Time for Toys

Last Monday, I decided to get off the couch and film a short movie with Tiego. This is only Tiego's second movie and his first speaking role so it was fun and frustrating at the same time. Thankfully, the shoot went well and the movie actually seems to have some kind of message. I love making these kinds of memories. So, for your consideration, here is TIME FOR TOYS.



And don't forget the BLOOPERS!

Tiego's Costumes

This is Kody:
Well, Halloween was cool because Tiego got a Bumblebee costume, but AFTER Halloween, I got him a number of costumes for cheap that he loves. Here are some pictures.

Storm Shadow from G.I. Joe

Tiffany and Tiego NOT finishing G.I. Joe
Tiego falling asleep as Snake Eyes while watching G.I. Joe again

Does whatever a spider can!
A picture of Tylin with pigtails

Dazzlewhite (Dazzlesmile) and Total White

This is Kody:
This is an angry blog and I thought I would just tell you about my experience with a couple of "free trials" that ended up being scams. I ran across a forum that talked about saving money on teeth whitener that really worked. The forum said to do free trials for Dazzel White and Total White and using them both together would give you great results. I put in for the free trials (only paying for shipping) it's been a nightmare ever since. Apparently those "forums" were advertisements and in the fine print I agreed to paying $80 a month for more teeth whitener. So after hours of waiting on hold and canceling these "memberships", I found another charge on my card. I was also charged $25 for a Physical Fitness information website. I had to cancel that but probably will not refund the money. I think I will have to end up changing my card number, because this really has been ridiculous. Beware of DazzleWhite and TotalWhite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Halloween

This is Kody:
Sorry I am so late on these. There's not really much to tell other than we were sick and couldn't do anything.

This is Tiffany's pumpkin. Looks pretty good!
Tiego and Tylin at the downtown trick or treating. Tylin fell asleep.

This is right before the trunk or treat that was outside and freezing! There was barely anyone there!
CANDY!
Tiego and our Autobot pumpkin
Better look at it
Our bumblebees





Would've been a great Halloween if we weren't sick!

On a different note, I got to take care if drunk idiots in costumes for an extra hour on Halloween at Shari's.

I Miss My Sisters

This is Kody:
I was checking out Michael Buble and a lot of his jazz covers that he has done (Save the Last Dance for Me, What a Wonderful World, Under My Skin for example). And then I ran into this song and I just wanted to get out and...Dance. I miss you!

Go ahead and turn up the volume and chuck on charleston on the floor! Go ahead, really!

Half Way Done

I took my second test today in my one Accounting class that I HAVE to pass to graduate and I just wanted to write and tell how I am doing academically. I got a 94 on my first test, I just got a 93 on a budgeting project, and the test I took today felt really good. I have done half of the work and I should have a good A going into the second half! There was SO much pressure going into this semester but I feel like some of it has been lifted. Yippee!

Time At Home Alone with the Kids

This is Kody:
While Tiffany was in Denver, I watched the kids. The internet wasn't working very well to watch conference so in and out, Tiego and I made his first movie. I let him flash the pictures and I moved the toys.

She Claps!

This is Kody:
Although she is on the verge of walking/standing, here's a little step along the way. Tiego taught Tylin how to clap. Little things that I am glad I didn't miss.


We are watching "Modern Family" on Hulu in the background. Funny stuff. You should watch it.

The circle of life part is awesome!

Oh, and make sure you are watching my favorite show on TV

Tiego's Last Soccer Game

This is Kody:
Tiego had his last game today. Cute kid. I Love watching him play sports! Go Red Dragons!

Kody's Recent Movie Reviews

This is Kody:
Kori recently was mad at me because she thought that I had liked "Bedtime Stories" and watched it. I have never seen Bedtime Stories, nor do I plan to. Anyways, to remove confusion, I am posting a list link on the side of this blog to let you know what I have been watching and what I thought of them. I also just opened a blog with it named www.KodysMovieReviews.blogspot.com if anyone is interested. There you can comment on my reviews. I would love to know what you think. Thanks!

Reasons I Love My Family: My New Blog

This is Kody:
Hopefully you already know about this but I have started a new blog logging the Reasons I Love My Family. The intention is to pick a person per week and try and remember little things about them and post them on the wall. Please participate. I sent out an email with all of the instructions so go ahead and read that all. Here's the blog:
NewtonZoo.blogspot.com

Review: Rockband Beatles on the Wii

This is Kody:
For my birthday, Tiffany got me the Beatles Rockband set. We played for hours on my birthday with the Stokes and Studyvins. It was awesome because we knew almost all of the songs and each instrument (including microphone) was a LOT of fun! Anyway, that night I brought home the game and set up the drums and found out the drums were not wireless. I took it back to Walmart the next day.
I got online and ordered Guitar Hero World Tour with all of the instruments. Today I got it all in and played again. FYI: Guitar Hero instruments WILL work with Rockband 2 and Rockband Beatles on the Wii.
I took the game over to Brian and Tersa's house and we played with the Studyvins again. This time we played 4 hours straight until we finished the game. There a few beloved songs missing but a lot of the songs are there. We had a blast, but the best part about the game is you can plug in up to 3 microphones (we played with 2) and sing the different harmonies/melodies to all of the songs. I sang most of the time :) This would be a BLAST to play with Kori or Kaysi. Or Brig and Jet. Or Brandon and Amy. Anyway, I am completely converted to Rockband/Guitar Hero and you should definitely go out and get this game! Umm, Denny, especially you. I would love to play this game with you.

My Birthday

This is Kody:
My birthday was great!

Tiego is Officially in Training

This is Kody:
How long does it take to teach a kid how to snowboard? I was told they can't snowboard until they are 6 but hopefully I can get him on the mountain with me before that. I got my birthday present today. I bought Shaun White Snowboarding that works with the Wii Fit and we played it right when it got here. Hopefully this helps with Tiego's training. I can't wait for snow, and well, snowboarding...not the driving.

Tiego's First Soccer Game

This is Kody:
We arrived 5 minutes late because Tiffany was garage saling, but Tiego put his Red Dragon jersey on and headed out onto the field. They had to tell him about 3 times which goal he was shooting for before he got it. 3-4 year old soccer is fun! There really is no competitive spirit and the parents cheer for their kids for just looking at the ball. I was impressed that Tiego was following the ball around the field. He played through a couple goals and kicked the ball when he could. He played well and I was proud of him for that. And then this happened:



Tiego scored his first goal! Before the game I told him that I would buy him a Transformer if he scored a goal and he tried extra hard. He ran over to us, all in smiles, and wondered when we were going to Kmart. We smiled back and made sure he hugged us both. I had a hard time not smiling the rest of the afternoon because I knew all along that Tiego knows how to play soccer but he seemed too shy around everyone to attack. I am very proud of my son today!

The next play, Quinn did this:



I love kids!
PS>I love my new camera

My New HD Snowboarding Camera

This is Kody:
I just got a new HD Camera in the mail and I tested it out. Here are 4 videos. Can you tell a difference in the quality of any of them? They should all be about the same but tell me if you can tell any difference. Thanks.

Yes, it is pink to match my snowboard :)

And it only cost $44.

Labor Day at Vedauwoo

This is Kody:

Tiffany said she was going to post this but I guess I will. On Monday we headed up to Vedauwoo with our bestest friends Brian and Tersa. Brian was pretty excited about a waterfall up there so we thought we would check it out. Little did we know, it was an hour and a half hike to get there. It was awesome! I'll tell the story in pictures now.

Tylin had a fun time riding on me like a Tawn-tawn
And she found something to hold onto
Tiego, Carter, and Quinn enjoying a hike breakTiego after climbing up a rockBad lighting but a cute pictureLook closely at Tylin in the middle. Eating lunch when we got to the waterfallOk, Brian said it was cold but it was ICE COLD! We eventually got in (I screamed like a girl) and climbed back behind the waterfall where it opens up into a cave! If we had a flashlight, we would've gone further back but it was pretty cool moving around there, but freezing. Tylin even got inWe did a little exploring after the waterfall
It was gorgeous out there
Do you really think they know where we are?He likes to throw rocks in the waterThis is how Tylin ended the hike. She slept well after the long day

All in all it was a very fun day at Vedauwoo. I love friends that actually like to do things! Thanks Brian and Tersa!

The Streak Continues

This is Kody:
This is becoming a purchase log, sorry, but I was pretty excited about what I found on Craigslist yesterday. It is a high-end, NuVision 52 inch 1080p Deep Black LCD HDTV that I bought for $450. I drove down to Littleton to pick it up (turns out the guy works for an Audio/Visual company and upgraded his stuff). He used it for about 6 months and it really looked new in the box. He had the box even, I got a new wall mount with it, and it still had a year and a half warranty. INCREDIBLE! I guess I wrote him right before 20 other people did and he was nice enough to wait for me to head down with Tiego. I have to say that I like LCD more than my plasma and even Tiffany said she could see a huge difference! I'm pretty much done buying TVs for myself, but if you need one, let me know...I am still looking out of habit.

Tiego and Brazen's First Time Golfing

This is Tiego:
We were playing golfing home! Where's Ratchet? Brazen was golfing. Tiego was golfing. Brazen had a Bumblebee ball and Tiego had Megatron. I have a Megatron ball. Tiego.



It's the same video, just pick your format :)



Song of the day: "Looking at the Sun" by Gramercy Arms

Tylin's First Flight

This is Kody:
We were hanging around the house when it happened again...Tylin was at the stairs. She was up the first two and seemed pretty amused by the whole thing. Instead of just pulling her down this time, Tiffany went above her and she proceeded to climb. Unassisted (although we were there in case she would fall), she climbed our whole flight of stairs! Next stop, The ladder in Mesa Verde!

The Awesome Garage Sale Streak

This is Kody:
Bryan and Jami were in town so we spent the whole morning garage saling with them. The first thing we bought was a Wii Fit. I have only played the skiing but Tiffany seemed excited. What do you guys like on the Wii Fit? There were a ton of garage sales again and we found all kinds of little stuff, but we got to a house that had a couple TV stands. Yeah, long story short, I got a mounting HDTV stand for $30. I haven't had time to set it up but it looks great in our room! Garage sales will be over soon and I guess we'll have to start saving our money. Oh wait, Craigslist will still be there :)

Dad's Birthday

This is Kody:
I was thinking about Dad's birthday and I found the perfect gift:



Who's in with me?

I found this video at one of my favorite sites on the web: Failblog.org. There is a nice button you can click at the top that says "G rated pics and movies only". Go there. Click it. Love it. It is hours of entertainment! I'm gonna no see if I can order this new golf club for Dad :)

Tylin is Growing Up Daily...Literally.

This is Kody:
It happened overnight. Tylin has always been a good sleeper. We could give her a bottle and lie her in her playpen and she would go to sleep. She's been doing that for a several months now. But the last week she has been finishing her bottle before she goes to sleep and she talks a bit. She will crawl around in her playpen, not really crying but letting us know she is there, and then she lays down and goes to sleep. Cool points: 10.

She has been sitting up by herself for awhile now, standing up to the couch for about 2 weeks, army crawling (scooting) for I don't know how long, but yesterday morning she actually started to crawl on all fours. I almost missed it because I was working on the computer, but she crawled across the room to stand up next to me on the couch! She would do it a few more times, but if it was a long distance, she would resort back to the army crawl. Cool points: 20.

This morning I was doing the rounds on the computer again and I hear Tylin talking. I look over at our stairs and she's up 2 stairs! That's not really that big of deal but our stairs are the steepest stairs I have ever seen! Cool points: 100! Father points: -50 :)

I never really realized what I was missing out on when I was gone but since I falsely graduated in May, I really feel like I am huge part of my kids lives and have really enjoyed experiencing them. I feel envious of mothers that get to experience their kids every moments (even though they will never admit they like it...). I'm going to miss these days.

Bryan and I are taking Tiego and Brazen golfing today (9 holes) so be prepared for a blog about that tomorrow. Being a father really does pay off...all the time!

Song of the day: "The Way She Feels" by Between the Trees

Tiego has Begun with Video Games...my bad :)

This is Kody:
Short post. Just wanted to show some pictures. I have been finding all kinds of XBOX games at garage sales and Tiego is finally at the point that he can play them with me and be entertained. He loves Crimson Skies, Hulk, and SSX Tricky (snowboarding game).







On this particular day, we were playing SSX Tricky together in the afternoon. We played for about half an hour and he would always take a little longer than me so I laid down on the couch. I accidentally fell asleep and when Tiego finished the race, he hopped up on the couch and snuggled me until he fell asleep. Nothing monumental, but I enjoy captured memories like these.

To Sell or Not to Sell?

This is Kody:
Today there were 61 garage sales in the little town of Laramie. Usually that is a great thing but we really didn't find anything but looked for a long time. The only thing I found today was an HD DVR, a Standard DVR, and an HD Receiver for Directv. I found one in Boise and gave it to Brandon but for $5, I thought I could grab another one. I don't have Directv and am not sure when I will be getting it so when I got home I looked at how much I could sell these for. After a little research, I posted the HD Receiver and DVR on ebay. The HD Receiver was selling for $70 and the DVR was selling for about $15. Hopefully my outcomes are the same. The dilemma that I am facing now is my HD DVR. Like I said, I don't know if I will get Directv and this HD DVR is selling for about $80 on ebay used. I have already found 2 at garage sales so that gives me a little more time to find them again. If I keep it, because of the opportunity cost, it is like keeping it for $80 instead of buying it for $5. Plus, I won't be using it for at least a year. I'm not sure if I should post it on ebay or not. What should I do?

How to Waste Your Money

This is Kody:
I ran across an interesting article online and I thought I would share it. Here are 20 ways to waste your money, and my comments about them :)

1. Buy new instead of used. Umm, I don't remember the last time I bought something new. Check.
2. Carry a credit-card balance. I have one Amazon credit card that gets me a blu-ray twice a year. Check.
3. Buy on impulse. I'm gonna have to work on this one. Is buying used on impulse that bad? 1/2 Check.
4. Pay to use an ATM. Never do it. Never. Check.
5. Dine out frequently. We only do this on vacation, which is usually to save our host money. Thanks Brandon and Amy for El Gallo Giro and introducing us to The Golden China Buffet (best custard rolls ever!) We never eat out at home. Check.
6. Let your money wallow. Oops. No check. Not enough money to invest yet.
7. Pay an upfront fee for a mutual fund. Mutual fund? Us? Not quite. Check.
8. Pay too much in taxes on investments. Maybe it's a good thing I don't have investments because I would be wasting a lot of money. Check.
9. Buy brand-name instead of generic. Nike. Gap. I just bought a pair of Jordan shoes (see picture to the right) for $12. I like brand names. No check. No check for my kids either.
10. Waste electricity. I'm bad at this. I love light. I need to unplug everything when we leave for a long time. I'll work on this. No check.
11. Pay banking fees. Check.
12. Buy things you don't use. I'm pretty good at this. We bought a slushie maker for $2 at a garage sale. Greatest invention ever! Check.
13. Own an extra car. Check.
14. Ignore your local dollar store. Ummm, check and check.
15. Keep unhealthy habits. Is High Definition TV an unhealthy habit? Check.
16. Be complacent about insurance. I could probably look at my bill a bit better. 1/2 check.
17. Give Uncle Sam an interest-free loan. Check.
18. Pay for something you can get for free. Check. Sometimes. We still get TV through an antenna.
19. Don't use a flexible-spending account. Check. Wish I had one.
20. Pay for unnecessary services. Oh check.

I think I did pretty well. How did you do? Check out the whole article HERE

Is This Musical Talent?

This is Kody:
I rarely write about how amazing my kids are because I know that no one will ever feel the passion and emotion that I feel, but today I was quite impressed by Tiego's "talent" to recognize music. It started a little while back when I played "You'll Be in My Heart" by Teddy Geiger (not the Tarzan version), but he recognized it as the same song from his video and called it "his song" (which was the Tarzan version). Good ear. Second, I was humming "Pretty Handsome Awkward" by the Used and he recognized it as the chase scene between Bumblebee and Barricade in Transformers. Lastly, and the most impressive, he was watching Transformers and said to me, "That's the Ninja Cowboy music!" and he was right. We used Transformers music in Ninja Cowboy and Pirate. He hadn't seen Ninja Cowboy for a long time but still knew the music. Gifted or not, he suprised me. I do love my son, and am happy I get to share things in common with him...like Transformers and Ninja Cowboy.

I bought him a small Bumblebee transformer that he spent the whole day converting from a car to robot. He's been sleeping in his bed all night by himself for prizes the next day (golfing, park trips, normal things we would do with him anyway but are converted into "rewards"). When I ask him why I bought him that toy, he always says, "Because I love you." He's supposed to say because he sleeps all night in his own bed...