Gymnastics Superstars Tour

Last night we headed to the Tacoma Dome to see the Gymnastics Superstars 2008 Tour. Emma and Camden were happy as could be snacking on popcorn and watching the show. We had been telling Emma all about Shawn Johnson, who is from Iowa. She was very excited when she came out to perform! The Olympic bronze medal men's team impressed Chris and I the most-especially their rings routine!

"Little Chris"

The youngest Kasparek turns 16 months old this week. When people see Camden these days, the first thing they say is, "He looks just like Chris!" When we hosted a little Silverwood School TGIF Party at our house, Camden was given the nickname "Little Chris" by my fellow teachers.
Maybe he should have been a junior....

Everyone needs some pink glasses...

These pink sunglasses I popped the lenses out of have become quite a hit at our house lately. When the time comes for real glasses someday, Grandpa might just have to use these frames. :)

Who me?!?!

I, sweet and innocent Emma Louise Kasparek, never cause any trouble...YEAH RIGHT!!!!!

As if Chris hadn't had enough excitement for one weekend as Super Dad, Emma decided to entertain herself by coloring her hands blue..
"Oh guys, I just like to keep life interesting!" :)

Holy Sh#@

Well it is 9:06 p.m. and I am finally sitting down at the computer to tell a story that when I do finally get that book deal will without a doubt have its own chapter. If you cry from a good laugh get the box of kleenex ready, because this is a doozy. I only wish that I had pictures, so for now, you will have to use what I give you and let your imaginations run wild.

So Vanessa left for Seattle this morning to spend some well deserved rest, relaxation, shopping and bonding with our good friend Michelle. So the kids and I sit down and enjoy some Hawkeye football...Wait, I did not enjoy that...That flippin' su@#$%....Anyhow, back to the story...

So I was invited by one of my staff members to her birthday party. The employee, whose name is Edith, from the information I have gathered takes everyone out for her birthday every year. She is the nicest woman, and she reminds me of another Edith I had in my life...My late, great Grandma. So the party is at a Chinese Buffet Restaurant...

So Emma, Camden and I walk in to a banquet room that is filled with Edith's friends, who also all work for me...Yes, it gos without saying that I felt eyes on me...Let's see how Mr. Chris does as a Daddy. So I go to the buffet with Emma, leaving Camden with Edith(she offered)...I come back to the table and everything is going great...Camden is enjoying Rice, and Watermelon...Emma is enjoying Rice, Mashed Potatoes, Watermelon, Chicken and Lemonade.

So I finish my plate and Edith comes over and tells me that I need more, so I cannot refuse...She watches Camden and Emma and I go and get us all more food...Feeling good to this point, the kids are doing great, I am filling my belly and Edith is having a great party...and then the fun begins....

So I sit back down and look to see Camden having his pushing face on...You know the face parents...The face of a child filling his pants...No problem..I've got this..I am a responsible dad..I have the backpack, a diaper, the wipes...You keep pushing son...I will change the diaper as soon as you are done...

So I kid you not, a minute later he is done, and I tell Emma to hold tight while I take Camden to change his diaper...Thank God she listened to me..

So we get the restroom, and this is where you need to start visualizing..You have all been in these bathrooms..Tile floor...Dirty sinks, Dirty all the way around, and oh yeah, guess what...No Changing area....What the @#$%^...Where am I going to put Camden...Crossed my mind to run out to the car...but why...This will only take me two minutes...

So I take some paper towels from the dispenser and lay them on the floor(laughing yet), and I lay Camden down...Wow, he stinks I think to myself...He of course is giddy and laughing and I am just wanting to get the heck out of this bathroom and get back to my chicken and rice... ..

So I take off Camdens pants and everything from this point went down hill and all around..As I remove the jeans I immediately feel poopoo on my fingers...What the @#$%...Oh my G#$, Holy Sh#$%^...As I remove the pants I realize the Camden has blown completely out of the diaper...So as I remove the jeans, the blowout is all over his legs and my hand. and oh look, on my jacket cuff...

Reminder we are on the floor of the bathroom..So I take the diaper off and HOLY CRAP...So I reach for the wipes..Now I have to admit, I am not a conservative wiper when it comes to my kids..Never have been...So I reach for the wipes, knowing that this is at least a 30 wipe job..I was only 27 short....The 3 wipes did not even clean the leg, so I have to reach up to the dispenser and get some paper towels...Oh yeah that works...NOT...

So I kind of get Camden's bottom clean and realize that the onesie is covered as well...So I take it off...Oh no....I try to take it off, but now I realize the severity of the blow out...Camden had poopoo all up his back all the way to his hairline...I wish I was exagerating...At this point I take it off and move Camden to the sink...In one corner of the bathroom is a pile of poopy clothes..and standing on the sink is my naked boy looking at me laughing...So I put him in the sink and start splahing water on him....Pretty sure that if a cleaniness inspector would have come it, the buffet would have been shut-down.

So now Camden is clean he is standing in front of me naked and yes, thats right sports fans, he begins to pee on me and all over the floor...Now I can honestly say that in the first 16 months of Camden's life he has never peed on me...Well of course, why not wait till a reallly good opportunity...So now I am covered with Pee, Poopoo and so is the floor. Oh and as you may have already thought..I have no clothes for Camden to change into...So I put his Shoes on(without socks), a diaper, and the only piece of clothes that survived the blowout...a hooded sweatshirt from Japan that states on the back, and I am not kidding, because I could not ask for a more perfect saying for this situation.."Articulate DUMP" Oh it was articulate.....

So Camden is ready to leave the bathroom and the first person comes in the bathroom..."Hi, don't mind us" What I am really thinking is. Yes I know this bathroom smells like sh@#$...and I am sorry but you just walked through a puddle of my sons pee...

So the visitor leaves and I continue to clean-up. Then the 2nd visitor comes in and says "Isn't this funny about Kids" Oh yeah buddy, thanks...Let me shake your hand with my poopy hand.

So I finally finish and walk out with my diapered kid, walk right to Emma and tell her we are leaving...Everyone is looking, staring and telling me I need ot sing Karaoke before I leave...Mmmmmmmmmmm, I do not think so...I give Edith a hug and we get in the car....At this point the car smells like a port-o-potty and I cannot believe what has jut happened.

We get home, and take the longest bath ever....

Have a great day...Love those kids...

Just your typical Saturday...

Off for an early morning run with Daddy... Camden has seen Emma lay on her stomach and color enough times, he thought he would do the same. :)Watch out Hollywood! Here's our glamorous Emma. She started out wanting to be a hula girl and soon transformed into this...
I think the whole ensemble was completed when she found some blue lip gloss...

A Night at the Fair...

So Emma and I went with our friends the Warthen's to the Puyallup Fair(Washington State Fair) on Wednesday night while Camden stayed home with Vanessa and helped her with the flu bug. As you can see by the following pics, Emma and Claire are two peas in a pod and absolutely loved the rides. Emma also enjoyed the Cotton Candy, a Corn Dog, French Fries, Dr. Pepper and a bottle of water. At the end of the night when I asked Emma what her favorite part of the fair was...Her answer...The Roller Coasters...Enjoy the Pics... Emma and Claire before RC#1
A Fun Boat Ride...
Rocket Woman.....
Priceless Photo...
Is this a possible peak into the Future...

After 2 Long Weeks...

So after the two longest weeks of my life it came down to a phone call from my favorite nurse. Survey says...I am going to be around for awhile...That's right sports fans, this kid is going nowhere soon. Turns out my left ventricle is a little big....Doc says due to the fact that I used to be what we in this boat like to call the Chubby Side. So after being large and in charge since HS and then losing all of that weight my left ventricle stayed large...

So it is safe to say that these last two weeks put alot of things in perspective. Some asked if I was pissed at the nurse...Could I really be...In my opinion, I won the lottery...The lottery of life...My biggest fear these last two weeks was the fact that I may not see my children grow old. I do not wish that feeling on anyone. So where do I go from here. Surgery on the shoulder sometime in the near future, more marathons, eventually an Ultra-Marathon, and last but surely not least....More QT with my family and friends..

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and blessings these past two weeks...We felt them and appreciated them....Now scroll down and enjoy Vanessa's last few blogs...Damn our kids are cute...Love Chris.

What a pair!

Just when I think my kids can't get any cuter...a surprise at school to melt any mother's heart. Emma's teacher, Miss Betty, captured this moment in pictures for us.

Camden's class is on a walk and who should he see...why it's big sis Emma all dressed up in her purple tutu!Awww Emma, I love you!
A kiss through the glass (Camden squealing with glee!)

Emma gets to go out in the hallway and give her brother a big squeeze!

What a good sport...

Emma is so lucky to have a brother who goes along with her wild and crazy plans. Camden loves sitting in the laundry basket so Emma decided to bury him with toys and movies just for fun. :)

Another Long Weekend...

Well as you can gage by the title, we still do not know what is going on with my heart. Had the echocardiogram yesterday, and according to the tec, they got some beautiful shots of my heart...Oh goody...Of course she could not tell me a damn thing about them...How convenient.

Want to know what happens when they go through this stuff. Would love to tell them the same things. So the funny thing about seeing my heart yesterday was that I almost hyperventilated(spelling?) You try looking at your heart while you can feel it beating and at the same time you are trying to control your breathing...You try to put it all in sync but it just ends up freaking you out a little bit....

So to finish this entry I will say that everyone is telling me that if there was something seriously wrong, I would be in the hospital...Thats a good thing I guess...but no offense, I will feel better when I know if it is my dying heart, the diaphragm(which I have now said more in one week then I said the previous 33 years of my life)..and in case some of you are still confused, the diapragm is not that tool(bad verbage) that is used for Birth Control...Because that in itself would explain the blood flow problem...

See you can scare the man, but you can't scare out the sense of humor...Thank you for the continued prayers...Love...Chris

Cautiously Optimistic

So this afternoon got off of the phone with the nurse...Yes that nurse the infamous one for telling me that it appears my heart may be dying....

So my tests from last Thursday show my numbers in relation to BloodPressure, Exercise, Heart Rate to be normal...There concern is with the flow of the blood through the heart. They believe that there are two possible reasons for this....

1) Muscle Damage...the Heart Disease Scenario or
2) My Diaphragm....may be causing the flow of the heart to be different...the make up of my body...

So this is not bad news or good news, just optimistic news... but figured you would all like to know for now....Echocardiogram will take place tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.

Fingers Crossed....I can honestly say I do not know a whole lot about the diaphragm other than when you get punched, kicked or pummeled there,you lose your breath....Well I have never been a bigger fan of the diaphragm then I am right now..Thank you all for your continued prayers.