I am awesome. Genius, might be a better word. I figured out how to convert a seemingly un-editable video file to a format which can be edited, viewed and uploaded to a computer. Please hold your applause until the end of this post.
I do have to thank the anonymous person who posted a video on YouTube titled "How to Convert VOB files to WMV or MPEG for Free Part 1," which did get me started, but didn't quite work the way I wanted it to. So I played around and was able to convert the file...on my own. Since I now have the new found talent, rest assured I will be converting and uploading the best from the Dyer movie reels.
So, for your viewing pleasure...this video of Adam was taken in August of 2003, just before his first birthday. It shows that Adam has always been a "Daddy's boy." And yes, he is eating broccoli.
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Zach and I made Forked Eyeballs, as seen in the October issue of Family Fun magazine. It's a pretty easy recipe: donut holes, melted white chocolate, regular chocolate chips (for the eye) and red frosting in a tube. Our eyeballs didn't turn out as "pretty" as the magazine, but the boys thought they were cool and gross because "the red frosting looks like REAL blood!"
I usually don't attempt recipes I find in magazines, because I'm not much of a cook and my creations never look as good as the picture in the magazine. But I will probably do this one again. It might even become a Halloween tradition.
At least I had the "gross out" factor in my favor.
Zach turned six on September 26. We started the day at the soccer fields, and spent the next 3 1/2 hours watching two games, and organizing little boys for team pictures. The photographer asked the boys to line up tallest to shortest, and I overheard Adam say, "I'll just stand at the end of the line, because I'm always the shortest one."
Adam and Grammy.
Here are a few pictures I took at the game. Zach's team is called the Dawgs.
Zach is #2.
Zach discussing strategy with the Coach.
Adam's team would have tied the game, but the referee did not call an illegal throw in, which then the other team made a goal. I think that is what happened...if you need the full story, you can ask Scott. Adam's team is The Rockets, and all the boys played really well. The Rockets are yellow and blue.
Adam is #3.
Zach wanted a birthday lunch of McDonald's, so Scott and Grammy took the boys through the drive thru, while I picked up Grandma Agnes. Those who did not want McDonald's food ate turkey sandwiches. Kind of sounds like a repeat of this birthday, doesn't it?
Zach had a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and a choice of vanilla ice cream or rainbow sherbet (again, ring any bells?). Adam did not finish his cake because "remember, I don't like chocolate."
Presents included money, the Lego camper kit, Connect Four game, subscription to Your Big Backyard, Bendaroos, and a remote control monster truck. After all the presents were opened (including mine!) the boys set to work creating the camper.
On Saturday night, Grammy and the boys watched Trains, Planes and School Buses (Zach's choice) while Scott took me out for my birthday. We "attempted" to eat dinner at Uptown Bistroin Old Town, but a gas leak caused all the restaurants in the area to shut down their kitchens. It turned out fine because we weren't really that hungry after all the cake and ice cream, so we dined on hummus, salad and a celebratory bottle of wine. After dinner we saw The Proposal. Scott was not interested in seeing this "chick flick" but laughed many times during the movie, and even said "it wasn't bad."
Adam and Zach's new favorite place to go is the Kansas State Fair. We went with a neighbor and two of her boys, so that made the trip even more fun. We saw day old lambs and watched them being fed by a bottle. We oohed and aahed over the "champion" rabbits, saw a typewriter from the late 1800s and little robots made from spare car parts. We walked through the turkey and chicken cages, but Adam "didn't like it in there" so we quickly found a side exit (I believe there is another Dyer who would agree with Adam). We put our hands in different buckets of grain like corn, wheat and sunflower seeds. We took pictures with our heads stuck through sunflowers, and saw the popular butter sculpture.
The first highlight of the day was the slushy machine where you could choose from about 15 different flavors. All the boys filled their cups with at least five different flavors. This is Luke and Caleb, our friends, filling up their cups.
The boys also had a blast playing in the John Deere tractors. This is Caleb and Zach.
The four boys "saving the earth from the grass." Adam and Luke are in the front, Zach and Caleb are in back.
And Zach.
We watched the scary skeleton at the "Ye Old Mill" ride. For those of you who have been to the Kansas State Fair, that ride has been a staple at the Fair since 1915. We also laughed and shook hands with "Oscar," the State Fair robot. We rode the train and the skyride (which, according to Zach was "totally awesome"), and watched the equistrian acrobatics perform tricks while standing, kneeling and even doing a headstand, on the back of a horse. The boys climbed in and around a fire engine and got to try on the fireman's gear.
As a reference, here's how much food, admission and rides cost in 2009:
Admission : $14 (Kids age five and under were free, so we didn't have to pay for Zach)
2 slushy drinks: $8
3 train rides: $7.50
3 sky rides: $9
Lunch: $26 (2 cheeseburgers, fries, nachos, a lemonade and a water)
3 ice creams: $9
Here are the four boys.
The two moms spent the day saying things like "walk, don't run," "if you ask me again about the ice cream, you won't get any," "don't touch," "watch where you are walking" and "I said no."
The highly anticipated Pump It Up party was today. Despite the fact that there were 14 boys ages 5-9 there, everything went smoothly. I think only a few boys got hurt, and the Pump It Up worker did have to enforce the rules a couple of times. I'm glad I don't have THAT job!
I took 10 group pictures...here's the best one:
The two birthday boys.
I did have to pull out my "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit" card with the cake. I think the majority wanted green, but there wasn't enough for EVERYONE to have green.
And last but not least...the LEGO cake.
This was billed as "easy" LEGO cake, and I want to know...easy for who? the first cake ended up a FAIL, so I had to go back to the store and get more cake mix and frosting. The "tops" were marshmallows cut in half and in case you were wondering, frosting a sticky little marshmallow is harder than you'd think. Oh, and the orange cake turned out a little peach. Just can't seem to make that orange dark enough. The boys didn't seem to mind, although Adam informed us on the way home, that he really didn't like cake much. What? First donuts, then "chocolate things," now cake? Whose kid is this?
