fun changes

Over the past few days I think I've tried out every template available through blogger in attempt to customize some of the details. So far this is my favorite, but I still want to learn how to do things like change the header and add borders to my photos. Love blogger in beta though. It's sure fun to play around.
So, if you log on here and find some crazy colors/font/layout, it's because I'm just playing around with html/css. :)
A great site for backgrounds (it's where I got this one) is squidfingers.com---tons of them! Got nuts.

Natalie-isms

On the way home from church we passed the temple, she started babbling about getting married when she gets bigger. (It should be noted she's going to marry a daddy---hasn't figured out her's is taken yet but that's another story.) Anyway, babbling, when we hear "...I'm going to wear a white dress and clicky shoes...(pause with a big contented sigh)..."

Also in the car, out of the blue, or out of the babble more appropriately, we hear "...Santa's going to bring me a great big stereo!" and then throws her arms in the air either inexcitement or to show "great big" I'm not sure. Jared and I look at eachother, "stereo?" How does she know the word stereo? All we could attribute it to are books and movies. Ahhh the power of media. Then she starts bonking Isaac in the face and he's wailing. She kinda shrugs and says, "This is my brother Isaac. He cries a lot." And continues with bonking. Finally I say "That's it, Natalie. If you keep bonking him Santa's not going to bring you that stereo." Ahhh the power of Santa. Ha!

This morning Natalie "tooted"(barely a squeak) and she looked up at me and said, "Hey, did you here that? It was tiny, like Isaac."

Whenever we tell her something she doesn't like, such as time for bed or finish your milk, she says, "Hey! Be nice to me!"

Lastly, there's a new part to our bedtime routine: tip toe into her room and gingerly remove the book from it's fallen position on her face, turn off lantern/flashlight, gaze for a moment at her peaceful, angelic face and marvel how it can look so angelic because we know the real truth.

Go Bucks!!!!!!

This is the police surrounding the uprights. We couldn't hardly believe the police out at the game, but it was a huge game!!! Ohio State v. Michigan---doesn't get any bigger, especially this year. Great game. We old school taped it and haven't had a chance to watch it yet. I realized how much I take for granted commentators on TV and radio, but also was pleasantly surpized how much I did know! :) Ha ha! Jared would laugh at that

The band was spectacular. Someone sitting behind us joked it's not very often the halftime marching band show is as good as the game. Here is obviously an ET formation and you can probably guess correctly they were playing the ET soundtrack. Other selections included music from Pirates of the Caribbean (incredible pirate ship formation with moving water even), Titanic (with a ship breaking in half) and of course Star Wars. Amazing. They also did their ever popular and one-of-a-kind "Script Ohio."


This was a to-die-for red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting for a tailgating party. Those were our predictions funny though even after adding them together we weren't that close. In case you can't tell what's dotting the "I" it's not a fly, but Jared made a gray sweatervest with a red time. You know what it's for. :)

A Few Things...

I got the majority of the list off of another blogger's site, wellidaclare. Edited a handful involving drinking and other classy activities.
Numbers in red are things I've done. Feel free to copy it and post.

01. Sang the National Anthem at a public event
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain (how many times...)
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Won a pie eating contest, or any eating contest
08. Said “I love you’ and meant it (everyday)
09. Hugged a tree (it was one of the most real experiences of my life)
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. . Seen the Northern Lights (I dream of see them someday)
14.Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on slurpees
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope (life changing to watch moon rotate around Saturn and see the "red eye" of Jupiter)
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (I think I do this when I get nervous or if something is aukward)
27. Had a food fight
28. Overcome a fear (working on getting over spiders and large bodies of water)
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run (admittedly not out of my skill, but lack of the outfielder's...)
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Can recite something over 100 words long
42. Have amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Slept in a castle
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites (MesaVerde)
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played some sort of game for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Eaten food you had no clue what it was but did it out of respect for your host
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Been skinny dipping (it's how I met Jared---ha ha ha, just kidding)
81. Rafted the Snake River (swam in it...rafted other rivers: Green and Rio Grande and Rouge)
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Stood up for something against the crowd
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Asked someone for forgiveness and received it
96. Raised children (raising)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Been afraid for your life (I was standing on ice in the middle of a frozen pond listening to it crack all around me...and it was around 11pm oh, and once I was on the top of mountain above the tree line with 10 or so 12 year old scouts during a tremendous lightening storm so I was also terrified for their lives as well)
111. Helped an animal give birth (our guinea pig Chewy)
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Lived longer than a year in another country
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse (and shoed one!)
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read (S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders, which I happen to be reading right now)
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (trout anyone?)
137. Skipped all your school reunions (not quite that dated yet...)
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Chipotle gives out free burritos on Halloween as long as you are sporting anything tinfoil when you order. We went in around 4pm and were pretty much the only non-high school students. There was a man dressed in a business suit with a large tinfoil tie on. It was soooo good. I love the lime/cilantro rice. Mmmm boy!





Natalie was very into Trick-or-treating AKA "collecting loot."

Isaac and I ended up going as Goldilocks (errr...Grossilocks) and the wee bear. Natalie was her dragon officially and Jared was the scariest thing he could think of: a real doctor. Even Isaac had a little bag.

Happy Halloween!!!

What a great holiday. Free candy, orange and black, ordinary people dressed up in ordinary places, pumpkins galore, sugar hangovers nationwide November 1st.
Saturday night we went to a smashing good party. Our friends who put it on, Larry and Stephanie, are so creative. It was an Alfred Hitchcock party where everyone invited came as an pre-assigned couple from various Hitchcock movies. We were the deWinters from the movie Rebecca. They created a mystery scavenger hun and we scavanged from house to house following clues to unearth who kidnapped Hitchcock. At one house, a clue about birds (from the movie, The Birds)in a tree each with a letter on them we had to unscramble...another house you had to use binoculars to spy a secret message in a backyard (from the movie Rear Window). So fun!!!! Here is our picture.

We raided the local thrift store for our duds. Pretty sweet deals like my trenchcoat was three bucks. I'm not so sure what I'll do with a trenchcoat now, but it was a steal on our part. It made me wonder why we dont' always shop at thrift stores because they had some pretty good finds beyond items you'd need for a costume.


Pumpkin carving last night. Natalie made "punkin gut" soup with the scooped out innards and kept trying to put it back into the pumpkins.

After her soup pot spilled onto the floor we made vow number 189 to never have carpet in the dining room again. Funny thing too is we borrowed a carpet cleaner from a friend over a week ago intending to clean carpets, couches and cars. We haven't done it yet and not a day has gone by we haven't said, "Well, good thing we haven't cleaned the carpets (or car or couches) yet."


Natalie right this moment is protesting her mandated nap. Any minute she'll wipe out, but all I can think about is thank goodness Isaac is asleep in her with me and the dryer is going full force. She desperately needs a nap every day, but struggles to go down unless we are driving in the car. If she doesn't, the four o'clock hour is pure nightmare around here because she's exhuasted, too late for a nap, and is far, far from the joy we know her to be.

Our house has been a bit Katrina the past few days because I've been enjoying Jared and the kids and keeping up on everything else in life instead. By the end of today, I will have completed a marathon of laundry (I think load number 29 is in right now---ha ha). Jared has his first interview on Thursday (a good word for him in your prayers would be appreciated) and so tonight we are just putting together the details like dusting off his suit which he's worn all of three times barring med school interviews. Too bad he pretty much detests suits and ties because he's dead hot all dressed up, I think.

Well, I sure wasn't in the mood for blogging when I logged on, but look what procrastinating laundry will inspire. My roommates in college used to always know when I was putting off school work because I would get a cleaning bug and be found polishing or deep cleaning. Now it's the reverse. You know I'm putting off cleaning because I'm typing away. :)

A Nice Day Out

I was going to write a little note about this photo. Natalie wanted Isaac to swing with her and once we put him in (it was a bit of a squeeze) she was overjoyed. After a little while the smile started to fade and pretty soon she looked up at me and said in a voice that sounded like she was trying not to complain, "He's kinda heavy." Poor thing! I think her legs must have fallen asleep.

Washington D.C.

Fun times these past few days in Washington. Usually I'm glad to be home from trips, but not so this time---I'm pretty bummed and have a little empty spot in my heart. Alright, that was pretty cheesy. Anyway---Jared's sister and family were there on vacation so we crashed in on them and made it a party! :)


Natalie and Mikey in the car on the way there.


We hit the National Zoo first...Nat was in love. Isaac wiped out in Jared's arms and was actually pretty content just like that. Jared's arm was not.






My favorite thing in D.C.: the Metro. It feel like I'm in a movie jumping on and off trains. Does anyone else think the Metro is glamourous? Jared says his favorite thing in D.C.: the escalator leading down to the metro which I'm pretty sure he just say's to poke fun at me. It was pretty cool though and this picture does not do it justice.



This is the booth where President Lincoln was shot at the Ford Theater. I'm so glad we stopped here and listened to the details surrounding his assasination and that period of history. Last time we went to D.C., when Natalie was Isaac's age incidentally, we visited Gettysburg on the way home. So this really topped it off for us as far as continuing the story of President Lincoln. Amazing to see the Lincoln Memorial. Awesome in the true sense.


On Saturday we opted for a "Go Buckeye's" look in their honor and we should have counted how many people were either also sporting Scarlett and Gray or stopped us to talk about the Bucks. Nice.

Seriously, is he really 2 1/2 months?


This door is giagantic!!!! "Welcome to the National Archives" can't be said much louder than that can it?


Heh heh heh. Age jokes are never old in our house.

This photo we are forwarding to the National Parks Service. We were at the Jefferson Memorial (really probably my favorite favorite place on our trip) at Sunset and caught the light juuust right.



I visited the Holocaust Museum by myself and am grateful to have witnessed it (just because the way things worked out since appropriately kids are under 11 are not allowed). Things I had always wondered about, cleared up. I didn't leave feeling overwhelmed or depressed. The museum is organized in such a way that the focus is on real people, not just the atrocities which occured. I didn't feel like it was a freak show to come and stare, but part memorial, part document, part look forward. I really, really wish my brother Byron could have toured it with me because he would have had a lot to say about it and I missed him there. Also, I think having read a lot about it and seen quite a bit as well helped not feel so shocked---not that a person could ever be prepared for a place like that, it just helped me grasp it better.

Anyway, great time with family. Can't wait for our next trip.

For the week of Oct. 9

We went to Cincinnati this week for just a random two day trip. We had a free night stay at a hotel and took advantage of it! Of course we couldn't miss going to the Gap Clearance center and loaded up on ultra cheap duds. This nice worker-lady brought out a purple dragon costume from the back and said "Oh, this is the last one and it would fit your daughter perfect." That was very out-of-her-way and the costume fit Natalie too perfect considering she wears costumes all day long everyday. We had to adjust her carseat straps. In the afternoon we went to the Cincinnati Museum Center a spectacular building which houses several museums. Well, my dear sweet weird child who couldn't part with her dragon costume even to purchase it (just imagine for a moment how it looked to have her being scanned by the checkout lady. I think it brightened her day and well as everyone in line) had to wear it into the museum as well. So anyway, here's Natalie looking at a polar bear with her costume and with her dad in front of a wolley mamouth exhibit. She drew much attention, some comments directed to us, some overheard. My favorite was a 4 or 5 year old boy, "Mom, why is she wearing that?" "Oh, I don't know. Maybe her mom is trying to get her money's worth out of her Halloween costume." Ha!

You may have to click on it to enlarge it.


A tag-team effort in apples this week. Natalie and I went apple picking with some friends last week, Jared canned most of them a few days later. His mom's apple crips/pie filling is to die for and easy as well, pie. (Like I can talk! He did it) Anyway, all we have to do now is pop open a jar and wahlah! Apple crisp. Yummm!!! The best part about winter. We also dried a bunch. So very yummy.


Friday I taught a half day Special Ed.---It's npt called that anymore. I really enjoy doing that. One boy hugged me twice. A little awkward, but sweet. Jared manned the house with Natalie as first mate. Here she is feeding Isaac (for the first time and loving it...I think his hand is brushing up against her and tickling her). Too bad I can't enlist her help at 3am.

Jared would make an excellent stay-at-home-dad. The other night we were talking about mommies and Jared asked her if she wanted to be a mommy when she grew up. She said, "No, I want to be a daddy."

Isaac has come down with brocio something rather. He's breaking my heart. When Natalie got sick, she let everyone know about her misery. Isaac just kinda moans and we cuddle a lot. I don't feel too guilty about enjoying it.

I sent this package to Byron. It was an idea I got from a friend and the Post Office actually sent it like that! It's just plastic sheeting you can buy at the fabric store and sewn into compartments. I'm covering the address for his privacy.

Just Pictures

12:40am

I couldn't sleep. My is tired, but I just couldn't sleep. Jared and I were talking about how to make the world a better place. Give everyone an extra 10 hours. Arguably this could create simply an inflation effect. So, only HE would have an extra 10 hours. That would make the world a better place. Maybe it could be a diagnosis at birth. 1 in every 100 babies would be born with the 10+ syndrome. Just think how much better the world would be if one in every one hundred people had an extra 10 hours (work with me here at far as the details of alternate time theories).
One in every one hundred would get full nights of sleep.
One in every one hundred would get everything on their "TO-DO" lists checked.
One in every one hundred would go to an annual convention and solve the rest of the world's problems with all of their free time.

My problem with sleep: I love it but can't get myself to give up life to do. Barring times when I just can't quite turn off my brain, there'e just too many wonderful things to do instead. It doesn't help all of us at our home are certified night owls. I love the early morning. I love the late at night. I'm not so fond of the 4pm time of day, though.
I think though if I did actually sleep regular, solid, lengthy amounts of time I would be able to devote more of true myself to life anyway.

Well. That's all for my late night/early morning rambling. It took me 9 minutes to write this. Ha! Maybe that's all I needed, a little writing and run out my brain. I think I can sleep now. Good night.

Did my ears just pop?

Hi everyone,
Yesterday we took a trip to the highest point in our state! I can't remember the exact elevation, but I think it was something like 1500 ft. Wow. That's something.
What we didn't know is that we could also see many other noteworthy sites on our tour of this small town. Places like, "The World's Shortest Street" which must be so short we couldn't actually find it after walking around looking for it. But we did find this:



I made Jared and Natalie and Isaac pose (yeah for good sports) in front of this statue, the guy who came up with the brilliant idea to pave roads. That's something to commemorate for sure.



Here's us in front of real life "castle" out in the middle of cornfields. (And her stick puppets, too.)




And, the highlight after all of those amazing things, this cute little handmade candy factory we found and had to stop. Here's Natalie so excited about her chocolate pumpkin.



Last photo. I thought this van was just great. (Whoops...caught a little more in the photo than just the van. This is his "Just off a 30 hour shift" look.)

In case you can't read the side of the van, it says "The Extra Effort People" and it is for sale.

More Isaac

Our dear, wonderful friends Bill and Shannon took these priceless photographs for us. THANK YOU!!!!!

Can you guess what game they are playing?