stuck in my head

Please ignore the weird videos. In fact, click play and then turn around for optimal listening pleasure.








Many thanks to Mom (and Ros!) for the cd.

Christmas morning at our house

We had a really low-key Christmas morning, which was fun. We hung out and ate too much sugar and enjoyed my brother and sister before the hit the road back to Colorado. Jonah especially loved her dogs.

Loving on Ramona. He tried to take all his naps with them, but when Teri left the room, so would the dogs. Jonah would sit on the bed and yell, "Wait! Doggies, come back!" Jonah has asked for the doggies every time he's woken up (nap, morning, nap) since they left. Sometimes he remembers to ask about Aunt Teri and Uncle Quindi, too:A rare occasion...all 3 of us smiling (ok, not that rare, but still rare on film):Teri & Jonah:Splashing in puddles:

I love Christmas cards and some clarification

We sent out Christmas cards for the first time this year. In addition to the 5 or so we usually get, we got 7 or 8 more from people we sent cards to. It was great! In fact, 6+ came in the mail just today. We had a great time reading the letters. I can see why this is such an enduring tradition and must start plotting a letter for next year.

Also, a few thoughts on the previous post. First of all, Josh wrote it, for anyone who couldn't tell. Here are some answers to the FAQ:
1. True to his nature, the post is quite sarcastic. In response to your question, Mom, the "relaxing trip" was really hectic and stressful. Grocery shopping with Jonah is hit or miss these days and this was one of the miss trips.
2. Here's the background: I made a comment similar to the one in the story about breaking the ground beef into chunks smaller than 1 lb to save money. It is true that I try to do it sneakily because if Josh thinks it's a full pound he won't protest that I'm feeding him "girl food". Josh didn't like the idea that I had to sneak it, though, because he thought it made him sound like an ogre. Hence the tone of the story. I stand corrected. Apparently, Josh likes the idea, too.
3. We heard a comedy skit that said, "if a date tells you she's not crazy, run away. Only crazy people say 'I'm not crazy.'"

Beware of the overbearing husband

It was a quiet peaceful afternoon. The family had just returned from a relaxing trip to the grocery store where they were way over-budget and the offspring acted like his father the entire time. Typically it was the woman's job to place the items neatly on the shelves while the man sat alone on the couch ignoring both his wife and son, but this day was different. Despite the man's natural tendencies to cannibalize his offspring and suppress his wife, he was feeling the spirit of Christmas and began to put the groceries away. Of course, he went straight for the meat. Ground meat. Pre-abused and bloody--just the way 'his kind' often liked to imagine their families. He figured if he had to suffer through doing a woman's job, he may as well start with the good stuff. The woman, threatened by the excellence and ease with which the man did her "difficult" tasks that often took all day, decided to speak despite the fact that the man had not given her permission. Daring, indeed, but she figured since the man was already feeling the spirit of Christmas he would forgive her little informality.

"Its 5lbs, but you should divide it into 6 portions instead of 5. It will last longer."

The man thought for a moment. Yes, it would be less meat per meal, but the instant payoff of hacking up the bloody meat one extra time was worth it. He could worry about getting enough food at dinner later. He let out a subtle grunt and smiled a bit as he made the extra cut.

"Thats it? You aren't going to protest or yell at me or anything? You're just going to cut it into 6 pieces even though that means you won't have a full pound at each meal?"

The man, lacking proper training in the sophisticated art of verbalization just pounded his chest violently as if to say, "Grrrrrrrr". (Mind you, this is the only emotion--or thought--men are capable of feeling). His wife, thinking this was a form of 'communication' clearly missed the message, but because she was still alive in the presence of this beastly (and handsome) man she continued to press her luck and spoke again.

"I can't believe you're doing it. It won't be 5 chunks of one pound each. They will be uneven. I spend half of my day worrying about how you will react to the way I do things. Are the dishes cleaned to your liking? Is the food delicious enough? Is your offspring behaving properly? You know. I am always trying to see just how much I can get away with without you noticing. I cut corners here and there hoping you will never know. I am sneaky. SNEAKY! And now you just cut the meat into 6 pieces instead of 5? Like you don't even care? I'm not crazy. I'M NOT CRAZY!!!"

The man is still not sure what this means.

*************************************************************************************

The man's offspring proudly shows his destructive abilities when the woman leaves her war-paint bag on the floor:

These don't quite do it justice. He had three shades of crushed blush all down the front of his shirt, the couch, and the floor. I, of course, brushed him off before deciding to take pictures for the grandparents. Oh well.

where'd Jonah go?

Jonah (hiding in the closet): Where'd Jonah go?
Me & Josh: Where's Jonah?
Jonah: Check in the closet! I'm in the closet!

Not quite ready for hide & seek, I guess.

I can see how Christmas gets out of control.

I just found "Elmo Visits the Firehouse" on VHS for $2.99 (that's including 2-day shipping) and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (only one of the best picture books ever) for $3.50 (again, including 2-day shipping) on Amazon. I'm so excited for Jonah to open them and be excited too! We checked Chicka Chicka Boom Boom out at the library a few weeks ago and both liked it a ton. Jonah's favorite part is the black-eyed P. I can see how without really thinking about it the gifts could get out of control...it's going to be so much fun to watch him open them.

On a more reflective note, Jonah loves his little nativity. The stable is currently being inhabited by all the animals, though, instead of Baby Jesus. The manger (and Jesus) are in his pocket.

speechless

I have nothing to say. That never happens! I've been trying to spend some better time with my boys, though, now that the semester is over (yay!) and just haven't had the creative juices when I have time at the computer.

Recently, we have been:
-making ugly pipe cleaner snowflakes (not ugly in the tutorial...just ugly when I do them).
-eating smoothies (Jonah calls them "movies" and thinks every morning is a holiday when he gets one. In fact, he woke up at 3:00 this morning asking for one).
-slooowly decorating for Christmas. I'm not sure, but I think it might be more fun this way because we get to stretch it out.
-hunkering down against the cold.
-crying when our heating bill arrives.
-watching a whole ton of weird Elmo movies. The library has a fair number of VHS Sesame Street movies (DVD player is on the fritz) but a lot of them are bizarre. Jonah's favorite, of course, is Elmo Visits the Fire Station. Hooper's store catches on fire at the beginning and Elmo spends most of the opening scared to death while very creepy music plays. I'm not sure what I think but Jonah thinks its awesome.
-loving our space heater. Really, it's a good one and actually cool to the touch like it claims (I was skeptical, but it has not disappointed).

why you should always ask

The other day I was ordering photo prints on snapfish.com (I try to keep at least a Christmas scrapbook up to date. The last page I did was from 2008. Whoops.) when I noticed a credit for a free photo poster. I clicked to redeem, made myself a nice little photo poster calendar and went about my way. Well, when I got to checkout, the poster was not free. I would have ordered one anyway (it's a yearly gift for Josh's step mom to put in her office) but I was sad because I had already reallocated that money. Then I noticed a live chat help option. I entered the live chat (my only other experience with live chat help was with Comcast and was a very negative one) and explained my issue. It seems that my credit was for a single photo poster, not a collage poster. Phooey. On the spot, I thought of a few pictures I'd like in poster size, so I got over it. But then I thought, why not ask? So I said, "Is there any way to update the credit to be good towards a collage poster? This is a purchase I make every year and it would be great if I could use my credit today." The rep's response? "Sure, just give me a second." Woohoo $10!

Fast forward 2 days and I'm back on snapfish ordering Christmas cards (It'll be our first time. I'm excited. If I don't have your address, I need it. How is that for vague?) with a 25% coupon. I was pleased with the deal I found and loved the card and off I went. Well then, the very next day, I saw a coupon for 25% off plus free shipping and another coupon for 30% off plus free shipping. So I sent a service request asking if either of those could be applied to my order? The 30% off one started the day after my order, so that was a long shot. The other one (that included free shipping) was valid, however, I had just missed it somehow. They have all of a billion codes they've emailed me and on their site. Lo and behold this morning, a response! A refund of $6 for shipping. Woohoo!

So all in all, asking (even though I figured the answer would be "no" on both accounts) saved me $16. Nice work, me.

2 1/2 going on 16

5 minutes ago at our house:
"Mom, can I have your keys please?"
"Sure dear."
"I need to go to work."

eat that little bug, lizard!

On a walk today

Number of trucks from the collection of truck books seen: 8.
Varieties: pickup truck, telephone repair truck, backhoe loader, dump truck, fire truck, ambulance, mini excavator, delivery truck.
Number of delighted boys: 1.
Variety: Jonah.

stuck in my head

Another Sesame Street gem that's been stuck in my head recently:



Happy start of Christmas! Josh says he'll feel left out if I decorate for Christmas without him. Laaaame.

P.S. I wouldn't set up the tree alone or anything, but come on...there's so much I want to do!

so it begins

I got out of the shower to find the refrigerator door open. Jonah was standing on a chair at the table with the gallon of milk (lid off, of course), getting ready to pour some milk. I knew this day would come.

daddy's favorite color

Josh (to Jonah): Are you a handsome little boy?
Jonah: Yes, I am a handsome little boy.
Josh: Are you daddy's favorite little boy.
Jonah: Yes, I am daddy's favorite color of little boy.

awake, asleep, asleep

Jonah ready to go fishing with Josh:

...and asleep in his toy chest:

...and sleeping in his rocking chair, reading a book:

welcome, fall

It's snowing in Provo and warm enough for shorts in Phoenix. Here in Tuscaloosa, it's finally fall.

kitchen saves

I accidentally bought bread machine yeast instead of active dry. Most of the recipes I use call for instant yeast but I've always used active dry, so that's what I get. I'm making bread today, so I desperately needed to know how to use my bread machine yeast. I remembered a blog I read recently about the different types of yeast. I did eventually find it (bread machine is the same as instant yeast, therefore, mix with dry ingredients and no need to proof) but I also found this: a blog post dedicated to saving messed up recipes. I feel much less like a distracted cook. I have left salt out of bread many times (gross) but never once have I left the oatmeal out of oatmeal cookies.

"scoot and papa"

Here he is in his new favorite toy, the tub that used to hold his toys (which he dumps on the floor every morning in order to climb in his new car):
(The title of this post is how Jonah sings "Hakuna Matata" from the Lion King).

who's the parent?

I was peeling an orange for Jonah ("let's have that yellow orange, mama!" should give you an idea of how unripe these oranges were) and reading a blog.

Jonah: "what are you doing, mama?"
Me: "peeling an orange."
Jonah: "what are you doing with your eyes?"
Me: "I'm reading."
Jonah: "what are you doing with your eyes, mama?"
Me: "I'm squinting."
Jonah: "what are you squinting with your eyes, mama?"

How does one explain near sightedness to a toddler? And when did I start squinting at the computer? It must have made some sense because he then told me I needed my glasses. Yup. I do. Getting old is tough.

a few more things he says

"We don't want to broke ourselves."-when he is doing (or deciding not to do) something I've told him not to do for safety reasons.
"You're welcome" or "I love you too" -when he kisses someone/thing.
"It's not dark outside yet!" -when he wants to prove it's not bedtime yet (even if it's pitch black and well past bedtime).
"I want to be too cold." -when he wants the windows (in the car or house) open. It's often too cold for that sort of thing, hence his reasoning.
"Hey, I think you're right." -when he agrees with something we say.
"We just soft our hands. They're beautiful!" -when I catch him picking at his nails. I really should get a recording of him saying "beautiful". It's something like bee-YOOOUUU-tea-ful.
"I'm daddy" or "I'm a chair" or "I'm a monster." -the other day.

dabu doray

I am a stickler for the no-Christmas-until-after-Thanksgiving rule for 3 reasons:

1. My Mom's voice in my head saying, "Let's be thankful for what we have before we ask for more!" when Christmas decorations show up in stores after Halloween. I wonder what I'll say to my kids now that they show up before Halloween.
2. I love love love love love Thanksgiving. It is by far my favorite holiday.
3. My birthday is in November and I would not like Christmas to take over my birthday celebrations.

Today after church, I logged on to Pandora to find some new Sunday music. Somehow, I clicked on my instrumental Christmas station. Now I want to decorate my house tomorrow. I doubt I'll actually decorate but I may have just started the season. I love Christmas music.

a comparison

It's 8 pm at the Mays house. Josh and Kimberly are sitting on the couches, reading.

Josh: Ugh, do you want to hear this sentence I just read?
Kim: Let me finish my paragraph.
[pause]
Ok, go.
Josh: "Both are aqueous, odorous liquids that contain variable quantities of cell debris and lipid, and both are rich in the same low molecular weight compounds, which are known to be (or are suspected of being) produced by the action of the restricted resident sac microflora on the sebaceous and apocrine secretions and on the desquamated cells from the cornified surface layers of the sac epidermis, which together constitute the primary input to the sac from the sac wall."
Kim: Want to hear mine?
Josh nods.
"'No,' Perrin said."

It is nice to be the one with the pleasure reading.

finally, a dishwasher I can love

The silverware basket in this dishwasher is removable. I like the idea of it, certainly, but I can count on one finger the number of times I've remembered to remove it instead of walking back and forth from the drawer to the dishwasher unloading silverware. I can count on a few more fingers the number of times I have loaded up with all the silverware (heaven forbid I make more than one trip, right?) only to drop it or forget one measly fork and have to go back anyway. It's safe to say that this particular feature gets little use at our house.

I'm making bread today and it's a little too chilly in the house to get a great rise. I remembered reading a few ideas for ways to cheat on a bread rise and one of them was to put the bread in a dishwasher that has just finished a cycle (warm, steamy, draft free!). For the first and likely only time ever, my dishes just finished washing as I was looking for the best place to let my bread rise. Lo and behold, my one bread pan (yes, I forget I'm down to one and make a recipe that produces more than one loaf...no great solutions to that issue yet, but I have a few I won't try again) fits perfectly where the silverware basket goes. That means my bread can rise in the dishwasher and I don't even have to unload it first. Ha!

trick or treat!

halloween cookies

We went to a pumpkin carving party tonight (great idea, I thought!) and because we couldn't decide which kind of cookie to make, we made both! I found these two recipes and couldn't resist the temptation. It took me most of yesterday and this afternoon and I had a great time.

These were cute. I love the vampires still, even after decorating and looking at them all night (not true of the ghosts or pumpkins, really). The cookie recipe, while it held its shape as promised, was not the best. While they are perfectly edible, I won't use that recipe again.(I took that picture upside down. Can you tell? Flipped around it's giving me vertigo.)

I was so proud of my Domos! The cookie tastes like a chocolate shortbread cookie. It was a pleasant change after the sugar overload of the other sweets. They were a ton of work but definitely worth it, I thought. A few thoughts on the recipe: the recipe has a brown:red ratio or 2:1. I think it should be closer to 3:1. Also, if the red dough had been firmer the mouths would have stayed more square. Next time, I will make more brown dough and the red dough firmer.Here are all 4 pumpkins. Ours is the one on the far left.Even though this picture is blotchy and blurry, it's one of my favorites of the night.

Encore, how I loathe thee.

I have been mostly pleased with my new public library. (You might not think there's much difference from library to library, but I know Janssen will back me up on this one.) Anyway, this one is pretty good. I can have 5 holds at a time (up from 3 at the last place), there are no fees for forgetting to pick up a hold (something I've only done once in 4 years but it still makes me sad to pay $2 and also not get the book I waited for), and they are open 7 days a week (which is nice since I always seem to want to go on Mondays when lots of AZ libraries are closed). Still, you can only renew a book once (sad) and can't have DVDs shipped from other libraries in the system so it's not quite perfect. One thing I hate hate hate about this library, though, is it's online catalog (which is called "Encore"...I think it should be called "never again" instead). It's stupid.

Case in point: I searched for "story logic and the craft of fiction" a book I read about here. I did not search by title, just a regular overall search. My result was "No catalog results found.

Did you mean: sammy keyes and the art of deception?" No, actually, I didn't. Besides, I might not capitalize my searches but shouldn't you, oh library database, capitalize book titles? I don't know why this bugs me more than just "no results found" but I feel like it should be smarter than to think the craft of fiction should lead me to the story of a seventh-grade sleuth who investigates happenings at a local art gallery. Although, as I type that out, it sounds kind of interesting. Maybe the library catalog is smarter than I think. Also, I always type "catalogue" but Blogger does not approve. I like grey better too, so take that Blogger!

Oh, and for anyone who just reads the blog for pictures, a picture of Jonah:

a new first (updated**)

First tornado warning today. Freaky. It starts like a thunderstorm/flash flood warning but ends with: "Take cover now." Yikes!

Unless of course you're on campus taking a test and then it's a high pitched siren warning you to take cover to which your teacher says, "oh, just ignore it." Or so I hear.

**I actually was pretty freaked out just because I didn't think tornadoes really ever hit here (come to find out 2 people I know have had major tornado incidents). I did a report on tornadoes in 4th grade and have been afraid of them ever since (Twister didn't help much either). On the other hand, it wasn't even really stormy in Tuscaloosa and the tornado warning was for a few counties over, so I wasn't too concerned. Never fear, grandmothers, we were safely indoors and barely even got a breeze or a sprinkle.

words of wisdom

Me: (sigh) Why is parenting so hard?
Josh: Because if it was easy, teenagers would want to do it.

homecoming

Yesterday was Homecoming and Josh was required to work a booth at the quad all day long. Boo! On the positive side, Anna-Lisa and Juan Carlos came to visit so I wasn't alone. On the down side, Josh had to work all day so Juan Carlos was stuck with just me most of the visit. Still, it was really great to be together. Before it got too hot, we headed down to campus to check out the reptiles.I cut a strange woman power walking and therefore the snake's head out of this next picture. Josh liked it better whole but I found her blurry leg distracting. This is an albino something or another (some kind of python I think). None of the snakes on display were venomous. Apparently, snakes are not poisonous but are instead venomous (something that has a delivery system for the venom as opposed to a poisonous mushroom that you have to eat to be poisoned or something like that). Juan Carlos waited with Huaso just in case dogs made the snakes or Josh's adviser nervous (negative on both accounts). Jonah lives for Huaso's love. He was very sad when they left.After a trip to the bookstore (or "supply store" as it's called here), we hung out at the fountain. Jonah loved it, but as soon as his feet got splashed on he would high tail it out of there. Again and again and again.
I made it into a picture! We might not be looking the same direction but at least all eyes are open.

lazy, gross, or genius

After Jonah laid down for a nap today, I was hungry but too lazy to do much about it. Enter one lone hard-boiled egg in a bowl in the fridge. I grabbed the salt and the bowl and headed to the table. I used the bowl for the shells and also salted the egg over the bowl because I didn't feel like walking over to the trash can.

Next, I wanted some ice cream (which is what I want for every meal, duh). Here was a perfectly good bowl sitting next to me with the exception of a few measly egg shells. I wiped out the bowl (finally having made it over to the trash can), scooped in some ice cream, and sat down to eat and read blogs.

To my surprise, the first bite had some salt on it! I can either be grossed out and afraid of egg shells or I can praise my genius for inventing salted rocky road. It was actually pretty yummy.

it changed my life

Two separate incidents brought about this post. #1: Josh made an off-hand comment this week that we should get one of those motorized carving knives. My response was, "yep, but that's not even on the top 5 kitchen gadgets list" because yes, I have a few lists running around in my head at all times. Who doesn't have a "top 5 places I'd fly if I had a free ticket and weekend" list? (Today: Arizona, DC, Seattle, Spain, Uruguay or Peru depending on which twin is out of country at the moment. Anyway.) #2: Janssen asked on Facebook if anyone had a good recommendation on immersion blenders. One of her friends said something along the lines of, "I'm not sure what brand mine is but it changed my life."

So just for kicks, today's kitchen gadget list, in no particular order:
5. immersion blender (especially since our regular blender broke so we are really blender-less)
4. food processor
3. pressure canner
2. potato ricer
1. pizza peel

Also, the five things we already have that I would hate to do without:
5. Bosch (Thanks, Mom. I didn't even realize how awesome it was for the first 4 years I had it.)
4. pizza stone (Thanks, Toni!)
3. silicone pastry brush
2. griddle- we use it for pancakes (3 days this week), french toast, bacon, trout patties, and, and and...
1. apple slicer (Josh said we didn't need one ["it's called a knife] and after wanting one for years I finally just bought one. Even he uses it now. Ha!)

So what am I missing? What should be on the list that I don't even know I'm missing?

when all else fails, "give said the little stream"

Jonah loves the ukelele (or as he calls it, "my hailey"). The other day, we let him "use the hailey" (as in, "I want to use the hailey, mama!") and recorded him singing all the songs he knows. Of course, he wouldn't oblige us with all the songs, but we were pleased with the results. At Josh's request, I combined the songs into one 3 minute video. Three things to keep in mind: 1) The video was taken with our regular camera, 2) This is the very first time I have done any video editing of any kind, 3) While it seems totally normal to let him run around in just a diaper at home (it's hot; I wish I could run around in my underwear too!), watching the video after the fact he kind of reminds me of this guy. Sorry about that.

nerd or maybe not

I don't care for rolling backpacks. Call it a sign of my age (I also think bike helmets are nerdy, but luckily most little kids are over that). When Jonah brought me his blocks and wanted them "like a backpack" I told him they had no straps. "Like a backpack, please?" Then I explained that we could put his blocks IN his backpack but that this was not a backpack.

Oh. Then I remembered his backpack has wheels. His blocks have wheels and an expandable handle. Bleh. So off he went, happy as a lark, with his "backpack" rolling behind him.

good morning, grandmas!

Have a great day. We love you.

jonah's new friend

Jonah, talking to a fly on the window:

"What are you doing fly? Did you have a good day, fly? Good, fly. Are you walking fly? Oh, fun."
Lots of arm waving.
"Shoo, fly! I shooed him away, mama. Where'd the fly go? Come back, fly!"

the gift horse and his mouth

We woke up to a beautiful, cloudy 70 degree day. We've had a light drizzle on and off all day, but nothing heavy enough to make everything muddy. I threw open the windows and made a pot of soup.

None of the windows in the house have screens. Josh says I'm letting the whole state's worth of bugs in. I say the fresh air is worth it. Tonight, we'll count mosquito bites (all mine and Jonah's, of course, since Josh is mysteriously immune) and decide if it was worth it.

It's only going to be 80 tomorrow. Hurray!

matt and david cannot be trusted

We went out to breakfast this morning to a place that came highly recommended by Josh's fellow grad students.

It was so gross.

So since I will not let that count as our anniversary celebration, the question is: go to one of the few restaurants we know is good or try something new again? What I really want is to go to the temple and Mango's. What are the chances the Birmingham temple has a decent Mexican food place down the street? Either way, I will no longer believe anything Matt and David say about good food.

someone tell me why

Josh and I had a borderline ridiculous debate last night about why some authors, artists, and other famous people are known by their first name when most are known by their last name? And I'm not talking about anyone whose publicist is the reason they only have one name *cough Cher*.

Last namers (some of many):
Shakespeare
Cervantes
Picasso
Einstein
Machiavelli

The first namers that started the debate:
Dante
Galileo
Michelangelo

A few that always seem to be full name (yes, I think most people would know who you meant if you used the last name only, but how often really do you hear it alone?):
Jane Austen
Leonardo DaVinci
Mark Twain

We tried the age issue, but it did not really stand to much criticism. Yes, the three first namers I mentioned are old, but not really any older than some of the others. Calling Albert Einstein just "Albert" seems out of the question, but why isn't Leonardo DaVinci just "Leonardo" if this is the case? Josh's idea was that maybe it was people with really uncommon first names (or difficult to pronounce last names). I call shenanigans. So tell me, is there any method to the madness or is it just that every once and a while someone slides through on a first name alone?

a few more songs

Jo Anne requested a new song and of course Jonah would not cooperate. I will do my best to get a good video of him singing up in the next few days, but for now, these will have to do.

The companion joke to the one I posted on facebook:


Singing the mountain song (not his best performance but the only one on film so far):


Too much of me singing. Still, it's worth it for the last verse when he throws his whole body in to shouting "hurray!":


Tonight we had chips and salsa for dinner. Probably not my greatest moment as a mother, but in retrospect there are a few veggies in there. Josh made the salsa and then pulled a bit out for Jonah before adding the rest of the peppers. When Josh sat down with his completed batch, Jonah said, "is your calsa [salsa] spicy daddy?" to which Josh responded, "yep." Jonah's answer? "Yep, just like me!" Hm.

I miss

this sunset.

updates

A few of Jonah's recent funny phrases:

When he wants us to look at him: "What's me doing, mama?"
When we park the car: "Jonah comes with us?" Like we've ever made him wait in the car!
When he wants to pet something: "Jonah soft him!" or today, "Imma hold is tail!" (the squirrel did not approve of this plan, obviously).

A few things I've noticed about Alabama in the last few days:
-Instead of low riders, the gangster sedans are lifted. It is ridiculous. This was the closest I could find with a quick image search, but the cars are in much better condition and usually bright colors and the wheels have fancy rims, of course.
-Football is a pretty big deal. Obviously. Still, it catches me off guard. Last night I went to a home in our ward for bookgroup and above the fireplace was a huge photograph of a football tackle. I asked a friend if someone in the family played for the University at one point (after all, maybe it was a picture of the man of the house?). Nope. Oh, and the giant (and I mean GIANT) photograph of an elephant? It was certainly striking. I didn't realize it was in homage to the Alabama elephant. Hmmm. Did I mention the other elephant knick knacks and framed photograph of the stadium? Obviously, my living room decor of family pictures is old news.
-Popular belief holds that "Crimson Tide" has to do with the stadium awash in crimson shirted fans. The clay around here is red, too, so maybe that has something to do with it? Also, the mascot is an elephant because in the 30's an announcer and/or sports writer (depending on who you ask) compared the team to a herd of elephants as they took the field.
-Every place we've lived has its own brand of bad driver. In Provo, for example, a red traffic light either means stop or speed-up-to-the-car-in-front-of-you-so-you're-close-enough-that-it-doesnt-matter-if-you-go-too. Here, we have noticed very few people pull over for emergency vehicles. It's giving Josh an ulcer.
-In happy news, the only real difference I've noticed in the general populace here (other than accents, of course) is that they are much more patient with children as a whole. Yesterday at the store, Jonah was "helping" and knocked over a bunch of cereal. The lady behind me wasn't annoyed or even just ambivalent. She told me all about how cute he was and not to scold him, etc. I've heard this more than once when Jonah did something that I consider poor behavior. I still expect him to behave in public, but it's nice to not worry so much about if he is bothering anyone else.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Rating: 4 stars

Since I stayed up way too late last night to finish Mockingjay all in one sitting (I've really got to deal with the issue of being unable to let a book lie unfinished) I'm too tired to write anything witty. Instead, a few thoughts. I will try to keep in spoiler-free, but proceed with caution if you haven't read it yet.

I was pleasantly surprised:
-that I liked it more than I feared I would. Of course, I didn't care for Catching Fire as much as many of my friends, so maybe I was prepared for the worst.
-that the love triangle was resolved in a pleasing manner. She did not choose the man I was hoping for but she did sort of choose. There has been some complaint about how it all played out, but it was defintiely more satisfying than having one of the guys die or turn out to be her brother. (Can I complain one more time about Stephenie Meyer ruining a perfectly good bittersweet situation with all the imprinting crap in the last book? It was better when it was a hard decision. Bleh.)
-by how much I loved a few of the supporting characters.

I was disappointed:
-by how little we really got to know the supporting characters.
-that Gale and Peeta both seemed a little off. I understand extenuating circumstances but the beauty of The Hunger Games is that we love them both so much. Peeta's situation is different than Gale's obviously, but even when Peeta returns to himself, we don't see it because it all happens off stage.
-by Katniss's mental state through most of the book. While it was probably pretty close to what would actually happen, it makes for a tough read. We are expected to be satisfied with quick summaries of a lot of important things because she was hiding in the closet or in a drug-induced sleep at the hospital.
-by the pacing. It was too much too fast and then over. Towards the end I found myself skimming because I was anxious to see what happened but there wasn't any relief between bombings and deaths to pace the action. Of course, it was also late into the night so that might have had something to do with it.

All in all, it was a great book but I doubt I'll read it again before I take it back to the library.

it's about time

Finally, someone who gets it! At my mom's suggestion, I listened to the Coversations interview with Julie B. Beck and she said that one of her family's favorite traditions was "Breakfast with Books" where they would read books during breakfast (probably not library books for obvious reasons) on most Saturdays.

For Susan, Eric, me, and anyone else who has been scolded for bringing a book to the table, this is a tradition we need to propagate.

cleaning off the video card

A few of Jonah's musical performances. First, in the bathtub in Phoenix. This one is especially for Grandma Jo Jo who taught him the song (or at least taught him to pop bubbles while he sings it):



I found him yesterday accompanying himself on the ukulele. The video didn't turn out too well, but I will try to catch another one soon. Here he is a month ago or so accompanying himself on the piano. He is already a more skilled pianist than I am:



Finally, the reason I wanted to get these videos on the computer in the first place, a message for Uncle Quindi:

but it's 6:30 in the morning!

Jonah, at 6:30 this morning: "How about chips and calsa [salsa]?"

Ew.

tidbits

I'm trying to post semi-regularly on here for the lovely grandparents' sake but I feel like it's sucking the fun out of my posts. As much as I love my own child, I don't like to see just pictures and little snippets of our day ALL the time. So here are a few things that made me think or chuckle today:

I like Glee a lot, but Finn's voice bugs me. Learning he can't really sing very well is further reason to give him fewer solos.

Seriously so Blessed: Always funny, but I think the JJWT posts are some of the funniest.

PhD: The pie chart is my favorite.

I was telling Anna-Lisa about Indexed. I didn't want to spend the time to find my favorite, but this one is good (if not so funny as just true).

Nashville

We took a last-minute trip to Nashville this weekend to visit Anna-Lisa and Juan Carlos. We had such a great time. We did a little sight seeing and a little hanging out and a lot of eating. The BBQ place they took us (which was great, of course) had 7 different BBQ sauces. I stuck mainly to the regular old stuff, but it was fun to try the other ones. Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Me & Anna-Lisa:Juan Carlos, Josh, Jonah & Huaso (hmm..his name should be Juaso?):Jonah's feelings about the trip:

And finally, just a snapshot from today. I came in to the living room and found Jonah parking his cars in a line.
Josh said once when we were talking about birth order that Jonah didn't act like a firstborn because he was "cool like a lastborn". I offer this picture as evidence of my case.

a new last name, perhaps?

Jonah blessed dinner for us tonight but did not want us to help. He said the following:

"Thank you for the food.
Thank you for breakfast.
Thank you for ears.
Thank you for eyes.
Thank you for Jonah's eyes.
Thank you for Jonah's eyes.
Thank you for Jonah's eyes.
Thank you for Jonah's eyes."

At this point, we interrupted him. Apparently he's pretty grateful for his eyes.

In other news, he calls me Kimmery sometimes and is calling himself by his full name. That is, when he's not "Jonah highchair."

a shopping trip

Things I can't find yet: Malt-o-Meal, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, flour tortillas with the correct ingredients, romaine lettuce (other than the pre-packaged stuff).

Things that are so over priced I can barely buy them: El Pato, enchilada sauce, milk, Oreos, cheese, chicken, beef.

Things that are cheaper: eggs.

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In happier news, I got a library card (yay!) and drove past a Latin tienda so I'll check them out for a possible tortilla and enchilada sauce locale.

Jonah learns to say, "cheese"

In an effort to appease the family we miss so much, here is a quick picture update for the day. Jonah is finally enjoying having his picture taken and will smile on cue. Well, it's a sort of smile anyway.All three of these pictures are in Arizona (as if the middle one wasn't a dead giveaway) but I hadn't uploaded them until now so they're practically new. Now we'll work on a slightly less pained smile.

the house

The short version of the house hunt is this: it took us two days and when we moved in we wanted to cry because the first night we killed 4 or 5 cockroaches, the shower didn't work, we had no hot water, and the badly stained toilet wasn't bolted to the ground so I toppled off when I tried to use it. It's been 8 days since we moved in, a few maintenance calls and at least 4 trips to Home Depot for the things they won't do or we don't want to wait for them to fix and I'm finally ready to take pictures. So here goes an almost complete tour of the house.

From the front:The living room (yes the fireplace is workable but who knows how well):The dining room:The kitchen:Jonah's room, looking in:Jonah's room, looking out:
The bathroom (all that caulking? Josh did it himself):
The back (the fenced in area is not the neighbor's yard; it's actually our dog run. I might make it my garden). The house to the right is what Jonah calls, "Quintin's house":The front yard (I'm standing at the corner of the yard to take the picture; Jonah loves all the space!):No pictures of the spare room or our room yet because that's where I stashed all the boxes and laundry so I could take these pictures. Thanks again to everyone that helped us pack, unpack, load, clean, debug, pay for the move, or generally helped us stay sane through the whole process. It doesn't feel like home yet, but we're getting closer!

Oh, and we can't quite decide: do you like the captions better above or below pictures? Does the answer change if you're using Google reader?