2014 In Review (I finally uploaded from my phone...)

Fishing with Papa

 

Visiting the Art Gallery with Nona

 



Chilling with a Shetland Bull at the Scottish Festival

 



 Jude Coming out of General Anesthetic

 

Eden about to Go Under General Anesthetic

 



 

Making Eyes at Each Other

Two Men Fixing Up a Bike

 



 

Grandparents Bell Visiting for Birthdays

Home Depot Sells Jude for Cheap

 



 

Back When Jude Used to Sleep Anywhere

 

Playing With Cousin Megan at Family Reunion

 



 

Doing a Science Experiment

 



Playing Dress-Up

 



We Are Really Good Parents

 

My Hair Dyed Dark

 



 

Liquid Sidewalk Chalk Is Amazing Fun

Jude Finally Learned to Walk (The Cape Gave Him Courage)

 



 

All of the Other Girls Got Princess Crowns

 



 

Witch and Her Owl with Superman and Clark Kent

 

 

The Jedi Returned (And He Eats Mud)

Cuties at the Nativity Celebration

 



 

Christmas Eve Walk at the Neighborhood Golf Course

 

I should really upload and post pictures from my phone more often...

Christmas Card Bloopers

During our travels this summer, I started telling Eden bedtime stories about a little red panda named Suki.  Somehow her thirst for these charming tales (thought up on the fly and dull as dishwater to anyone but Eden) has become unquenchable.  She begs me to tell her a Suki story upon first waking.  In the car.  Over lunch.  While using the potty. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to meet that kind of demand?

 

Tonight it came in handy as we took pictures for our Christmas card.  All I had to do was string a few Suki yarns, and Eden cooperated beautifully.  I love that we captured this giggle.

 



Jude was a harder nut to crack.  First we tried bargaining.  Next, we tried coercion.

 Begging followed soon after.

Then bribery via the forbidden ornament.

What we really needed was: 1) a chair to keep him still, and 2) some seriously awesome off-camera dance moves.  Unfortunately, he wasn't impressed.

Our last attempt involved singing.  Finally, the rain washed that *%$@ itsy-bitsy spider out and all was well.

I think we got a couple of money shots, but you'll have to wait until our card comes out to see those.  Can we all just agree in the meantime that our kids are freaking cute?  Can I get an amen? 

Oh Fine, I'll Go There: Ferguson

As an adult, I've never paid for TV service.  Ever.  For the most part that's because I don't usually care what's on TV, though it's also closely tied to the fact that I'm so tight my appendix squeaks.  (Random side note: If you ever need spare cash, it's a great idea to ransack my house.  Since childhood I've been known to stash coins and bills in every conceivable nook.  I'm a hoarder of money.  It's a disease. Pity me.)  Currently we have an antenna in our attic, which streams just enough free channels to keep up with Downton Abbey come January.  I wish that I'd taken the simple step of turning on a news channel last night instead of following the Ferguson mess through a news station's Twitter feed.  Why?  Oh, why?  I made my bed.  Now I must curl up into the fetal position and cry myself to sleep on it with the following lessons learned...

1) Twitter makes me ashamed of the whole human race (to bum a phrase from Huck Finn).  Death threats.  Monkey emoticons.  Race bait cannonballs lobbed from every direction.  Incredible ignorance.  Frightening malice.  This is what humanity seems to be in 140 characters or less #nofilter.

2) Our legal system has never been perfect.  Juries are not perfect.  I'd still far and away rather face a jury of my peers who have to sit and listen to evidence than fall prey to society's heir apparent: trial by social media.  More thinking, less typing people!

3)  "If you don't agree, then just unfollow me right now."  (Because, you know, we should only ever interact with people who share our exact view point.  That will solve our societal divides!  Also, I'm still in Jr. High and you're off my friend list.)

4) "Ugh.  No one cares about Ferguson.  Why are you interrupting Dancing With the Stars?" Or, in the words of Ani DiFranco,  "What kind of scale compares the weight of two beauties, the gravity of duties...tell me, what kind of equation could I possibly employ?"  I mean, really.  It's pretty tough to decide between two critically important things.  Nah.  Just kidding.  Who needs civil rights with the mirrorball trophy on the line? 

5) We've go a LONG way to go before humanity can claim to have built a single CIVILization.

Sleeping in Hotels With Jude

It's the worst.  No matter what we do.  Something of a misnomer as well, as Eden is the only one who actually sleeps.  Kris and I take turns pacing the floor with a flailing, terrified, sobbing, 30 pound toddler.  And then we take turns driving around whatever town we're in.  All night long.  Love the boy.  Hate the nights.     

So I'm not quite sure how we worked up the guts to brave Ebola and sleeping in a hotel with Jude (mostly the latter) to take a little vacation to Dallas a few weeks ago.  I guess I just really wanted the kids to see a real zoo and I was pretty desperate to get to the temple.

Jude loved the penguins and the ultra close giraffes, but was largely unimpressed with almost everything else.  He spent most of his time eating animal crackers in the stroller or splashing around in the stream at the kid's area.  So, win.

Eden discovered her heaven on earth.  I love this picture.  First she shook the statue's hand, then she pulled a classic Eden move and went for the baby.  This girl was born to have twelve babies.  (In fact, she often has at least half that many at home, all needing fed, changed, rocked and loved.  Her pretend world is a busy place!) 
 

See that look on Kris's face?  That wasn't for Eden's sake.  The man was giddy in his own right to be hugging a bronze monkey. 

We had a marvelous time at both zoo and temple and also did not contract Ebola.  We did still wind up sleeping in a hotel with Jude.  It was as awful as we thought it would be; I don't think we'll try it again for a long while.  I leave you with this tortoise, a Master Oogway if you will, reminding us all to seek inner peace. (Not to belabor the point, but you won't find it in a hotel with Jude.  That is all.)  

Cypress Zoo

Today I took the kids to the local zoo.  As in the place where they keep exotic things like pigs, deer, donkeys, peacocks and an alligator on display. Eden loved it.  Jude was beside himself with cage-rattling, finger pointing joy.  I think it was extra fun for him because we've been reading a lot of books with these animals in them and he's learning their names and today he got to see that those pictures represent real things. At any rate, it was definitely a morning well spent.

Easily Eden's favorite animal every time is this big, fat cat that roams the grounds.

It was cool and rainy this morning, so Eden got to rock the leggings and wellies look.  She currently refuses to wear anything but skirts and dresses.  It could be a long life.

This deer and turkey were cracking me up.  They were every bit as interested in Jude as he was in them.  Kind of makes you wonder who comes to see whom at the zoo...

I don't know how I managed to avoid taking a picture of the signs posted every three feet, loudly proclaiming that all of the animals bite.  

Since I'm a really good mom, I let my kids touch the animals anyway.  No biting ensued.  Plenty of kissing.

Can you believe how big these kids of mine are?  I love everything about them.  How lucky I am to be their mama and get to have fun adventures like this.

Current Haps

Besides being an epic weekend of honey-do's, general conference weekend is a good time for retrospection.  And so it struck me that it's been a while since we posted some of our current pictures and such.

Eden has started a preschool group with a few families in the ward - needless to say, she's ecstatic!  A few months ago Sam started tutoring a neighbor kid in English, and each time she came over Eden had to do her own schoolwork too.  Preschool is a big hit.

Jude has a real affinity for sitting in laps.  And reading.  These days, he'll frequently bring a book to Sam or me, turn around, and plop himself down.  He'll even settle for stuffed animal laps when no others are available.

Eden is a fish.  There's no other explanation.  Generally she won't ask or tell us, and then we'll find that she's stripped nude and found a puddle, pool, or water bucket.  This is a rare time when we suited up properly for some swimming.

We're glad to be a family and thankful that we understand God's plan of happiness.  Hope you enjoyed conference and such.

Recent Reads

Is it just me, or have I not posted about my reading material in a LONG time?  Been a bit busy!  And yet I've read a surprising number of beefy books.  (Remember how devastated I was to leave Ogden just as the Wendy and Sam Book Club was getting started?  While I still think it's a shame that Wendy had to stay behind, I have been blessed with a new book club here: The Boring Book Club for People Who Like to Write Essays, or BBC for short.) Huzzah! 

Half of the Sky, by Kristof and WuDunn
5/5 It's hard to think about the many tragedies that are commonplace in some parts of the world (and sometimes closer to home), but this book is a worthy read.  I especially appreciated that the authors discuss solutions and organizations that are making a difference.

Utopia, by St. Sir Thomas Moore
4/5 It was surprisingly interesting to read this blast from roughly five hundred years past.  I think the thing that got me the most was how many of the questions we struggle with today in attempting to improve our societies are the same as the questions people struggled with back then.  The details of our reality have changed a lot, but it seems we still haven't answered some really fundamental questions. 

The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
4/5 Oh man.  Where to begin with her?  I LOVE the way she celebrates individuality and integrity and straight up hard work.  I LOATHE her representation of women, her ridiculously unreal dialogue, and her total disregard for charity.  That being said, it was an interesting read and I'm glad I gave it the time.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua
2/5  Grrr.  She has so many great points to make (like how people develop real self esteem through accomplishment not compliments, or how it's essential that we believe our children are capable of amazing things).  I found myself agreeing with Chua's philosophy most of the time.  And then I was immediately horrified by her implementation of said philosophy.  Example: Threatening to burn all of her child's toys and then throwing the girl out onto the porch in freezing weather because she doesn't play a piano piece perfectly after three hours of practice in one day (did I mention that her daughter was only 3?).  Is there a way to be demanding but not abusive?  Anyone? 

Freedom Summer, by Bruce Watson
3/5 I studied the civil rights movement pretty extensively in college (thank you, history minor), but this was a good refresher course on the summer of 1964 in Mississippi.  I did find the author to be annoyingly dramatic, but it's a pretty decent read. 

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, by Robert K. Massie
4/5 My knowledge of Russian history from Czar Nicholas II on is pretty good (thank you, Russian novels course), but I previously knew nothing from before that time.  I thus really enjoyed this biography as it was also a primer for Enlightenment European politics, Russian serfdom, and the roots of the contemporary Ukraine/Russia debacle.  It was also a pretty juicy gossip fest of the strictures of courtesan life, the royal bed, and an Emperor who played with toy soldiers as a grown man.  Scintillating stuff, I assure you.

Matched, Crossed, and Reached, by Ally Condie
3/5  I'm never really going to hop on the old dystopian YA train, but this was a fair series as the genre goes and it was interesting to read it in the context of seeking to understand the wider genre's current appeal.  Decent brain candy.

These is my Words, Nancy Turner
5/5  This is a great little book.  A "journal" of a woman's life in the Arizona Territory during Geronimo's stand, there are very few dull pages, a good deal of poignant ones, and a sweet little romance. I would definitely recommend this for a recreational read. 

The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
1/5  I really shouldn't read teen fiction.  Especially not beloved teen fiction.  It's not written for me and so it's no surprise that I don't love it and then all I've done is puked on something someone else loves.  So it is again.  Sorry.  But please tell me that we all knew how this ended.  We did, right?  Frankly, I didn't find the journey to that destination all that insightful or enjoyable.  If you like sad, predictable books, bon appetite.