Our Family Christmas Letter

This year we decided to post a family Christmas letter on our blog instead of including it in the cards we're sending out. We're doing this for a few reasons:

1. It's the 21st century! We're trend-setters. Mark my words.

2. It's easier than printing off a bunch of letters. And cheaper.

3. It saves paper. The earth will thank us.

4. It gets people to check out our blog.

So, let's get on with the letter. Our hi-tech, eco-friendly, modern Christmas letter.

It's been a pretty busy year for our family. That's what really comes to mind when I stop to think about it. First of all, Sadie turned five and started kindergarten. When we ask her about it, she says she loves school, but I think it's been a bit tough for her. She's had to do a lot of growing up, and she's still just trying to take it all in. The good news is that she's learning a ton, and she constantly amazes us with her reading and writing skills. They've really taken off since she started kindergarten. She spends a lot of time at home just writing notes (often lengthy love letters to each of us) and reading books. And she also loves to draw and color. Anyway, Sadie starting school has been trying for all of us at times but we're so proud of her and she brings so much humor and energy to our home.

Dallin turned two last month, and seems to have the job description down pretty well. That kid is just non-stop action from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to sleep. He seems to have developed a healthy love of trucks, trains, and buses, all without any particular encouragement from us. He has his mom's sweet tooth, and his dad's charm (I love writing the family letter because I can just make this stuff up). He's on the verge of speaking in phrases and sentences. He's been able to understand everything we say to him for months and months, and in just the last month or two he's been using new words every day. But like I said, the kid plays hard every day. When he's tired of his toys, he'll search the kitchen or bathroom for interesting items. You can always tell when he's on the prowl. He gets this look in his eye. Dallin is a delight to have in our home and a continual source of entertainment. And exercise.

Carrie is liking the bit of freedom that Sadie going to school has provided. I think she has more time for things like working out at the YMCA or doing things with friends. She continues to make some pretty cool crafts, mostly baby stuff, and has sold them at a couple local festivals. She's become an avid reader - like, sometimes I think she has an addiction. She was recently called to be a gospel doctrine teacher at church. I think she enjoys it. I went to her class recently and was ticked that people weren't more participatory. But she says it's usually better than that day. I asked her tonight what she wanted me to say, and she just said that there's not much to say because her life is her kids. That's really true. Carrie is the glue of our little family. She has our kids' needs and wants at the forefront of her mind every moment. She's a great mom.

It's been a pretty busy year for me. First of all, many of you know that I've lost over 80 pounds since the spring (oh, and I forgot to mention that Carrie's lost about 30 pounds - go us!). I started mountain biking in the spring and got really serious about it. I absolutely love it. I go as often as I can, even now in the winter. Central Pennsylvania is a wonderful place for mountain biking, and I'm having fun finding new trails and beautiful places to go. Other than the mountain biking, I've just been eating better. And it's really worked. The only downside to losing so much weight is that I've had to replace my entire wardrobe, which is tough on a little income like mine. Oh, and people not recognizing me when they see me is a bit weird. It actually happens with some regularity.

I defended my master's thesis this fall and presented it at a scholarly meeting in Louisville, KY. I just wrapped up a couple classes this semester - a racial residential segregation seminar and a social movements seminar. I now have about three papers, including my thesis, that I'd like to get polished and ready to send off to a journal here pretty soon. I've also got to decide on a dissertation topic in the next 6 months or so. It will definitely have to do with religion, which is my main interest, but I'm still narrowing it down. In all, I'm happy to be at Penn State and happy that I'm studying sociology. It's just what I love to do.

We like life here in State College. We try to take advantage of all the great things central PA has to offer, like its natural beauty, its great local restaurants and businesses, its arts and culture, and, of course, Penn State. We were happy in our home to see a certain junior Senator get elected as our next President. No matter what your political views, it was an exciting and important election, and we can all agree that we have a lot to do to make our keep our great country great and to solve some big problems.

So, our little family here in Pennsylvania just chugs along. Having a family is probably tougher but better than Carrie or I could have ever imagined. Nothing prepares you for the highest ups and the lowest downs of family life. It's messy, noisy, crazy work, every day of the year. But we wouldn't have it any other way.

So, Merry Chrismas and Happy New Year! And thanks for reading our letter.

Thanks, whoever you are!

So, I'm minding my own business, watching In Bruges, when I start hearing noises outside the door. All of a sudden, something hits the window screen. At first I think it's the wind, then my imagination gets active and I start imagining something far more sinister (hey, I was watching a movie about assassins).

Anyway, I decide to peek out the window to see what's going on and I see a little Christmas tree with cash rolled up and tied to the branches with bows. We've been money tree'd!


So, if the giver of this bit of holiday love is out there somewhere reading this, we'd like to give you a big, fat thanks. We really appreciate it.

It warmed the heart.

Did we miss it?

I realize that it has been almost an entire month since Dallin's birthday. Instead of having a blog post about his birthday I thought I would steal a friend's birthday idea and list the top ten reasons we love Dallin.

1. He is the fruit of my loins.
2. The whole unconditional love thing
3. He still loves to snuggle
4. He precedes almost every word with "n-"
(example: ball = nnnball)
5. He is our human alarm clock . . . 7am even on weekends
6. He can already sit through a full length movie. Do you know many 2-year-olds that can do that?
7. He copies everything that Sadie does -- good and bad
8. He is cute (Sadie's reason)
9. He loves us. . . especially mom (Oedipus complex -- sometimes I think Freud was onto something there)
10. He just does goofy things.

So to answer my question: No, we didn't miss Dallin's birthday, I just didn't blog about it. It's hard to believe that it has been two years since his birth. It has all gone by so quickly. He is still the world's best baby, just a little more difficult to keep track of. (the whole perpetual motion thing.)

Infomercial Steve

A little while back I blogged about losing 60 pounds since April. Well, I've lost 20 more pounds, bringing the total to 80 pounds since April! I totally feel like one of those people from a late-night weight loss infomercial: "I just lost 80 pounds by using Dr. Ivanov's patented Mega-Trim Pound Destroyer System!"

But on a more serious note, I'm happy about this particular accomplishment because it puts me at a healthy body weight according to my doctor. I've been working long and hard on this and that's been the end goal. I just want to be healthy and live a long life. For myself and for my family.

A Sadie-ism

On the way home from our brand new Kohl's (yay!), Sadie saw someone smoking and she pointed it out to us. We were impressed and a bit surprised to hear her say something about cigarettes turning your lungs black, as we'd never talked to her about that. Anyway, we talked for a minute about smoking and the health risks associated with it. I also tried to explain that it's also addictive and told her that that means it's hard to quit.

A light bulb went on as she grasped my meaning and she said "well, I'm good at quitting math!" I guess she doesn't have a math addiction. But we might have to work on the math a bit, eh?

My little man!

The other day I put this outfit on Dallin. As I was putting on his shirt, Dallin pointed to it and said, "Da. Da." It really is an outfit that Steve would pick out for himself. Dallin realized that too. He is really my little man.

Beautiful Day

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day, so the kids and I decided to go on a walk/photoshoot. Sadie is a natural at posing cute, but I decided that when people ask me what I do I will respond with, "Oh, I'm studying perpetual motion. . . it's a little difficult to explain." Dallin wouldn't sit still. It's very difficult to get a good picture from someone who is constantly moving. I have a great camera, but not good enough for his action shots. I did get a few good ones in though.

It looks like a contemplative moment, but really, I think the shot was luck, because like I said, he was moving.

I didn't like the post for Sadie's kindergarten pictures. What do you think of these ones?

He loved going on the walk. I have so many pictures of Dallin way off in the distance -- that kid can run fast!

Halloween!

I'm really sorry that I haven't been posting lately. I guess I have been anti-computer lately . . . I barely even check my email. Anyway, we did celebrate Halloween. We had a cute flower and a really scary skeleton. The bones on the outfit glowed in the dark and it was really cute. I made Sadie's flower costume . . . I will never make a costume without a pattern again. But, after many hours of pain and frustration, I was successful. Sadie loved it and that's what counts.

On the night of trick-or-treating we thought Sadie would be the one who wanted to gather candy for hours . . .we were wrong. After just one side of a street, she pooped out. Dallin was the one spurring everyone on. He was running ahead of everyone and knocking on all the doors. After we taught him that he wasn't supposed to actually go into stranger's houses, he was able to learn how to say "thankyou" and even "trick or treat". I dont' think anyone else on the planet would have been able to understand him, but we were still proud parents.

We had lots of fun with a little volcano and a ghost. Thanks guys!

Give me the stupid camera, mom!

Shrinking Steve

Back in April I had an epiphany. A vision. Maybe it was more of a wake-up call.

Carrie and the kids were in Oregon visiting family. One morning while I was getting dressed, I stopped to look at myself in the mirror. Really stop and look. I was kind of shocked and almost disgusted at what I saw. I realized that I'd really gained a lot of weight and that I wasn't taking care of my body. I was unhappy with how I looked and felt. I needed to do something about it. Up until that point, I'd resisted any effort by Carrie to get me to do WeightWatchers with her, or to exercise, or anything. We have generally always eaten pretty healthy foods, I just tended to eat to much and to eat late at night. And I've always hated exercise. I can't stand working out at the gym.

But I had to do something. I want to live a long, healthy, happy life. I owe it to myself and my family. So, I gave in. I started to do WeightWatchers with Carrie. I never went to meetings, but I started following the system. And I started mountain biking. I got hooked. I bought a new bike. I started going three or four times a week. And I started loosing weight!

I'm proud to say that since April, I've lost about 60 pounds. And it's still coming off. I feel better. I'm down two shirt sizes and about four or five inches off my waist. It's awesome. I did a hard thing, and it's been worth it.

This is the crazy part: since the beginning of August, I've lost 40 pounds! I asked a doctor about it, and he wasn't concerned. He says I'm doing it the right way.

Here's a picture from last winter:

And here's a picture from today:

Catching Up

Ok, I know, I know. I've been lazy blogger . . . I may be a lazy blogger, but I have not been a lazy mom. In fact, I have been really, really busy.

First Day of School

So, Sadie started kindergarten this year at Wonderland Charter School (please don't judge it by website because the site is awful). She was pretty excited and she looked super cute. She picked her own outfit for her first day of school, I thought she did a pretty good job. I think the first day was a reality check for her though. I had to have my neighbor pick her up from school because our car was getting fixed and Sadie was pretty grumpy. She said, "All those poor people who have to go to school." Mary asked why they are poor and Sadie responded, "They have to work ALL day and I do too!" It took a couple of weeks, but now at the end of the day she says her days are great and wonders why they are so short. On Friday she told me that it felt like a short day for her but it wasn't short for the teachers. . . I wonder how the kids acted that day. Sadie is adjusting well, but the family isn't adjusting quite so well to the early mornings!

Sadie's 5th Birthday

Sadie enjoyed her first slumber party for her birthday. It was a great slumber party, we made individual pizzas and made a fruit pizza for dessert. We waited until Sunday (her actual birthday) to have cake and family presents. I must say that I enjoyed having the kids over and I am eternally grateful to my friend Mary who helped me with the party. I'm also proud of my cake.

It was the first time I ever used fondant and it was a little more difficult than I thought it would be, but it was a success. Sadie loved it and Dallin couldn't keep his hands off it! She had a very happy birthday! We all enjoyed it.

Having it was kind of bittersweet for me. She now spends more time with other people than with me. She is growing up. I love hearing her talk about school and see how much she is learning every day. I do miss her though ( it didn't expect that as much.) There's more happening in our lives, but I'll fill you in later.

Sadie quotes of the day

Sadie's been on a roll today, and I just wanted to jot down some funny things she's said before I forget.

First, this morning, Carrie and Sadie were getting a package ready to send to Carrie's mom for her birthday. Sadie made her own card for her grandma. Right in the middle of the card was a big heart. When she was finished, she told us that "there's a force field around the heart so that nobody can break the love." Force field? Break the love? Sadie, you're awesome.

Then, Sadie and I were out running errands. She saw an Obama yard sign and recognized it right away. "Obama!" she exclaimed. Then, a few moments later: "well, not the man Obama." I laughed. I guess she didn't want to get my hopes up too much.

After dinner, Carrie was schmoozing me so that I wouldn't mind her going upstairs for a little alone time. I was sitting down and she reached around me and planted one on my lips. Afterward, Sadie remarked that it was a "stay-married-forever kiss."

Yep, that's exactly what it was.

Does anyone else think she's ready for kindergarten next week?

We hiked Mt. Nittany!

Last night for our date night Carrie and I hiked Mt. Nittany. Yes, that Nittany, as in the Penn State Nittany Lions, the Mount Nittany Medical Center (where Dallin was born), and all the businesses in State College that have the word "Nittany" in their name. And there are a lot of them.

It was actually a pretty tough hike, particularly the first half mile or so which is really steep. Once you get to the top there's about a three mile loop. There are a couple places on the trail where you can see down into State College and we took some pictures.

If you live in State College and go to Penn State, you have to hike Mt. Nittany at some point, right? Anyway, it was a fun date and made us want to find some more hiking places around here.


It's probably kind of hard to see, but Beaver Stadium (where PSU football plays) is in the background, as well as the Bryce Jordan Center (PSU basketball and concerts).

This picture of Carrie is in a different spot. We couldn't figure out what was in the distance.


One of those dumb pictures where you hold the camera yourself.

DVD and Blue-Ray

Yesterday was a beautiful day with lots of great things that happened. The best being that our friends, the Andersons, came back to State College after a year in Taiwan. Jenny is one of my best friends, Steve gets along really well with Kyle, and Sadie says that Abby is her best friend. We don't find that combo very often. We always have a great time with them and love to talk with them. On the way to go see them yesterday, we had a "Sadie-ism". She was experimenting with her sunglasses. She would put them on and say, "This is DVD," then she would take them off and say, "This is Blue-ray." I didn't understand what she was talking about and so I asked her to explain.

This was her explanation:

"You know DVD and Blue-ray on the movies?"
"Yeah"
"It's brighter with my sunglasses off. . . so it's Blue-ray. It's darker with them on so it's DVD."

I laughed pretty hard. Technology makes its way into our children's vocabulary way more than I ever thought it would.

Concert of the Year!

We were privileged enough to receive tickets to the hottest concert in the country. She is seriously the next Hannah Montana. We snuck in a camera and got some video of this great singer/guitar player. She even gave us an autograph. . . she's only 4 years old. She would say 4 and 11/12 though. We hope you enjoy the concert as much as we did.

Ladies Man!

I know that he is young, but it is totally true. He knows when to turn on the charm!! He also always tries to get his way.

Beep! Beep! Get out of my way mom! I'm cute and I know it! Dallin has the greatest facial expressions and body language. His vocal language isn't very great right now, but we always know how he is feeling through his body language. It really is something you have to see to understand. Dallin is also a bit of a bully. Our neighbor has a little boy who is about five months older than Dallin. Let just say that Andrew has a lot of practice saying, "Dallin hit," or "Dallin push." At least he hasn't bit Andrew like he bites Sadie and me. I think the kids who are little terrors are cute for a reason. There have been several times that Steve and I have observed, "It's a good thing he's so cute."

Thank goodness for helmets!

Mom, if you're reading this, stop right here.

Last night I crashed while on a bike ride. I was going down a fairly steep hill, maybe a little faster than usual, and somehow I lost control. The next thing I knew I was on my side and my helmet visor was dangling. My bike was several feet in front of me. Dirt was rubbed into my shirt sleeve and my forearm pretty well, and my head started to hurt. I did a thorough check of myself, and then more importantly, my bike, and concluded that we were both OK (but I did have to straighten the handlebars). I called my wife to see if she thought I should cut my ride short. I had a headache and a bump, but I didn't feel drowsy, nauseated, or strange at all. I ended up continuing my ride for another half hour or so before coming home. When I got home, the helmet-shaped bruise on my forehead and temple kind of freaked me out.

There's a nice dent in my helmet. I'm just glad I was wearing one. I never thought I'd need it.

Rest and Relaxation

Sadie really knows how to spend her summer vacation!

After I set up the pool she came in and asked for two cucumber slices.

"Why do you need those?" I asked.
"For REST and RELAXATION!" (She said it in a way that only Sadie can say it though) She can be pretty silly!

I went out and this is what she meant. I think she realizes that once kindergarten starts there won't be any time for this kind of thing. We should all follow her example.

Vacation in Williamsburg

Last week we vacationed in Williamsburg, VA. I thought I'd share some stories and photos with you all. Also, I'm getting on Carrie's case about blogging a bit more often, so hopefully you'll see more from her soon.

Carrie's parents have a timeshare and they let us use some of their points to book a week in Williamsburg. Our kids absolutely loved staying at the condo. Sadie thought it was awesome that she and Dallin got their own room. We all loved the gigantic whirlpool tub. The place we stayed at had two pools and a mini-golf course, so that kept us busy, too.

I'll be honest, though, doing Colonial Williamsburg was tough. For those that don't know, it's a huge historical site complete with actors in costume, reenactments, shops, demonstrations, and more. It was a really hot, humid, sunny day, and Sadie was grumpy right from the start. We saw as much as we could, but eventually we had to give up and head back to our place for some cooling off (literally and figuratively). But we got in half a day there and enjoyed it for the most part.

I really loved the Colonial Parkway, an incredibly beautiful and scenic road connecting Williamsburg with the historic towns of Jamestown and Yorktown. We rolled down all the windows and just soaked it in. We also stopped to dip our feet in the James River.

The day before we left we went swimming at the Chesapeake Bay on a beach inside a state park. It was tons of fun and probably Sadie's favorite part of our trip. Unfortunately, though, we all got sunburns despite our sincere efforts to keep sunscreen well applied. Mine was the worst. I'm still recovering.

We also got to spend a couple days with our friends Jon and Lauren, who live in Virginia near D.C. and drove down to visit. We enjoyed that and were glad we got to see them. Sadie loved it.

But our kids were definitely excited to get home after a week away. As we were pulling into State College at around 9:30 p.m., Sadie asked "Daddy, are you thinking what I'm thinking!?" Carrie and I looked at each other, puzzled, and I said "I don't know, what are you thinking?" She then burst out "I'm thinking that we're almost home!!" We laughed and I said told her that that's just what I was thinking. When we got home they didn't want to go to bed. Dallin pulled out a toy he hadn't seen for a week and proceeded to play with it like he just might not ever see it again. When we told him it was time to go to bed, he just played harder and started yelling at us if we got too close. It was pretty funny.

Enjoy some pictures!

Sadie and I at Colonial Williamsburg during a reenactment of a confrontation between government leaders right before the Revolutionary War.










I was picked to be on a "jury" for the trial of a Virginia militia man that had made some pro-British comments.











Carrie and the kids in front of a courthouse in Colonial Williamsburg.












Playing in the James River (this one and the next two).








































At the Chesapeake Bay Beach (this one and the next 2).








































This one is just because.

Kids don't want health care, it turns out

A hilarious video from the Onion about why kids oppose efforts to ensure that they have adequate health care coverage.


Study Finds Most Children Not In Favor Of Children’s Healthcare

Sadie's First Talk

Sadie had her first talk in primary on Sunday. We practiced reading it a few times before church. At lunch time she got a case of nerves and said that she didn't want to go to church. She was actually in tears. During sacrament meeting the primary sang for the dads. She didn't like that at all. We were a little worried that she wouldn't be able to do it. She proved us wrong! I stood up with her, but she read almost the entire thing herself. She even remembered the word ancestor and family. She messed up once and just kind of laughed about it. She did such an awesome job. We are definitely proud parents. She's ready for sacrament meeting now!

Sadie's Writing

UPDATE!! The winner (only two people responded to my challenge . . . I'm disappointed) is Jenny Anderson! She was really close. The correct translation is:

I know that you have been working for me. I love you.

Hey everyone . . . I thought I would have a little competition. Who can decipher Sadie's note the best? I must say, it almost made me cry because it was so sweet. She came down from her room after I had a really hard day. It made me feel good. I'll give the translation in a few days. Have fun!

Sadie

Sadie is really enjoying summer! She goes outside anytime I will let her . . . even when it is absolutely roasting outside. She loves playing with water and chalk. She especially enjoys practicing her new writing and drawing skills on the sidewalk. She is a great little girl and we have a lot of fun with her. Even when we are really mad at her, she manages to make us laugh (sometimes). The other day I was really upset with her (I don't remember why) She was sent up to her room. She really hates being sent to her room. A little while later she came stomping down with a note in hand. She had written, "I do not lik yuo."

After she had gone back upstairs she called down, "Mom did you like your note?"

"No, I didn't."

"Why?"

"Because it made me sad."

A little while later she came down with another note that said, "I love yuo mommy. Love Sadie."

I must say that I was proud of her even when she didn't like me very much. There were so many positive things from her being sent to her room. She learned a new way to express herself instead of crying and screaming, she wrote a whole note without any help, she showed compassion when I said that the note made me sad . . .

Later that day she wanted to throw the mean note away . . . I kept it. I decided that it's ok if my kids don't like me all the time. As long as they know that I love them, that's all that really matters.

So Sorry!

First of all, I would like to apologize for my recent lack of blog posts. As you can see, we have been enjoying our summer. We've been going on bike rides, swimming, taking trips to the library, and just having fun. I'll try to update everyone up on what we have been doing. . .

Dallin:
Dallin got tubes put in his ears about 2 weeks ago. He has been a totally different child since then. I don't think we realized how much his ear infections were bothering him. I think he is really going to be a lot like Steve. His mom tells me that when he was little she would take him to the doctor and the doctor would look into his little ears and ask, "Why didn't you bring him in earlier?" She would say, "Well, he hasn't complained about his ears." They would just look at her with an expression of, "Sure, lady!" I know how you felt Julie!

The same kind of thing would happen to me. The only symptoms he would have would be to rub his ears. He wouldn't cry and he would continue sleeping just fine. Sometimes I would just take him to a well-baby visit and they would discover infected ears. So, he has had almost constant ear infections since January.

He laughs all the time now. He rarely screams from frustration (he used to scream all the time) He is also starting to speak a few words. We are still the only one who understands him, but he definitely says mama, dad, bird, ball, banana (it sounds like dada), bye. I think he might say more than that, but we don't really understand him.

Dallin has also figured out how to climb out of his crib. Nobody ever mentions that as a milestone, but it definitely opens up a whole new chapter in our lives.

Biking, exercise, and "living in Earth"

I posted this over on my blog the other day and I thought I'd post it here, too:

Let's face it. I love graduate school but sitting at a computer for 8 hours a day isn't exactly good for your health. I've gained a lot of weight since I started graduate school and recently I decided I should do something about it. Disc golf and biking are about the only forms of exercise I like. Disc golf is a lot of fun. There's a new 9-hole course here in State College (the only one). It's not a great course, but it's fun.

But biking is what I've really gotten into lately. I prefer to use the term biking since "cycling" makes me think of skinny people on skinny bikes with aerodynamic helmets going like 60 miles per hour. And none of that would apply to me. Anyway, I've been going on rides several times a week. Here are the reasons I enjoy it so much:

1. Like I said, it's about the only kind of exercise I like. And it feels really good. There's a post-exercise buzz you get that's almost euphoric. And I think I've already lost about 10 pounds in just a few weeks, too.

2. I get to wear spandex. I'm joking. I actually did recently get over my fear of wearing bike shorts and bought a pair. The last time I wore spandex I was like 10 years old or something. Anyway, they're extremely comfortable, no matter how dumb I look. (Another plus is that when I use my Camelbak I feel like I have on a stillsuit like the Fremen in Dune wear).

3. Maybe the biggest reason I like to bike is that I get to be outside. And the more I can get away from cars and roads and houses the better. There's a Pennsylvania game land on the edge of town that I absolutely love to ride in. It's absolutely beautiful. The trails are challenging but not too challenging and there's a nice variety of terrain. Once I feel more comfortable riding there, I want to start riding in Rothrock State Forest, which is apparently really challenging. I think I like to mountain bike so much because I can just be in nature. There is something refreshing and healing about it.

We humans are interesting in that most of our technological advances, designed to improve and simplify our lives, tend to remove us from nature more and more. It's almost like we've become aliens on Earth. In some small way, my bike rides make feel connected to nature again, and remind me that I am not an alien on Earth, but part of it.

I recently read a fantastic article in an independent local newspaper here in Central Pennsylvania. The author offers "a new way to think about how we might respond to climate change." He asks:

Do you live on Earth, or in Earth? Though saying that you live on Earth may sound right, the truth is that we all live in Earth. If you doubt this, go out in the afternoon and lie on your back and look up at the sky. In particular, observe the clouds and consider that, at our latitude, Earth is spinning at more than 500 miles per hour to the east. So why aren’t those clouds up there racing across the sky to the west at hundreds of miles per hour?

The answer is that all the stuff up there that we blithely refer to as “atmosphere” is part of Earth. Yes, that’s Earth up there! If you still doubt this, hold your breath! Just as a fish is utterly dependent on water for life, our life medium is the atmosphere.

The upshot of all this, in my view, is that we will not make genuine progress in mitigating climate change until we learn to speak of the atmosphere from the inside, understanding it as the breath of life. In short, what is needed is a reverential ecology— a way of seeing that reminds us that Earth doesn’t belong to us, but rather that we belong to Earth!

Let us substitute hubris with humility, recognizing, as David Abrams points out, that “our breathing bodies are simply our part of the exuberant flesh of Earth.”

So what does this have to do with bike riding? I guess riding in nature reminds me that I live in Earth and not on it.

Don't Lick Your Flip-Flop!

Last year I read a book, Momfidence, that took a funny look at motherhood. One of the chapters was called, "Don't Jump on the Whale". It basically talked about all the interesting situations you find yourself in when you are working with children all day.

The other day we were driving home from an icecream trip. I turned around and told Sadie to stop licking her flip-flop. I turned back and resumed my conversation with Steve. It took me a few moments to realize what a strange thing I had just said to Sadie. It got me thinking about the book and all the strange situations we get in . So . . . to my many blog readers: What is the strangest thing you have found yourself saying to your children or other children? I would really like to know.

Family update: Oregon, kindergarten, and Obama

Carrie and the kids have been in Oregon for almost a week and a half now visiting family. I thought I'd fill in during her absence and let everyone know how we're doing.

I think they're having a pretty nice time in Oregon. Visiting family always poses its challenges, though, and I think they're ready to come home. They were able to visit my brother Aaron and his family, who live right across the border in WA. That's nice.

I'm ready for them to come home, too. It's fun for a couple days, but then you realize why you got married in the first place.

We just found out today that Sadie got accepted into the charter school for kindergarten this fall! In case you didn't know, we had been trying to get Sadie into this charter school since the regular schools won't take her because of her birthday being two weeks after school starts. But this charter school takes kids that miss the cutoff if the school feels like the kids are ready. Earlier this month, Sadie spent the day there and they watched her and and all that and then discussed her in their meeting this week. They feel like she's ready.

It's a really small school - just pre-school and kindergarten. And they don't have a bus. But I don't think Carrie minds. She's just happy that Sadie will be in school.

I'm doing alright. The semester is almost ready and I'm supposed to turn in a paper in a couple weeks for a class. It's not going well. Also, I don't get to work on my master's thesis nearly as much as I should. But I plan to finish it over the summer.

Today is the big primary election. I will vote for Obama, much to the chagrin of my dad and brothers, though they still haven't told me any good reason why I shouldn't (I've asked for specifics several times). I think he's the man. He needs to be the next President.

Carrie will be home on Wednesday and she can tell you all about Oregon and everything. Complete with pictures, I'm sure.

Peace.

New Feature!

I have new feature on my blog . . . if you go clear to the bottom of the page, you will see a map of where people live who look at my blog. It should be interesting!!!

Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone! We had fun hunting for easter eggs in some snow. I got some cute pictures. I hope you enjoy my cuties!




















Who knew that such a beautiful girl could come from our genes? I certainly didn't.

Redemption

I just have to show the world that I also look like Julia Stiles . . . much prettier than Mike Myers!

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Family tree search - Blank family tree

Carrie is Mike Myers!!

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Family sites - Free family tree

Celebrities Carrie looks like . . . sort of

Let's settle it again!

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family tree chart - Geneology search

Let's settle it!

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs - Collage - Morph

Celebrities I look like (sort of)

OK. I think the glasses make me look like some celebrities more than I would without them. Same for the dark hair.

I understand everybody but Jude Law. That makes no sense.

Chester Bennington is a musician. I didn't know who was until right now when I looked him up. Gael Garcia Bernal is a Mexican-born actor. He was in Y Tu Mama Tambien, Babel, and The Science of Sleep, among others. And, of course, Philip Seymour Hoffman is a very good American actor.

Study Time

Ever since Dallin was born, we have really tried to keep Steve on a 9-5 schedule. Recently we were reminded why. For some reason, it's hard for Steve to concentrate when he tries to study at home (we don't have an extra room to make into a study). Here's a video of our two monkeydoodles trying to help Daddy study. Not shown is the beautiful wife continuously asking him to do stuff or talking about random things. I don't think that we will try this arrangement any time soon.

"We'd have to go to Mars or something"

Sadie and I were out running errands when we started talking about diapers for some reason. I asked her whether she knew why we use cloth diapers. I explained the environmental benefits and the money-saving benefits, too. I thought I'd take the chance to talk with her about why it's important to take care of the planet. She said a lot of really smart things about not wasting things and so on. I was impressed. I reminded her of The Lorax and what lessons we can learn from that, too. Anyway, at the end I asked her what it would be like if we didn't take care of the planet and she said it wouldn't be a very nice place to live. I agreed, and then she said "Yeah, we'd have to go to Mars or something." Hilarious.

A bit later I asked her how she learned about Mars. I guess just this morning on Mickey Mouse Playhouse Goofy went to Mars. It was fresh on her mind, I guess.

Pictures

I realized that I haven't been posting very many pictures of the stars of my blog. So I decided that every one needs to know what REALLY goes on in the Merino household. This picture shows why we call them monkeydoodles. These guys do this kind of thing for fun. They love to make messes for their mommy to clean up. Luckily, the mess was contained in out tiny bathroom. But still, if I ever wonder why I can't keep my house clean, I just look at this picture . . . or I can just go to whatever room they are in at the moment.



This is Sadie posing. I was taking a picture of Dallin and she thought "Her Royal Cuteness" needed some documentation of just how beautiful she is. She has watched some reruns of Top Model with me and has picked up some new skills. Yesterday, she told me that she just found out that she gets to keep modeling. I wouldn't cut her after this kind of photo shoot.






Sadie's the diva, and Dallin is busy working. Every time the vacuum is out, he has to be in the middle of it. He loves to try to help us vacuum. Try is the key word. It takes us twice as long to get anything done when he is involved, but I'm not one to stifle anyone's willingness to help. I think Dallin is responsible for about 75 percent of the messes in our home. The figure might be a little inflated because I think Sadie helps Dallin make a few of his messes. (Steve is responsible for the other 25 percent, but don't tell him I said that :)

Growing Up

Sadie has always been interested in anatomy. We decided from the very beginning to be very open and honest with her questions. For awhile it was blood and bones. Then it was her brain. Right now it's boobs. She has asked when mine will go away because I don't have milk anymore. She has asked why she only has nipples. I explained that girls get larger breasts when they get older and they always keep them even when they aren't nursing. Well recently, I had a conversation with her on the very subject that just made me (and Steve) laugh out loud. I thought I would share it with everyone.

She was looking at a picture of a young girl with whom she was pretty impressed (it was the girl who is in the movie Spiderwick Chronicles) Our conversation goes as follows:

"Mommy, why does this little girl have boobs?"

"Well, she's not a really little girl. She doesn't have all of her boobs because . . ."

(In a condescending tone) "Mom, we only get two boobs."

Boy she told me . . . after my chuckle, I explained to her what I meant and that girls breasts begin to grow when they are about 11 years old. And that she looks young, but she is probably around 13 and her breasts are beginning to grow.

It's all just a matter of time before she starts asking the REALLY big questions. I let you know how THAT conversation goes.

We're a lot alike!

It's been awhile since I have blogged. Not a whole lot has happened . . . we are just waiting for winter to be over. Sadie did say some things recently that were definitely blog worthy. The other day we were in Target waiting for a prescription to be filled and I suggested that we go to look at some aisle (I think it was the aisle with hair clips) She replied, "I was just thinking that mom, you and I are a lot alike." What a cutie. She has been very observant of the things around her.

Recently we gave Sadie the chore of folding diapers. We were working together and she was amazed at how fast the pile of folded diaper grew (I wasn't really doing much) She commented, "Wow, this pile is getting so big. Mom, you and I work together really well."

We have been having a hard time with Sadie lately, but we recently started a new reward program. We have been rewarding good behavior and providing a new consequence to throwing fits and yelling at us. Every time she throws a fit or yells at us, she loses a "flower" At the end of the day she gets to move up on her chart. We started this mostly so that Sadie can see how she is doing throughout the day. We also noticed that we were punishing her by yelling at her and we didn't want to do that anymore. I can't say that it had been a miracle, because we have really had to work hard with her, but she made it to the top of her chart! I asked her what she wanted because she didn't like my idea. She wants a party. So, we will be having a party soon! I am really proud of her! She has been working really hard and hopefully it will continue.

Lookin' for trouble

This morning while I was taking a shower, I felt something touch my leg. I turned and looked and saw Dallin pulling the curtain open. He really loves the shower! I had forgotten to close the door before getting in the shower. Oops.

A bit later I got an account of what happened downstairs while I was in the shower. As Dallin made his way upstairs to surprise me, Sadie said, "Mom, Dallin's looking for trouble!" As Carrie surveyed the mess of pots and pans he'd pulled from the cupboards, Carrie replied, "Yep, he leaves a trail of destruction where ever he goes!" "Is it a slobber trail?" Sadie asked.

A bit later, we were all downstairs when Dallin pulled the safety gate out of its storage place to play with it in the middle of the family room. Sadie asked, "Is that part of the 'kerstruction' trail?"

Cloth Diapers

I have had several people ask how I do cloth diapers, so I thought I would post about it and have it out there for all of cyberspace to view. We started cloth diapers with Dallin when he was about six months. My neighbor helped me to see that cloth diapers are not as daunting as it may first seem. She actually has a blog about cloth diapering. She is very helpful to anyone who is interested.

There is a whole world of cloth diapering that I am not really a part of. Even though I have picked up a little of the jargon, I'm not going to go into all the possibilities. If you want to know more, just ask me. The two main motivations for cloth diapering were environmental and economical. You can spend as much or as little as you want on diapers. We decided to go with the most economical which was prefold diapers (they are the ones that are often used for burp cloths.) I learned that you can't just go to Wal-Mart and buy the packages of diapers there because the centers are made with synthetic fibers instead of cotton. So we ordered 2 dozen prefolds from Montana Diaper Store. We also ordered a diaper cover (Mary, my neighbor made a couple more for me). I have tried some fitted diapers and pocket diapers, but I have found that I just like the simple prefolds and doublers the best. (Doublers are extra padding that is put in the middle so I don't have to change him quite as often.)

We keep the dirty diapers in a diaper pail (I rinse the poopy ones in the toilet) and I wash them every other day. I soak them in cold water over night and rinse them in the morning. Then I do a hot wash with only a tiny bit of soap (you need to use the simplest type of soap with no additives) We use the stuff from Sam's Club. After the hot wash I have recently started to add another short warm rinse. All of this is done as a large wash so that there is plenty of water to rinse everything and to prevent pilling. Then I just dry them.

As far as covers go, my favorite are the wool covers because I don't have to wash them nearly as often as others. When I do wash them, they have to be treated with lanolin. (I am still amazed that the wool covers actually are water proof!) The one shown in the picture happens to be a wool cover that my Mary made for me. The other covers I have are Bummis Whisper Wraps.

Recently I had to start adding doublers to the diapers because Dallin was a heavier wetter. I made these out of six layers of old flannel receiving blankets. They work wonderfully! I felt very economical and environmentally friendly when I made those.

The only other problem that I have encountered is the build up of ammonia (old pee eventually turns to ammonia, especially when the kids are older) I found the best solution was to soak them in OxyClean overnight and then wash them like normal. That also takes care of any stains that happen to be there.

It might sound like a lot of work, but it's just a couple extra loads of laundry per week. We estimate that we've saved about $200 in the last year by doing cloth diapers instead of disposable, not to mention the environmental benefits.

Sorry this is such a long post. Hopefully I have encouraged people to take a stab at cloth diapering. If you are interested in cloth diapering, I would recommend having someone navigate you through the world of diapering, because I can tell you that it can be quite daunting if you do it yourself.

He's miserable!

The last few days have been miserable for Monkeydoodle 2. We took him to the doctor due to a fever and found that he had a double ear infection. That night I checked his mouth and found 3 molars coming in. This morning I discovered a 4th molar making its debut. He has been a slobbery, whiny, tired little guy and I wanted to capture it on camera so everyone would feel for not only Dallin, but for the rest of the family. This was the picture I got. He really is a little stinker, he won't even look miserable when I want him to.