Get on yer bike

Since getting his new bike in April (and getting spoiled rotten by his loving wife!), Kenny has became quite fanatical about cycling.

He has even been riding to work a lot (see photos of him on his ride and the views he passes while doing this) This is both helping him get fit and train for his triathlons and also saving a few bucks on gas.

However due to the ever present need to buy more gear for the bike (which is NEEDED according to Kenny) the savings in gas money are quickly overridden (pardon the pun)....see him in his fancy new cycling shirt below for example!

So much for the ever increasing price at the pump......in our house it is the ever increasing price at the pedal that is more concerning....LOL

Mackenzie's first Haircut

Okay, here we go. I'm a bit nervous Julie, so be gentle please!

Sooooooo pretty!

Almost Done!

All Done! Thank you Julie! Kiss-Kiss

Xmas Party with Kenny's work folks!

On Dec 16 we had Kenny's dept over for a Christmas Party. It was so much fun. There was lots of food for everyone and fun and games for the kids. Our neighbor, Darcy, dressed up as Santa for all the kids. He was so great at it and even had Kenny as his side-kick Shrek Elf! Mackenzie wasn't sure about Santa at first, but then was ok once she recognized the voice! HAHA

Lunch Day! WOOHOO!

Well today is Wednesday and for those of you who don't know, this is Genevieve and I's day for lunch together.
Every other Wednesday we both have to be at work. While this is disappointing because the kids are not able to be with us :-( It is also great beacuse the kids do not have to be with us :-) Cam is at school and Miss Mac is at the babysitter. So this gives us the chance to have a bit of time for US!

Usually we take it in turns to decide where we want to go, unless one of us is particularly craving a certain place. Although it may not seem like a big event to most folks, I am sure those of you reading this who have kids, esp younger ones, will know only too well why we get excited about this.
We get to have a nice lunch without 101 questions about everything that is going on in the restaurant and about the food (compliments of our inquisitive 9 year-old) or continuous squawks of "more" from Mac who will insist that she is still hungry despite having eaten a meal which could satisfy the appetite of a compulsive eater.

So today we went to the Flying Star Cafe (one of our regular favs) cos they do FANTASTIC desserts (Me: French Silk Pie, Genevieve: Raspberry Blackout Cake as usual :-p) and enjoyed our peaceful lunch before going and doing a little bit of xmas shopping.

Well I say xmas shopping but as many of you who know anything about Genevieve will know that "we" are VERY organized and that "our" xmas shopping is completed (in reality Genevieve probably had 95% of her gifts bought before the clocks went back but I only finished this week!).

However this year Genevieve is volunteering at the Children's Winter Carnival at Intel next Monday. This is where kids in the local community who may have recently lost a loved one, are from financially needy homes or in foster care get to come on site and have a fun day of crafts, games and get to meet Santa.

Each of the kids is "sponsored" by an Intel employee. Each sponsor gets some information about one of the kids and buys them a few things to make their Christmas a little bit more enjoyable. They also volunteer their time to go with them around the carnival with them and help give them a really fun time. Genevieve found out she is sponsoring a 10 year old girl so we went shopping to provide a few toys and some nice cute clothes to help her have a nicer Christmas. I thought it was a lovely idea, esp at this time of year, where we can all get caught up in the gift buying frenzy and take for granted all of the wonderful things that our families and kids have and others may not. I am very proud of my wife in many ways and this is just another of the reasons!

Now what are you doing to makes someone else's Christmas a little bit more special this year?

K

The Cold Weather Has Arrived. Mac is Ready!

Well the cold weather has finally arrived in NM.

Today it is rainy and cold outside.

As you can see from the pic below, Miss Mac is all ready for this change and is wrapped up in her nice woolly sweater (as knitted by her Granny in Scotland) and is ready for some cold weather.

They say there will be snow here tonight but we will just have to wait and see.

Have you thought about your grave??

Is it just me or does the event promoted at the one of the local senior centers here in town seem a little bit sick? See photo. I mean, I am sure they are all aware that they are closer to the grave than their teenage years but to rub it in like this by holding a talk on graves????

Does the beginning of the presentation go something like this?:

"Good afternoon and welcome, I know you are all thinking about your impending inevitable life event, but have you been wondering about how you can leave your mark on this mortal earth after you're gone?. Well wonder no longer......today we are going to review some of the famous and unusual graves from around the world to give you some inspiration so that you can make you own intentions clear to your loved ones! In addition our very own memorial co-ordinator will be in available after this event to help you look at your options and assist you in the final (sorry, poor choice of word) decision making process (for a small fee of course)."

Anyway after passing this sign for few days I had to get a
photo of it. This then prompted the conversation between Genevieve and I about graves. We said that if we were to be buried maybe we should get matching headstones ....... however, my suggestion of the gravestones being both the same as below was not thought to be a winner....... I don't know why........Hmmmm?

A busy week.....as usual.

Well another week (or so) goes by in Black household and it has been a busy one as usual. Both Genevieve and I have had a hectic week at work but at least it always comes to an end. Good news is that Genevieve now has a full week off work for Thanksgiving and it is also my long week end off so I don't return to work till Thursday (Thanksgiving Day). Woo hoo! :-) So we get to spend some well earned time off together this week.

As for Mackenzie and Cameron, both are doing well. Mackenzie just seems to be running about, talking and generally getting into everything more and more each day....but she is so cute how can you get upset. As for Cameron, he is doing well at school and got another 100% in his weekly spelling test (obviously getting his brains from his parents....I'll let you the reader decide which one!). Cameron helped to make a pizza for dinner the other night from scratch and it was delicious (no doubt who he gets the cooking skills from....I'll give you a hint......it is not me!)

This week's big event for me was Horrorfest 2007.....(scary movie festival check out this link for details of the movies). Each year movie company "After Dark" releases 8 horror movies that did not get widespread releases for a 10 day period only. There was a good mix of movies last year and the line up this year looked good too. Last year I went to see a couple of the movies and thoroughly enjoyed them. This year I have managed to squeeze in 3 films so far this week (and may try and go to another tonight). So far I managed to see Tooth and Nail, The Deaths of Ian Stone and Borderland. Will see if I can get along to see Mulberry Street tonight.........but only if my lack of sleep this week does not catch up on me today. Since these movies are shown at a regular multiplex cinema, they are showing a lot of them at unusual times and I have been home long after midnight on a couple occasion this week trying to see the one I want, so sleep has been at a minimum for me this week due to this, but obviously I deserve no sympathy becasue it all self induced

Last night Genevieve had a load of girls over to the house for a Pampered Chef party in the house. (NB: For those more ignorant of what this is, or more commonly known
as "men", Pampered Chef is a line of fancy cooking accessories and
paraphenalia which is sold only thru party plan type sales. Check out this link
for more details). She made some nice food for everyone who came, including a Crab Rangoon dip which was delicious (this was of course according to others, since I did not try it as I am not a seafood lover). From what I heard it seemed to go well and all in all it was a fun evening. I must also admit it was nice for me to come home after a long day at work and "help" clear the other leftover food (using my over active appetite of course LOL!) which was also very tasty and included a fantastic pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting that tasted even better than it looked......and that is saying something cos it looked awesome!

Well that is about it. Just looking forward to a nice (and hopefully more relaxing) week ahead. Tomorrow we are having the family over for dinner at our house, since it is Jane's (Genevieve's mum) birthday week and we want her to have e nice break from Sunday cooking and enjoy her birthday celebration. I am going to see a band on Monday night called "Suicidal Tendencies" (check out the link). (they are a skate punk band who were big in the 80's and 90's when I was a proper skateboarder) Hopefully they will be up to par and not some old crusties just trotting out some old songs just for the money....but we will see. Obviously on Thursday it is Thanksgiving, and we are all looking forward to a delicious Thanksgiving meal over at the Jewell's residence and eventhough I am working that day, I will be making sure I get over there on my break to get a nice turkey dinner too.(Mmmmmm!)

K