Sunday, August 31, 2008

Happy Anniversary to You, Blog!

It's my blog's one year anniversary! To celebrate I'll pay tribute to your favorite 3 in an upcoming post. Just cast your vote in the poll to the right. Vote for your 3 favorites...
The nominee's are:
Par-tay time (babies stay up all night)
For Goodness Snakes (Jason kills a snake in the yard)
Ingy Olympics (kids compete in "Olympic" events)
Biggest Looser (Jason's weight loss)
Going Postal (post office looses JR's present)
A Thief in our Midst (Reed steels Kyle's pacifier)
Recession? Have They Told Starbucks Yet? (people spending money at the mall)
Baby Talk 2 (babies go to the spa)
Picture Day Results (JR's class picture)
Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting (JR's karate routine)

Friday, August 29, 2008

The Pledge, The Bible, and Juice

We all know how JR has a real problem learning people's names. I thought he would be getting better at it, but his Chinese-ness is still holding on strong. Everyday when I pick him up from school I ask him if he learned anybody's name, and he's given me the same two names 8 days in row. I was hoping for a breakthrough yesterday when I saw one of his classmates getting in trouble. JR loves it when somebody besides himself is in trouble, and he loves to tattle, so I thought this was the day I'd learn a new name. The following is our conversation:

Me: JR, What's the kid's name that was getting in trouble?
JR: Which kid?
Me: The one sitting next to you, the one getting in trouble.
JR: Oh, I don't know. He holds the bible.
(I thought that comment was pretty funny, so I just had to ask....)
Me: Do you have to hold the bible if you're bad?
JR: No, he holds it so we can say the pledge.
Me: You pledge the bible? How does it go?
JR: Attention. Salute. Pledge....ummm, that's all I know.
Me: Do you pledge the flag too?
JR: Yes. The God flag, the Texas flag, and the other flag.
Me: So, you don't know the kid's name that holds the bible?
JR: No. But guess what? I'm in charge of juice.

So I didn't learn any new names, but at least I know JR's in charge of juice.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Traveling Ingys Hit The Beach

Now that we've got our new hot bods from our day at the gym, it's time to show them off. And what better place to flaunt our rock-hard abs than at the beach? Good thing Allison has been spending the summer in Galveston! She took us with her to hang out and soak up some sun. Allison, make sure you've got lots of sunscreen on hand...you know how I burn!


Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Catching Up with the Pumped Up Ingys

I know everybody has been wondering how our personal training session with Burt the trainer went. Well, I'm happy to report that I was right. It did only take 1 or 2 workouts to get the bodies we were going for. I told you we'd look like Misty May and Michael Phelps in no time!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Baby Talk: We're Going to School!

Kyle: We told Mommy that's it's not fair that JR gets to go to school everyday and we can't go.
Reed: Yeah! No fair!
K: So, she told us that she knew a thing or two about teaching, and that she would be more than happy to play school with us.
R: I loved school! Here's how our first day of school went...

K: First, we had centers. We went to the toy animal center where we learned about tigers and lions.
R: We also had a lesson on sharing since we seemed to always want the same animal.


R: Next was gross motor. JR says gross motor is one of his favorites.
K: I practiced my log rolls.

R: And since my gross motor skills are more advanced, I worked on my baby push-ups and crawling.


K: After gross motor, it was story time.

R: I picked out Bear Loves Bedtime.

K: And I chose, Bear Loves Colors.


R: Then it was time for recess.
K: JR says he runs around and plays with his friends at recess.
R: I think Mommy got confused. She got the taking us outside part right, but then she strapped us down and strolled us around.
K: We'll just have to explain to her that she did recess wrong.
R: Yeah, do that crying thing you do...she falls for that everytime!

K: We came in from recess and had our snack. I told Mommy that JR gets goldfish crackers at snack time.
R: But she told us we don't have enough teeth to eat goldfish.


K: After snack was nap time.
R: JR doesn't have nap time this year.
K: Too bad, nap time was one of my favorite parts of school!


R: We had a special program when we woke up from nap. Mommy brought in a petting zoo! Here I am with a lamb.
K: Dude! That's not a lamb! It's Hunter...he's here all the time.

R: We finished off the day with math.
K: Mommy's not so good at math, so I think she put it at the end of the day on purpose, secretly hoping we'd run out of time.


R: I think she did a pretty good job, we talked about shapes.
K: And we counted, and talked about biggest to smallest.

We loved our first day of school!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Traveling Ingys Get Pumped Up!

Now that Jason is 40 lbs. lighter he thinks 6-pack abs are supposed to just magically appear. Thank goodness Kelly finally took us to the gym, she thought we could use a good pumping up! My arms are pretty strong from toting around 2 babies at a time, but the rest of me sure needed some working out. Here we are with Kelly's trainer, Burt. I'm sure he'll have me lookin' like Misty May and Jason the spitting image of Michael Phelps in no time. Bodies like that only take 1 or 2 trips to the gym, right?

And here's Kelly's son, Jackson. Looks like he'll be taking over the workout regime for the little ones....it's never to young to start a healthy lifestyle...as long as I can still eat cake, ice cream, or cookies for breakfast!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Friday, August 22, 2008

Yes, I am 25

My birthday is June 14, 1983, and I have a government issued Chinese passport to prove it. Jason and I are being asked daily what we think about the Chinese gymnasts. Do we think they're really 16? Of course we don't; we see the same thing the rest of the world is seeing. Bela Karolyi put it best (and how hilarious and fabulous is he this year?)
"We are in the business of gymnastics. We know what a kid of 14 or 15 or 16 looks like. What kind of slap in the face is this? They are 12, 14 years old and they get lined up and the government backs them and the federation runs away. There is an age limit and it can't be controlled."
Bela also went on to call them "half-people" and to say, "These people (the Chinese) think we are stupid". In this day of political correctness how refreshing it is to have somebody call like it is. Thank you, Bela!
So will these girls be found out? Will they be stripped of their medals? Will they admit their real age? No, No, and No. The only way they can prove these girls are 14 are through government records. Why would the government admit they are lying? They wouldn't. They won't. The Chinese culture is built on "saving face". By winning gold medals these girls brought honor to their country and to their families. The government will see to it that they and their families will be taken care of for the rest of their lives. These girls are "16". Case close.
There's a great article in Time called China's Sports Schools. The article talks about how the Chinese are going into villages, hand picking children, and then training them to win gold at the Olympics. Not just for gymnastics, but for every sport. I have mixed emotions on this. If you're growing up in a Chinese village would you have a better life spending your childhood training for the Olympics? Sadly, maybe so. The Time article blasts China for taking away the opportunity for these children to receive an education. Truth of the matter is, if you're a Chinese villager, you're probably not going to get much of an education anyway. China doesn't have a public school system like we do, parents have to pay to send their kid to school. If your picked to be an athlete, at least you can be assured you won't go hungry, you'll have your own bed to sleep in, and if you actually do win....Well, then you and your family are set for life.
But, as Jason would say, "Just because that's the way it is, doesn't make it right." No, it doesn't make it right. But, it is what it is.
I end with just one last thing: Katie, the next time you're at the Pearl Market, could you pick me up a new passport? My "birthday" is listed at the top of this blog.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Traveling Ingys Get Some Culture, Y'all!

The Traveling Ingys have made it out of Texas, and we're doing some high-falutin', fancy pants stuff. My buddy Joseph Roberts (those of you who know me, know him as J.D., but his professional name is Joseph, so I'll go with that) is making his way in the world of opera. Yes, can you believe it? I'm actually friends with an opera singer. I'm thinking that fact alone would make me a shoo-in for the Junior League. Anyway, The Traveling Ingys were out in high style and sophistication when we went to Minneapolis to visit The Minnesota Opera Company. And it was first class for us all the way, baby, since we were hanging out with a future Minneapolis celebrity. It was none other than the new Associate Conductor of the opera. Oh yes, that's right....Joseph's friend, Clinton, is the new Associate Conductor of The Minnesota Opera Company. So here we are atop the opera building overlooking Minneapolis, and also inside.

Oh! And a big shout out to the Greseth Family...We can't talk about Minnesota without thinking of the family on Granny Sherry's side. Of course if we real Ingys had been there we certainly would have swung by to say hello!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

And The Bees Stayed On The Wall...

He did it. He had a great first day. Isn't he cute in his school uniform? Since he's Bridge Class they only have to wear them on special occasions, but starting next year he'll wear a uniform every day. He started the day off really excited and trying his best to do everything right. This morning I said, "JR, it's a special day. Do you want chocolate milk with breakfast?" He said, "No, I need to be healthy today." In which case I should have replied: 'Great, here's every fruit and vegetable that exists. You've never touched one of them...get to eating.' But, I certainly wasn't going to push my luck on a day like today. JR was happy as could be when we dropped him off, so Jason and I went to the first day of school convocation and then made a pass through the first day of school coffee. If you're a 2nd Baptist parent and you saw a mom with a baby strapped to her in a Snuggi and carrying another baby on her hip...Hi, that would be me. I was panicked the rest of the morning about what stunts JR could pull in the 3 1/2 hours of the first day. Would it be a repeat of last year? Would the teacher call me with a list of offenses? Here's an excerpt from last year's first day of school phone call from the teacher.

Me (after I'd been listening to a synopsis of JR's behavior) : I'm so sorry. You know, we just moved back from Beijing, and he's still adjusting to being an American, and he had a nanny there, and he's an only child, and the only grandchild of only children, and he's....
Teacher(interrupting my list of excuses): You know, he pulled all the bees off the wall.
Me: Excuse me?
Teacher: He pulled all the bees off the wall. Outside the classroom. I had written all the children's names on individual bees so they would know which classroom they were in. JR jerked them all off the wall and threw them on the ground.

But this year...I got a smile AND a wave from the teacher, no phone call, and JR had a green dot (that means he was good) in his folder. Praise the Lord....The bees stayed on the wall!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Where Am I?

I'm writing to you tonight from the frozen Arctic tundra of the Great White North. No, wait a minute, I'm still in Houston. Yet, outside the temperature is currently 77. And the high today was supposedly 83, with a heat index of 78. 78! Let me run put on my parka. Now I know you non Texans would probably sweat to death in a heat index of 78, but we Ingersolls ran outside to play. As luck would have it, the only day we've been able to play outside without the involvement of a water sprinkler or a swimming pool just happens to be JR's last day of summer. That's right, big day tomorrow. JR is excited, I'm scared to death. I just keep telling myself, "It can't be as bad as last year, it can't be as bad as last year." He'll be starting the Bridge Class (That would be the class for kids who've done PreK but aren't ready for Kindergarten -mainly because of a summer birthday.) at Second Baptist tomorrow. His teacher called tonight to say she was looking forward to meeting JR tomorrow...how sweet is that? So, send up little prayers that JR won't have a repeat performance of the first day of school last year, and enjoy the pictures of the Ingy boys actually playing outside during the summer!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Ingy Olympics

We all went to the pool yesterday so JR could met up with his friend, Evan. The entire time we were there JR and Evan jumped off the high dive and the little dive (as they were calling it). JR would call out, "I'm going to do a roll in the air!" (Which translated from JR speak to English means, "I'm going to do a flip.") He would then jump straight into the water, arms and legs flailing about and screaming at the top of his lungs. I asked Jason, "Do you think he thinks he's doing a flip" Jason said, "Knowing him, probably so." After a while, a guy showed up who really did know how to do "rolls in the air" and all other sorts of dives, including the one that starts off in a handstand. JR and Evan were mesmerized, and after every dive/trick the guy did JR would holler out, "I'm going to do that in the Olympics! I'm going to do that one in the Olympics!" Finally the guy missed one and landed in the water on his back. Not skipping a beat JR screamed, "I'm NOT doing THAT one in the Olympics!" So, this morning I let the kids have a mini-Olympics, dressed in Chinese PJ's as a nod to Beijing. (Thanks for the PJ's, Katie.) So, without further ado...The Ingy Olympics....

Here we have Team Ingersoll at the Opening Ceremonies. One thing we've learned about Team Ingersoll is that it is impossible to take a picture with everybody's eyes open, or without Reed looking terrified.

Our first event of the day is Insane Gyrating. JR will be performing a routine with a 7.0 difficulty rating. His routine includes moves of shaking, dancing, and karate kicks at the same time. This takes years of training to achieve. Look how his hands move so quickly they only appear as blurs on film. JR has persisted in his training, even as his mom and dad have time and again told him to "Stop and Calm Down".


Let's switch over to the Living Room Nest where we've got quite a race going on. We've just started the finals of the Men's 200m Bouncy Chair Rock. As you can see ,Kyle (in white), is off to a great start. See how his left leg is extended high in the air, while he keeps his arms close to his body. This makes him quite aerodynamic and can really get that chair rocking. Reed on the other hand, isn't having a good day. He seems to be freezing up, and only able to suck his thumb. That's a tough break for Reed, hopefully he can overcome his nerves, as he's a favorite in some of our later events.


Back to the Ingy National Bedroom Stadium we see JR finishing up his Floor Exercise routine. It looks like he's nailed his last move! A forward roll! Can you believe it! The crowd is going wild. He's stuck the landing! He's stuck the landing!

We've talked with Reed and he says he's had some time to mentally prepare himself for his next event. If we only knew what was going through that head of his. Here he goes...Will it be a gold for Reed in Men's Toe in the Mouth Freestyle? He's done it! Toe directly in the mouth! Now we just have to wait for the judges scores...

Here we are in the Hallway Cube as Kyle prepares for the Men's 400m Tijuana Taxi Sprint. It looks like he may be a little distracted by something. Can we zoom in on that? Yes, it appears Kyle may be distracted by an Eeyore toy located on the Tijuana Taxi. Let's just hope this doesn't blow his chance at getting on the podium.


Over at the Living Room Nest, Reed has a big lead on the competition in the Men's 800m Obstacle Crawl. This one is really tricky. He's going to have to crawl around the Living Room Nest without stopping to chew on the toys located strategically around the room, let's watch and see if he can do it!


It's time for our final and most exciting event. The Men's 50m Freestyle Drink...Also known as the "Drink and Dash". Both Kyle and Reed are looking good. Who will finish their bottle first. We can only wait and see....


It's Reed! He's done it! With a celebratory throw of his bottle, he's won the gold medal. What a day! After a disappointing start in the 200m Bouncy Chair Rock, he's come back to finish the day with a gold in the Drink and Dash! What an exciting day it's been!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Traveling Ingys Adventures with Shelley

The Traveling Ingys were out and about again with Shelley. She took us to visit her nephew, Gus, who lives in San Antonio. What a cutie!
She was also excited about taking us to Chicago with her, and even put us out the night before her flight so she wouldn't forget us....But she forgot us! I've never been to Chicago, so I'm quite upset we were left behind. We were supposed to go with her to a Cubs baseball game..So here's Shelley and company at Wrigley Field....Hummm, for some reason they don't look like they're feeling too bad about forgetting us at home...they must be putting on a brave face....fighting back the tears with happy smiles!





Friday, August 15, 2008

Traveling Ingys Have Girls Night Out

Jason's been out of town this week, so I have really needed a night out with the girls. Good thing Kelly took us along for her girls night out! Y'all know what flirts all the Ingy guys can be....especially Jason, so they were more than happy to have all the ladies to themselves. With a big white limo, Kelly and her buddies sure know how to go out in style! The Ingys were along for the whole night, and as you can see by the last photo, fun was had by all!


Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Baby Talk: Gotcha!

Reed: I may be little, but I'm tough! I've taken on Kyle and made him cry....now I'm working on JR!

R: I've got you now, big brother! Take that! And that! HOO-YAH!


R: Kyle, don't just lay there! Get in here and help me....Bite him! Kick him! Pull his hair...Do something!

R: Ooops! Hi Mommy. No, I wasn't beating up JR, I'm way too little to do that....I was just trying too...ummmm....Give him a hug! That's it, I'm giving him a big hug!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

A Thief In Our Midst

Just when I was getting used to the idea that the twins were becoming mobile, now I'm hit with the realization that I'll soon have to start policing baby skirmishes. Seems we have a thief in out midst...and it's not who you think. Being an only child I have a lot to learn about sibling relationships, but it was always my understanding that the big one always beat up the little one. Well, not in our house. Using covert video surveillance, night vision technology, and a high-speed digital camera we have discovered Reed taking pure pleasure in making Kyle cry. Let's take a look at the evidence.

Both babies are peaceful knowing I'm watching them. Reed even leans away from Kyle, as if to say, "I'm not interested in anything he's got."



While Kyle lies peacefully on his back, Reed scouts the area to see if this is a good time to make his move.



Kyle awakens, sensing someone approaching.


Reed scoots closer to his target.


Reed's got him right where he wants him, only a few more inches to go....


Got it! The pacifier is out...Repeat, the pacifier has been stolen.


Kyle breaks into loud wails, knowing it will bring Mommy running to recover his stolen treasure.


Jury, Our evidence shows, without a doubt, that Reed is guilty of thinking his little game of "take Kyle's pacifier and watch him cry" is hilarious. Verdict : Everybody gets a pacifier. Kyle gets one to use, and Reed gets one to play with. Case closed. One sibling crisis solved....millions more to go.