Legoland Movie Giveaway

Please visit the Centsable Family blog for details on how to win tickets to a new 4d movie called 'Clutch Powers'. This movie will air on Thursday May 18, 2010 and all entries must be submitted by Tuesday 3/16/2010.

This is for anyone living in the Chicago area who can attend the event.
There are currently 6 tickets available for this event.

WOW - it's been a long

Time since I last posted anything.

Since I posted last we went on vacation to Tennessee, went to the Dells for E's birthday, celebrated a number of holidays planned our next vacation to Arizona, and a bunch of other things.

I am also working on a new blog that is located at www.centsablefamily.wordpress.com check it out when you get time.

I promise to post here more often.

To be a child again

At some point in my life I need to learn that I am not a child again - when that happens who knows but it will happen.

The other day Eoin came to the house with a problem with his bike - upon further inspection he blew out his back tire and inner tube. If I remember correctly he got this bike last year and has not treated it with the greatest of care. That's kind of impossible especially when every child in the neighborhood shares bikes.

Di and I talked it over and determined that the bike he currently has is just too small for him - I have the seat up all the way and watching him ride it I can tell he has outgrown this bike. We decided to get him a new bike - this is part of his birthday present although he really does not know that yet.

We went to Costco and they had a good bike but it was just not the right fit - it seemed like he was stretching to reach the handle bars and pedals. We decided to go to Walmart and see what they had. Walmart had one similar to the one at Costco and although you could adjust the handle bars I just didn't like it.

While still looking at the bikes we found a different one - a little more expensive but still cheaper than the Costco bike. We had him ride it and it seemed like a good fit for him. Being the concerned parent that I am I had to try the bike out myself to make sure it would be good for him. This is a 20' bike and I am 5'8". This is a bike designed for a child so when I sat on it I could ride it but it was not very easy to ride.

We decided to purchase the bike for Eoin and brought it home for him. Either that day or the next he was outside riding his new bike, the old one will be repaired and given to Liam, and I decided to take it for another spin. I was able to ride it pretty well and almost beat someone in a race (I had to take the long route so I lost).

After the race I decided to try something I have not done in years - I tried a wheelie. I was semi successful on the first one and Eoin said to do it again. Let's see the smart thing would have been not to do it. Lets say that I am not that smart.

I tried another wheelie and as I started to lift the front wheel my right knee must have decided I was too old to be performing these stunts. I must have popped my knee out and when that happened it hurt so bad that I had to control myself falling while protecting the new bike.

Needless to say I was able to prevent the bike from getting damaged but walking was another story. Now my right knee hurts so bad that sometimes I can barely walk and sleeping is difficult at best. From what I can tell my knee is getting better but it is going to take a lot of time to heal.

The question remains that when my knee gets better if I will have learned my lesson and to ride bicycles that are made for adults or will I ride Eoins bike again?

Only time will tell.

Kite Flying

Well the other day I took the boys to the park to fly the "Dragon" kite - this is a very difficult kite to fly since it looks like a dragon - wings and all.

While I was at the park there were children of all ages playing on the slides, swings and other items at the park. I was pretty windy and I have not flown this kite in about 4 years - I think. I was having a hard time keeping the kite up - it lkept wanting to take a nose dive to the ground and I was not able to stop it. It seemed like the wind would get inder one wing, shift the balance of the kite and send it to the ground with a great big thud.

While I was trying to fly the kite I heard this young girl on the playground say "He does not know how to fly a kite". I really wanted to turn around and tell her if she could do any better then to go home and get HER Dragon kite and bring it on, but she might just do that. I was finally able to get he kite up for a little while but when I attempted to let it go higher CRASH!!!!

Oh well, I will have to try this kite when no little children are around - maybe I will have better luck.

Ever since then Eoin has been bugging me to let him fly a kite - Today I told the boys that if they were good I would buy them a kite and we could go fly it. Where is that little girl when you have an EASY kite to fly? That's what I Thought !!!!!

Here are some picutres of Eoin and Liam flying the Iron Man kite:

Eoin Flying Kite

Iron Man Kite

Eoin is actually getting the kite in the air for Liam after it hit the ground.

Liam is actually doing a very good job holding the kite up in the air.

Eoin learned how to keep the kite in the air really fast. He learned how to get it to go higher when it started to dive on him.

Eoin is flying the kite and I am filming it, it takes a nose dive to the ground so I go to get it. When I get it in the air you will see it go by a tree, the tail actually got stuck in the tree for a second or two then it almost hit a house. Eoin was able to recover the kite and he goi it back up to full height.

The tail on this kite must be at least 6 feet long - that's probably 4 times larger than the kite.

Full height - no zoom - this kite is really high

Eoin is concentrating on holding the kite - I almost think he is getting bored poor child

This is at full zoom for the camera

Liam is having a ball.

Shortly after this the kite hit the ground and while Eoin was attempting to get it airborn again, it wrapped around a light pole. Time to bring the kite in for the day.

Not again

Well as luck would have it I have had my van back for about 6 weeks and well.......

It was hit again!

This time I was stopped at a light and an impatient lady wanted to go left but the problem was that she was behind me and I was going straight. When the arrow turned green she attempted, without success, to squeeze between me and the curb. As her vehicle scraped my newly repaired van, I think I had it for 6 weeks, I basically shook my head in disbelief.

I followed her to the gas station across the street, I honstly believe that if I did not follow her she would have split. When we got out of our vehicles I said that I would need her driverse license and insurance card and she proceeded to inform me that the only person that would get her information is the police. She also informed me that she does not have a drivers license.

I called the police and while waiting for them to show up I had to listen to this old lady complain and complain and complain. I don't know if she hated white males or just me for hitting my car but she has some serious issues to resolve.

I tried to tell her that she had done at least $500 damage to my van and she didn't believe me. She basically said that I was nuts if I thought she caused that much damage.

Today I called the body shop that fixed my van back in December and took it in to get an estimate. When I talked to the person that answered the phone I told him that they did such a wonderful job fixing my van from the last accident that someone else hit me and I would need it repaored again. The estimate he gave me was for almost $1000.

Now I get another rental car and my van has to go back in the shop for another 3 - 5 days - YEAH!

Can I find someone to hit the passenger side so I can get that fixed as well? (Just Kidding)

New Year

Well, it's March 4, 2009 and the new year is going ok for now.

I finally got the van back about a week before we went to Orlando Florida for a week. It drives nice and looks good - it better, it cost around $7,500 to fix. I will post pictures when the weather clears up.

We went to Orlando Florida the last week of February and on the way stopped in Acworth, GA to see my Nephew and his family since I have not heard from them in approx 6 months because their phone was disconnected.

We also stopped in Tampa FL to see my brother and his family - last time we were down there was when Mom was sick and the boys were not able to come with us. We had fun, we went to a park where the tree roots are exposed because the ground under them is being washed away. This is a pretty large area and very hilly.

Eoin and Liam played with their children and we went out to get a bite to eat before heading to our resort in Orlando. We had fun and will have to go back down and spend some time with them in the future.

We checked in our resort somewhere around 8pm Sunday night and as usual the boys were so excited they woke us up at around 7am. All Eoin could talk about was that we were in Disney World. No matter how many times I tried to tell him we were in Orlando he just could not put 2+2 together. I was just happy to be spending time with the family and not having to go into work.

We went to Down Town Disney on our first day and walked around a shopping center - We went in a resturant that had a huge Dinosaur in it, Liam was not thrilled with this but we went in a different part of the store and the boys each built a stuffed Dinosaur. Liam has a hard time letting his go - he even sleeps with it.

We ended up going to Disney Studios and Magic Kingdom while we were there - the boys were able to get some autographs and pictures from Pluto, Chip & Dale, Stitch, Goofy, Tigger, Pooh and a few others. Diane had to be convinced to get her picture taken with Goofy since she just got off of Splash Mountain and her hair was all curly and her clothes were wet from the ride.

The boys behaved so well on the trip down and the trip back - this really suprised me. Liam played with his leapster quite a bit on the trip and we played Kung Fu Panda a number of times. Eoin was happy to play the Wii on the drive down and back.

Now that we are back I get to deal with the insurance company so that I can get all of the bills paid for my van.

So now the house is full again - we have Sir Stinks a Lot (Harry Potter). He is back from Cathys house and I think he missed us. We still have to unpack the clothes - since I had to go to work the night after we returned we have not had a chance to put the clothes away. And we have to get all of teh toys put away that the boys have dragged out.

I am ready for a vacation.

I will post some pictures later.

A Wonderful way to start Christmas

Here's the short version:

My van got an owie.

Ok so here's the long version:

I was on my way to work enjoying the beautiful weather - yes it was SNOWING when I came to the corner of RT53 and Army Trail Rd in Addison IL.

This intersection has a left hand turn light for all 4 corners since it is near the expressway and is used by UPS since their facility is near it.

As I approach the intersection my light turns green, at this point I might be going 20 mph at the most. As I get closer to the intersection a car traveling south turns in front of me on to Army Trail Rd.

Now I am at the intersection traveling North and I see another car coming straight at me so I slam on my brakes to stop but that does not work. He hit my vehicle hard enough to bend the front wheel and make it un-driveable.

I attempt to get out of my car but my door will not open so I have to basically force it open. I check with the other driver and make sure he is OK. He said that this is the first accident he has been in in 70 years - he was born in 1936.

After we talked for a few minutes I attempt to call the Addison PD because of the accident and he said that he heard you should just exchange information and contact the police later but he does not want to leave me at the scene by myself. While I am trying to contact the PD an Addison fire department vehicle drives up and makes sure there are no injuries and contacts the PD.

I called the little lady in my life and ask her how much she likes the van - she asks why and I tell her the story.

After the police arrive the officer wants us to move our vehicles out of the intersection - I point to mine and tell him that it won't be able to be moved. He mumbled something then called a tow truck. He has me sit in the back of his car to warm up since it is starting to get colder.

Now I have to contact work and let them know that I will not be there on time - I left home early so I would be on time for a change, that will not happen again in the near future. My co-worker says that she will send someone to pick me up - cool I can now get to work when I am done. The nice police officer asks me where I work and I tell him where I work and that it's in Itasca - but he missed the last part and confused my company with a different one with a similar name.

When the officer puts in the other drivers plate number it comes back to a Honda not a Lincoln which is what the other driver is driving. After further investigation it appears as if the DMV might have sent the incorrect plates and his correct plate number is entered in the system.

I let the officer know what happened and what the other driver told me and then he went to get the other drivers story. I see the tow truck pull up in the gas station parking lot with my vehicle on it and the officer lets the driver know that I need to get somethings out of it. I go and get my lunch, the car seats for the boys and a few other things. The tow truck driver gives me a tow sheet with my vehicle information and we put the items in the back of the patrol car.

The other driver has been let go and the police officer is going to give me a ride to work. As he is driving towards my office he pulls into a shopping center and I hear him on the phone telling someone he is dropping me off at the wrong place. I kindly let him know that I do not work here and let him know where I do work. He says that he is very sorry he got the places mixed up but he can not leave Addison so he drops me off at Best Buy.

He was very polite about the mix up and I told him it was not an issue - so I take my things into the entrance to Best Buy and contact work. My co-worker says that the other shift went home as it is now after 8pm and they leave at 7 - 7:30pm. Now we are both thinking of how can I get to work.

I call the insurance company to file a claim and see if they can help me. I file the claim and then they let me know that they can authorize a rental car for 24 hours. The rental car can be extended by someone in the claims office the next day. I ask her if they use any rental car companies and she says no - just call one and give them the claim number.

Work calls and lets me know that they are trying to think of how to get me to work. He will try to contact our old boss who was let go in November. I try to call an old co-worker who lives near my location and he says that he is snowed in and suggests calling our old boss.

My co-worker calls back and said that our old boss will pick me up and take me to work. I call my lovely wife and let her know what is going on and that my old boss will take me to work and she says "The boss who was let go in November is going to give you a ride to work" - I said "Yes". He is a wonderful person to go out in the snow and drive me to work - he even offered to pick me up in the am and drive me home.

I get to work lugging my lunch, 2 car seats, and a few other items and then I call a rental car company to see about getting a vehicle to drive so I can get home which is approx 30 miles away. The company I call looks through their system and tells me that 99% of the vehicles they have are "Sold Out" due to the holiday. Oh Great now what?

I call my oldest brother who was let go from my company in November and talk to his wife. I let her know what happened and ask her if I could possible borrow her car until I can get a rental car. She said no problem that they would pack up the rug rats, I mean children, and drop the car off tonight. I let her know that if she wants to wait until the am it will not be a problem as I will be here all night. She said that she would rather drop off the car tonight than get up very early in the am - Yes now I can get home.

I get home the next morning and the insurance company is on the line so I explain what happened and give them a recorded statement. I also call the other drivers insurance company and start the claims process with them.

On Friday the adjuster calls from my insurance company and gives me a rough estimate to fix the vehicle and tells me I need to get the vehicle out of the tow yard asap. I let him know I am waiting for the other insurance company to get back to me so he said he will hold off on the estimate.

I call the other insurance company and they tell me they are closed for the holidays but that I need to get my van moved to mitigate my damages because they will not pay excessive storage fees. I tell them that I am waiting for them to tell me what they are going to do about the damage to me van. I will have to wait until Monday.

I call a friend who gives me the name of a repair shop when I can have my van towed and I call then but they are not answering their phone - probably closed for the holidays. I call my insurance company and leave a voice mail message for them to call me regarding my van

I call the tow yard because I have to get a few things out of my van. They tell me what I need to gain access to my vehicle so I take it to them. When I get there the guy says that my insurance does not list collision so I can not get to my van. I tell him the bank owns the car and collision is required. He tries to call my insurance company but they do not answer. I go outside and call my insurance company and get everything straightened out. I am finally able to get the few items from my van that I need.

Now my left are is starting to bother me so I call my insurance company and the lady says to go see my doctor, who is closed to the holiday, and give them my claim number.

So I am now waiting for Monday to hear from the other drivers insurance company, the body shop and to call my doctor to get a check up got my left arm. I am also hoping that the rental car companies will have a vehicle for me to drive.

In case you are wondering what the van looks like now - here are some pictures: