What we're reading, listening to, and using...

I have toyed with the idea of starting a separate blog to review books, videos, music, and gadgets. Here's the inaugural post. I've also started reviewing items on Amazon.com.

We'll see whether a blog or Amazon's more structured site is easier to keep up to date.

Act 1: Funny faces

We love the kids' imagination. Well, in this case it was Colin's imagination and Katie's willingness to play along. He recently organized a multi-act "circus" for us. He asked for audience members by show of hand. After he got Fedora and me settled into our seats, he proceeded to act 1 (ring 1?): making funny faces.

Act 2: Katie's Turn

Katie couldn't find a pair of daddy's shoes lying around, so she improvised: here she is hanging onto the treadmill arms for dear life. (She loves the monkey bars at her gym class, and this the closest approximation she's found around the house.)

Act 2: Running around in daddy's shoes

And onto Act 2: running around in daddy's shoes -- a death-defying stunt, to be sure.

Act 3: Making pillows disappear with a wave of the magic wand

And Act 3: making household objects disappear with the wave of the magic want (really, a part of his kitchen playset.)

Why we don't worry about Katie being malnourished

Katie recently got a little sick, running a mild fever. She bounced back quickly, though: at 2 am in the morning, when Fedora was giving her another dose of Children's Tylenol, Katie demanded, "go restaurant eat?"

Here she is from a few week's ago doing exactly that at Hot Dog on a Stick.

Will Colin grow up to do what Frank does?

Are these clues of Colin's career inclinations?

• Item 1: At a recent outing to Coyote Point, Colin declined to paint with the other kids -- but had no problem telling Katie what colors to use in her paintings.

• Item 2: Fedora's tried a variety of classes for him recently. He vehemently rejected the gym class, but seemed to settle right into a science class. (At their last meeting, the class made ice cream from scratch -- what's not to like?)

Hmmm, managerial rather than individual contributor tendencies. Plus an aversion to physical activity in favor of technical knowledge and eating.

Yup, sounds like another Frank in the making: a nerd manager!

Prayer Time

Inspired by Ivan's post on the Chong Family News blog, I thought I'd capture the kids' typical bedtime prayers.

Katie has just started praying, which mostly consists of her echoing as we prompt her:

Mom: Let's pray, Katie.
Katie: Dear God...
Mom: Food...
Katie: Thank you God for the pancakes!
Mom: Fun adventure...
Katie: Thank God for Ranch 99! Cake!

Colin has been praying for about a year now. He got into a bit of a rut last month and would rush through his prayers in one long sentence lasting about 5 seconds. Recently, I've asked him to think more carefully about the day's events and important people. This seemed to help him a bit,and his typical prayer is now a stream-of-consciosuness that runs along something like this:

Colin: Dear God, thank you for the sun and the sky and the stars, thank you for the chance to go to church to learn more about you, thank you for Jesus dying on the cross for us, thank you for mommy and daddy and Katie and ah-ma and ah-gong and po-po and gong-gong and thank you for the puddles on the road that we could drive through and for Ryan coming over to play, in Jesus' name amen.

More Fun Things the Kids Say

Dad: What things are cute?

Katie: Tutter's nose! (For those of you who don't know Tutter, allow me to introduce you to the blue mouse from Bear in the Big Blue House)

Colin: Yes, Tutter's nose is adorable.

Easter Retreat Collage

This is an experiment with Picasa2's collage feature. Pretty nifty.

Ryan and Colin yuck it up at Easter Retreat

Mom: Colin, who is your best friend?

Colin: Ryan.

Katie: Me too! Ryan my best friend.

Colin: No Katie -- your best friend is Erin! [Ryan's little sister]

Posing for pictures at Easter Retreat

Alas, we missed the whole church family picture at Easter Retreat (due to a poorly timed call of nature), but here are Colin and Katie, moments beforehand, practicing their poses.

Riding the airplane

Here are Colin and Ryan "riding the roller coaster" . They are using their walking sticks (which we got on one of their hikes at a trail right outside of Redwood Glen's facility) as seat belts. Kids have great imaginations, and having their friends around really bring out the best in their creativity.

Easter Egg Hunt Redux

The kids got to enjoy a second easter egg hunt at FBC's annual Easter Retreat. Here, mom and Katie sit down after the big event to savor their finds.

As with last year, we held the retreat at Redwood Glen, a scenic facility in Loma Mar (about 45 minutes from home). In addition to the easter egg hunt, the kids loved:

• Walking along the nearby hiking trails to see streams filled with winter runoff (which they called "waterfalls")
  
• Eating in a cafeteria-style setting
• Jumping between the twin beds in our rooms, yelling "be careful!" at the top of their lungs