Thanksgiving Day

On Thanksgiving day, we saw Craig, Lois, HC, and LJ one last time before the left for Dallas. The children had fun running around playing one last time. Here they are being silly. Craig and Lois had Thanksgiving dinner up in Maine and so they left before we ate. They have been missed. Here is the spread for dinner. We had our friend Bev over for dinner. (Grace and Caleb actually call her "our friend Bev". It is part title, part name.) Mary made a wonderful meal. Here are some pictures of the children at dinner. We had Andrew, Katherine, Alyssa, Joseph, and Timothy over for dinner as well. Alyssa and Joseph are in this picture with Grace and Caleb. Here is Joshua eating Thanksgiving dinner.

More Musings and Stories

Tonight, Caleb took the Krispy Kreme ornament from the tree. It says "Krispy Kreme Original Glazed — Hot Now" and has a flashing light. Caleb took the ornament upstairs and turned off all the lights. It lit up the room well. Then Caleb said, "Look at my awesomeness."

We all admire Caleb's awesomeness.

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The other day Mary took the children to the library. Mary let Grace and Caleb each check out a book on tape. Caleb chose a Maurice Sendak book and Grace checked out a Tomie dePaola book.

My Mom is smiling somewhere.

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I saw a great bumper sticker the other day: Geek Girl.

You have to love someone who is secure in their geekiness.

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I took a trip to Pennsylvania on Monday and Tuesday. Matt and Honor hosted me. I loved going to work on Tuesday and telling people that I had a home cooked steak and potatoes dinner. After dinner, we decorated gingerbread houses with Andrew, Braden, Chase, and Delainey.

I think most of my traveling coworkers wished they had stayed with Matt and Honor.

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It has snowed twice here already. I love snow on the ground before Christmas. It really gets me ready for Christmas. Grace and Anna, our neighbor, made a little snowman this weekend. How does it look?

Musings and Stories

About three and a half weeks ago, Mary was working on the computer. Caleb was playing with his toys and Joshua was exploring. All of the sudden, Mary hears Joshua laughing. Mary immediately thought of the stairs.

She ran there, but he wasn't playing on the stairs. She circled through the family and living rooms and he could not be found. Was he in the bathroom? No banging on the toilet. Now panic is beginning to set in. Is he under the futon? Then his laugh comes again. Where is he?

Mary runs up the stairs and Joshua is laughing in Grace and Caleb's room pulling down books. I guess Joshua can climb all the way up the stairs.

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Grace and Caleb love to run errands. One of the stores they like to go to is Costco. Why do they like to go? Is it the toys? the food court? No, it is the boxes. Mary lets them pick out a box to bring home. Grace has one with handles where she stores art projects. Caleb has one he calls "Zoom, Zoom" and carries around cars in it.

Is it weird when your child has named his cardboard box?

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Grace and I were talking in the kitchen a while back. Out of nowhere, Grace looked at me and said, "Dad, I need a laptop."

Flabbergasted, I asked, "Why?"

"I don't know. I just think I need my own computer."

I didn't know what to say, so I said the only thing that came to my mind. "Maybe you should talk to Grandpa Dale about that one."

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Tuesday Mary watched The Biggest Loser while I made fudge.

It was a delicious irony.

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And speaking of irony, have you heard Britney Spears' new song? If you haven't, you need to read the lyrics to "Piece of Me". It is either one of the most brutally honest self-appraisals or incredibly ironic. I can't decide which, but I cannot believe that song was ever recorded. Amazing.

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Caleb got a small frog from a recent trip to Chuck E. Cheese. Grace and Caleb have built "Froggie" a little house complete with computer, tv, and bed. When Caleb first got the frog, he called it his "harmless frog".

Why harmless? And why would a 4-year decide it was important to point that out about a plastic frog?

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You were waiting for some bumper stickers, weren't you? Here are some of the recent sightings:

• Pre lives
• Don't be fooled by my car, my treasure is in heaven
• Stop Continential Drift
• Warning: Dates in the calendar are closer than they appear

Not quite sure how to stop the continents from moving, but everyone needs a cause, right?

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If you haven't purchased Noel by Josh Groban, go buy it and give it as an early Christmas gift. It is worth it.

Happy Halloween!

Here are the Halloween pictures. Caleb and Grace decided to dress up as Power Rangers this year. They had a fun time at the Halloween parties and trick-or-treating. Joshua got the candy corn outfit this year. Since he was candy, he decided to play with the candy. I took this picture right before he dumped out the Halloween candy instead of taking the Halloween candy away from him. Here are the jack-o'-lanterns that we carved this year. They are both Joshua jack-o'-lanterns because they are both two-toothed wonders! (Joshua now has more teeth, though.) I thought they came out pretty well this year. Here are the children acting like Power Rangers:

A Vanishing Breed

I like bumper stickers. They can be amusing or thought-provoking. (Okay, I have a simple mind and am easily entertained.) Many in Massachussetts are political in nature. (A sticker from two days ago: "If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention.")

A week ago, I pulled up behind a car with two bumper stickers. I was ready to be greeted by a new play on words, political message or complaint. Imagine my surprise when I read:

• God bless everyone no exceptions, and
• I'd rather be here now

I didn't know what to say. There are people like that in Massachussets? According to the other car in this post, they might not be paying attention.

A Sad State of Affairs

Grace came home from school talking about graphs yesterday. For math, they will be learning about graphs soon. Grace told her teacher that her grandmother taught her how to graph. Her teacher asked her if she could bring in her graph. We printed out the pictures from the blog and sent her to school so she could show her teacher her first graph.

I was thinking tonight how incredible it is that we have pictures of Grace's first graph. What parent in their right mind would have pictures of a child's first graph? You have to feel sorry for our poor children. They are being raised by truly weird parents. (Though, I don't think you can put any of this on Mary.)

Moving On

I played basketball with Craig last night. That really is not noteworthy. Craig and I have been playing basketball together on and off since the summer of 1999. There have been stretches where we would play every week for months. There have been stretches where we did not play for a few months. But we have managed to play often. There have been a lot of good times, beautiful assists (usually from Craig), ugly shots (usually from me), way too many injuries (usually Craig) and a little bit of trash-talking. Last night marked the end of an era. Craig, Lois, HC, and LJ are moving next week and I don't know when we will play again.

It is never fun to see good friends move but it has been a theme for us this year. Dan and Rebecca left for North Carolina in June. I have known Dan since I was 10. He came over immediately after we found out about Robert's prenatal trouble. Rebecca photographed Robert and our family and has done so much for us. They brought us meals, took care of Grace when Caleb was born, and were always there. Now they are helping people many miles from here.

Curtis, Kelly, Caitlyn, Jackson, Hannah, Logan, and Henry moved in June. I called them the morning Robert was born. I dropped Caleb and Grace off at their home before 6:00 am on the way to the hospital to be with Mary. They took care of all of us. Kelly (and Rebecca) were our only friends to meet little Robert. They visited Mary in the hospital countless times. Curtis and Kelly invited us over for Sunday dinner too many times to count. Now they are in California.

And next week it will be time to say goodbye to Craig, Lois, HC and LJ. Caleb and HC were born at neighboring hospitals a day apart. I visited Lois and HC with Grace after HC was born. Craig visited Mary and Caleb. We have watched too many college football games with them, eaten at each other's homes many times, gone camping together and watched our children play together. They will be missed.

Though it is hard to see so many good friends move this year, we are so grateful that we know them and have been able to associate with them. They have helped us through the most difficult times. At Robert's graveside service there were a number of family members there to support us and a few friends. The invited friends were Dan and Rebecca, Curtis and Kelly, and Craig and Lois and their families. That was it. All of them will have moved within the last five months. It is tough to see them go, but I am glad that they were here last year. If they have to leave now, I will be ever grateful they were here then.

Thanks for all the help and continued friendship. Know you are missed.

Life in Our House

Our house currently has four bipeds and one quadruped. Joshua has learned how to crawl on all fours and is becoming faster each day. He loves to pull up on anything he can reach. He has not achieved the homo erectus stage of life, but it is coming soon.

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Joshua is no longer a two-toothed wonder. He has five teeth that have broken through and one more nearly there. He is our fastest teether by far.

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The lesson topic was Thanksgiving for tonight's family night. Mary read a book with some great details about the pilgrims. Unfortunately, even Grace had a hard time following it. The book ends by referencing Plymouth Rock with this sentence: "It is the rock on which our nation began."

To which, Caleb loudly exclaims, "Red Sox Nation!"

A child armed with the important geopolitical information.

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I have a new guilty pleasure. On Monday nights, I like to watch The Big Bang Theory. It is filled with real nerdy characters. I don't know who is getting all the jokes unless the geeks are watching. The jokes are nerdy and I laugh at most of them. I won't say it is the highest quality entertainment, but if you want to watch a funny show about nerds, then this is the show for you. (Although if you want a show with nerdy characters now is a good time for you. Between Numb3rs, Chuck, and The Big Bang Theory, you have options.)

A Sunday Observation

One of today's lessons was on women in the church. We discussed the different roles for women and men. I was thinking about the language we use to describe our roles. In particular, I was thinking about the differences between the usage of the term "to father" and "to mother". The former implies imparting a genetic inheritance whereas the latter conveys hope for nuture and watchful care.

Does this illustrate the differences in our expectations for parents?

I hope not.

It Can Be Just Perfect

Yesterday we got Chinese for lunch to celebrate Mary running a 5K. (Yes, she has been running a bit this year. It is her favorite form of exercise. That will change with the coming cold weather, but she has enjoyed it. Mary on running, "I'm a mom, not a runner.") The food came with the obligatory fortune cookies. The children picked theirs first. Caleb's fortune was: "Work on your diplomatic skills and avoid conflict at all costs."

That is solid advice from a cookie.

Coincidences

I went down to see Matt and Honor on Thursday. Okay, that really is not true. I went to Pennsylvania for work. But I was able to see them and help Honor get back to blogging. It was a quick trip and I had a good time.

On the way there, I sat in seat 16C. I was working on my computer when the captain said it was time to turn off all electronic items. I decided to do the crossword puzzle in the airline magazine. I finished it and put the magazine back in the seat.

On the way home, I looked for a seat on the aisle closest to the front. There was one seat about ten rows up, so I switched seats. I got on the plane and flipped through the magazine. The crossword puzzle had been completed. By me. I looked up and realized I was in seat 16C.

I took the exact same plane and rode in the exact same seat to Pennsylvania and back again.

Caleb's Contractions

I love how children play with words. They move them around and combine them in ways adults don't. For example, we were talking with Caleb's nursery leader from last year and she told us of a lesson when they discussed the sacrament. She asked the children if they knew the proper name for eating the bread and drinking the water. Caleb raised his hand and said, "the snackrament".

This week in church, Caleb was sitting next to me while I was holding Joshua. Joshua is at the stage where he lunges at people or things he wants. Joshua lunged at Caleb and Caleb said, "Dad, Joshua attackled me."

Look! Up in the Sky...

... it's a bird ... it's a plane ... No! It's Supermom!

This weekend in the remnants of Noel, we drove up to New Hampshire. Why did we head north? Mary signed up to run a 10K trail race. You know my feelings about running, but Mary loves to exercise. And running is the thing now.

Mary had a bit of a difficult time training due to the colder weather, teaching pre-school, the Primary program and the Halloween party. But she still went out there, had a great time and ran her first trail race. She finished it and we were very proud of her (and a little bit cold).

Oliver may try, but even he couldn't keep Mary down.

Volunteering

Mary was heavily involved in the Halloween party planning this year. Our family spent six hours there setting up for the party. Grace and Caleb set up most of the chairs for about 130 people to have dinner.

We helped clean up after the party. I was shuttling boxes out to the car and Caleb was helping mop the gym floor. As I walked out the gym, I heard the man he was helping say, "Don't be afraid to get the floor wet. Remember, water is the universal solvent..."

Regardless of Caleb's understanding of this comment, I love the fact that volunteer experiences can be a good chance to meet an interesting cross section of people. Well that, and the fact that Caleb might correctly answer a question about solvents.

Holy Day?

God commanded us to keep the Sabbath day holy. There are a lot of benefits to keeping this commandment. It gives us a chance to regroup and spend time together. Our family normally plays games together, reads together and will periodically watch a movie together. There is one more thing that our children like to do on Sunday. They like to get sick.

I don't know how many times I have gone to CVS on Sunday to get medicine, ginger ale, or crackers. It seems like the first day of illness almost always comes on Sunday. So when Caleb had his fever two weeks ago, it came on Sunday. We were out of acetaminophen after a dose or two. I went to the cupboard to get the extra one we keep and it wasn't there.

So if you see me in CVS on Sunday, you might want to stay away from me. Not because I am going to be struck by lightning (though that may happen) but chances are someone in my house is sick.

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Speaking of a fever, we watched a family movie on the Sunday Caleb was sick. After it was over, Caleb was watching TV and said, "Dad, can you see if the Red Sox are on?"

I told him game 7 of the ALCS was not on until later that night, but my children seem to have caught baseball fever somewhere.

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And where would you catch baseball fever around here? At school, of course. Grace (and all the elementary kids) came home with "Go Red Sox" pennants. Isn't that a great lesson taught by our public schools? Besides the great spelling lesson, it is important that we teach our children about the American pastime. It's not like they can stay up to watch the games.

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And coming full circle with sports and the Sabbath, I was talking to my brother the day of the ALCS game 7. I asked him if it was keeping the Sabbath day holy by watching the first NFL game, the Pats game, and then the Sox.

He said, "It depends on what you are trying to make holy."

Just Kidding — Joshua Edition

Joshua is doing everything you would expect him to be doing at 8 months. A partial list includes:

• He cut his first tooth just before he hit 7 months. I think he is teething again because he has had a few nights where he has not been sleeping well.
• He is eating solid foods more often than not. Some nights he refuses baby food. He likes to eat whatever we are having and he loves picking things up by himself.
• He is learning to use a sippy cup. He doesn't always get it right, but he is getting better.
• He loves to pull up on things. Sunday morning he was standing up in his crib for the first time. The first two places he pulled up were on the dishwasher and in the bathtub. Not the ideal places to start. I don't think he is near walking, but he is definitely mobile.
• He likes to get into things. He loves to follow you around and see if there is a drawer he can open or something he can stick in his mouth. Mary and I are being more vigilant about what is left out, but it is difficult to teach that to Grace and Caleb.
• He is fascinated by the phone. Sometimes when he listens on the phone he can even hear Mom's or Dad's voice. Can you imagine a machine that contains your parents' voices in it?
• Joshua loves to crawl. He is starting to get faster. He is only army crawling so far, but he has a distinct crawl. He drags himself with his arms and then pushes off with his right toes. His crawl has a hitch, as if he were strutting. I find that funny.
• Joshua still loves his blanket, but he has found another love. He loves rattles. His favorite rattle is in the shape of a star. The other night he was digging around in his toy basket for a minute or two. I wondered what he was doing. Then he crawled across the floor holding his rattle. I should have known. The rattle has a line across it from where he drags it across the floor.
• The last day or two he has pushed himself up into an elephant walk position. He has not moved, but just stayed there for a moment. I love how little children try out new things.
• He also has elephant Robeez. They are really cute.
• Sunday afternoon he crawled on all fours for a step or two. It was the first time that I have ever seen him crawl on all fours.
• The most important news is that Joshua had his first taste of doughnut this Saturday. He had a little bit of a pumpkin cake and a blueberry cake doughnut. Tonight he tried an apple cider doughnut. He is an official part of the family now.
• Sometimes we call him chubby cheeks. Photographic evidence is below.

Learning to eat: A place to play: Joshua's first hike: All dressed up for the wedding:

Life

Today was the Primary program at church, which means the children (and their antics) are front and center. The first little boy spoke too loudly and got a bad case of the giggles. It was a good thing. The program does not officially start until that happens.

Unfortunately for Caleb, he was not feeling well at church. He had been practicing his part all week, but ended up with a fever and he did not feel like participating. Joshua was glad that Caleb came back to our pew. He had a great time playing on the floor without parental supervision or sibling interference.

Mary is beginning to feel some relief. Once we make it through this Friday's Halloween party, she will have made it through the looming activities. It is amazing how hectic one or two activities can make your life, especially when you are in charge of them.

Now that we have made it through today, we can get ready for the next week. Joshua, Caleb, and Mary are preparing by taking a nap. Grace is relaxing by swinging and I am blogging. The only thing to do now is hope the Sox play well tonight and start it all back up tomorrow.

Observations from Today (Updated)

We got started early this morning. I promised Caleb that I would do whatever he wanted to this morning. We left home at 7:15 AM. Where were we going? Jogging on a cool 50 degree morning. Either Caleb is related to Mary or I am getting really fat. He was dressed in his sweatsuit and we jogged for a good ten minutes. We took a 5 minute cool down walk and came home. Do most 4-year old children want to go for a jog when given the choice?

I have done a lot of running in my life. Currently I only run for two reasons:

1. If my children are in trouble or need help.
2. The only other possible reason to run is to play basketball, right? (Though most of the guys that I play ball with think it would be generous to characterize what I do as running. When asked to describe my gait, they say I have the athleticism of a gazelle penguin.)

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On the way home from work, a dapper gentleman sat down near me. He sported black wing tips, cuffed black pants, a muted plaid sports coat nicely offset by a soft red paisley tie, a fedora, and a leather carryall. He had a good look.

Then my eyes wandered up to his neck. His tie was knotted by a four-in-hand knot. I shuddered. Could you imagine looking so good and of all the self-releasing knots for your tie, you choose the four-in-hand? I felt bad for that tie. Just the right tie to offset the look and it is tied in the wrong way. The horror.

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Dinner tonight was spaghetti. Joshua ate spaghetti by himself for the first time:
For the video-impaired: (You can just see his tooth in this picture.)

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Our children are eating us out of house and home right now. After eating dinner, Caleb was looking for something more to eat. He walked over to the fridge to get a yogurt. He was not sure what flavor he wanted. He started pulling out yogurt and saying the flavor, "Blueberry, strawberry, is this peach Mom? ... green lemon."

Grace walks over at this point in time and takes the "green lemon" yogurt. "No, Caleb, this is green lemon cake yogurt."

I guess my children have not eaten much key lime pie in their lives.

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Right now, Mary is getting ready for preschool. There is a box of supplies that travels around to all the houses as each Mom teaches. Mary put the supply box together. If I were you, I would not mess with her box of preschool supplies. Trust me on this one.

Just Kidding — Caleb Edition

• Caleb has been a revelation with preschool this year. Last year, he liked it but we were never sure if he was learning much. Not the case this year. He is working hard on his letters and sounds. I am happy to see he wants to learn.
• When we first bought Caleb white t-shirts, he did not like them. He wouldn't even put them on. Now he loves to wear them. Photos and video are below. If you need to get into the mood, you can always listen to Caleb's theme song.
• Caleb is still a funny kid. Just the other day he asked me if I would take him to Funkytown after we got to Uncle Matt and Aunt Honor's house.
• Getting together with the cousins has been really good for Caleb. He and Chase really started playing together last weekend when we were in Philadelphia. That was great to see. Also, Caleb really got along and played well with Quentin both times we saw his family this summer.
• Caleb's behavior has been getting better. More than anything, I think he had a hard time processing Robert's death. It has taken him a lot longer than I thought it would. I was reminded of this when the little girl Grace's age died. It was really hard for Caleb. He does not deal well with death. I worry a little about that, but I am allowed to do that since I am his father.
• One of the things I love about Caleb is that he will play with anyone. At joy school he plays with the boys and the girls. Nicole came over for a play date last week and they played really well together.
• This summer was a good one for him. The idea of moving was more difficult for him than the actual move. Of our three children, he adjusted the most quickly.
• Caleb is quite coordinated. It will be interesting to see what happens with this as he goes to school and begins to play sports. I have no predictions or insights but I am excited to find out what will happen next.

First, a video from our apple picking adventure.
The two first pictures are quintessential Caleb. We may not be smiling just right, but this is how Joshua and Caleb look quite often. Too true to life to pass up. Grace going to school has helped Caleb be better with Joshua. He still can be rough, but he likes playing with Joshua a lot more. HC and Caleb on the hayride. Before the wedding we took a short hike. Here are Mary and Kirty with Sadie, Caleb, Joshua, Nick, Hallee and Quentin. At the end of the wedding ceremony this is where you could find Hallee, Quentin and Caleb. This last picture is just for Quentin. Since he asked for more pictures of Caleb, here is one with both of them (and some Mentos). Enjoy!

Blogging During Church

My Crackberry addicted brother, Oliver, periodically blogs during church or church events. I have never had that desire. At least not until today. Two things happened today that I wish I could have blogged about real time. The first, I found humorous. The second was unusual for a Mormon crowd, but very moving.

• During sacrament meeting I looked at the family sitting in the row in front of us. Their oldest son was trying to pick a small lock with a kit especially for that purpose. Now that is learning the important things at church.
• Later, we went to the fireside for temple workers. The special musical number was "Ingemisco" from Verdi's Requiem. It was beautiful, but it is not everyday that you here a tenor's aria during a meeting with a General Authority presiding. (Elder Holland was presiding and the musical number was moving and heartfelt. Listen.)

More Bumper Stickers (Updated)

We were on the road last weekend and we have seen a couple of great bumper stickers on the road and around town:

• A stop sign with "Bush" in the middle
• "At least the war on the environment is going well"
• "Republicans for Voldemort" (A really scary political statement if you believe that line of thinking.)
• "If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the precipitate"
• "I used to be indecisive, but now I am not so sure"
• "Minds are like parachutes, they only work when they have been opened"
• "When Jesus said love your enemies, He probably meant don't kill them"
• "When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace" (Go Jimi Hendrix!)

Just Kidding — Grace Edition

• Grace started back to school in September. It was an adjustment to have her gone the whole day instead of just until lunch time. Caleb really missed her and wondered why she was not coming home to eat and play with him. Grace still enjoys school and loves to teach us what she is learning.
• Grace loves playing soccer. She is really running around when she plays. She has already scored a goal this season. I love to yell for her and her teammates to keep going.
• She has lately been eating us out of house and home. She usually puts on weight and then rockets up. We should see the growth spurt soon.
• Grace wants to be an artist or a scientist when she grows up. Or at least that is what she says when you ask her.
• Grace has dealt with death more than any child should. She has been to more funerals, wakes, or memorial services than she has had birthdays. A little girl she knew passed away recently. It is hard to watch her struggle with the idea of death when it is someone her age. The worst part was that I could guess how she would respond after watching her struggle with Robert's death. She asked questions, drew pictures, and wondered about questions from which I had hoped to shield her.
• Aunt Rachel got married last weekend and Grace was a flower girl. She loved dressing up and dancing. She and her cousin Emily worked on a dance routine for the two of them. It was adorable.
• We visited with most of our family this summer. It was great to watch Grace with her cousins. She really had a great time with all of them. Maybe I should post about our summer at some point in time.

Here are some pictures of my little girl: Ready for the first day of school. One of her favorite pastimes — taking care of Joshua. Taking a hayride to pick apples. Grace came down the aisle first. She walked exactly as she was told to and told the other girls they were going too fast. Emily and Grace waiting for Nellie to come down the aisle. Emily, Nellie, and Grace after Rachel and Dan's wedding ceremony. Taking a break from dancing with Caleb and the flower girls.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

This is a video of Joshua in our old house. It was taken at least two weeks ago. He had just learned to sit up. He is babbling and trying to show that he can put his pacifier in his mouth.

It feels weird to post this video because it is out of date. Joshua changes quickly. Every week or two he picks up a new skill. I should post how he ate chicken, pears, raisins, Cheerios, and crackers for dinner tonight. Or maybe how he has just started to pull himself up. But I don't have a video of those things, so you get this.

All the Colors of the Rainbow

Tonight I was tucking Grace and Caleb into bed and we started playing the color game.

"What does red and blue make?" I asked.

Grace yells, "Purple!"

"And what about blue and yellow?"

She says, "Green."

Caleb is kind of quiet, but he does get in a couple of guesses as we move through other colors. (Red and white, yellow and red, white and black, etc.) I want to say good night and they want more of our game. Desperately I say, "What does green and yellow make?" The question is met by silence. I figure this is a great way to end. I say, "Chartreuse, now its time for bed. Good night and I love you."

I close the door and am halfway down the hall when I hear Grace yelling, "Daaaadddd, what about heliotrope?"

An Experiment in Sociology

I don't know what it is about Target, but I always seem to see or hear something interesting there. We went to Target over Labor Day weekend with our closest 3734 friends. The place was packed with back-to-school shoppers. I saw one shopper wearing a t-shirt that said: I ♥ Black People.

I am sure that many of us agree with that sentiment. My question is what would have happened if I had walked into Target that evening wearing a shirt that said: I ♥ White People?

What if it said: I ♥ Crackers? (Or Honkies?)

Obviously, the last two are intended to be more offensive, but I believe I would have gotten dirty looks with the I ♥ White People shirt.

And what kind of looks would I have gotten if I had walked in wearing the I ♥ Black People shirt?

What does this say about us and racial relations?

And what does it say about me because I wonder about these things?

We Interupt This Progam...

... to bring you a post. Then we will return to our regularly scheduled silence.

Many of you (okay both of our readers), may be wondering what is up with our extended absence from the blogosphere this summer. We have many excuses but none of them are all that good. So, you won't be bored by the story of my broken glasses and other tales for insomniacs. But we did have a little bit of news to report:

We have moved!

It is true. We grew up and got our first home this summer. It is a nice little shanty on the outskirts of town. (Actually that is not true. It is small, but no shanty and our town really does not have outskirts. You might get away with calling it the edge of town, but this digression has digressed enough.)

I thought I should post a picture.

Recently Seen and Heard

• At Target this evening a gentleman was wearing this shirt: I am a legend in Japan.
• Also at Target, a man and woman were talking as they walked past me. The man said, "I can't function unless I have your complete attention." "What?" she replied.
• If you want the definitive word on whom women want and nerds, I think you should read Rebecca's advice.
• On the road to our campground last Friday I saw this bumper sticker: Why do we kill people who kill people to show killing people is wrong?
• That bumper sticker is not out of place in Massachusetts. The other day I saw this: Choose Life, Your Mom Did. Now that is unusual for this area.
• I was walking to the train station the other day at 6:00 pm. A woman pushed an empty stroller past me. I wanted to ask her if she forgot something.
• Today at the train station there was a kid sitting with a conductor's baton. He was looking at sheet music and practicing.
• Last week on the bus I sat next to a teenager who was eagerly openning a CD. What are the kids listening to today? Johannes Brahms.

Birthday Flowers

Mary likes flowers and I usually get her some for her birthday. This year we were out shopping with the kids before her birthday. I was going to get her some flowers but figured she could pick out what she wanted while we were out. Grace overheard this conversation and decided that she needed to "help" Mom pick out the right flowers. Mary looked around and found a nice bouquet and asked Grace if she thought it was okay. Mary expected immediate agreement, but it did not come. Grace told Mary that she did not think Mary would like those flowers as much as pink roses.

They searched for the next five minutes for the right bouquet of long stem pink roses. They found a beautiful bouquet, but I felt sorry for Mary that she really did not get the birthday flowers she had expected. Grace got wonderful birthday flowers on Mary's birthday. Oh well. Here is a picture of the roses: I did not take a picture but I got a bunch of alstroemeria for my birthday. They were gorgeous and I love alstroemeria.

Half a Birthday

Joshua is six months old. Time has flown by. We enjoy having him in our family. Since he was born, our lives are filled with more grins, love, work, exhaustion, giggles and growth. It has been fabulous. He has started new development the last few weeks. He is babbling and wants to touch, hold, and eat anything within arm's reach. He moves around now. He can roll from tummy to back and onto his tummy again. He manages to "crawl" by putting his knee underneath him and launching himself forward. It is not a real crawl, but it is mobility. Grace and Caleb love to play with him and he loves their play. We are simply elated that he is part of our family.

May all the ensuing months be as fun as the last six! (These pictures are from berry picking a couple of weeks ago that I have yet to write up.)

The Time Machine

Time to blog again. Stories have not been told that crave an audience. Pictures have not been posted and Grandma is not happy. Time to jump in the time machine and post old pictures and preserve a few of the stories.

Joshua loves to smile and roll around. Joshua thought Caleb's bed and blankets were comfortable enough to borrow for a nap. Look at the clean baby! The towel was made by a grandmother of Grace and Caleb's friends. Out of the blue, Grandma B made these adorable towels and sent one for each child. Joshua's is a duck, Caleb's a horse, and Grace's a flower. I love Joshua. I love t-shirts. I love hoops. I love puns. The boys in our family like orange. Blame that on Dad. Grace loves to get dressed for church in the dresses Aunt Rachel bought her. This is not a perfect picture, but it is iconic Caleb. His irresistibly goofy side is on full display. This Caleb always makes me laugh.

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This post's musical inspiration.

The End

Goodness gracious wow. I finished.

Can I go back and reread it now?

Two Free Days

I have not read Harry Potter for the last 48 hours. Some time after midnight, that streak will end. After reading all six books again, I have definitely been in the wizarding world too much lately. It has been great. I am going to post my thoughts on "The Deathly Hallows", so there is a record of my poor prognostic ability.

• I don't think Harry is a horcrux.
• Neville Longbottom will be a part of the final fight with Voldemort and Luna Lovegood will end up with Neville.
• Ron will become head boy.
• I hope Bellatrix Lestrange does not fair well in this book because she is such a dark character.
• I don't know what will happen to Draco Malfoy, but my opinion of him changed when I reread his conversation with Dumbledore at the end of "Half-Blood Prince". Though Draco has been painted as a bad guy, or Harry's foil, he came off as misguided and pushed by circumstance into bad decisions. It is hard to believe that he would be committed to serving "The Dark Lord" after what has happened to him.
• If Voldemort is killed, I wonder what will happen to the Dark Mark on the Death Eater's arms. Is it linked to him somehow?
• I want to think a horcrux is hidden at the orphanage, but I am sure Dumbledore would have found it there. One could be hidden at Godric's Hollow, but I think it would have been moved after Voldemort came back to life. Though he was "defeated" there, it also shows he cannot be defeated finally.
• I think Ginny is perfect for Harry, but I have a feeling Ginny, Ron, Hermoine, or Harry will be killed. I really don't want that to happen, though.
• Ron and Hermoine will be a proper couple this book, right?
• I wish JK would tell us more of the back story between Severus and James, but I don't think she will.
• In many of these books, Harry's parental figures die or are shunted to the side. Does that mean something will happen to Remus, Molly, or Arthur?

Well, I think that is enough ramblings for one night. We will see if there are any real insights after this weekend.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Updated)

We saw the new Harry Potter movie this evening with Sara, Todd and my coworker, Brooke. It is fun to go to the movies. (This stems from the fact that we rarely see movies on the big screen.) I was able to finish book 5 before we left, though Mary had to wait for me to finish the last three pages. My thoughts on the Order of the Phoenix:

• Of course the movie is different from the book, so get over it. A movie has a different set of constraints and possibilities than a book does. That's okay. Accept each as different artistic creations.
• The screen writers did a great job focusing on the key conflict. The movie revolves around the ministry/Umbridge versus Harry and I really liked how it was done. You cannot tell the whole story from the books, but they chose the right story line for the movie.
• The acting was pretty good, but it is a shame that there are so many great actors in the movie and you never get enough screen time of each one.
• Luna Lovegood is excellent.
• How Sirius died in the Department of Mysteries was brilliantly filmed.
• I enjoyed the score to this movie more than the others. The music added to the story without be obtrusive.
• The final fight scene was cool. Our friends told us they were going to see the movie tomorrow on an IMAX screen with the last half-hour in 3-D. That should make the end eye-popping.
• Many of the great lines from the book are in the movie but they are moved around or even said by different characters. I thought that was funny.
• It would have been fun to see the movie version of Willy Widdershins and his muggle-baiting, regurgitating toilets. It would not have added to the story, but it would have been interesting to watch the movie version of that scene.
• I wish they had developed the Order of the Phoenix story just a little bit more. They hit it quickly without real detail.
• My biggest complaint is that it was too episodic. They focused down on the story in the middle, but the beginning jumped around. Many of the transitions throughout the movie were too abrupt.

Final Recommendation: Go and see this movie in the theater. You will enjoy it unless you cannot imagine seeing a Harry Potter movie that is not absolutely true to the book.

Two more thoughts:

1. There were two things about Sirius Black that I noticed in the movie. The first is at a climatic point he spoke to Harry and called him James. It was a superb touch and in line with his character. But at a different point he spoke of Lord Voldemort as the Dark Lord. This did not fit since that is the name the Death Eaters use. I could not imagine Sirius calling him the Dark Lord.
2. In an interview for one of the earlier movies, JK Rowling said she had to make sure certain parts of the story were included in the movies so all the movies would make sense. Scenes that I thought could be in this category: the scene with the picture of the Order, Grawp's scene, the barman and the goat in the Hog's Head, and learning about Neville's parents. There may have been others, but these ones struck me as if they could not be left out.

Happy Belated 4th of July

Everyone keeps asking if I am going to post again, so I thought I should put up a picture. I have a lot to post about and I am sure some of them will appear here. I have been busy with visitors, vacations, and rereading the Harry Potter books. (You can check my schedule. I have not watched the movies along the way, just read the books.)

Grace and Caleb have on Old Navy t-shirts, Mary has a Life Is Good flag t-shirt, and Joshua's onesie says "Mom's Little Firecracker". Hope you enjoyed the holiday!
One more note: I don't know if you watched the hot dog eating contest. We never have watched it before on the 4th. The announcers were too funny. As an example, an announcer had this to say about Joey Chestnut winning the contest, "This could be one of the greatest moments in American sports history."

I am glad that announcers never engage in hyperbole.

Around Town

When Rachel visited us at the end of March, we took the bus to see some sights. There is a sign on the bus with things that are prohibited. Caleb looked at the sign and said, "No hot dogs, no cigarettes, no what is that, Dad? Oh, radios."

It really was no food, no smoking, no radios, but I liked Caleb's version.

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We pass my favorite corner on the way home from the cemetery. Why is it my favorite? It has a sign that reads, "No parking from here to corner". Between that sign and the corner is a city-painted parking space.

When they covered up the parking space a week ago I was disappointed.

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Speaking of corners, something weird happened this winter on the way home from the bus stop. We had a couple of snowstorms with ice or rain. Wet snow was piled high at every street corners. The melting snow/ice and rain led to water seeping underground. (We even had a small sinkhole in front of our driveway.) The water must have damaged this sidewalk. When I stepped on the curb, it sunk down about six inches.

I don't know who would have been more proud Shel Silverstein or Carole King.

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Grace, Caleb, and I had a great time in the city looking for Mother's Day gifts. I forgot the fun we have in the city. The highlights of our trip:

• The funniest troubadour I have seen in recent memory. He was playing guitar and singing about the people that walked by. He made up a rhyme about Caleb. It had something to do with Caleb's striped shirt and how he probably liked cow products like yogurt. He also sang about the children getting a treat while out with Dad. It was funny.
• There was also a performance artist painted silver like a statue. The children had a great time dropping coins in her jar so she would twirl her umbrella and wink at them. She made them smile.
• In the list of odd sites, there was a guy playing the bagpipes over by a bank and someone on accordian just down from him. What an odd pair. Caleb thought the bagpipe was too loud.
• There was an artist painting and other performers the children wanted to watch but could not due to the time. Street performers are often a great diversion.

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PS—Appropriately enough, I wrote this post while listening to this.

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Well Joshua is no Clara, but he did roll over for the first time two days ago. (Coincidentally, that is the same day the blog entry was posted.)

Grace saw him roll over and told Mary. Mary thought Grace had helped him get over, so Mary set him down and told him to do it again. He did it seven or eight times in a row. Of course, I got this news over the phone. But Joshua is a good boy. He rolled over for me twice while I was bathing the children the same night. This is what he looks like on his tummy if you can get to him before he starts to scream.

Mother's Day Pictures

Recently, I have been chastised for my lack of pictures. In order to appease those who would like to see more pictures (you know who you are), I thought I should post some from Mother's Day. Here are the flowers the children bought for themselves when we went to get some for Mom. Grace and Caleb picked out their favorites. I picked these out for Mary: Mom and Joshua on Mother's Day: And in case you were wondering, his eyes are blue: I have more pictures to post in the near future.