Overheard

Hey. Grandma Judy. We're going to fight some more monsters, so hang on.

I need my samuraizer!

Look at my spin sword.

John. John. John. John. John.

I've got to teach you some moves. First you do this: wha, wha, whaaaaa.

This will make my spider strong. That will power up my spider pretty good.

I need the beetle disc.

Get your crystal!

I need to call Daddy. Daddy, we're going to fight monsters, so get the plan.

Random Video

Finally! Look at this cute boy!

Here is Christopher's school picture. It took me awhile to figure out how to manipulate it. But here it is. Worth the wait!

Chachaco

[Chuh-CHA-co, also has been pronounced Cha-CHACH-co]

This is the Penna contribution to Mexican cuisine. It's a hit with the kids.

Take leftover cooked chicken (from rotisserie or crock pot, leftover fajitas, whatever), chop it in the food processor then saute it with taco seasoning, chopped onions, and peppers.
Layer it on a tostada or tortilla chips with beans and cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.

Yum!

I originally made up the name because I wanted to give the kids nachos with chicken, peppers, and onions, but I didn't want to call them nachos and set up the expectation for something they already knew. What we made is actually a variation on tostadas or chalupas. But, hey, I love to think that I gave something back to Mexican food, which has given me so much over the years...

Day Seven: Challenge over, if only 83.67% complete

LOL! That's perfect.
I'm going to post it on my blog,
Then start work again.

I put makeup on
Today to take my picture
for my Outlook page.

Friends and neighbors,
More than helpful: they're funny.
Let's go out and drink.

And three from the two who originally inspired my challenge.
Kerri:
I have to work now.
It's not often that I do.
Why aren't you working?

Becky:
I stay with my kids.
No one has it worse than me.
Sorry, starving poor kids.

Will this visa form
to China fill itself out?
My life is so hard.

And finally,
Now I will be done.
This challenge was fun, but you
know I'm glad it's o'er.

Day Six (posted on Day 7)

One, two, three, four, five,
Six, sev'n, eight, nine, ten, 'leven,
Twelve, thirteen, fourteen.

Google, Amazon,
McDonald's, Starbucks, YouTube,
Apple, Microsoft.

I'll bet you can tell
That I'm running out of things
To haiku for you.

Tequila, lime juice,
Agave and salt on the rim:
Margarita sub.

Day 5

Honda CRV,
Blue, dirty on the inside,
But reliable.

Each week I wear more
Workout clothes than regular
Clothes. LOTS of laundry.

The Plantation Room,
As it was formerly called,
Is the Lego Room.

The weapons box holds

The Imaginations of

Two fun little boys.

 

Higher ed costs what?

Sixty thousand for one year?

Dad paid forty tot'l.

At least I got five for day 5...

 

 

 

Day 4

Getting desperate,
It's your turn, gentle reader:
Send some haiku soon.

There's a panda bear
On the west wall of the house.
Yes, I painted him.

Our gas fireplace
Is wonderful in the fall.
Turn it on or off.

Crock pot spaghetti
Is what's for dinner tonight.
I'm boiling pasta.

The schedule this week
Is crazy. Tony is gone:
"Laramie Project."

I love the color
orange. But in this town it
has too much import.

One more haiku then
I'm done for the day. Topic?
Aquafresh toothpaste.

Day three: Late and incomplete... now that's my style.

My fitbit tells me:
Four thousand one hundred three.
Still a ways to go.

Our Weekly Schedule
Is coordinated, full,
And-- Hurry, we're late!

On our reading lamps
We have dimmer switches that
Usher us to sleep.

My ball point pens are blue,
Paper Mate Write Bros. model.
I lose them often.

Day Two: You didn't think I wasn't going to go through with it?

It is obvious
You don't know how long I can
Beat a joke to death.

It's easy: pick five
Then use seven syllables,
Five more. You're done.

On this past Wednesday,
I got out the bread machine
But I forgot yeast.

There's a yoga class
At 8:15 on Thursdays
I'd like to attend.

Back in the crawl space
Percolating to create
A steam-filled bathroom.

I have three, John two,
Christopher two, Tony two,
Pillows on our beds.

4:05 a.m.
There is nothing I hate more
Than a gloating clock.

My Seven-Day Challenge

As a result of an email discussion with Kerri and Becky, I realize that I'm neglecting my growth as a person because I'm not on a CHALLENGE. I didn't know, because I don't have Facebook. They were very gentle about telling me.

Really, if you are not doing at least five challenges right now, you should just go live in a cave behind a rock.

So here's my challenge: Seven days of seven haikus about beloved or overlooked household objects.

Day One:

Washer, you clean with

Just soap, water, and good will.

Agitate, rinse, spin.

Soft, warm flannel sheets,

You welcome us ev'ry night,

with pictures of sheep.

O, my kitchen floor.
How you miss my loving touch,
Never are you cleaned.

My keys elude me,

Every time I need them.
Are they here, or there?

Computer printer,
Needs color toner but still
The colors are wrong.

I use my charger

Every night to recharge
My cellular phone.

Zip-lock bag quand'ry:

Convenient and so useful,
But oh the landfill.


I challenge you to add your haiku to the comments section. And we will welcome you back to humanity. Because if you aren't writing a haiku right now, you suck.

For Aunt Jessica

Happy Halloween!

This is the first and probably only year we did a family costume...

Here's the side view of mine so you can tell what I am. Hopefully.

Tony did a great job on our pumpkin! We finally got the right tools.

Waiting for other trick-or-treaters. We don't get many...

Fall in a small town

Fall is so much fun here. The weather is cool enough to be bearable, and sometimes not too rainy, so that it is the best time to enjoy South Carolina outdoors. Plus there are lots of festivals in all the surrounding small towns, as well as farm events.

We always enjoy the  Pendleton Harvest Festival.
This year, they added a scavenger hunt, presented by a local leadership club. We liked it very much, although I think they can tweak it for next year. For our 4 entry fees totalling $12 (I think), we got three T-shirts (I didn't taken a 4th, although we could have), the scavenger hunt of local historical landmarks, and 8 chances in a raffle! Christopher won a $25 certificate at a local pizza place, and John won a frisbee game! Plus, the scavenger hunt was a little ambitious. I think they could have had 6 or 7 stops on the route, instead of 9.
Anyway, the fall festival was definitely more fun this year than just walking around and looking at local crafts.

We met Henry, June, and Georgie there.

Here are John and Christopher sharing a mint chocolate brownie from the Village Bakery.

 

 

Our other fall favorite, that we sometimes miss because of admission price, is the Denver Downs Corn Maze, presented by a local farm in September and October each year. They had definitely added attractions since the last time we had been (two years ago?).

 

The hay barn is always a favorite.

John likes the trolley, but you have to be at least 5 to do it, letting Christopher out.

They had a row of hay about a quarter mile long that was good for parkour.

"Where's John?"

A smaller hay stack for the enthusiastic but novice climbers.

 

This is the selfie of Christopher and me on the cow train.

New to us this year was the giant corn cob pillow. It was really good for bouncing!

The duck races are a perennial favorite.

And the eponymous corn maze! We started getting lost after the first stop. However, we found 6, 7, 8, and 12, about three times each. I was seriously starting to worry that we might not find our way out...

I love fall!

My new work colleague

I met him on my way to the restroom in the "office" the other day. He seems focused and quiet. He does make a sort of chewing sound when he eats. Which seems to be all the time...

Christopher's Event: The Fun Run

We went to the Westminster Apple Festival Fun Run again this year, and did much better! Last year, we finished in about a half hour with me carrying Christopher most of the way. This year, Christopher was the star! He finished in 15:52. And he ran right out of his shoe halfway through the race. John went back to get it and that killed his momentum. He walked most of the way and finished in 17:41. Garmin said it was a little over a mile. But we'll take it. Christopher did not stop the whole time, he walked a little at the beginning and then ran, ran, ran. I asked him if he wanted to stop to put his shoe back on and he said "No." He got a medal, first of one in his age group! The wife of the husband-and-wife timing company was very sweet, obviously she has grandkids of her own. She gave each of the boys a tootsie pop when they finished, and when Christopher went to show her the medal as they were packing up, she made a super-big deal about it. (Terrytimes.com, definitely a thumbs up)

Go, Team Penna!

John's first 5K!*

[*John finished at 38:47, so I checked my Garmin after and it was actually about 2.56 mi/4.12K: a pace of about 15:09, which was right what I hoped for]

Last night I loaded the boys and a huge amount of towels, dry clothes, trash bags, and water bottles into the car and the three of us went to a Glow Run!

My expectations were pretty low, because the last time I tried to take them on a one-mile run, it turned into a forced death march... I carried Christopher most of the way and John walked more slowly than humanly possible, with a dour look the whole time.

John wasn't super convinced even last night until I told him we'd probably be running in the rain. Then he was in...

It mostly just sprinkled and was about 68 degrees, which is actually pretty good running conditions.

 

Lately anytime I float the idea of John running a race with me, I always hammer home the idea that you don't have to run fast, you can walk, but YOU CAN'T STOP! So in the car on the way up, we did this a couple times:

Mommy: Are we going to get wet?
John and Christopher: Yes!
Mommy: Are we going to stop?
John and Christopher: No!
Mommy: Are we going to have fun?
John and Christopher: Yes!

 

And that pretty much sums it up... we walked over to the port-a-potty and took care of that. Then we picked up my packet and paid for John. We went back to the car and geared up. We used a borrowed jogging stroller, which is actually the nicest one I had ever used (Thanks Chip and Diane!!). We put on all our glow paraphernalia and then headed back over.

There was a "foam mountain," created by a professional theatrical soap bubble machine. John was into that and coaxed Christopher into it. It mostly just made them very wet. Christopher didn't like it. We didn't do body or shirt paint, all though it was on offer. I also didn't really need to bring our own glow stuff, they had glow necklaces, led flashing wands, and led foam sticks.

We lined up at the back of the starting line. The start took us through the foam. It was mostly a sort of mixed course (dirt/gravel park roads, open field, and sidewalks) through Heritage Park in Simpsonville. Only a couple of gentle grade increases and decrease. We got about 1/4 mile from the start and Christopher started asking when it would be over... but we got into a groove. John and I alternated setting the pace. Running - he would run ahead and I would follow. Walking - he would fall behind and I would do a medium pace (for me) walk. Jogging - we stayed together. We mostly alternated between walking and running, whenever John wanted a change. I had the Garmin set on 1 minute intervals and used that to extend the running bits a little longer sometimes.

John was actually fantastic. He just moved along at whatever rate waving his foam LED stick. He was great at avoiding mud, neither of us fell, and he only "stopped" twice, to pick glow stuff off the ground...

I kept yelling, "You're doing so good," "I can see you," "Don't bump into people," etc.

A couple times he said "You're doing well too, Mommy" and actually patted me on the back once as he passed me...

After the race, we hung out and drank some water - the free cookies were already gone - and then hung around for the kids dance contest. John was hoping to win, and didn't but they played "I like to Move It, Move It," which is HIS song...

Then we headed home. Walking back to the car, John said, "I think I'm pretty proud of myself." I told him he had a right to be!

Christopher also received the award for "most miserable conditions on the trip," since he was wet and cold and bounced and bored in the stroller. He did really great too, and his holding it together meant that I could enjoy the run too!

What was THAT? Part 3

If you haven't checked out the first two "What was THAT" posts, please do so before looking at this one.

This time I told Christopher to follow John like a creepy ninja.  Here's his interpretation of a creepy ninja...

What was THAT? Part 2

If you haven't watched the earlier post titled "What was THAT?" then please do so before watching the following video.

Here's another attempt by John to explain this weird phenomenon.

 

Bonus points if you went "do doooo do do do" after reading the word phenomenon a la the Muppets.

What was THAT?

On Sunday, John had a weird feeling that something was following him around the house.  Every time he turned around, all he saw was black.  It was weird.  We made a video and actually caught it on camera!  At the end of the video, watch the screen very closely and you just might see it.

Weird, huh?

Life is good.

Sunday at the beach

Our new variation on the "Breakfast Picnic" is Breakfast Picnic at the Beach. The "Y beach" is about a 10 minute drive, and it's always deserted on Sunday mornings until about 10:30 or 11.
We eat cheerios at a picnic table near the beach, then walk down and splash and dig for 1-2 hours. It's great!

Our love of Trio Blocks continues unabated

These are great! They click together, so they don't fall apart easily like mega-blocks, but they are big enough to make something large without 2,000 pieces like legos. Plus most of the pieces are universal so that you can make many different shapes. They do come in kits like Legos, but we've put all our kits together and the boys are enjoying making weapons. John is really getting creative.

Catapulting the moments of our lives

I mean "Capturing." Maybe.
I apologize for the lack of editing, but I can't download a photo editor onto my work computer, which is the one I use for everything now.

Anyway, this occasion was fresh haircuts and new clothes from Grandma Judy. Here's the pick of the lot!

I figure I will see this look a lot when they are teenagers.

 

 

I love this picture of John.

 

 

That's Christopher with the Blue Steel look again.

 

 He also seems to have inherited the Huber gene for having eyes closed in every picture.

 

 

It's never dull here!



Housework

Happy Father's Day, Tony. You have all the best qualities a father needs: patience, perserverance, humor, and compassion.
We love you very much!

 

 

 

 

The Local Pool

This $1 pool has served us faithfully so far this summer.