for anna-lisa

We found this bull for a smoking deal right before Anna-Lisa and JC's wedding. We intended to give it to them in addition to their regular gift. It was $1, so we figured it was good for a laugh. El Toro of loooove dances and sings his love. Well, baby Jonah loved it, so we never did take it to the wedding. Now, almost 2 years later, he has rediscovered it and wants "el tro" to eat breakfast with him, go to church with him, and swing on the swings. Thanks for sharing your wedding gift with him, Anna-Lisa!

Here he is trying his best to say "el toro".

P.S. Here are the shoes I called you about. I didn't know they made velcro converse, but it's probably for the best. We tried the hi-tops on him and his feet are too fat and he curls his toes (which is why we didn't replace the boots like we originally planned. The salesmen told us to just keep going up in size until we could get them on his feet and we ended up 2 sizes too big and he was falling all over the place so no boots for now.)

it finally happened

Jonah's boots are too small. It was bound to happen and today it did.

So, do I buy him a new pair because I think he'll be heartbroken without? Or do I get him some tennies and sandals for summer because he'll probably get over it? Boots don't seem like summer wear to me...Help!

overinflated much?

So I made some homemade wheat bread today and was determined to let it rise properly (I'm usually in a hurry and rush this step leading to less-than fluffly rolls/bread). I went to the grocery store and when I came back it was HUGE! Too huge to support itself apparently, because when I baked it the bread deflated and was completely flat on top. Bummer.

I realized I've been cooking a lot lately, probably because we're relatively isolated and the weather is still nice. I'll need to stock up on books to read come summer, though, because I doubt I'll want to bake bread then.

P.S. The whole wheat bread recipe I use is almost always Chelsea King's mom's. Chelsea, you'll have to tell her sometimes that it's amazing! Plus, it doesn't use eggs and I didn't have any.

P.P.S. Today I made 1/2 whole wheat 1/2 white flour because this was supposed to be sandwich/toast bread. I don't know if whole wheat bread is even capable of such rising heights since it tends to be sturdier.

Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey

Title: Financial Peace
Author: Dave Ramsey
Rating: 3 stars

My new favorite naptime activity (other than nap on days when I need it) is to listen to the Dave Ramsey show while I catch up on email or blogs. I was pretty disappointed, though, in his book. The topics in the book were consistent with his show, but the writing was really dry. Still, it's nice to think about financial health from time to time. Ramsey's main point is (hence the title) using common sense and living on less than you make to ensure peace for your family.

The best part of the book for me, since I was already familiar with his Baby Step plan (which I like), was his section on how to have a financial conversation with your spouse. Basically, he says that most relationships have a nerd and a free spirit.
-The nerd, after preparing his/her proposed budget needs to 1) listen, 2) take input (if your spouse thinks you need more money for food, actually listen. Just because you think you can live on saltines doesn't mean the family actually can), and 3) keep it under 17 minutes. While Josh is the more frugal in our relationship, I am the spreadsheet nerd and definitely lose his attention at around 10 minutes. Hehe.
-The free spirit, on the other hand, needs to 1) show up for the meeting, 2) provide input (saying "whatever you want, dear" is a cop-out and that person is just as much at fault when things go poorly), and 3) be realistic.

He says that any relationship will get stronger if you will sit down and review the budget/financial goals once a month so I decided to give it a try. Our money spending goes like this: I spend it, Josh doesn't. Before you sing his praises, consider he won't even buy gas unless he can't make it home on fumes. The man never spends money. Ever. I'm a decent budgeter, but I have felt much better recently since I've started expecting him to make contributions to the monthly budget discussion. Even though he never questioned my purchases before and I am still the only person spending money now, it just feels more unified.

That being said, the book was still boring. If you want my opinion, just listen to the show (online 2-5 EST or on KTAR 10pm-1am).

more yellow shirt?

The garlic bread was amazing. I think the Parmesan cheese is the secret. I made a half recipe because the bread we used was a bit small, and it was still a little salty. When I make it again, I'm going to use even less and it will be perfect.

We went to a spring training game with Rob, Shante, and Jack this week. Other than grossly underestimating the parking situation, we had a great time. Of all the pictures, this is my favorite:He picked out the shirt himself. I tried to trick him and put him in a different yellow shirt (I don't really like this one) but he kept saying "more yellow shirt" until I relented and put this one on him. Since then, he has asked for it 3 or 4 times and we had a small tug-of-war as I tried to wash it this morning. It did make it to the machine, but barely.

moral of the story: star posts the first time

I think it was Kayla who told me about the starring feature in Google reader, but it took me a long time to try it. Not only have I tried it and loved it, but now I'm kicking myself for waiting so long.

For example, I want to make some garlic bread tonight and am out of garlic bread seasoning. I remember seeing a recipe that I thought was neat, but was it one month ago or 6? And which site was it on? After much longer than I'll admit to anyone, I found it here. I haven't tried it yet but I'm looking forward to my garlic bread tonight. MMmmm. I have starred the recipe, of course, so I can find it again.

On an unrelated note, this morning Jonah had a nutella & toast sandwich for breakfast which, cut up, filled his whole plate. Ten minutes into breakfast I looked over to discover that he had rearranged his remaining pieces into a perfect circle (cue creepy music). Hmmm.

my (not so) perfect library

I was singing the praises of the Phoenix library system to anyone who would listen. They have a more generous policy on holds, check-out times, fines, and calendar events than the other libraries around the state I've frequented.

Then, the unthinkable.

They limit hold to FOUR?! What? First off, it gives me a twitch because why not a nice even (okay, odd) five. I'm so disgusted.

Still, it's much easier to save books to a list to be read later than it is on any of the other sites. That doesn't make up for the fact that I have to choose between books I'll never get any other way (something great about the hold feature) and books that are on the shelf, but not at my library. Grrr....

I found it

I found the perfect tank top (for me) yesterday at Target. I've been looking on and off for a few years and consistently since my old (not perfect) tank top ripped a few months ago. This is what I want in a plain white tank top:
1. Thick straps
2. Not too high, not too low neckline
3. Round neckline
4. Soft and breathable
5. No ribbing (which usually translates to stretching and looks funny under some shirts)

I've had a few of these tank tops over the years, but no one seems to make them again when I need to replace. I've tried the Down East ones that many people swear by but I find the material too thick and constricting. Since I'm not wearing these alone, I really want them as light and breathable as possible. My mom gave me a great tank top from White House Black Market which I love for dressing up, but it's too thick and too spandexy to be comfortable under a t-shirt. Anyway. I had a good tank from Old Navy but it was 2 sizes too big (I was desperate when I bought it). I had been meaning to take in the straps, but when it ripped it was just time for a new one. Since then, I have looked anywhere I've shopped. Yesterday, when I found it, I was on a tight budget. I regretted the purchase the whole way home until I tried it on (cue angelic chorus) and I haven't taken it off since.

A few other things:

Jonah:
He can sing along to "Balump (?) went the little green frog" and says "No Mama song" when he wants me to stop singing. Hmm. He also says he has a "big nose" when he has a runny nose (probably short for "big nose problem" which is what Josh calls it).

Food:
I tried to perfect my pizza sauce last week and ended up burning my hand when my blender came apart with hot pizza sauce in it. Ouch. I'm giving up for a while to get rid of the bad memory, but I'm always open for new ideas!