black hair

Jonah is sitting next to me coloring a picture of Grover and his mom. He just said the following:

"I like to color pictures of her with black hair like you because I want her to be pretty like you. I want you to know that I think you're pretty. And it's because I love you."

What's that? He wants chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast? Ok! (So what if my hair's brown not black..right, Steph?)

i love thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the best holiday. It has always been my favorite, and I finally know why. The holiday is a whole weekend devoted to three things I love best: family, food, and naps.

I hope you Thanksgiving is finding our loved ones happy and warm. Of the four pies I made (that's only one per person if you count Caroline!) the chocolate cheesecake was the best. The haupia pie was the worst (made all the more disappointing because it was so good last year). The pecan was the first to get eaten (we may have sampled it Tuesday night). Kaitlyn's peanut butter pie was the most addicting. Jonah had two slices.

We've spent the last few Thanksgivings with the Grant family. We're missing them today. So in honor of happy Thanksgivings past, I've been thinking about one of my favorite Thanksgivings:

It was the first Thanksgiving we were married. Between a September wedding and a trip home for Christmas, we just didn't have the money to go home. Quintin decided to stay in Utah with us. The three of us did our best to make a Thanksgiving feast. The turkey was divine and everything else was a flop.  (The funny thing is that the turkey this year was undercooked--I lost my thermometer and took it out too early--and everything else was fabulous.)  We spent the rest of the weekend napping and playing games.

Looking at the picture, I have a few thoughts. Why did I make a salad? I'm always disappointed by salads at Thanksgiving. I love a good salad, but they either get overshadowed by the mashed potatoes and other sides or they just don't get eaten at all. This year I made these green beans. They were good, but no one went back for seconds. I'd also forgotten that we used to drink a ton of Kool-Aid. I finally stopped buying it because we were going through bags of sugar at an alarming rate. That does look tasty, though. I wonder who was drinking the milk?

our Alabama boy

This week marks an important time for Jonah. He has now lived in Alabama longer than he lived in Arizona. Sometimes, I still think of us as being new to the state. Other times, I look at pictures from right before we moved (like the ones below) and think time must have passed faster than I thought.

Helping wash the mirror

He's picked up darlin' and a few other drawly words from church. Other than that, though, he's still our same sweet boy.

Helping wash the car

christmas cards

Our Christmas cards came in the mail yesterday. I was more excited to open them than is probably healthy. As I skipped (no, really) out to the mail box to get them, I said to myself, "They came! They finally came!" ...in the voice of Sid the crazy kid in Toy Story who says the same thing about his rocket.

If I didn't send you a card last year and you want one, send me your address! If I did send you one last year and you've moved since then, send me your address! If I sent you one last year and you haven't moved, I probably still have your address.

At the risk of spoiling the card, here's a sneak peak of a picture that did not get chosen:

This is why I love this picture:
-It captures Caroline's suspicious face (the look we often get when we try to feed her new things)
-The smile on my face is pretty similar to Jonah's half smile (the smile he gives when he's upset and trying not to laugh)
-I think my boys are really handsome.

And moments later (and because ridiculously bad pictures of my children make me giggle):

what he really really wants*

What Jonah wants most is a "magic wand that does real magic." We want so badly to be able to give that to him, but we definitely don't want the fall out when he discovers his real magic is actually lights or batteries. So we pretend and have fun imagining what we'd do with real magic.

The first time Josh played the twist-the-Oreo-and-make-a-wish game with Jonah, Jonah wished for (you guessed it) a magic wand that does real magic!

Today I heard Jonah singing, "Tell me what you want what you really really want. I'll tell you what I want what I really really want" followed by, "I really really want a wand that does real magic."

*We've been working out in the mornings to a Spice Girls Pandora station (don't judge). I can only imagine that's where he picked up the song.

for those of you who have read WoT...

Really, this will be long and excessively nerdy for anyone who hasn't read it, but I'll do my best to make it clear for all (because who doesn't enjoy a long rant about a fantasy series every now and then?).

I just finished reading Cinda Williams Chima's Seven Realms series. It was not my favorite series. (Her first series--starting with The Wizard Heir--was much better.) So as I was reading the first book, I started to know some similarities with The Wheel of Time series. I'm sure most of the things I noticed were not original to WoT, either, so I shrugged it off as general themes that fascinate fantasy authors and moved on. The idea of a dream world where is nothing new, for example. When I got to the character of Amon Byrne, however, I started noticing the sheer quantity of similarities. By this last book, it was just too much to handle. Following are some of the ones that I noticed (also, spoilers below if you're planning on reading either series):

The Captains of the Queens' Guard (Byrne and Bryne)

In the Seven Realms, the main female protagonist is heir to the Grey Wolf throne. Her mother, the current queen, has fallen under the wiles of an evil wizard and is making terrible political decisions as a result. The Captain of the Queen's Guard, Edon Byrne, falls out of her good graces by trying to keep the country together. We find out later that he loved the queen, but was unable to pursue her because of a mystical connection between the Captain of the Guard and the Grey Wolf queen. This magical binding allows him to feel her emotions and sense where she is.

In the Wheel of Time, one of the main female protagonists is heir to the throne of Andor. Her mother, the current queen, eventually falls under the wiles of one of the Forsaken and he convinces her to make horrible political decisions, thus tearing the country apart. The Captain-General of the Queen's Guard, Gareth Bryne, is forced into retirement when he tries to convince the queen that her lover is up to good. We find out that he was once the queen's lover. While this does not pertain to Gareth Bryne, Aes Sedai (the magicians) and their bodyguards are magically bound. That binding allows them to feel each other's emotions and sense where the other is located.

The Demon King/Dragon Reborn (Han and Rand)

In the Seven Realms, the main male protagonist is Han Alister. It turns out that Han is the distant relation of the Demon King (more on him below). Han goes to the world of dreams (again, more on that below) to speak with his long-lost ancestor. The Demon King possesses Han's body without his will on a few occasions. Later, with Han's permission, the Demon King hops into Han's brain and gives him a running commentary on the politics of thousands of years ago and teaches Han magic long lost to time. Han's enemies wonder where he ever learned these details and such amazing magic.

In the Wheel of Time, the main male protagonist is Rand al'Thor who turns out to be the modern version of the Dragon (more below). Rand later starts to lose his mind and hears the voice of Lews Therin (the Dragon). While it's not clear if this is just madness or the actual man, the voice teaches Rand about ancient politics and magic long lost to time. Rand's enemies wonder where he ever learned these details and such amazing magic.

Alger Waterlow/Lews Therin Telamon

In the Seven Realms, the novel takes place thousands of years after the Breaking. The Breaking refers to a time when a super powerful and evil wizard tricked the Queen and waged war on all other wizards. In the process, earthquakes and fires completely changed the shape of the landscape and wiped out much of the world as they knew it. Alger Waterlow, aka the Demon King, is demonized for his role in breaking the world.

In the Wheel of Time, the novel takes place thousands of years after "The Breaking of the World" in which Lews Therin Telamon (the Dragon) and several other male magicians devastated the world with the One Power, unleashing earthquakes and tidal waves that reshaped the landscape and wiped out whole cities.

Aediion/Tel'aran'rhiod

A major plot device in the Seven Realms is the dream world of Aediion. Only magicians can access this world and leave their physical bodies behind in a trance as they wander around in Aediion. In Aediion, they can change their clothes and landscape with their minds. Dying in Aediion wipes them out of existence both in the dream realm and in real life. The ability to travel to Aediion has been lost in time and modern wizards do not believe in its usefulness. Han and his friends usually meet in the dream world in a recreation of the library of their magical training school. Han Alister, of course, can travel to Aediion.

In the Wheel of Time, the dream world is Tel'aran'rhiod. Very few can travel there at will, but with the aid of a magical device, any magic caster can. Access occurs while the magic caster is asleep and therefore vulnerable physically. Clothes and landscape are changed by thoughts, so controlling your clothes is matter of will and focus. Dying in the dream world rips them out of the Pattern (thus killing them in this life and any subsequent incarnations). The ability to travel to Tel'aran'rhiod has been lost to time (to the main characters, at least) until the main characters rediscover it. Rand, of course, can travel there (as well as many of his friends). The main characters usually meet somewhere in the Ivory Tower (the magic school).

Binding of the Gifted/Damane

In the Seven Realms, a neighboring kingdom (Arden) does it's best to take over the land ruled by the Grey Wolf Queen. Among other things, Ardenites mistrust the magicians and consider the magic heresy. There is lots of burning at the stake and other religious rhetoric tossed around. Somehow, the Arden military has figured out how to make manacles that bind wizards and allow the holder of the chain to control the wizard's power. While it is never explained how they work, it is mentioned more than once that the leader of the Arden military is gifted himself (but does not admit it or use his power, as that is heresy).

In the Wheel of Time, a distant civilization comes to take over the land. One of their main military resources are the damane, or chained ones. The damane are magic casters wearing magical manacles that allow the holder to control the caster's power. It is discovered that the holder must also be a magic caster to control the damane, but this detail is unknown even to the holders themselves (as all magic casters are all chained and used as weapons).

brrrr!

Last winter at this time, I was a few months from having a baby. I was never cold. I vaguely remember turning the heater off repeatedly (much to Josh's dismay), but almost every memory from the end of either pregnancy is vague.

This winter (supposedly a colder winter, no less) I am freezing all the time. To make matters worse, our space heater broke! Now I can't even drag it around from room to room with me. Just turn on the heater, you say? Oh, we do, but it's approaching ridiculous levels (I'm too embarrassed to tell you how warm I keep it) when I could just put on socks and save the money.

This was the heater. We loved everything about it. I give it full marks for longevity. It is also actually cool to the touch like it claims, which has been great with the kids. Kaz said they'll fix it (since it's still under warranty) if I pay to ship it to them (and wait 3-5 weeks). Do they understand how much I loathe taking the kids to the post office? Never mind that I talked myself into it on Monday. Yes, this Monday the national holiday (that UA doesn't observe).

Oh? And the dog that eats plastic? She ate my pastry brush yesterday. THEN, she got hot bread off the counter last night. She couldn't just eat one loaf? No, she had to sample both. Josh found one in her kennel and one in the living room. She has never in her whole life taken food off the counter or table. She is in deep trouble today (and possibly forever). I'm too disheartened to make bread again today so we're eating cereal for lunch.

update from comps land

I thought Josh had 5 days of 5-question tests lasting 8 hours each. (In a merciful scheduling, he has a day off in between tests to put his brain back together again and go to his other classes--because yes, he's still taking classes and finals and things.) But when he called me at noon during his lunch break to tell me he'd only finished one of the five questions...well, it was a late night last night. (That was also his only test without a time limit, we think, so the rest of comps should look more like the original idea.) For everyone that's been sending your best wishes, thanks.

For everyone we know who's been through comps (or med school for that matter), hats off to you. We know this won't last forever, but it will be a rather intense 10 days (so please forgive the touch of melodrama).

Also, we've entered the realm of knock-knock jokes. Jonah doesn't quite get some of them, but he's definitely trying.

p.s.

Oh, and Josh starts comps* tomorrow. The suspense is giving me an ulcer.

(But then, we watched Moneyball on Friday and it also gave me an ulcer, even though it was a story--with a happy ending--based on true events that I could look up anytime online.)


*Wikipedia says one version of comps can be, "a series of proctored exams taking anywhere from a few to as many as thirty-six hours." Josh will be taking 40 hours of proctored exams from now to Thanksgiving.

project unbreakable

Warning: this post and especially the link may be disturbing to some. I won't be offended if you skip the post altogether or choose not to go to the site. I have gone back and forth on this post all night, but I feel this is an issue important enough to interrupt the blog's regular lighthearted prattle.

A friend recently brought this site to my attention. Project Unbreakable is a site full of pictures of survivors of sexual abuse, rape, and assault holding cards with the words of their attackers. I imagine breaking the silence and shame can be healing. It is also very disturbing to be confronted with the harsh reality of abuse. I have nothing but the deepest respect and admiration for the effort. I hope that all involved (and those still not ready to voice their own experiences) find a measure of peace and healing from their bravery.

my dog, the plastic chomper

I have seen food craving charts like this one floating around the internet. Basically, the idea is that if you are craving something sweet, your body really lacks B12 or something. (Go look at the chart if you're curious, because I haven't bothered.) There's probably some truth to this, but what I want to know is, what does a craving for plastic mean?*

As a puppy, Dixie would chew everything. Now, she's an almost-two-year-old respectable house dog. She won't chew shoes or table legs (not yet, right A-L?) but she loves small plastic toys. The army man army has been reduced to a squadron one by one. Well last night, I came home to find her happily chomping on a crayon. Ugh! Jonah was most distraught.

(He forgave her quickly.)

*I remember only two things from my high school health class. One is pica. Pregnant woman savagely eating clay and paint chips? For some reason I've always remembered that. The second was a paper Carrie and I wrote about why French people are skinnier and have lower rates of heart disease than us. Our 16-year-old conclusion? They don't stress about their food so much.

voting in Alabama

We just voted. (Go us?)

It was unlike any voting experience I've ever had. Most of my voting has been done by absentee ballot, but the last time I voted in person (in AZ, for curious minds), I remember it being very quiet.

This time, most of the voters sat at round tables and chatted about what the various amendments and candidates had going for them. After I got over wondering if it was illegal, I thoroughly enjoyed the chatter.

not enough pictures of Caroline?

Let me illustrate why with a little run down of the Halloween costumes. In case it's not obvious, the kids were Merlin and Madam Mim (in her post-germ dragon state) from The Sword in the Stone:

In an attempt to get a good picture of her costume, I took countless pictures of her crawling away. This girl has far too much to do to sit still for pictures!

 That purple blob? That's the wig that never quite stayed on her head.

 Merlin was pretty pleased to show off his costume, though:

maybe they let me win...

...but I'll take it anyway. Today I played croquet for the second time. The first time was in 2007 when Josh and I played with his grandpa (who skunked us, in case you were wondering).

Today, we played with Jo Anne and I won! Happy birthday me.

This is what Caroline did while we played:

(Warning: the last two pictures are blurry. Proceed at your own risk.)

Josh and Jonah being who knows what:

Caroline, looking very pleased at being rescued from her stroller:

anyone home?

Nope, sorry. The kids have been hanging out with JoJo while Josh and I played childless and went to Birmingham for the day.

Back to regular programming tomorrow. I'm off to go eat an entire cake because the baby shower I made it for got cancelled. Mom-to-be went in to labor instead!