You are getting sleeeeeeeeppy.....

Last night was Carl's Home Depot Christmas party. They held it outside the store this year, at The Summit in Canton. Very nice place! They had a buffet dinner for all the guests, and prize drawings for things like a Wii, flat screen TV, xbox 360 and other cool stuff. Of course we didn't win any of it cause that is our luck, but that is alright.

So, the highlight of the evening, in everyone's opinion I am sure, other then the winners of all the cool stuff, was the entertainment. The company hired a hypnotist.

Ah the power of suggestion. It's a huge thing isn't it? Well, combine that with pure relaxation and you don't have anything more entertaining! Because really, that is all that hypnosis is I found out. In the beginning he had us all do a group exercise where we relaxed our entire bodies. I have done this before and I love doing it! So I was at a total blank, no worries, no stress, no anything. He had us memorize 25 things in sequential order. Took only a minute, but I can remember them still this morning. So, then he brings us back out of the relaxation and looks for volunteers to help him with the rest of the show. I had already told Carl that I would be volunteering, so up my hand shot.

He started with another gal first and poof, out she went, all slumped over in her chair. And I STILL wanted to do it! ha ha So, then he comes over to me. Now, remember, this is in a swanky banquet room, with almost every Canton Home Depot employee and their spouse/significant other. So here he comes up, talks to me for a second, and then places his hand on my forehead. Boom, there goes Chris! I can remember all of it now this morning and it is just hilarious. I have a feeling that it must be like getting drunk. I was doing ridiculous things, I knew I was doing them, I could hear everyone laughing at me, and at times, I laughed as well, yet I had no inclination to stop. I was totally free of all embarrassment!

So. there were 10 of us I believe in the grand finale at the front of the room. During the show I drove my car to the beach as my teenage self, put suntan lotion on my neighbors back while my other neighbor put it on my butt, fended off bees, put poo on my face danced like a ballerina and danced to an Elvis song. There were other things a well, like when I got "pulled over" by a policeman and was asked why I was speeding. My answer? "Eric was talking to loud." Yep...By the way, Eric was a fabulous friend I had in highschool. Just in case you were wondering who he was like the people at our table did. ha ha, I guess they were hoping for some secret lover to surface!!

So, I did leave having had an experience, which is why I wanted to go to the party in the first place. So, my parting words...Hypnosis is real, so make sure you go under with a reputable hypnotist! Oh, an don't go into a hypnotic stupor in a puddle of spilled drink on the floor like I did. Then it just makes you look like you were too relaxed...

Update on Dad's trip

My dad made it back to the grand old state of Idaho this week. He had a fabulous trip and says he was interviewed, filmed and had snapshots taken for 2 straight days. It's like he's a movie star! They are having a "Movie Night" on the 18th of this month to preview the film my father will be in. In fact, he will not only be in it, but narrating it it seems, so that is pretty fabulous. They are putting it out as "a never before seen preview of personal narration of the process by one of the actual men who were there at the time, working on the unknown." Very cool!

Alex's Christmas Program

'Tis the season for holiday programs. Alex's school had their show last night and it was awesome! All of the kids did very well and sang in nice loud voices. The show started at 7, but by 6:45 when all the kids were supposed to come, there was standing room only! They must have been letting people in at 6 for the amount of families that were there. All in all though, it was a success. I did think it was funny that they sang "Away in a Manger", a song about the baby Jesus, and felt compleled to change the line "the stars in the heavens" to "the stars in the sky". They can sing about Jesus, but not Heaven? ha ha, Whatever! So, here are some photos and two of the four songs he sang. I really wish Carl would have gotten his last performance. His facial expressions were just killing me!!

C-O-N-spiracy

When my parents were first married, my father worked at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, which was a nuclear reactor located in Southern California. Over it's history, it is said to have has at least 9 "nuclear accidents". In 1959, when my father was there, it had a partial meltdown.

You've heard of 3 Mile Island right? This meltdown created an estimated 250 times the radiation. So why haven't you heard of this before? Well, that is the question.

This has been a story that I have known since I was small. My father helped with the cleanup there, wearing nothing more than his street clothes, a cotton jumper, and his boots. The Secret to absorbing all the spilled waste? Kotex pads...seriously! They actually removed the melted core by hand, looking down directly into the reactor! This whole incident became classified and there was no public notification. Here is where my Dad comes in. Being the smart and insane young man he was, took a camera into the site and took pictures! He has carried around proof of this reactor and it's secrets for the past 50 years. Here is part of the story in his own words:

"If you want to fine information on the Web on the reactor that I worked at in 1959.... look under SSFL, SRE Sodium filled Reactor, Santa Susana Field Lab.,  1959 SRE Reator Melt down,  Santa Susana Field Lab. area 4.  Just remember I worked at the SRE Reactor, in Area 4, in the Santa Susana Mountains for Atomics International / Rocketdyne.

All this was happening when mom I were engaged to get married and a short time after we were married in 1959.  It was top secret what I was doing at the time and could not talk about it to the public or even mom.  She had no idea really what I was doing at the time she knew I worked for Atomics International and had a good paying job, and worked at Atomic reactor as an assistant Operator.  She knew I was doing some clean- up with Kotex for a sponge and had a lot of safety pins from them in my glove box in my car. She did not know how bad the danger that I was in at the time I worked there.

We were young at the time and did not think to much about it....the main thing I was making good money at the time... we had a new house and we were married and on our own.

She did notice when I came home with holes in my cloths from cutting out hot spots of radiation in my cloths and soles of my shoes.  she knew the reactor had problems and we were trying to repair it.

Then we never thought about the fact that mom having 5 miscarriages in 7 years could be the cause of working at the Reactor.  Just young and did not think about it....and I could not talk about it to the Doctors anyway at that time...it was top secret during the Korean War time.  the Government was over seeing the project we were working on.  the Government was using the uranium from the Fuel Rods for Atomic Weapons.  There was a hot lab also in the building that messed with that sort of thing.  It was quite an operation.

I worked there 9 Mo. before I was layed off.  It was a month after were were married... "

Here is a film about the reactor. My Dad says "I am in a lot of these clips. It would be hard for you to recognize me, I was 20 years old at that time. There is two scenes that you maybe able to find me.....they show in a scene helping to turn a large round spoke wheel (looks like a wagon wheel) I am in the upper left corner leaning over pushing. The other is where I am down in a hole bent over painting with a paint brush. The hole I was in was highly contaminated it was right next to the reactor core. In the hole was the new pump that was replaced. This pump is what caused the reactor to heat up and caused the melt down when the old one had leaky seals."

This is a shot of him looking down into the rector to remove the melted core pieces. Note his hat. It says "Your safety is our business, Atomics International."

Aerospace Cancer Museum of Education

Tomorrow, my Father is being flown out to LA to become a part of a museum that has been created to bring awareness to this and other reactor plants and their misconduct. He will be meeting with a member of the EPA and the DTSC (the Dept. of Toxic Substance Control. Can I just tell you how proud I am of him! He has worked a long time trying to get someone to listen to his story, and he has finally been heard. I wish you all the luck in the world Dad!!

My day with Alex

There was no school for Alex on Wednesday due to Thanksgiving, so he and I spent the day together. We played a lot of games and had quite a bit of silly fun, but there were 2 things from the day that really stand out.

At about 9:30 in the morning, Alex came up with an idea for Jacob. He took the stocking that he had made the night previous in scouts, labeled it with a note underneath, and put his only tiny Bakugan in it to give to Jacob for "keeps". Now, I don't know if any of you that read this have young boys that are into Bakugan, but let me tall you, it is like furbies all over again!!! You can't find them in the stores at all this season. Even Santa Clause is going to be hard pressed to find any if you know what I mean, so this is a huge deal!! He put the whole thing together and then began waiting by the door for Jacob's bus to pull up. I had to convince him that Jacob's bus would not be home for 6 more hours and that he shouldn't wait there that whole time! ha ha. It was very sweet. Jacob certainly appreciated it when he got home!

Can you see the note underneath? So cute!

Of course, perhaps I should have left him waiting by the door all day. Alex decided later in the afternoon that he wanted to make a pool for his toys, complete with water slide. We got him a bowl and some things to make the slide and put them in the sink. We used our water filter tap as the continual water slide water. Well, as soon as he got this set up, we needed to run to grandma's house for a bit, so he was disappointed, but I told him that we could start back up as soon as we got home. When we did get home, plans changed for the worse! These pictures should tell you most of the tale....




He added half a bottle of soap to the sink full of water because he must not have gotten the concept that dish soap doesn't instantly foam. The ENTIRE bottom of the sink was full of soap!! These pictures are from the 3rd sink fill up. The suds lasted a very very long time indeed! It seems that he wanted a bigger pool, and then I guess a bathtub? Oh Alex... All in all it was a super fun day and I was glad that I got to spend some alone time with my baby. He is growing up too fast!

Q & A with Jacob

Here are the answers that I got from Jake.I put them down verbatim, so some of this in going to be in something we call "Jacob". Believe me, sometimes he has his own language.

1. What is something mom always says to you?

"I love you." (Go me again!!)

2. What makes mom happy?

"Thank you cards." (True)

3. What makes mom sad?

"Well, one time you cried about fighting with Dad." (What can you say to that?)

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

"Taking me to the clown circus." (I didn't even take him and I got credit, YES!)

5. What was your mom like as a child?

"You haded hair and little small body." (Good description.)

6. How old is your mom?

[shrugs] "mom, just tell me!" (I knew one of them would do this, I just didn't know which!!)

7. How tall is your mom?

"Maybe 65 inches." (good guess!)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

"Being with the family."

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?

"Maybe you rest?"

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

"Um, let's see, um bestest fashion clothes." (Um, ok...)

11. What is your mom really good at?

"Hmmm, good at coloring stuff."

12. What is your mom not very good at?

"Um, giving Alex what he likes. You always give him healthy cups and it makes him sad." (Ha ha, favorite answer!)

13. What does your mom do for her job?

"To take care of our family. I know that cause you got fired at Joann's." (This started a big argument between him and Alex. Alex said I did not get fired, I quit, which is true.)

14. What is your mom's favorite food?

"Asparagus." (WHAT?!?!)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

"I like your hair." (Always a point of pride...)

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

"Mighty Mom."

17. What do you and your mom do together?

"Play catch in the summer. "

18. How are you and your mom the same?

"We have the same last names."

19. How are you and your mom different?

"Well, our bodies in places and our ages and your weight." (What are you sayin' Jake?!)

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

"Let's see...write me thank you cards. Sometimes you make me, like me cause you sometimes give me a break on Wednesdays for scouts." (I don't even know what he is talking about! ha ha)

I tag Jenn (with Delia) and Francesca (with Noah)!

Q & A with Alex

I got tagged by Penny, so I thought I would ask Alex since he and I have the most alone time in the morning. I'll try to get Jacob this afternoon, and perhaps I can get Carl to do this as well. It was pretty funny to hear the answers that he provided.

1. What is something mom always says to you?

"I love you!" (Go Me!!)

2. What makes mom happy?

"Me" (My favorite answer!!)

3. What makes mom sad?

"Sad stories"

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

"Hmmm...I don't know. I don't remember" (Obviously not too funny...)

5. What was your mom like as a child?

"You were like, smaller than you are now." (hee hee)

6. How old is your mom?

"I think 29" (He thought long and hard about this one and he is only off a year!)

7. How tall is your mom?

"You are 10 feet" (Wow)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

"Your favorite thing to do is read a book." (What can I say, the child knows me!)

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?

"You hang with Daddy" (nice use of slang)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

"You would be famous for some money. For the allowances" (He just earned his, so it is fresh on the mind)

11. What is your mom really good at?

"You are really good at fighting Daddy" (This is a reference to my ability to wrestle with Daddy for long periods of time)

12. What is your mom not very good at?

"You're not very good at running" (So true, love!)

13. What does your mom do for her job?

"You are, I think you are the seller from the girl job." (He must still think I work at JoAnns!)

14. What is your mom's favorite food?

"Your favorite food is chicken." (This is actually his favorite food! ha ha)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

"That you love me!" (Good job Mom!)

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

"I don't know. Like Katara? No, actually you are like Panini." (I'M NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND!!!)

17. What do you and your mom do together?

"We play together."

18. How are you and your mom the same?

"We are the same because we both love each other." (Awwww)

19. How are you and your mom different?

"We are different because you are a girl and I am a boy." (Clear and to the point)

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

"Because we both hug." (Each other)

Well there you go...

It seems that Jacob doesn't even have to wait to be the president! Thanks a lot Grandpa. You made Jake's face light up!

Hello, Carl here:

In my quest to become, at the very least, an amateur photographer I have been practicing a lot with lighting. I am terrible in low unnatural light.

BUT... I have developed a new appreciation for my three most beautiful (and overly eager to help) models. So here is a tribute to them to say thanks!

Jacob's Aspirations

Up until a few months ago, it was Jacob's dream to be a cashier, namely one at Aldi's. Why you ask? Well, it's because they get to sit down while they work of course! Well, now he wants to become a nurse, so he can help other kids with diabetes. :) But, this morning I found this in Jacob's backpack and it seems that he might be reaching toward some higher goals. Of course the reasoning behind it seems to be from the less noble side of Jacob we are used to! ha ha

Poor Man, we hardly knew you

For Jacob's birthday as previously noted, he got a tank and 3 fish from the Williams'. He was super excited to be able to feed them and take care of them. Well, after a whole lot of hullabaloo, we convinced him that they shouldn't be fed until morning. Well, he got himself up and fed those fish before we had all come downstairs the next day. The problem was, he was a bit too generous with the food. I thought it would be ok since he had got a bottom feeder. Figured he would take care of the extra that fell to the bottom. Well, this morning we woke up to find that the water was all cloudy and gross. We had to run to church, but I was planning on cleaning out their tank as soon as we got home. Well, that didn't happen until later in the afternoon and by that time it was discovered that Man was dead Yes, he named him Man. The others are Friend (or Fred depending on which child you are asking) and Buddy. Well, let me tell you there were a lot of tears shed by both boys. Turned out to be a great time to talk about the Plan of Salvation and resurrection though!
Grandma and Gramps were coming for dinner and so we postponed the funeral until they got to our house. Jacob was appalled by the idea of a toilet burial so I dug a hole outside in the back and we made a headstone. It reads,

MAN

Beloved Fish

I think that the cutest and saddest part was Jacob saying his final words to the poor fish that he hardly knew and his brother patting him on the back the whole time to comfort him, tears streaming down their faces. They didn't even notice that my Father-in-law was laughing the whole time! They got me though and I actually shed a tear or two in Man's honor. Now I hope the others last more than a day and a half!

Jacob's Birthday and Party

Jacob's birthday was on the 4th of November, and since that was Super Tuesday we decided to have his birthday on the Friday following. On his actual Birthday we took him to a few fun places. Jake, Al and I met up with the Williams' at the fabulous new park that is in Westland for a picnic. Then after Carl got home from work, we headed out to the Henry Ford Imax theater to see "The Miracle of Flight". It was a film about the Blue Angels and was really interesting when you weren't dzzy from all the spinning! After that we went for a spending spree in the bulk food warehouse, then onto Pizza Hut for dinner. It was a super fun night!

So, Friday we had the actualy party. Jake invited a friend from school to come. The funny part was that he didn't tell me about it! So, when his friend called for directions, I was a bit suprised. But, we worked it all out and Brad was able to join us after-all. jake got a lot of cool stuff. 3 new games for his DS, a few board games and even fish! It was a super fabulous night.

Jacob's party was Spongebob themed, so we made a cake that looked like Spongebob. Carl has the idea to make it a neopolitan cake, and I think it turned out really wel!

Jake with one of his DS games he got.

Jake and Bradley. Jake pulled the glass up right before Carl shot the picture. I think it looks really cool myself!

Goofing around with the camera

technical difficulties

Seems the link I sent was bogus, but not to fear, here is the legit one. Sorry about that!!

Gator Jacks Sub Shop

Sisterly Pride

My brother's business is flourishing! I am so proud of him and his Family. THey have had to put a lot of hard work and sacrifice into starting up their own restaurant. I wanted everyone to know that they now have their own website, and while it is still "under construction" I think that it looks really great! So, here it is, and for those of you back in Idaho check him out and tell him I sent you!!

Gator Jacks

New Freezer

Hooray!! New freezer for me! I am so excited, and I think that is a little sad! ha ha But, either way, we have one now and I am well pleased.

We got it from Home Depot (of course). We had Carl's folks drive us to go get it with their Durango. Well, we got out to the depot, only to find out that they were all out of the particular size we wanted (7.2 cubic feet)! Ugh, so I drug my in-laws to the South Canton store where they did have one. Carl suggested we wait, but I know us, and we needed to get it while the money was in our grubby fists because we have "waited" for about a year now! So here it is, waiting to be filled with deliciousness. Now all I need to do is head to the grocery store!

A view through our food storage shelves

THis picture will just not cooperate, but this is the inside.

This is a picture of the whole set-up. We bought a new shelf while we were there as well, so now we have created out own mini-grocery store! Of course our shelves are a bit bare, but it won't be that way for long!

Halloween Party

Carl and I were invited to our first Halloween Party last Friday. We had a blast. It was at Francesca and Daniel's house. There were lots of friends from the ward all dressed up and everyone had a blast! Carl dressed as a "Chick Magnet" and I was French, although I was supposed to be a mime...white face makeup is not comfortable! Came off within minutes of my putting it on! I only added a few pictures on here, but Francesca's blog has a bunch. Also, seems that some of the photos are too big, so if you click on them you can see the whole image.

Our hosts Starsky and Hutch

Oooo-la-la, I am with the handsomest man here, no?

The Chick Magnet and his French babe encounter Joseph and Mary

Hey, It's SUPER.... uhhhh.... is that a chicken??

Hooray, it is my month to shine baby!!!! Well, not really it seems since I have been so busy doing everything under the sun it seems. So today I have designated it, "Christina Day" where I will be doing at least SOME of the things I WANT to do today, instead of ALL the things I HAVE to do today. So there!!!

First item on the list, make cinnamon rolls for breakfast and enjoy them. (this was actually Carl's idea, and I thank him greatly for it!)

Second, update the poor blog with something...hence this whole odd rant...

Third, make curtains for Alex's room. I have been wanting to do this for a few weeks, but have just not made the time to do it.

Fourth, look through all of my fabric. yeah, to you non-sewers, this sounds a bit weird, but I want to take inventory for Christmas projects. Plus, I just LOVE fabric!!

Fifth, hang out with Lindsey and Carl and just be dumb!!!

So, there you go folks...my day is today and I am going to try to enjoy it! (That is before 3:00 when the kids all come home and then I have to take Carl to the doctor and make dinner and the Home teachers come over and etc... ha ha)

Our Weekend of Long Missed Friends

Elder Robins, Carl and Elder Tamms

Today I was invited over to the Williams's to participate in a Missionary discussion with our ward's newest member. The boys and I walked over, leaving Carl at home since he had only a short time before he had to head off to work. I walked in not really paying attention to anything but getting the pitcher I was bringing back to the kitchen when I heard the missionaries say something about me not being very observant. "Well, what did I miss?" I thought as I turned around. Nothing I could see, but then again I heard, "Well, she'll notice eventually." Now I was really perplexed...what had I missed?! As I peeked over at the half wall to confront the missionaries, I saw none other than Elder Tams! Hooray! I have a big soft spot for this young man. I tell you, I honestly wept huge tears when he got transfered over 7 months ago. I can't tell you how excited I was to see him in the flesh again! It was also a wonderful thing since I had lost track of his address a few moths back and had no idea where he had been transfered to. So, of course I phoned Carl right away and told him to get his keister over to Lindsey's fast. He was really happy to see Tams again as well. What a blessing!

Now the weekend gets even better because Elder Robins is coming for a visit with his parents tomorrow. He finished his mission on Wednesday and has been traveling the greater Metro-Detroit area visiting all the families he has been with over the past 2 years. We are the last stop on the Robin's express and are so excited to see him tomorrow. I am expecially excited to visit his mother that I have been in contact with since Carl was baptised. So, our weekend is a joyous one, with lots of memories and happiness.

Back to school!!

The strike is over, according to a judges ruling, so back to school we went today. It was supposed to be picture day, but the school figured that not too many people would be coming in for the one day since it is a Friday. So, they moved picture day to the 22nd. Since Alex was all done up with nothing to show for it, I decided to take some shots of him. I think they turned out pretty nice, even though it was pretty shady. But in truth, there are not too many places in this complex to take a photo where it doesn't look like you are standing next to a condo!

Enjoy!

Day 3 of the STRIKE

Well folks, it has been three days since the Wayne-Westland teachers decided to strike. This has proved to be a good reminder of how much I love my alone time. Of course I won't be getting as much of that since Carl's work schedule has changed and he will be home after 8 am everyday now. But, I suppose the difference is that Carl doesn't require constant entertainment.

So, here we are. Alex did get to go to the dentist today without missing any class time so I suppose that was a bonus. No cavities, Hooray!! We spent the rest of our day window shopping to kill time and playing with homemade play-doh at the William's house. Who knows what we will do tomorrow!!

Happy Birthday Alex!

Alex's birthday was on the 4th. So, since Carl had to work on Saturday, we had his party on Sunday. Alex had a great time, of course, and so did everyone else (I hope!). Not too much time to go into the details right now, but I thought I would post some photos. Above is Alex's cake. The figure next to his name at the bottom is Darth Vader as done by Dad.



Blurry, but only shot of Alex getting his long desired Pokemon book. It has every Pokemon in it!

These must be painful balloons!

The new skateboard that I am sure I will regret getting sooner or later.

Admiring his flaming cake.

Jacob's Etch-A-Sketch talent

Jacob has been using the Etch-A-Sketch a lot since he found it in the basement yesterday. Seems that he has aquired the talent of actually making a picture, not just stairs like his mother! Try to ignore my reflecttion in the photo. Darn shiny surfaces!!

He says that this a a fancy kitchen. Note the actual door knob and things on the counter!

What is with all the critters on our windows?!

Seriously, this slug is just ridiculous!!!! But, the neighborhood kids seem to enjoy him.

Our after-school visitor, a present from Idaho and tricks we learn from our fathers...

Yes, a long title, but appropriate for our day. When we got home from school, there was an enormous praying mantis on our kitchen window. He was a pretty awesome site, especially since Alex had just learned about them the day before at school.


A package came from Grandma and Grandpa Pace today and it had Jacob's baptismal gift in it. They got Jacob his own mini-quad with his name embossed on the cover. He was super excited! Thanks Gram and Gramps!

Last but not least, these pictures were taken at the conclusion of our spaghetti dinner. Sweet trick Dad, thanks for teaching it to the boys! ha ha