My Life Today...Need I Say More

Sorry "men" this may be a 'Woman's Only' blogging type submission. This is how my afternoon started today...need I say more.





(There's one more cartoon that really make me laugh, but it's 'PG13' in my head. I pondered over it for awhile and then thought, "If it's making me ponder at all, I better stay away from posting it.)

Lights, Camera, Action (WIGGLES!)

Our ever so dear friends, the Keller’s hosted a Wiggles concert in their backyard just like we did last year! It’s a party that can be done over and over again and never grow old and one that continues to get better each time! This year we were celebrating Ethan's third birthday, a HUGE Wiggles fan and one of Owen’s best buds! We had a rockin' time dancing some hand selected tunes by the birthday boy himself; which included the same choreography as the Australian bunch. Frankly, I find our Arizona crew even more entertaining! Of course, we especially feel that way with Captain Feathersword...Jon!
(The grand entrance)

They arrived in the backyard ‘Wiggles style,’ in a BIG RED CAR, driven by Earle…I mean Greg, with Captain Feathersword on top waving to the crowd holding signs and ready to wiggle. Enjoy the photos of these dedicated dads!
("Lights, Camera, Action...Wiggles")
("Wake up Jeff!")
(Daddy and kids)
("Quack, quack, quack...coca doodle do")
(Captain Feathersword and the birthday boy!)
(Baylee and her homemade guitar)
(Lisa and Tim...the hosts)
(Baylee and Daniel...notice who's in blue)
(Our family)

For anyone interested, "you tube" has the songs/dances from the party with Jon and the gang as the stars. Here they are: (music/dance moves are not totally in sync for some reason, although they were during the party)

Big Red Car :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riLIJeTMTR0

Lights,Camera,Action :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-ztRMwLWHg

Do The Monkey :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDSzSiLAFHE

Quack,Quack,Quack :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLs49C1yywI

Play Your Guitar With Murry :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k40_SbMgF-0

Wiggly Party :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg0VI72JBX4

Pizza For Breakfast

I've been waiting for the day! Inside each of their Easter baskets this year, Baylee and Nathan had some "silly coupons" waiting for them. Neither has redeemed them...until now. This morning Nathan walked down, ready to "cash in". He wanted his ‘pizza for breakfast’. As I mentioned, I'd been waiting for the moment by keeping a frozen one handy. So, at 7:30AM in popped a pizza ready for the making...and boy did ALL the kids think it was great, having pizza right off the bat!

Nathan's planning his next redeeming period for voucher number 2, "Play your music in your room as loud as you want!" Lord help us!

And the Winner Is...(drum roll please)

After 49 votes cast (thank you) for our family spirit contest from St. Patrick's Day, we have a winner. Congratulations to:
So now, Baylee gets to hold onto our 'Family Spirit' trophy until the next family challenge.

The contest wasn't a wipe out. We had a close "Second Place" person...

Thank you all for helping cheer on our silliness!

(Sorry it took so long to divulge the winner. We wanted the anticipation to build up until you couldn’t take it any longer.)

The Big Switcheroo...and Other April Fool's Jokes!

The Kempiak Party of Five schemes for months, what it is exactly that we'll do to one another on April Fool's Day. We love to celebrate our sense of humors and not take everything so seriously (something Baylee and I can gravitate to if we're not careful). Well, this year Jon and I pulled off a plan that I had wanted to do for a few years now, but knew we had to wait for Baylee and Nathan to mature just a little bit more. This was the year we could do it! Shortly after midnight, we switched Baylee and Nathan while sleeping. Baylee was gently put into Nathan's fire truck bed by Jon and I put Nathan into Baylee's garden room. Both woke a little, but didn't realize what was going on and quickly fell back asleep when we reassured them and rubbed their heads. (We didn't include Owen in this one since he's in a crib still...although that could have been funnier).



All three kids "got Jon" when they offered him a can of mixed nuts and once Jon agreed (good sport) and opened up the can, a spring-loaded snack jumped out at him. Boy were the kids proud of themselves! (not sure where Owen is in the photo)

And just before bed, I thought I was going to go unscathed...but NO. Baylee and Nathan set up my toothbrush with their kids' toothpaste. YUCK! I can't believe I let them use that awful tasting stuff.

This was a great day, well worth the wait. In the past years we've always April Fooled the kids with some form of "food related" joke and we knew the kids would be expecting it that way again. Never in their imaginations would they have ever thought that Mommy and Daddy would have been able to pull a switcheroo like we did! (Two points for the parents!)

By the way, I came across a site, called Museum of Hoaxes that tells of 100 April Fool's hoaxes from history. Some are hilarious like:

#4: The Taco Liberty Bell
In 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.

#8: The Left-Handed Whopper
In 1998 Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."

Nathan and Owen love Rachup! Do you?

Without hesitation over dinner tonight, Nathan mentioned, "Daddy, I just love Rachup!" Jon made some acknowledgement of his son's comment but really didn't let our five-year-olds words penetrate in his mind. I just had to giggle and sit in awe of Nathan's latest invention. Rachup was Nathan's creation on his plate, Hidden Valley Ranch and Heinz ketchup mixed together, a dip for his barbeque chicken dinner. He had made it before, but today is when it birthed a name. Although I'm not a fan (I did try it), I'm sure Nathan's on to something. I think many kids would LOVE that concoction to be marketed. Our dilemma now…how would the commercial jingle go? Go ahead, give it a try, help us out.

Videos That Make Me Laugh

Okay, this may seem strange...but when I need a good laugh, I go visit youtube.com.
I don't spend endless time there; just visit a few of the same video clips over and over again. I've put a few at the bottom of my blog. If you decide to watch them, make sure you stop my music first.

The first one, "Evolution of Dance" is a crack up! I always laugh when watching this 6 minute bundle of fun! I can see it over and over again.

The second may seem really strange to many. You can tell I'm a teen of the 80's and WAS a huge Michael Jackson fan before he got all strange (notice the word WAS).It's 1,500+ male inmates in a prison in the Philippines doing the same rendition of Thriller as the video in the 80's. Even the "girl" in pink is a man! They've done others...but this is the best. And sadly I can say that way back when, I knew every dance step to this video/song. Wow, I can't believe I revealed that. Anyway, check it out...Shannon, this one's for YOU! (Any chance Sherriff Joe would do this here?)

And finally, Man Cold is for those girl friends that tend to get annoyed when our darling, sweet husbands are sick...this one is for you. Jon doesn't "get it" but I'm not sure if any guy would!

6 Random Things About Jon (that you may have never known)

#1 Binge eating late at night (before bed) is a regular occurrence.

#2 I'm a coffee snob...Folgers, YUCK! In fact, I grind my coffee beans fresh before every delicious pot.

#3 Frequently I am caught by my wife and kids making faces in the mirror at myself. Do I get embarrassed and stop, NO WAY!

#4 As a child all the way through eighth grade, I used to be incredibly shy. I'm serious!

#5 I tend to procrastinate on things.

#6 I'll get back to you on this one (get it?).

Now I am tagging Aaron Bower and Jerry Berger. It's your turn guys to post your 6 random things about you. Go for it!