then but funny in hindsight.

Anyway, my mother was up there cleaning near the ladder.  The details are a bit sketchy, but best I can make out, her foot somehow went through the thin flooring and she lost her balance.  She fell headfirst towards the ladder.  She hit her head on the ladder and skidded across the concrete garage floor.  Luckily, she wasn’t home alone.  A family friend was with her and called 911.

It could have been a lot worse.  She fell a total distance of about 9 feet (maybe more) onto a concrete floor.  She could easily have been dead.  Plus, she hit the ladder with her head so she could have snapped her neck and been paralyzed for the rest of her life.  In the end, she had a concussion (blacked out as she was headed for the ladder and came to on the ground), a couple of broken fingers, a torn up ear and scratches all over her face.  She’s very, *VERY* lucky!

She’s recovering slowly, but surely.  She’s still dizzy at times and needs to take it easy for awhile.  However, the doctors’ don’t think that any permanent damage was done.  I’m very thankful that my mother is alive and (relatively) well.

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

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