Commercial break

I admit, I'm addicted to TV. I've threatened to pull the cable for the summer, but I just can't do it. New Mad Men episodes start next month! And it's just not television programs. I like commercials too. Fred's stepfather thinks it's funny. Some of the best commercials are during football games and they are some really great Peyton Manning commercials in Tenn. that don't get national airplay. When he sees a good commerical he says he thinks of me because he knows I would like it. I love football, but when it comes to the Super Bowl I would rather get up during the game instead of the commercial breaks. I mean unless the Broncos were playing of course.

On the way to work each morning I always hear a couple of McDonalds commercials. I love that the commercials say that their biscuits are "homemade tasting." It makes me smile every time. The biscuits aren't homemade, they're "homemade tasting."

Another one I heard on the radio was from Home Depot. "A sponsor of Father's Day," it said. How do you become a sponsor of Father's Day? I understand how you could be a sponsor of The Olympics, but Father's Day. It's not like they have a national headquarters where you can send your check for your sponsorship. What next? Chevrolet an offical sponsor of Thanksgiving. Or worse, Budwieser, an official sponsor of Christmas.

Here's a commercial I would like to see. Have you seen the commercial for one of the cell phone companies and everyone is talking in text abbreviations, even the grandma? I would like to see the mom come into the room and just say, "WTF".

At the movies

I've been debating whether or not to take Rion to the new Indiana Jones movie, but he kept bugging me so we went today. The only other movies he has seen in the theatres is Cars and Meet the Robinsons. He wouldn't sit still in either movie and I wasn't sure he was going to like the new Indiana so I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. The movie was at the Grand Theatres, by far the best theatre in town. The moment we got there Rion was taking it all in, eyes wide and mouth dropped open. When we got our tickets I told Rion to tell the ticket girl what movie he wanted to see. "I want to see the new Indiana Jones!" I thought he would say it quietly, but he really spoke up. We got some popcorn, candy and pop and then Rion gave our tickets to the ticket collector. As we made our way to our theatre, Rion was busy looking at everything. "Wow, wow, wow," he kept saying. One hallway we went down was filled with movie posters. Suddenly Rion stopped. "Raiders!" He had spotted the Raiders of the Lost Ark poster. Rion picked out our seats in the theatre and we ate our popcorn while we waited for the movie to start. Then the lights got dark and Rion sat still. He stopped eating and stared at the screen. He got a little fidgety during some scenes, but then the Indiana Jones music would start and he was still again, a big smile on his face. I looked over at him quite a lot during the movie. He was really enjoying it. He even noticed the ark at the warehouse and knew that was Marion from Raiders. After the movie he said he wanted to see it again. I think I also enjoyed it more the second time. I forgot their was some swearing in it, something I didn't notice while watching it without a kid present the first time. It's was fun to watch it through Rion's eyes and Indiana Jones is a great movie to see in the theatres. I'm glad he liked it, but now he's mad he can't watch it on his computer. I told him we will buy it when it comes out on DVD, but as he's so fond of saying, "that will take forever."

The classics

Over the weekend Rion and I caught the last hour of The Goonies on TV. I told him it was basically Indiana Jones, but with kids. In fact, Short Round from Temple of Doom is in it. He really liked it. I really need to find that movie on DVD.

I have also started building their library of my favorite books. I have a huge list of books that I want to find. I am also trying to be thrifty and environmentally conscience by buying used books. So far I have found a good stack of Beverly Cleary, including all the Mouse and the Motorcycle books, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian (which I am currently reading), all the Harry Potter books, Sideways Stories from Wayside School and a bunch more. It's fun hunting all these books down and exciting when I find one on the list or one I forget about. And now that I have my little girl, I can look for all those great Judy Blume books too. Although, I don't think I will read "Are you there God, it's me Margaret," to her. That one can be on her own.

Persistence

The boys were playing on the inflatables that were set up at Buggies and Blues on Sunday. Torii is on the left and Rion on the right. Rion has such long legs that he has no problem getting up. Torii has cute little legs so he has a harder time. He could get up the ladder and the bars easily, but he also wanted to go up the far right path that was more like a rock climbing wall. The first time he tried it he got close to the top and then slipped down. There was a huge line of kids so I told him he should try the ladder instead. The girl waiting at the top also suggested the ladder. Torii ignored the advice and kept trying. It took him a few tries, but he got up. Later he tried the rock climbing path again and it still took him a couple of tries, but he didn't give up. I'm glad he didn't listen to me about taking the ladder. He proved he is willing to keep trying for the things he wants. It's easy to give up and take the easy route, but to accomplish something that is harder makes you more proud in the end. I know I'm proud of him.

For sale

It's been a couple of years, so it's time for a rummage sale. It's amazing how much a person can accumulate in a short period of time. When Fred and I moved back to Bismarck our whole life fit inside a small trailer. Six years later, I can't even imagine trying to move all the stuff we have. We have filled this house up real good. The boys were still really young when we had our last rummage sale. Except for some baby toys there wasn't any toys that they had outgrown yet. This time however, this rummage sale is going to be stocked with toys. I spent two days going through the boys' room and their play area downstairs. I put so much stuff in the rummage sale pile. It feels so good to get rid of it too. While I was cleaning their room I also organized it better and it looks great. The boys also found some toys they haven't seen in awhile and have had some fun playing with them again. In addition to the rummage sale pile I also filled a garbage bag full of broken toys and junk. I don't think the boys understand that I am going to sell all the toys I pulled out. It will be interesting to see what they do when they see it all at the actual rummage sale. But that's another blog for another time.

Soccer. Day One.

Rion had his first soccer practice this evening. I think they should reconsider where they have the fields for the five and six years olds. Right next to the playground is not the best place. Rion spent half of the practice staring at the playground. About half way through the practice Fred gave Rion a drink of Gatorade. He asked Rion if he was having fun. "I want to play on the playground," he said. Fred told him after soccer he could. "I played soccer," he said. It didn't look like he was really into the soccer but towards the end he really started to warm up to it. There was about 15 kids in his group and I would not want to be a coach. The kids weren't that great at listening. "If you're not going to listen," the coach said, "we're going to run." That wasn't much of threat because the kids loved running. In fact that was the happiest I saw Rion the whole time.

Torii on the other hand wanted to be out there with Rion. We brought a soccer ball with for him to kick around. He was really good. He was even dribbling it. Then Tanner came over and Torii played soccer with him.

Rion did say he liked soccer. I hope he does like it. We'll see how it goes. It is fun to see all the little kids out there kicking the ball around. I think they have two weeks of practice and then they start games.