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!