February 25, 2007

Last and Sometimes Least

One of the perks of Arthur's job is that he gets to have his name in the credits of most of Disney's animated movies. If you have ever tried to watch the credits in an animated movie, you realize that just about anyone associated with it is given this privilege. Unfortunately, for Arthur, his name typically falls at the end of the list. There have been many "Assistant Coffee Cup Fillers" and "M&M Color Sorters" who have managed to have their names higher in the credit list than Arthur.

One time when Arthur and I were dating, we went to see Atlantis at a movie theater in Salt Lake City. This happened to be Arthur's first credit in a movie, so we were excited to view it on the big screen together. As is the case with most movies, as soon as the credits started to roll, the lights in the theater came on and everyone made a mad dash to the exit. Arthur and I were the ONLY ones in the theater not leaving our seats. Patiently, we waited and waited for his name to appear. After about 10 minutes, an agitated usher came by with his broom and asked us to move our feet so he could sweep the floor. We tried to explain why we were still around, but he seemed more annoyed that we were keeping him from getting home. Finally, with little pomp and circumstance, Arthur's name rolled onto the screen and about 1.5 seconds later, it rolled off. We gathered our belongings and left the theater.

In March, we will once again have this opportunity to see Arthur's name on the big screen in the movie Meet The Robinsons. As an added bonus, Tyler and Dylan will have their names on the list as babies born during production. As a favor to all of you, I have added a screen shot of this, so you won't have to wait through 30 minutes of credits to see them. I give you permission to lie and tell Arthur that you waited it out just to see it on the big screen...



February 23, 2007

Dancing King

Please be warned that when watching this short clip, there is some outrageous editing that was done. I did not - I repeat - I did not do the editing! You can give all compliments to my dear husband Arthur.

Another note about the video - the reason it is so short (and the clips had to be edited together) is because everytime Tyler realized that I was taping him, he immediately went into temper tantrum mode. This included throwing chairs, screaming, running around, and throwing himself onto our ottoman. We did get this on video, but out of respect to him, I am refraining from publishing it to the world. The dancing is just too cute not to share.


February 19, 2007

Killing Nemo

For Tyler's 2nd birthday, his Uncle Aaron got him a 10 gallon fish tank. We learned a few critical lessons about taking care of fish:

  • Untreated tap water will kill fish.
  • Salespeople who tell you that sharks can eat goldfish flakes rather than worms are stupid.
  • It is not recommended to have 13 fish in a 10 gallon tank.
  • Fish should not be fed 3 times a day.
  • Fresh water and tropical fish do not mix.
  • A soap-filled brush is not a good tank-cleaning tool.
  • Don't get too attatched to your fish and have your toddler name each of them on the first day.
Unfortunately, we didn't follow any of the instructions above and within 1 month, all 13 of Tyler's fish had perished. We studied up on the art of fishcare, and have started over. We'll keep you posted on our success.

I'll leave you with a picture of our newly filled tank:


February 18, 2007

Gung hei faat choi

Chinese New Year was today, and we celebrated the same way we would celebrate any Chinese holiday; we ate and ate and ate. I would like to blame my overeating on the fact that it is the Year of the Pig, but unfortunately, I do this at every traditional chinese dinner.

Grandma and Grandpa Shek were in town with Uncle Alvin. Aaron brought along Fabienne, Andrew, John, and Bill to join us for the festivities.

Dylan receiving his Lai Si (red envelope) from Grandma and Grandpa:



The Sheks after dinner. If you have ever seen how crowded a Chinese restaurant can get, you will not question why we are sqeezed together and I am barely visible in the back:



Everyone, including Dylan, eating good food:



Fabienne, Aaron, John, Andrew and Bill:



Dylan was so happy to celebrate his first New Year:

February 15, 2007

It's Just Like a Mini-Mall!

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with our family, but Arthur sent it to me, and I had to publish it for your viewing enjoyment. Yes, this is an actual commercial.

(Okay, to be completely honest, I wanted to put it here so that I can keep watching it over and over)

Lightening McQueen

Tyler never learned how to walk. He went from rolling over as a baby, to crawling, to a full-out mad sprint to the finish line. There has never been the pitter patter of little feet in our home; only the thud thud thud that has often been mistaken for a herd of elephants.

Last night, he was running to join us to sit on the couches in the living room. He stumbled ever so slightly, but because of the velocity at which he was travelling, his body was hurled into the air, planting him face-first into our sofa. I am just happy that he did not end up with a black eye this morning...



February 10, 2007

Happy Days

Now that I know how to post videos, I will probably be flooding the blog with them. Muwahahaha!!!
Here is a cute video showing how happy Dylan is...



Dylan can sit on his own!! (well almost)

Dylan started to sit up a couple weeks ago and we finally got it on video. Please disregard my running commentary. I didn't realize how funny I sound talking to Dylan until we caught it on video!

February 6, 2007

Sleep Walking

Ever since Dylan was born, the entire house has been suffering from sleep deprivation. Poor Tyler has even been known to fall asleep on his way up the stairs in the middle of the night. I only wish we had video showing him carefully place his cup and truck on the top stair and snuggle himself into his blanket on the second step.

February 3, 2007

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Today we fulfilled the wishes of any boy. We took a ride on a train, met a sheriff, came up close and personal with a couple buses and spotted a police car. I am not sure about the boys, but my favorite part was drinking a smoothie on the way back home!




February 1, 2007

As many of you know, we have the perfect children. We never have to discipline them because they are so well-behaved. Their toys, however, sometimes get into trouble and we have to send them to Time-Out. I was cleaning today, and realized that quite a few toys were never released from their Time Out. I was wondering if anyone else has toys that suffer in solitary confinement like this.