Plug Your Ears

Holly was able to capture this rare musical moment thanks to Brigham and Luc. You may want to plug your ears. The video is here.

Jacob Plays Baseball Wii Style

Jacob got a Nintendo Wii today. He was soooo excited. We had him try it out at a friends house a couple of weeks ago and he really liked it. He especially likes baseball. It was so fun seeing him having such a good time. It is also great because we have finally found something that is somewhat active that he enjoys and that he could do with other kids.

Check out the video here.

Brigham was so excited I thought that he was going to blow up.

Flying Mattresses

Next week we have the full DeVore clan and the Hales grandparents coming into town for Jacob's baptism. In the process of getting ready for our visitors we have had to prepare our guest room and key part of that is getting a bed. Holly perused Craig's List for a couple days and found a good deal.

So we packed up the kids to go get the mattress. We quickly realized that this was a bad idea. We were going to have to carry the mattress down from an apartment. What were we going to do with the kids while we did that? Luckily Sally volunteered to take one for the team and we dropped all the kids at her house.

We arrived at the place and the mattress looked great. The lady was moving to Berlin and was just trying to get rid of stuff so she threw in pillows, duvet, and a bunch of other stuff. Holly had gotten a little confused about the price. She had thought it was $100 when the lady had been asking $150. I had $120 on me and thought that we were going to have to find an ATM. But then I found a 20 euro in my wallet from our trip to Italy. Well the lady was going to Berlin so I gave her the 20 euro, and with the terrible exchange rate, we were even.

Holly and I took everything down the elevator and loaded the mattress and box spring on top of our mini van. We were a little unprepared in this area as well. We had some ropes but bungee cords would have been much better. We got it mostly tied on and headed home. We were coming back from downtown DC so it was going to take about 30 minutes.

Things looked a little scary but we thought we were all right. We were headed down Nebraska when all of the I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the box spring standing vertically behind me. We quickly pulled into the nearest driveway - the Japanese embassy. It had blown off the top but the rope had kept it barely attached so it never hit the ground. We pulled out another strap and got it tied down a little better.

Needless to say, from this point on we went very slowly. We did fine until we got to Chain Bridge and had to cross the Potomac River. It was very windy and our mattress looked like it was going to take flight. The people behind us must have been terrified. We prayed our way to the other side and after that we were home free.

I think that next time we will rent a moving truck.

Macworld

We are finally back from Macworld. What a week. We took off Monday morning for San Francisco with the software still not quite done. After a long night and an early morning the software was finished at about 10:30 am - the booth opened at 11.

It was a very stressful morning as Trevor raced to finish software and went off to pick up posters for our booth. On top of everything I lost may badge so we had to pickup a new one (I spent the whole week losing things - I have never been so absent minded in my life).

The first day went well. Our booth was very busy most of the day (we didn't even get a chance to eat until 3) and people were very complimentary. But it was the 2nd day when things really got exciting.

TUAW, a very popular Apple blogging site did a nice post on us and a video interview that will be published next week. We then had one of the editors of Macworld come over to the booth. He said that they had a write assigned to our booth to check it out but he was just interested in seeing it for himself.

Then it just kept getting better. Several people we demoed it to said that our product had mad the whole Macworld show worth it. One group of consultants came by who were already users of ScreenSteps and went on an on about how easy it had made their jobs. This was our first time ever really showing this at a conference like this and it was so great to see people's reactions.

The absolute best was a guy who came up to our booth and gave us a thank you card and tin of cookies. He told us that we were his favorite developers of the year because ScreenSteps had helped him so much at work.

The whole experience was completely exhausting. We were up very late every night and up pretty early. We thought that things would die down as the week wore on. But they stayed pretty busy throughout. It was by far the largest Macworld that I had ever attended. There were about 50,000 people there.

My Mom came up to see the booth on Thursday afternoon. She was able to get badge from the front desk that said "Dorothy DeVore, Blue Mango Learning Systems", so I guess we have a new employee.

All in all it was a fantastic experience. We met some great people and were able to see some old friends. It was really fun to get to know some of the other developers as well. I think it is safe to say that we will plan on going again next year. Right now we just want to take a few days to sleep.

Holly was busy while I was gone. I got back and she had repainted the whole entrance way. I don't know why she does these things while I am out of town. Maybe she thinks that if I help on the project I will screw it up.

Brigham's New Shirt

Brigham and Holly saw this in a store. Brigham asked Holly to read it
to him. After she did he said, "We HAVE to get this."

Holly was happy to oblige.

Our MacWorld Booth

Here are some photos of our MacWorld booth.

Going to MacWorld

Trevor and I are getting ready to go to MacWorld next week. We are pretty excited. We even have T-shirts - check them out:

Complicated

Two weeks ago I was setting up our Christmas tree. I was screwing the
bolts into for the base into the stump. Brigham asked if he could
help. I said, "No, it's kind of complicated."

He said, "That's all right. I'm good at making things complicated." A
truer statement was never made.

New Kitchen table

After an exhaustive 3 year search Holly finally found a table for us
on Craig's List. We picked it up yesterday.

That's Just the Way He Was Made

Yesterday Luc was over. Holly smelled something funny so she asked
Brigham and Luc if one of them had tooted. Brigham said, "Mom, I
already told you. Luc is just stinky. That's the way Heavenly Father
made him."

We never found the true culprit.

Jacob Will Rock You

This morning Jacob is singing "We Will Rock You" and playing "We Are
The Champions" on his little keyboard - both by Queen.

He is also a big fan of the MacBreak Weekly video podcast.

Don't You Know How Christmas Works?

Last night we were decorating our Christmas tree. Brigham asked if we
could go into the attic to get some Christmas decorations because we
hadn't done that for awhile. I told him that we had just gone up there
last night to get his little Christmas tree.

He said, "Dad, a Christmas tree isn't a decoration. You put
decorations on a Christmas tree. Don't you know how Christmas works?"

We tried to watch The Polar Express but Brigham is absolutely
terrified of the movie. Loves National Treasure but terrified of The
Polar Express. I don't get it.

Brigham's Feast

This morning Brigham said that maybe we could have Spaghetteos for out
Thanksgiving dinner. I told him that we don't have Spaghetteos for
Thanksgiving. We have turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes.

He responded, "Well, I choose that for my feast" (meaning the
Spaghetteos).

The Marathon

Traffic getting down to Richmond was horrible which meant we missed the whole expo the night before and weren't able to pickup our packets. The next morning we made in just in time to get our packets and head to the start line. It was quite a bit colder this year than last year but I actually preferred the cold.

It turned out to be a nice run. Both Trevor and I improved our times. I hit my wall at about mile 20. But that was much better than last year when I hit it at mile 13. Everything seemed to go by much more quickly this time and I felt much more mentally prepared than I had the year before. Last year there was always that worry in the back of my mind that I might not finish. This year I knew exactly what I had to do to get done and that I would be able to do it. It really was amazing how much easier that made things.

The traveling cheering section was great. Holly said that Brigham had a blast cheering for everyone on the course. She said that after they saw me on mile 17 Brigham wouldn't ride in the stroller anymore. He just wanted to run everywhere.

When I saw the finish line I was amazed at how fast I was able to run. Just a mile earlier I could hardly put one foot in front of the other but somehow seeing that finish line and wanting so badly to be able to stop running gave me the energy to practically sprint to the end.

Brigham was very excited to see me. He especially liked my medal. He told me that I had won the race. He asked if he could keep the medal. I told him that I would loan it to him until he got one for running his own marathon. Then he could give it back.

It was a good time. The National Marathon is coming up in DC at the end of March. We'll see if I can maybe do that one as well.

Here are some photos from the marathon and Halloween as well.

More Notes from The Kids Trip to LA

Here is a photo of the kids waiting to get picked up at Long Beach airport on our arrival in LA.

Sunday we went back to our ward in Valencia. It was fun to see everyone. Brigham had gone to Granny Dot's church in the morning so he was very angry that I was going to make him go to another three hours of church. He was yelling at me an being very grumpy until he saw his favorite babysitter - Katherine. Then his whole attitude changed. It was great to see everyone again.

The kids stayed in California all week while I was in some meetings in San Jose. The kids had a blast while they were in California. They went to Kids Space, Disneyland, a movie and Jacob got to spend some quality time with Granny Dot's computer. Sunday night I asked Brigham and Luc if they were missing their parents and they both said no, they hadn't been there a week yet so they were all right.

I flew back Thursday afternoon, picked the kids up and then my Mom and I caught a red-eye back to DC. That flight was very easy. The kids passed out almost right away. Once we got home a slept for a few hours and then headed out to Richmond for the marathon I was to run the next day. There was a major wreck on 95 south so what should have taken 2 hours ended up taking about 5 1/2. It was awful. When I wen to bed that night I realized that this very long trip had started out Thursday morning in San Jose and gone through Los Angles, DC and on to Richmond to finally end up Friday night.

Brigham is allergic to milk

A couple of months ago Jacob's school had some sort of party where
they were handing out ice cream bars. But they also had big
popsicles. Brigham went up to the lady and asked for a popsicle (he
has always been more of a popsicle guy). She told him that they were
only for the kids that were allergic to mild. So what did Brigham
say? "Well, I'm allergic to milk." And he got a popsicle. Ever
since then he has been telling people that he is allergic to milk. I
finally asked him if he knew what that meant. He said he didn't.
Once I explained to him what it meant to be allergic to milk he
decided that he really wasn't allergic.

Goin' to California

Friday Jacob, Brigham, Luc (Brigham's cousin) and I left for
California. I have meetings in San Jose next week so I decided to
take the boys to see their grandparents for the week. Holly picked
Jacob up at school and he was taking awhile to get out the door. She
said, "Jacob, you are going on the airplane today." He said, "To see
Granny Dot?" After receiving confirmation Holly said that his face
turned bright red and he broke into a huge smile. He went tearing
down the hallway yelling "I go see Granny Dot! I go see Granny Dot!"

The flight went pretty well. We flew Jet Blue which was great.
Everyone was very helpful and the boys were very cooperative. The
best part was that the lady at the ticket counter saw my situation and
gave me the entire bulkhead row to ourselves. That was very helpful
as we were also right next to the bathrooms.

Having those TVs were great. Luc was fixated from the time they went
on until just before we landed. Brigham would watch for awhile and
then switch seats and watch a little longer. Jacob of course was not
very interested in the TV and got a little frustrated that it was
taking so long to get to Granny Dot's house.

We made it though. We waited for everyone to get off the plane and
made our way to baggage claim. Brigham and Luc pushed the luggage
cart while I pushed Jacob in his wheel chair (I actually was pushing
Jacob with one hand and pulling the cart with the other). We had
arrived almost 30 minutes early so we had to wait a little while for
Tiffany to pick us up. Brigham was very frustrated that we had to
wait. He suggested that we take the bus.

Once she arrived I had to install all of the car seats. Let's just
say that a BMW 7 series is not setup for car seats. It took me at
least 20 minutes.

That night was very rough. I don't remember all of the details but it
went something like this. Brigham and Jacob were in the guest room
with me and Luc was in the "Cousins'" room. Brigham was snoring so
loud that I finally had to move him at 3 am into the Cousins' room.
Luc was upside down on the bed so I repositioned him. Jacob woke up
at 4 am (7 am est which is when he normally gets up) ready to play. I
told him that he had to go back to bed. It took him awhile but he
finally calmed down. I had just gotten to sleep when I heard Mickey
Mouse. I thought that Jacob had escaped but he was asleep next to
me. I went to check and Luc was up and ready to play. I told him it
was still night and he had to go back to sleep. He hopped back in bed
and I got to sleep a little longer until Brigham and Luc woke up at
around 6 am. They wouldn't believe me that it was night time anymore
since it was now light outside. Needless to say, I was a little foggy
the next day.

Brigham and Luc tore out every toy in the house and had the time of
their life. Tiffany and Jeff took them to a movie and Nathan come
over later to go swimming. They slept well that night. Jacob just
wants to get as much computer time as possible though we have forced
him to go on some outings, go swimming and attend church.

I asked Brigham and Luc if they missed their parents this morning.
They said "no, it hasn't been a week so we are all right."

"Papa Saved My Life"

Brigham was in the car today with one of his friends. Holly heard him
say:

"Chandler, when I was a baby and was in my mommy's tummy I almost came
out too early. But my Papa saved. Can you believe it? He saved my life.

"When my daddy was little he was his daddy. And when Uncle Ja was
little Papa was his dad too. And all my uncles and all my aunts - no,
just one aunt. Wow he had much kids. (sigh) He had MUCH kids."

Hide and Seek

Right now Luc, Sam, Elizabeth and Sarah are over. They are all playing
hide and seek with Brigham. The only problem- no one is seeking. They
haven't figured out that part of the game. It sure is quiet though so
we aren't going to clue them in.

Trick of Treating with Jacob

Last night we had our Ward Trunk or Treat party. And was it ever a
party. There was a cake walk, haunted house, bobbing for doughnuts and
a moon bounce among many other things. Brigham liked everything. Jacob
loved the moon bounce.

Trick or treating was especially interesting. Jacob was dressed up
like a Buckingham Palace guard. He would go around to the cars and I'm
his sweet voice say, "trick or treat". At almost every car they said,
"You are so sweet. Here, take two." So, needless to say Jacob loaded
up. The best part is he doesn't really like candy so Brigham is a very
happy boy.

Brigham woke up this morning and said, " Trick or Treating was sooo
much fun last night." he couldn't believe it when I told him that we
were going I do it again on Wednesday.

BTW - Brigham was General George Washington (his Captain Hook outfit
with Holly's boots and a colonial hat) and Caleb was a turtle. Holly
went as a hot mama of three boys and I went as myself.