Twin Tuesday: Viva la France

Today in 1889 the Eiffel Tower officially opened.

 I was 15 when I visited and would love to go back and bring the twins, of course.

 Oh, and Blog Man can come too. But only if there is wifi.

The Eiffel Tower was built for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889 commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII of England, opened the tower. Of the 700 proposals submitted in a design competition, Gustave Eiffel's was unanimously chosen.
-taken from http://www.paris.org/Monuments/Eiffel/

I'm thinking french fries with dinner and creme brulee for dessert. Yum!

How you know I'm a native Californian

Today when the twins were taking their morning nap I fell asleep reading/procrastinating on the couch. When the earthquake hit, I woke up, waited for it to end and said to myself, "That was probably about a 4.5." Then I rolled over and went back to sleep. Later in the day I heard it was a 4.3. Am I good or what?

Matthew Now Outweighs Sarah by 2 1/2 Pounds

It's Dad's night to hang out with the twins, so that means it's time for a quick update.

This week, after returning from Spring Training, Kristine managed to get the kids officially weighed for the first time in a while. Both are progressing, but with them both crawling just about everywhere now, the rapid growth we used to see has definitely leveled off.


At 9 months and a week, Matthew weighs in at exactly 18 pounds. Meanwhile, Sarah counters with 15 pounds and 8 ounces (or 15 1/2 pounds). If you remember that Matthew started off at 5 pounds, and Sarah was once 4 pounds 3 ounces (even lower just after birth), that means both have pretty much quadrupled their original weight. (Though Matthew has a bit more to go to make that official)


This Friday night, they're not doing much exciting, but they're filling up on bottles, hoping to get their chunkiness up to new levels.

Bacon Anyone?

Buying gifts for Louis is very hard. Anything he wants he usually just goes out and buys himself without mentioning he wants it so I don't know about it as a possible gift. He likes to pick out his own clothes and doesn't go for mushy, romantic type gifts. He man needs very little. He is completely content with his laptop, the couch and a diet Coke. 

April is approaching and that means Louis' birthday and our anniversary all in the same week. So once again I need not one, but two gifts. 

If you know my man, you know the man likes his bacon. He even has bacon salt which you can put on your food so anything will taste like...you know...bacon. So last year I actually was able to get him a gift he actually liked and used. I bought him a membership in Bacon-of-the-month club. That's right, never mind the nice shirts, the engraved money clip, or home baked cookies, the man loves the delivery of a different kind of gourmet bacon every month.

So here is the dilemma: Do I renew his membership and contribute to his future heart attack? Or do I come up with something else?

Here are some possible gifts along the same theme:

Bacon Watch

Bacon Wallet

Bacon iphone Cover

Bacon Refrigerator Magnets

And the ever famous...Bacon Suit

What do you think? Leave your vote in the comments below. And that includes all you lurkers. What should Louis' next birthday or anniversary gift be this year?

Twin Tuesday: Costco Run

Buying in bulk. 

Spring Training Day 4

So now that the twins are seasoned travelers (ha!), I told Louis I think we should tour Europe this summer. Good idea?

A Cubs fan checks out Matthew

Sarah decided to power nap while waiting for the A's to make their comeback.

Home again and back to work and colder weather.

Spring Training Day 3

Ok, these A's really need to get their rears in gear. Another loss, this time to the White Sox. They rallied in the 9th and had the winning run on first, but could not pull it off. Oh well, we are having a great time enjoying the sun, relaxing and initiating the twins to baseball.

We are VERY lucky the twins are pretty mellow. I'm always afraid of being those people that the whole section hates because their kid keeps crying. Matthew and Sarah love looking around, bouncing on our laps, and making friends with the people around us. One woman in front of us even told us how impressed she was with how great our babies were during the whole game. Must be great parenting, right? Pure luck if you ask me. That and keeping them well fed.

Drunk fan who for every beer he drank had more tips for the White Sox 3rd base coach. I think he was at the wrong game. Phillies?

The patented Louis Gray double-carry technique.

Back at the hotel Matthew shows off his six-pack before hitting the pool.

Sarah entertaining herself before bed.

Spring Training Day 2

Day 2 found us in Peoria with the Mariners hosting the A's. Once again our A's lost (sigh) but the kids were total troopers and lasted the whole game heat and all. Afterwards, we met up with my Uncle Herb and Aunt Elaine for dinner. My cousin Erik and his wife Jan were also in town visiting and staying with them. So all of us were able to get caught up and the twins met their great-uncle Herbie and great-aunt Elaine for the first time. It was great seeing everyone. I wish I lived closer to family.



85 years young!

Spring Training Day 1

We went to Goodyear to watch the A's play the Indians. They lost but we had a good time and no one got sunburned. The twinners loved splashing around in the pool when we got back to the hotel.

Flight to Phoenix

We are in Phoenix and it's a balmy 86 degrees. (love it!) The twinners had their first plane ride and everything went very smoothly. The babies did great and even had a few fans by the time we landed. 

Sarah during boarding.

Matthew charmed the cute coed sitting next to Louis and even had a nap on her lap. (They didn't let us sit in the same row because having both babies together would mean not enough O2 bags for that row.)

Sarah was very excited to land.

Have you ever seen the Seinfeld where Jerry is trying to rent a car and they don't have any even though he has a reservation?  He says the point of a reservation is so they can RESERVE a car. We tried explaining that to Budget and the fact two car seats and suitcases don't fit in a compact and that's why we reserved an SUV. It all worked out and we got our car.

Tomorrow we are off to our first of four games. The A's versus Indians. 

Do you think we have enough A's gear for the twins?

The scary/cool thing is that we didn't buy a single one of those. Do our friends know us or what?

He's Back and We're Off to AZ

Blog Man came back from ditching us for Austin this week. My four and a half days as a single parent went pretty smooth. Super exciting stuff. Made a big batch of baby food. I'm finally found a reason to use my Cuisinart after having it for 5 years. Pureed carrots. Yum!

We hung out, went for walks. Music time was spent listening to Depeche Mode and a little bit of The Cure. Story time consisted of Peter Rabbit. 

Sarah decided to crawl forward on her knees the day before Louis left and then the day he left she learned how to pull herself up on her feet. Now she stands in the crib, hanging on to the rail and jabbers away to Matthew while he lies in his crib and laughs. It's not easy getting one to go to sleep when the other one is there to entertain. 

We leave tomorrow for Phoenix. It's our annual Spring Training trip to see the A's and other teams. So I'm packing our sun gear; hats, 70+ SPF, shorts, and sandals. This year should be quite different taking two babies. Wish us luck!

Miss Smarty Pants

Twin Tuesday: 'Erin Go Blagh

You didn't think we'd miss this day, did you?

We don't even have to pretend to be Irish in the Gray House, since most of the genes around here can be traced back to the Emerald Isle.

Don't forget to wear your green.

iChat Keeps Me In Touch With the Twins While Traveling at the SXSW Conference

Technology is great. This week, while at at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference, I've been immersed in technology, surrounded by people who care about technology, and are building the next tools. But the downside is I can't be hanging out with my family, and leaving the twins especially is hard considering their amazing cuteness and young age.


Luckily, we can use Apple's iChat to do a video conference, so they can hear my voice and see my face. Just look at the smile on Sarah's face to see how she enjoyed talking with me on Saturday night. This is a real example how technology innovation can make a difference. Hope you don't mind my silly mug being in the pictures as well. :)

Happy Purim

The Jewish holiday of Purim begins today at sundown. It celebrates/commemorates the the deliverance of the Jews while in the Babylon captivity as told in the Book of Esther. It's a great story how one woman saves her people.

Purim always reminds me of when I was teaching sixth grade Language Arts. I taught a book called The Night Journey by Kathryn Lasky. It tells the story of a Jewish family that flees the pogroms of czarist Russia. During the festivities of Purim is when they make their escape. I loved teaching sixth grade history and literature. But I guess I say that about every grade I've taught.

Twin Tuesday: Blue Man Group

My Wife and Kids Ditched Me (For a Day)

Even though Matthew and Sarah are an absolute delight, there are days when I wonder how much more productive I could be if I weren't constantly bouncing somebody, feeding somebody, walking or clothing somebody or getting them ready for bed. Granted, my wife does most of the work, especially when I'm at the office, but there's always that curiosity - what would actually get done if I were to finally get time to myself?


As it turns out, not much. Maybe I'm the typical American male after all.


Yesterday afternoon, Kristine bundled the twins in the car and set off to meet my parents in the Sacramento area for a 24-hour visit, primarily to pass along our old Series 1 TiVo to my younger brother, who was also there to get a hand-me down TV from my parents. Good deal if you can get it. Given I planned to go to work Monday morning, there was no real way I could go, so for 12 hours anyway, the house was mine.

That meant I didn't have to tiptoe around the house for fear of waking kids up. I didn't have to close doors quietly and talk on the phone quietly. I didn't have to step over people and around things. But any master plan of getting caught up on work for the office, or banging out a dozen blog posts and answering all my e-mail failed. Big time fail.

Instead, I managed to act like the typical bachelor. I burned my lunch in the microwave, making the house reek of smoke. I watched an old film on TiVo. I even got a small nap - and finished the evening off by finding a new show "Breaking Bad" and then watching "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" (Both are highly recommended). It's probably the most TV I've seen in one day in a long time.

Kristine returns today, and will again get the chance to take care of the kids solo, as soon as I go to SXSW at the end of the week. My one-day daddy vacation will have been complete. But to be honest, I'd have traded my day of sloth just to have the twins around - especially now that we've proven I can be totally unproductive whether they are there or not.

Having the twins earn their keep

With the twinners crawling action and this product our floor should be sparkling!

Twin Tuesday: Square Root Day

Today is 3/3/09 which makes it Square Root Day (get it?). The next one won't be until 4/4/16. 

So here is our salute to all you math lovers out there. My department at work shares an office with the math department so this is dedicated to all the great math teachers at my school. Maybe if one of you had been my teacher I might not have disliked math so much (exception to you Mrs. Antink, I loved being in your geometry class).

Simple Blessings

Your diamonds are not in far distant mountains or in yonder seas; they are in your own backyard, if you but dig for them.- Russell H. Conwell

I've been trying to appreciate and capture the simple moments of life as we run around, never stopping in this world of constant activity and motion. If I don't stop and savor them now, they are gone forever in the blink of an eye. Sunday was one such day. 

After church we came home and all four of us (thank you twinners) were able to take a nice long nap. Someone (and I truly can't remember who) had awakened us at 4 am with major complaints, so we were dragging our feet that morning through the 3 hours of church.

After our nap (and feeling very refreshed) we decided to take a walk since the rain has stopped for the moment. It was one of those windy, blustery days as described in Winnie-the-Pooh. Not cold, so the fresh air would be nice after being cooped up most of the week. It was so peaceful to be out watching the leaves blow and being able to talk without the interruption of tv, iphones, or internet. 

Afterward we came home to hot chocolate and playing, rolling around on the floor with our two rug rats until it was time to put them to bed. Simple, yet a moment of peace and harmony and feeling the blessings of being with my little family.

Happy Birthday Dr.Seuss

This is the Google logo today in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday and who (like Horton) doesn't LOVE

Dr. Seuss?

We Do!

Halloween '08