The Fat Man's Club

Don't mistake those smiles, we really are starving...

So every year the guys, with promptings from our wives, decide its time to shed a few pounds. We call it the fat mans club. The basic rules of the club are that you have to loose one pound a week on weekly weigh in. Everyone weighs in together and if you do not make weight, you pay $10.00 each week. You also have to be wearing some item of clothing, a rule which Matt was in frequent violation. You also have to exercise at least three times a week or pay the same fine. We also set a goal date that we want to make our final goal weight by and if that final weight is not made, you pay $100.00. With weekly weigh ins, it can get quite expensive if you don't stick to the plan. Of course the biggest incentive comes not from the money, rather the weekly weigh in and the fear of not making weight in front of the rest of the guys. This time around I lost around 23 pounds, making my weight goal by mere ounces. There was a lot of work to make those last few ounces. Fasting, running, spitting, exlax, - all have there place when trying to loose weight in a hurry. But because I made my weight, I was able to split the pot with the other four guys who were also able to do it. This years pot got to $330.00! My take you ask? $82.00.

Now there are many things that a guy could do with $80.00 after starving himself for a week and exercising non stop to make weight. You could purchase some new work out shorts since the old ones are too big. You could go and buy some new ultra tight fitting shirts to show off your impressive build. Both were tempting. But for Robb, Matt and I there really was never any question. We did what any true man would do- load up the family and head to Hometown Buffet.

Kids say the darndest things

So here are a couple of good quotes from the kids this week:

1. Jeremy's Grandma was over last night for a visit. While she was here she mentioned something about how long ago it was when her kids were the same age as ours are now. Logan was eavesdropping (of course) and he exclaimed, "Grandma, you've got kids?!" His expression was classic. His face gave away his ignorance - he thought she'd been hiding her kids from him all this time! I guess we never felt the need to explain his family history - poor kid! We just assumed he knew how the family fit together.

2. Lizzie was chatting with Benny about random things. They got some free samples of dog food from Costco and she decided she'd give her sample to Atlas - Mica's dog - and Benny would give his to Sidney, the dog that lives in our backyard. Then her mind came up with this great idea, "Ammon's dog can marry Mica's dog. And they can get married in the doggie temple!"

Fiber what?

So Jeremy's sister, Kari, has been talkin' up these awesome granola bar things called FIBER ONE BARS. They are only 140 calories each and they taste like a candy bar! And they have 9 grams of fiber in each bar. Whew! The Christopherson kids lovingly call them Fiber Fart Bars. Classy. I put one in Trevor's lunch yesterday and when he came home from school he said, "Mom, I like those Fiber One bars, but please don't put them in my lunch anymore." The look on his face implied that I should know why he wouldn't want to consume one of these bars at school. He got that embarassed grin on his face and turned away from me. Um. Yeah, I got it. He doesn't want any embarassing noises flying from his general direction while he's at school. Mom is clued in!

Then this afternoon he downed 2 of those bad boys. 2 hours later he was pretty proud of the noise machine he had knowingly created. Dinner at the Ward house was definitely an experience to remember. Or not.

So, if you have not tried this delicious, tasty, fiber-filled, fart-producing treat then you need to go out and get yo'self some.

Lizzie's movie pick this week

Lizzie has a great love for anything retro. She loves the old songs, the old fashioned clothes, old dolls etc. She recently discovered this movie at my parents house: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It is a timeless classic musical. She is wooed every time by the love songs and fun dance scenes.

There is one scene in the movie where the 7 brides are all singing about their loves as they dance around in their petticoats and corsets. Her first time watching it here at home I had to convince her that the girls were actually dancing around in their underwear. Lizzie rolled her eyes at me and gave me her teenage attitude, "Nu-uh", she said - like I was trying to trick her or something! She thought it was just their play clothes. She got a little lesson in the evolution of undergarments that day.

I was sure she'd stick out the princess phase a little longer, but nope - these days she's just an ol' fashioned girl.

"Bless her beautiful hide
Wherever she may be.
We ain't met yet, but I'm willin' to bet
She's the girl for me!"

Mommy's shoes

All our boys have had a little fun with mommy's shoes. I think it's so cute. Jeremy does not. We had to record this one for Jackson's posterity and his future girlfriends.




I'm hoping this cross-dressing is a normal thing for a 2-year-old boy. Did anyone else have boys that did this? I know the Minnick boys still like to wear their mom's shoes and they're 10 and 8 years old!

Back to School!

Yesterday began the new school year for 2008. The boys both woke early eager to put on their new trendy shirts and shoes. We had waffles, from scratch, for our first day of school breakfast. Don't worry - they washed their hands and faces really good so there was no syrup stank for the rest of the day.

Trevor is in 4th grade and that means class sizes are not capped at 20. His class has 39 students! Logan is in 2nd grade and his new teacher is Mrs. LOGAN. Ha! He thought that was the coolest to have the same name as his teacher! You can see here that Trevor was thrilled - or not. He gets the first day jitters more than our Logan boy. They are both excited to start school with Uncle Robb as their new principal.




On the other hand, mommy was thrilled to start the new school year. Summer is over (hallelujah!) and the kids are busy busy busy. No more morning fights over chores, no more 5 hour video game stints, no more complaining about having to sit and read for 20 minutes - school is a beautiful thing! Lizzie took this picture in the parking lot as we left the school. I think she definitely captured the moment.

Look Out Academy Awards

Check out Trevor, Logan, Jacob and Emma's movie that we made and prepared to be impressed!

Logan the Teaser

Every family has a teaser. OK, some families have several. Growing up in my home everyone knew that Matt was the teaser (he was even a bit of a tease as well, at least that's what the girls say). Its not hard to see who it was in Robb's family either. Thomas was, and still is the lead teaser for the Duran's (This is why one of the first phrases our children learned to say when they were younger was, "no no Thomas"). Anyway, in our family that designation goes to Logan. 75% of the crying that happens in the family (minus Jackson at bedtime), comes as a result of our Logan man. I think we ALL know and can agree which parent he got his teasing tendencies from. Who's the teaser in your family?

We are now entering the world of....

the Mac. The time has finally come to say goodbye to the PC. What a bittersweet day. We've loved that thing for 9 years. Does anyone even own a computer that old anymore? My siblings love to call us "old school" because it looks that old. Well not anymore baby. We are movin' on up! It came today in a huge package. Jeremy took about oh 5 minutes to set the thing up and here we are - Hello Apple!

Here's what we listened to yesterday

If you haven't yet seen this show then you MUST GO! It is my all time favorite musical. We saw the show last year, or was it 2 years ago? I can't remember, but it was so good. I have several favorite songs from the soundtrack, but my favorite is Dancing Through Life, track 6. It's the longest track on the cd - it's like 3 songs in one! It has a very 80's vibe to it - not exactly what I usually listen to, but still excellent.

"Now that we've met one another
It's clear we deserve each other.
You're perfect. No, you're perfect.
So we're perfect together.
This will be forever..."

Also equally entertaining is track 2 - "What is this feeling?".

"Loathing, unadulerated loathing.
For your hair. Your face. Your clothing..."

You just can't beat it. I think we'll listen to it again - right now.

If you've been there, done that - which one do you love?

Remember when Logan ate it at Pismo?...

BEWARE!! GRUESOME PICTURES AHEAD!



Logan took a nasty fall off his scooter while we were at Pismo this year. At the time, Jeremy and I were just as traumatized as poor Logan and didn't have the presence of mind to whip out the camera like we should have. Luckily Stephanie was thinking straight and had her camera ready. She emailed these awesome pictures a few days ago and I thought it would be fun to share them.

Here's a good one of the wound. Logie Man was pretty distraught in case you couldn't make out the expression on his face.

Here's Jeremy, Jennifer and cousin Ryan (the firefighter with emergency first aid training) trying to decide if we should run to the ER or urgent care to get stitches or just put on a butterfly bandaid and live with a scar on his forehead for the rest of his life.

Here's what we finally decided. Watch out, it's going to be brutally honest... we decided not to go to the ER because we didn't want to waste an entire day of our vacation sitting in a waiting room! Logan was ok with this decision after his uncles paraded around all of their different scars telling him how cool he'd be if he had one too. Caralee saved our bacon as she donated a few butterfly bandaids to the cause.
Logan is fine and well and looking back, he did great in a traumatic situation. No screaming, no panicking, only quiet tears streamed down his face that day. He was so brave! His scar is forming nicely and he makes sure to check it's progress every day.

Stephanie, thanks for the memories! You captured the moment for sure and now we can remember it forever. You rock!

Friday Fun Bowling

I took the kids bowling at Fresno State as a reward for completing their chore charts last week. They all have jobs to do each morning before they can play with friends or video games. Each morning it is usually a chore for me to get them to do their chores. This day was different. They knew we would be going bowling and were pretty stoked about it.

Trevor asked me, "How can we go bowling when it's not Thanksgiving?" Poor kid thinks the bowling alley is only open at Thanksgiving because that's the ONLY time we ever go. I had to keep my composure as I explained that anyone can go bowling any time of the year - they're always open!

Make sure to check out Lizzies' outfit - she dressed herself, purple socks and all. Nice.

Pretty, Pretty, Pretty

Bella came over to play last week and brought some special treats - Hannah Montana Lee Press-On Nails! (Can you believe they still make those things?) These girls were in hog heaven as we dolled them up. Look at those cute faces...you can tell that they know they are beautiful gorgeous. Jackson also wanted in on the beautifying action. He wanted his own sparkly earrings (much to Jeremy's dislike). But he would not hold still for a picture! He thought he was pretty hot stuff too. Thanks for a fun time, Bella!

Scout Camp at Santa Cruz Island

Jeremy took Troop 33 to this lovely location for scout camp this year. We came home from Pismo on Wednesday and the next day he left our house at 3:30 AM to get to the island ferry on time.

The scouts had a great time kayaking, snorkeling, orienteering and star gazing. They took "bag showers", ate yummy food they cooked themselves and had a few competitions for a cold soda prize each night. Check out Jeremy's post [click here] on the Troop 33 website to read all about it.

Lizzie's 1st Bike!

Lizzie has been riding in the bike trailer for as long as she can remember. Last week Jeremy and Matt took all the kids for a bike ride. Benny, Lizzie's cousin that is her age, rode his own real 2 wheeler bike (with training wheels) for the first time. When she found out that Benny would be on his very own bike she lost it! Lizzie threw the biggest fit we've seen in a long time. She did NOT want to be the baby riding in the trailer any more! Jeremy calmed her down somehow and got her to ride along anyway and of course she had a great time.

Since then she has been BEGGING to have her own bike with "2 wheels" as she likes to call it. Well today we did it. We went to WalMart and picked out the most fancy, beautiful, girly, (cheapest) bike we could find. She also picked out a perfectly pink Barbie helmet and pads to go with. Isn't she a cutie?

Watch for her on the road. She'll be riding along with Daddy and the brothers to the gas station very soon.

Principal Ward

Yep, you read that right. Jeremy is the new principal at Computech Middle School! He was the Vice Principal at Sequoia Middle School these last 2 years and decided to take the plunge into the next big-time position. He went through two sets of serious interviews before the school year was out and did his best as always. He was just what they were looking for. (His name was announced at the last school district board meeting while he was away at scout camp - he missed the whole thing!)

There is one small catch... his dad also works at the same school as the library media teacher. We're all anxiously waiting to see how that plays out - they're both great guys, willing to do anything for the other, and very easy-going. I have no worries that they will do well as co-workers, but it's always a little weird to work with a close relative isn't it?

This step is pretty big for my sweet husband. More hours, more responsiblity and more pay - we hope. It will be an adjusting time for him and our family as he learns the ropes for this new job. But do not fear! - Jeremy is ready for this new experience. We're all excited for him and know he will do great things for this school. Watch out Tigers. Here he comes!

Trev's first Rain Gutter Regatta

Trevor competed in his first ever RAIN GUTTER REGATTA! He was excited to participate in this event after having such great success at the pine wood derby earlier this year. He had a blast making and designing his very own boat. He named it the Silver Bullet - after the ride at Knott's Berry Farm with the same name - not after the beer commercials (we hope).

It was a breezy summer evening and the wind was working in the boys' favor. It wasn't until the last of his races that he realized he didn't have to blow so hard to make his boat move forward. He won a few and lost a few, but was happy to be in the final race (he lost this last one, but still thought he was pretty hot stuff).

He also came home with a handful of awards he'd earned at the Cub Scout Day Camp last month. It was a good night for the self esteem of a young boy. We love Cub Scouts!

Knott's Berry Farm 2008

We did a quick end-of-summer-vacation trip to Knott's Berry Farm. The Christophersons all have season passes so they came along as well as the Minnicks. There were 15 kids and 6 adults - what a party! We left Tuesday morning at 5AM and got there in time for the park opening at 10AM. Needless to say we were all a bit tired when we arrived.

Kari was gracious to share her special day with us. Tuesday was her birthday! She turned 36 years old. What a great gal. She was showered, literally (can you see the popper streamers?), during our lunch break. She got a huge bday gift from her kids, a lovely card and a fresh boysenberry pie with candles. Who wouldn't want to spend their birthday like this? And speaking of lunch... it was delicious! We've always heard about the famous "Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner". And we finally got to try it out. It was soooo yummy! The homemade biscuits were my favorite - they were almost dripping with butter - mmmmmm. I'm salivating as I'm thinking about them. They were that good.

We started the kids out on a rollercoaster that was a little intense for their taste and decided that we needed to scale back on the thrill factor for them. Here were their picks....

Lizzie's favorite ride: THE MEXICAN HAT DANCE

We rode this thing about 6 times in a row! She couldn't get enough!

Trevor & Logan's favorite ride: TIMBERLINE TWISTER

This rollercoaster is in the kiddie area. Just their speed. We'll make sure to start here next time and work our way up through the day. Caleb liked it too - just look at that face!

Jackson's favorite ride: RED BARON

Jackson was thrilled to find a few rides he could go on all by himself. He rode this one about 5 times. Whenever there was a ride he could not go on he would say repeatedly, "Ride? ride? ride? ride?..." It was so pathetic! He would have gone on any ride there - sorry cute boy - you've got to grow a few more inches!

Knott's has some pretty fun shows. The stunt show was great - it even cooled us off during the hot part of the day - thank you splash zone. The stunt guys were cool about posing with our crew after the show. The kids thought that was great!

The bike/skateboard show was the best. They were cycling, blading and boarding all through it. The music was loud, the dancers did some crazy spinning on a dangling hula hoop from about 40 feet up, and the synchronized trampolinists were amazing! This show was my favorite part of the day - great heart pumping entertainment.

The kids were troopers considering they were up so early and there were no naps that day. Special thanks to the Stoffs for letting us use their season passes to get in for half price - you guys are great. It was a good day - a long day 4AM-11:30PM - but a good day all the same.

Check out Robb's post on the hotel we stayed in that night - we'll most likely go back and stay again. The bunk beds were a hit.

The next day the Christophersons spent at Soak City. While there, Robb took his shirt off and starlted some of the guests. They thought it was big foot because of the hair,

but it turned out to be Robb.

From behind...


While they went to Soak City we stopped for a visit to the Discovery Kids Museum in Santa Ana. It was a good time, but a little chaotic. There were several summer camp groups there and that made keeping track of the kids a little more difficult than usual. Especially because there was another group there wearing the same color lime green t-shirts as us. Kristen met us there with Ryan and Tyler - we love spending time with those guys and our kids get along great.

Trev and Log enjoy the dinosaur scavenger hunt outside.

Jackson and Tyler are two peas in a pod. They are into all the same stuff - taking things apart, pushing the wheelbarrow around and sliding down the slide together. They are buddies already - so cute! Lizzie had a great time too. The Bob the Builder exhibit was perfect for her. This is Wendy, Lizzie's new friend. The kids were good to us in the car - you just can't beat that. It always makes traveling so much more pleasant. Another good trip. Good times and good memories.