I had better get busy

Man, December is going to slip by without a post from me if I'm not careful. The kids and I recently took a ten day trip to Utah. The trip was great, but all of us came back with colds. And yesterday I lost my voice. Today I tried to read to Brooklyn but told her I had to stop because I lost my voice. She got up and followed me into the kitchen and told me she would help me look for my voice. I had a good laugh at that one.
Some additional funny thoughts: When kids are babies, the only way they have to let us know they need something is to cry, a habit that continues long after they can talk. So we spend many years asking them to stop whining and use their words. Also we're overjoyed when they can feed themselves, we put little chunks of food in front of them and they grab it with their chubby hands and shove it in. Then we spend the rest of our lives begging them not to eat with their hands. Ironic. I'm sure there are more examples, can anyone think of a few?

Something I heard on the Radio Today

"We've only been here in Seattle for a few hours and already we've started a crummy band."

Santa Had Better Watch Out! Brooklyn's got her eye on him.

Devin's Therapy (We've screwed him up already)

As Devin approached his first birthday, I started to get worried about his movement, or actually his lack of movement. If I laid him down on his back, he would stay there. And it was worse if I put him on his tummy, he would get upset. Basically he was stuck if I laid him down. No rolling over, sitting up (although he can scoot if I sit him down, you've seen that video), no standing, walking, anything. So we took our pediatrician's advice and signed him up for some physical therapy. They gave us some exercises to do with him at the initial consultation. And (drum roll) within one week he could sit up by himself, and by the following week he could pull himself to standing and cruise along furniture. He's making great strides. I am so proud of him.

Fiction Writer

My mother's picture frames told a story of her history. As we dismanlted her house, we removed her pictures from their frames. She updated her photos occasionally, and behind the first photo were usually 5 or 6 photos that had previously filled the frame. She left behind her story in this way.

Isn't that a good beginning to a story? I'm not a writer, but I enjoy writing, sometimes. I have lots of ideas cooking in my brain. I really liked this one. I just don't have the hard core discipline that I would need to really write something. Plus really good writing is pretty rare. I took a "writing children's literature" class once, and even the picture books I wrote stunk pretty bad. But this is why I enjoy journaling, and blogging. I think all bloggers are journallers of a sort. We are telling our story, even if no one is reading it.

The much anticipated

Here is the video of Devin scooting to get around. The video is really telling of his personality. First of all we're using his toothbrush as bait. He loves his toothbrush, it is his favorite toy. He is whining in the beginning of the shot because I took it away from him to make him come get it. Enjoy.

Fortunes, Forecasts, Lucky Charms

It is interesting to me to watch the local news when I travel. I've noticed weather patterns in different places and think about whether it would be exciting or dull to be a forcaster in these places. Hawaii, for example, has lovely weather, but the forcasters have kind of a boring job. They say the same thing every morning: "It's going to be another beautiful day in paradise." The weather is crazy in Utah, and the weathermen are local celebrities. They wear white coats on snow days and things like this. I'm used to hearing them give percentages, like "there is a 60% chance of rain," or "watch for low clouds and a slight chance of snow." But I've never heard a percentage forcast like I did last week here in Seattle. The reporter said, "There is a 100% chance that it will rain on Sunday." Thanks. Thanks for the Likelihood ratio there.

Patty Cake

I'm putting up a picture of Brooklyn and Clark singing Patty Cake. Man, it is cute. I'll put a video up soon of Devin scooting around. Have fun. Love you all.

My washer eats socks!

Seriously. So Damon and I bought a new washer and dryer because they weren't included in the purchase of our house. We bought the shiny, new front loaders. The problem with the front load washer is that mildew can form on the thick belt that is right in front where you load the clothes. Because it is a front loader, the water just sits on the belt after the load is done. I thought of a simple solution: I keep a towel in my laundry room and wipe the remaining water up after a load finishes. I also leave the door open a crack so the inside can dry out a little. We had to leave the lid open between loads with our washer in Salt Lake also, or it would get stinky inside. I went to wipe up some water this morning and noticed that the belt isn't connected on one side, and something was down there. It was two socks! Can you believe it? They were soaking wet, and missing their mates, poor things. All I'm saying is the long time rumor is true. I'm sure of it now, and I'm also pretty sure that all of your washers and/or dryers have a specially built compartment to hide and eat your socks also. Theory proven.