Today is the birthday of the most beautiful woman I know.  She’s a fantastic wife to me and loving mother to our two boys.  B, I love you with all of my heart.  Happy Birthday!

My Aloha Friday question for today is not so much a question, but a request: Please join me in wishing B a happy birthday.

P.S. If you haven’t already, go visit FollowerHQ and let me know what you think of my Twitter application.

P.P.S. For a bit of fun, try my other Twitter Application, Rout. It’s a +F in Fun!

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #116

As happened last year, we went to Cousin S’s birthday party which included a bounce house.  Also like last year, B and I went into the bounce house to have some fun with the kids.  Finally, like last year, one of us refused to pose for a bouncing photo.  Can you guess who it was?

Was it me?

Or was it B?

Click to enlarge and see just what she’s doing with her finger.

Today, NHL turns 8 years old.  In some ways, it seems like only yesterday that B leapt off the couch, ran to the bathroom and announced to me (when I ran after her to see what the problem was) that her water broke.  In other ways, it feels like NHL has been with us forever.  How is it that he can both be growing up so quickly before my eyes and yet my life before he was born seems so far away it might as well have been an alternate-dimension TechyDad?

In any event, today we celebrate NHL turning 8.  When he was a baby, he loved making everyone smile.  I particularly noticed that he liked getting the attention of women in stores.  He would look at them cutely, then look away and repeat his actions until he got their attention.  My son wasn’t even a year old and he was already a flirt!  (Is this a sign that I should be worried a few years down the road?)

When he was a toddler, he initially had trouble walking (due to low muscle tone and other issues), but made quick strides with therapy.  He was a social kid and very inquisitive.  He loved reading and computers.  In fact, I noticed that he had quite the knack for technology.  He would pick up how to work things, like the DVR remote, very quickly.  We finally had to move the DVR remote to a place he couldn’t reach because the DVR filled up with shows he decided to record.

As NHL got older and began attending school, his thirst for knowledge grew.  He would pick up on facts where ever he could find them.  I began seeing more and more of  myself in him for better and for worse.  At times, it would seem like he couldn’t stop talking, but I could sympathize.  I did the same thing when I was younger.  He likely has a million thoughts piling in his brain and no place for them to go.  We’ll need to get him a better outlet for this than random babbling.

Unfortunately, NHL had a rough 2nd grade.  He complained of not having friends and his teacher didn’t quite seem to know how best to work with him.  Sadly, a bullying incident forced us to pull NHL from school.

It wound up being a blessing in disguise, however, because NHL thrived in his new school.  He made friends and began wanting to learn again.  When school ended, he actually burst into tears thinking that Summer vacation meant he had to stop learning.  Now those are tears that every parent loves to see!  (So long as the child stops crying, like NHL did, when reassured that they can keep learning, of course.)

He had a blast during summer vacation going to the water park, crafting events, library time, and even just plain playing in the park.  He also mimicked young-me by becoming hooked on video games.  (Of course, my addiction was the Atari 2600, not the Nintendo DS.)

The upcoming year will be an interesting one.  How will NHL react to the third grade?  For me, third grade was a wonderful time.  My teacher realized that I should be in an advanced reading class.  This led to honors classes which led to AP and college level courses.  Will NHL’s third grade be as good for him?  I don’t know, but I can’t wait to see what comes next.

On Saturday night, after the kids were in bed, I began moving TechyDad.com and TheAngelForever.com from our old host to our new host.  This meant first backing up all of the files from the old host’s servers.  (I usually keep backups locally, but they had gotten out of date.)  This alone took some time.  Then, I backed up the databases.  Finally, I restored the whole thing onto the new hosts’ server.  A connection string change (to point to the new database) and name server update later, and our websites were up and running.

If I make it sound like a quick job, however, it wasn’t.  I began work at around 9pm and went to bed at 1:30 am.  At this point, I had about 4 hours worth of file transfers to go.  Luckily, these weren’t essential files.  Had you been able to see TechyDad.com at this point, you might have noticed photos missing in blog posts or images missing from the sidebars.  Still, the blog posts would have been readable and WordPress would have functioned just fine.

Since I didn’t need to be present for this file transfer to run, I left my computer on and went to bed, falling asleep at about 2am.  At about 5am, I was woken up by B.  She wasn’t feeling good (horrible headache) and needed my help.  I got her some medicine and she went back to sleep.  Despite my exhaustion, however, I just couldn’t fall asleep.

I finally fell back to sleep around 6am only to be woken back up at 7am.  I laid in bed for as long as I could, but sleeping in was not an option.  We needed to get ready for NHL’s birthday party.

There were several moments during the party where I found myself unable to focus and/or dizzy.  Many times when I’d have liked to have snuck away for a “short” nap.  (Short meaning telling yourself only 5 minutes and then waking up 3 hours later.)  After the party was over, I felt the crash come hard.  Still, I pushed off exhaustion.

As I sit typing this, B is sitting with the boys, trying to get them to go to sleep.  I’m thinking that I really should process some of the photos from the party for a blog post.  I just can’t think straight enough, though.  Instead, here’s B’s post about the party.  (Mine will come later.)

I won’t leave you empty handed, though.  Thanks to a recent gift from Mimi to JSL, I think the Hava Nagilla will be sung quite a bit in our household:

Hopefully, by the time you read this, I’ll be well rested and coherent.  If I am, then hava nagilla (let us rejoice)!

Today is my hundredth Aloha Friday post.  This is a cause for a celebration.  An even better cause for celebration, though, is that on Sunday we’ll have NHL’s 8th birthday party.  Also, on Wednesday, NHL will actually turn 8.  Furthermore, later this month, B and I will do something we haven’t done in our 8 years of being parents: Have a vacation with just the two of us.

My 100th Aloha Friday question is: What types of celebrations have you had recently or will you be having soon?

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #100

Yesterday, as is our birthday tradition, we went out to dinner.  The boys wanted to have dinner with B’s parents, so B and I went to Mr. Fuji.  B has already featured the meal on her blog, but I had to feature some of the items in depth.

First up was vegetable sushi and a cucumber roll.  When I ordered this, I was expecting a few rolls with a mix of chopped veggies inside.  This is what I got instead.

You really need to click the photo and look at the large version to truly appreciate this.  It was quite a pleasant surprise over my admittedly bland mental picture.  The colors of all of the vegetables popped nicely.  There were yellow peppers, orange carrots, green asparagus and more.  The textures were nicely varied as well.  From the crunch of the carrots and peppers to the creaminess of the avocado and the chewiness of the mushrooms.  This was an amazing dish all around.

I had a birthday cookie cake awaiting me at home so normally I wouldn’t have ordered dessert.  However, I had a birthday coupon for a free tempura ice cream so I decided to get it.  I’m so glad I did.

I wish we got a good photo of the inside of this, but we were too busy eating it.  At its core, this dessert is a large, hard scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Right outside of that was a huge surprise: Cake!  In retrospect, it makes sense.  You need something to protect the ice cream from the hot frying oil.  Of course, outside of the hard, cold ice cream and the soft cake was the warm, crunchy tempura batter.  It was all topped sundae style with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a cherry.  Considering that this all would normally cost $4 (and that they also have a Tempura Cheesecake), I think I’ll be bringing the boys here for dessert one day!

After a brief walk around to digest our food, we went back to B’s parents’ house.  There, we had a cookie cake.

I’ve got to admit to a fondness for cookie cakes.  Regular cake is ok and cheesecake is great, but I really love a good chocolate chip cookie.  Make it a giant chocolate chip cookie with frosting and YUM!

The only downside?  Green fingers and tongues.

Of course, photographer-me had to try a macro shot of my boys’ tongues.

And, with that, this post has gone from drool-inducing deliciousness to disgusting!

Today is my birthday.  As of today, I’m 36 years old.  This means that I’m beginning the slide out of the 30’s toward the 40’s.  In many ways, I still feel like I’m in my 20’s.  Yet, increasingly, I feel aches and pains that I never felt a decade ago.  My elbow hurts if I lift anything too heavy (like JSL) and my back can seize up at times.

Still, I’m not going to let that slow me down (much).  I still plan on playing with my boys and being active with them.  I’m not going to be one of those parents who sits down on the sidelines while their children play.  Those parents are missing a golden opportunity to be part of their children’s lives.

All too soon, my kids will be teenagers.  Most likely, they won’t want me tagging along on their adventures.  I’ll likely be tossed aside as being “uncool.”  If/when that happens, I might take the opportunity to sit down.  Until then, if you need me, I’ll be running around the playground with my boys!

Have you been feeling older?  How do you keep yourself feeling young?

When NHL turned four years old, my parents bought him a camera for his birthday.  No, not a DSLR or even a cheap point and shoot  This was a Fisher Price Kid Tough digital camera.

The entire camera was designed with kids in mind.  There were two handgrips (for better grips), two eye pieces (since kids might not get “squint and look here”), and the whole thing was rugged enough to survive a drop down a flight of stairs.  NHL had a blast taking photos of everything in his sight.  (So much so that we quickly realized ground rules were needed like “No taking photos of Mommy and Daddy when they are on the potty!”)

Eventually, his attention was diverted by other toys and the camera found its way to the Heap Of Rarely Played With Toys.  At some point, JSL took an interest in this camera, but there was a problem.  No matter how often I put a fresh set of batteries in, it would only work for a brief period of time before dying again.

During our Disney World trip, JSL began asking for a camera.  What began as an occasional request quickly ramped up.  In fact, as I waited in line at Epcot’s photo center (to get some photos added to our Photo Pass card), JSL went berserk.  There, right in front of him, was a display of Disney-themed kids cameras.  He wanted one and he wanted one NOW!

Somehow, we held him off until his birthday.  That’s when he got this:

That would be his new V-Tech Kidizoom Plus.  It is a 2MP camera, does video, adds special effects to photos and more.  If anything, it’s a little too complex for JSL so we’re trying to limit him to just photos.

He’s now hooked on taking photos.  Here’s a small selection of his work.

Don’t feel bad for NHL, though.  He’s inherited my old camera with the broken flash.  Well, perhaps not “inherited”, but rather “will be allowed to use on a heavily supervised basis.”

If the weather holds out this weekend, perhaps I’ll be able to take the boys on a photo shoot.  I’ve got my eyes on a photography exercise that Chookooloonks posted about.  I’ll take them outside, walk 100 paces and have them take 20 photos of things right around them.

If you could go on a photo shoot with your kids, where would you go?

Dear JSL,

Today, you turn four years old.  It seems like only yesterday that B woke me up, the  Monday after Mother’s Day, telling me that you were on your way.  That day was filled with a lot of hurrying.  Aunt S & Mimi hurried to pick up your brother.  My parents (Bubbe and Grandpa) hurried to make the drive to see you.  Mommy’s parents (Nana and Papa), meanwhile, hurried to join us in the hospital.

Before we knew it, you were born and we all instantly fell in love with you.  Your brother came over, said hi to you and gave you a kiss like he had known you for years.  As you grew, you would always look up to him and would try to do the things that he, as a bigger kid, could do.  Sometimes you succeeded, sometimes you fell flat on your face.  But you kept trying to be just like your big brother.

When we went to Disney World, it was fun to watch your reactions to the costumed characters go from horror to delight.  (Ok, the horror wasn’t so much fun, but the delight was.)  You would have probably been happy if Disney World consisted of only the Winnie the Pooh and Small World rides.  Add in all the rest, though, and you and your brother were in love.  We had created some Neurotic Disney Kids!

You’ve scared your mother and me many times with your many febrile seizures and falls.  We have seriously considered wrapping you in bubble wrap or hockey goalie padding/helmet more than once.  When you decide on which record of your brother’s to break next, please avoid ones such as “Most Ambulance Trips” or “Most Days In A Hospital” and look to ones like “Best Grades” or “Quickest Room Cleaning.”

As you began talking, we found your speech to be very cute.  Unfortunately, those dropped sounds that began as cute became frustrating.  You knew what you were talking to us about and couldn’t understand why we were having trouble deciphering what you were saying.  Luckily, you are now getting speech therapy and we understand you much more often.  There’s still the odd moment where we just don’t get what you are saying, but since the problem has been identified we can calmly work out what you mean.

Every day as I go to work, you insist on hugging and kissing me goodbye (and then closing the door behind me).  I look forward to your “welcome home” hugs/kisses when I return.  You are always there to help me, Mommy, or anyone else.  You are, as you put it, “everybody’s helper.”  I also love tickling you because I just can’t get enough of your laughter.  (Fair warning: There will be plenty of birthday tickling.  In fact, I might just tickle you as I read you this.)

You love playing on the playground (especially the swings), puzzles, watching TV with me, Buzz Lightyear, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, superheroes, and macaroni and cheese.  Despite how some people might assign gender roles, you also love Tinkerbell.  When we went to Disney World for the 2011 Social Media Moms Celebration, I was the only dad on the line with two boys and no girls.  It didn’t matter, though, because my sons got to meet the famous fairy in person!

Though I don’t want you to grow up (you’ll always be my little boy no matter how big you get), I’m also excited to see all the new things you’ll learn in the coming year.  We all love you very much.  Happy birthday, JSL!

Today is the last day of Chanukah, but there’s something even bigger to celebrate.  Today is the birthday of the most beautiful woman in the world: My wife, aka B, aka TheAngelForever!

In some ways, it’s hard to believe that she’s only been in my life for 11 years.  It feels like forever… and I mean that in a good way.  I can’t imagine my life without her.  I love being around her and every day I watch the clock slowly tick until it’s “go home to see B and the boys” time.  (I love my job, but my coworkers just are no match for my family!)  I love spending lazy weekend mornings in bed with her, seeing how long we can lounge around before the boys storm the bedroom demanding breakfast.

Every day, I try to do everything I can to make her happy.  I only hope I’m making her as happy as she has made me.  She’s a wonderful mother to our kids and wife and friend to me.  Although she’ll deny it left and right, she’s also extremely sexy.  Sorry, B, but despite your protests, you are sexy and I don’t mind shouting it to the world.  MY WIFE IS SEXY!!!!!! 

Happy birthday, B.  I love you with all of my heart.