Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Friday, November 30, 2007

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

thought this was funny...

I have been emailing my parents some of my posts using blogger...and this is the warning/instructions they have at the top of the form

"The information you provide on this form will not be used for anything other than sending the email to your friend. This feature is not to be used for advertising or excessive self-promotion."

isn't excessive self-promotion is what blogging is all about? :0

disposable thumbs make me specialer than most aminals



we put this on a shirt for one of doug's coworkers using cafe press. I think i will use cafe press instead of the iron ons. better quality, less work, and i don't have to worry if it is centered or not.

an advertisement for despair.com



I especially like the one on the right. they make one that says "my" instead of "your"

now if only i could put on the back "all that glitters..."

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

an analysis of yesterday's outfits

Isaac has been outgrowing his 0-3mo size, and I haven't had a chance to get him in this outfit yet (it has been too warm...we have been having a bit of an Indian summer)


but today was cold enough. I wanted him to wear it, because it dates from back to when i was pregnant with mallory and i wasn't going to find out what the sex of the baby was. so i was garage sale-ing for the new baby and trying to pick out gender neutral outfits-- very hard since not many people choose not to find out what the baby is. and i found it, and loved it, and bought it even though i wasn't going to pick out gender specific clothes. (i ended up buying a few girl clothes too, which was a good thing, because when I had mallory i was in love with all things pink. which is funny to me, because now that i have isaac, i am in love with all things blue. but i think he looks very good in blue. so does mallory. anyway, i digress) so the next time i have a baby, i am going to not find out what the sex is and buy things in both blue and pink. well at garage sales. i will have to wait until i have the baby to let myself buy at the store.

anyway, back to the main point of this post...not that this was an important post anyways, maybe i will put this in microbes... anyway...I had put mallory in a piglet outfit not connecting that this one had pooh bear and tigger when i picked it out. and thought, hmmm i have an eeyore sweatshirt... and so you have this...

look at those double chins on both of us...sigh...

and this...


mallory is on the left...no, i won't be winning any photography contests with that one. i would just like to point out that i had a squirmy baby on my lap, and a whining child who wanted their plug and hates getting her picture taken, and we needed to go run some errands...i would like to also point out that she is smiling in that picture...

i wish i had taken mal's picture alone. oh well. next time...
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pulling the plug, part deux

yep...a week ago, i pulled the plug. (pacifier or binky if you prefer. no, thank heavens i didn't have to pull life support. i don't think i could blog about that.) I was going to wait until the day after christmas, but i got sick enough of the constant drool coming from my daughter's mouth. and i figured since she got new toys for her birthday, that should keep her entertained. So i took it away except for naptime and bedtime. it was really sad the first time i took it out of her mouth. she had a look of betrayal in her eyes. but now she will put it in the basket or give it to me without any problems. candy was a great distraction. and still is for that matter. when i weaned her from the breast i used chips. they haven't worked as well as the candy this time. though the first time i changed mallory's poopy diaper without the plug (she would throw fits when her stinky diapers gets changed even when she had the plug), doug gave her a potato chip and that calmed her for awhile.

yes we are brushing her teeth. at least twice a day. you should see her spit into the sink. i need to get a video of her doing it.

the second day after the law had been laid down, she told me she was going to look for her plug after she asked me for it and I explained the new rules. I then asked her if she wanted some candy. she then had some candy and then went on playing. a while later, she wanted some more candy. I told her no and that she had had enough candy (yes, there are some limits to the extent i bribe my child). She got a gleam in her eye, and told me she was going to go look for her plug and walked in the same direction that she had before, while looking back at me to as if to say, do i get candy when i ask for my plug? this worked before. I held firm. she broke into tears, and i still held firm. I can hold firm when i can tell i am being manipulated. she stopped crying eventually :) (no, I think she got tickled unmercilessly and she stopped and we laughed over her silliness)

though it seems now that she has had more accidents without the plug...she fell off a chair and hit the table, then the chair, and finally the floor. i learned then that bumps on the head are not just an exaggeration of cartoons. then she stepped on my quilting frame that has nails poking up so you can put fabric on it. had a very deep wound with that one and then freaked out when i put antibiotic ointment and a band aid over it. she wouldn't walk for the rest of the night. she fell and scraped her knee on the pavement. she fell off a box and bonked her head on the concrete floor in the basement.

she sort of relapsed yesterday, with church on sunday, (she had to make it through nursery, wasn't going to hoist her on the nursery leaders without the plug) and she and isaac got shots yesterday, she had "extended" naptime and bedtime hours. hopefully, she will be ok with just nap and bedtimes, otherwise, by next week, i might take it away at those times as well. though the dentist might be a little upset if we give her candy all night long ;)

i was hoping to go until she was three with her plug at naps/bedtime, but if she wants it all the time, it is better that she just forgets all about the plug. if she can. especially with a little brother who is using one. maybe we will have a family plug pulling, and take off isaac as well...let him figure out how to use his fingers. uh huh. any bets as to when she goes back to the plug full time?

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

ladybug teaset

didn't you always want a teaset when you were little? I did. So I couldn't resist buying it for mallory's birthday when I saw the ladybugs. even though it said ages 8+, and it was made out of porcelain and not plastic. any bets to how long it will last before it gets broken?





four days and counting...

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Thursday, November 15, 2007

pumpkin stains


I tried the pumpkin pie recipe that my sister posted. I switched the graham cracker crust to an crushed oreo crust (store bought, of course) to make it more halloweeny. we all liked it. except i am still trying to get out the pumpkin stains three weeks later. (i did get the chocolate out. i think i have a new winner of stains that i can't get out. i tried the pumpkin soup too (very good as well), and still working on those clothes as well.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

halloween clearance

i thought this was cute, but as Doug said "looking leads to buying, buying leads to poverty." in a Yoda voice

killer high chair, pt 3

thought i might upload some pictures of the finished high chair. it didn't turn out so hot, but it looks passable from a distance.

notice that it is in between the table and the wall now. no more stubbing my toes

kitty needed some food and a bib so he wouldn't "get messy"

a thanksgiving quote

i thought this was neat:

"Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a refined character. We like
to be around those who are grateful. They tend to brighten all around them.
They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble,
more joyful, more likable."


(Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Live in Thanksgiving Daily," Ensign, Sept. 2001, 8)

Sunday, November 04, 2007

mythology

In fourth grade, i remember learning about mythology and how to define it-basically what i remembered was that they were stories about gods and how the world was created that weren't based in fact (unlike legends, which had some historical fact behind them). facts being defined in my mind as "truths". I was always bothered by that definition. the greeks (or other "primitives") who believed in it probably didn't think it was mythology, they believed in it as it was true, just as i believed in God, and everyone around me believed in God (I grew up in 99% Mormon town). why did the Christian God not get called a myth?

the thoughts i have to answer that, one, many people still believe in Christianity, while it is rare to find people who believe in greek mythology, so it is ok for the public consciousness, or the authority who writes textbooks, to call it mythology. they use religion as the current term. Two, it is usually the winners who write the history books (or that keep the history books in print...or don't burn them).

Now, when watching Bones and listening to the Dr. Brennan character speaking of the "Christian mythology", it brought up the whole subject back to mind. Believing myself to be a scientist, how does the "Christian myth" play out in my life? (notice the juxtaposition of believing and scientist? another thought to ponder. i think belief has a lot more to do with science than most scientists are prepared to admit. anyway.) What is difference between truth and fact? Is there a difference? how do I define them? My thoughts go back to the scripture that says that faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true (Alma 32:21).

I also remember learning in school history about monotheism and how it was a (necessary?) development in history, or an advancement in human development, in other words. (sorry that i am fighting the wording. i am not quite sure of the correct words. i need to add the caveat that this is a ramble, not a well thought out essay.) I recently read in History of the Jews by Paul Johnson about how monotheism was a great advancement (this is what i am remembering, i don't have the book with me to get details and I don't remember exactly why it was an advancement, simplicity perhaps?) over polytheism-- poor greeks, their belief system got another put down. Then he went on about how Christianity had dealt with basically having two Gods (God the Father and God the Son) by combining with the Holy Ghost to make the Trinity (One God instead of Three) so they would have the benefits of monotheism (which again, I don't remember what they were. i wish i did, it would make this post better. I will check it out of the library and post an addendum). I thought that it was interesting point, I have always wondered about the reasonings behind the Trinity. The Trinity has always seemed to me to be an awkward explanation of God and Jesus.

what this brought up in my mind, was how does this affect my religion? Mormons do not believe in the "Trinity" or the idea that they are all one being. We believe that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate individuals. So did that equate to polytheism and to Greek mythology? Three individuals is simpler than the Trinity, but the polytheism issue remains. I guess that is why we add the "one in purpose". As for Greek Mythology, it always sort of bothered me how mean the gods were in their dealings with each other and mankind, and so that was why I was always glad that Christianity was a different type of religion. So even if Mormonism can be technically considered polytheistic?, i still prefer it to the greek polytheism, because Heavenly Father and Jesus love me. and care about me and want us to be nice to each other.

I once read somewhere that the god of the world today is global warming (when something goes wrong in the world, it is because of global warming. it used be because of a god. that was another interesting tangent, that i probably shouldn't go down, since now both children are awake) and that political correctness is its religion. Not that political correctness is a bad thing, I enjoy that mormons should be treated nice and with respect, and that some are making an effort to learn that we haven't practiced polygamy in over 100 years. (a little side note on that- yes it is annoying if you ask me if Doug is going to take another wife. come on people, it has been over 100 years) I, too, feel bad about offending anyone...so sorry if i have offended anybody. These thoughts reflect my beliefs, and i respect your beliefs as well. I thought about listing who might get upset with me...the science people for saying belief is a factor in science and that global warming is today's god... the Christians who believe in the Trinity...the Mormons about being polytheistic...the greek mythology people... oh and I went back and capitalized God so I wouldn't be struck by lightning.

what i would like to see on youtube, thoughts on santa claus dilemma


I have been looking for the got milk commercial with oreos, talking about how they came up with the name. mallory says oreos the same way.

i have also been looking for the cheese commercial with the moon, where they talk about man believing that the moon was made out of cheese, and then how we went to the moon, and then we haven't been back since. behold the power of cheese. I started looking for that when mallory kept asking to fly to the moon (her dad started her on that one) and wanting grandpa to build her a rocketship, so she could fly to the moon. then i told her the moon was made out of cheese...brainwashing your children is what it is all about...

then i felt guilty about brainwashing, because children are so trusting and believing. and i have always wanted to be a parent who could be trusted. that's why i have a hard time with santa claus. if you tell them that santa claus is real, and you tell them that god is real...slippery slope. my children might be the ones who tell your children that santa claus isn't true.

but then i want my kids to believe in santa, because it is fun, the magic of someone bringing you gifts. i was talking to a friend about this and she commented that why should santa get all the credit? thought that was an interesting comment. i am still pondering what to do.

i never remember believing in santa. i always recognized my mom's handwriting on the gifts. I am also number 6 out of 7 children, so that might have had something to do with it. I can remember my mom telling me if i didn't believe in santa, then he wouldn't come and no santa presents for me. i told her then that i believed. greed and avarice comes before truth. talking about the whole santa thing later with my mom, she said that she never worked too hard to make santa believable (hence the handwriting), maybe that's what i will do. i like the thought of telling the story of St. Nick, hmmm.

pulling the plug

One thing that has bothered me is people who pull out mallory's pacifier. it usually doesn't bother me when it is family who mallory knows and trusts, but it is another thing entirely when it is a stranger (to mallory, I usually know them. I wouldn't let a complete stranger get close enough to do so, i hope. though i have had one stranger come up to me and touch mallory (when she was a baby) and not say anything. that was really weird. way beyond my comfort, I usually don't mind if they touch the baby and talk to me). what gives you the right to take something that the child needs for comfort in the vain hope that she will give you a smile. She definitely won't give you a smile now that you have taken it away from her. If you want her to smile at you, give her candy. always a winner.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Friday, October 12, 2007

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

afghan for isaac

 


afghan i made for isaac

a simple granny square, with alternating colors based on prime numbers.

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killer high chair, pt 2


partly stained. I have determined that staining a high chair with all its knobs and funky areas is more trouble than it is worth. in fact, i probably would have saved money and time just by buying a high chair (full price) instead of looking for one at a garage sale. arg.

i don't know what to make of it. here's the backstory on this high chair.

Friday, October 05, 2007

for you other science nerds/ lab workers out there

http://www.kcprofessional.com/us/mkt/kimtech/60th/

here's to the kim wipe! good for so many uses, including blowing your nose. though i had a friend tell me that they were very expensive kleenexes.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

apples

a friend just dropped off a bag of apples. yum. if i had time, this is what i would make with them. instead i will take the time to type it out? anyways, this is from my mom...and i think it is manna from heaven.

danish apple pastry

combine:
2 1/2 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. salt

cut in 1 cup shortening. Beat 1 egg yolk with enough milk to make 2/3 cup liquid and stir into flour mixture. On floured surface, roll 1/2 dough to 17 x 12 inch rectangle. Fit into and up sides of 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 inch pan. sprinkle with 1 cup corn flakes. top with 8 to 10 tart apples, pared and sliced (8 cups). (my comment: the tarter the apples, the better, otherwise too sweet.)

combine:
3/4 to 1 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

sprinkle over apples. roll remaining dough to 15 1/2 to 10 1/2 rectangle. Place over apples. seal edges. cut slits in top. beat 1 egg white till frothy; brush on crust. bake in 375 degree oven for 50 min.

combine:
1 c. sifted powdered sugar
3-4 tsp milk

drizzle on warm pastry. makes 3 dozen.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

sling

made a sling for the new baby out of scraps of flannel. it was a really easy project (and would have been easier had i used one length of fabric instead of piecing together flannel). I got the directions from here. which is the same sling that miranda made. I did end up taking it in a couple of inches.



I was glad i made it, because i have a hard time putting down the cute baby and getting things done. so now i can do both.

frozen tomatoes

finally bringing our potted tomatoes inside. however, i keep on forgetting to cover (and uncover) our planted tomatoes. i told doug i can remember dwight eisenhower's campaign slogan but i can't remember to do a simple thing like covering and uncovering tomatoes. sad.

some of the tomatoes that i had planted late from seed, i put in my flower garden because i had nothing else to do with it. (having seven big potted plants was enough i determined) they never grew very high or big, but one of them actually has a tomato on it.

I haven't been covering it, so it might not make the frost. but i thought it was a cute little tomato.

dahlia



i think for dahlias to survive the winter, you have to dig up the bulb. I wasn't going to...let it die or live if it could, but it is so beautiful, i think i will put in the energy to keep it alive

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Doug's Birthday Card

Doug's sister gave him this card for his birthday. I thought it was hilarious.


Sunday, September 09, 2007

tag, you're it

You have to post these rules before you post the facts:
1. Players, you must list some fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
2.
When you are tagged you need you write your own blog post containing your own middle name facts.
3.
At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged.



My middle name is Joy. I have always liked it because I thought it was pretty, especially when said with my first name. Rebecca Joy. Rebecca was the family name (after a great-great grandmother, I believe?), Joy was because I was born in December. I always liked having a birthday in December, everyone usually remembered my birthday-- i think because my mom tried extra hard, so it wouldn't be forgotten in the rush before Christmas. I liked to think of it as a prelude to the fun. though there was one birthday when it wasn't a good thing. it was my first year at college, away from home, and I had a final. I called home and everyone was there, playing games and eating chips and salsa. i was very homesick.

anyway i digress.

j is for jumping. which is what the baby is trying to do right now, i believe. had enough of this cramped space. maybe if i swallowed a ball to entertain him... I love being a mother. it has been the best thing in my life, which sounds like a cliche, but it is true. I love the fact that we will be welcoming a brand new baby into this world soon. I love the fact that I am pregnant-- even though i complain about being pregnant a lot. I love that i have a very round belly at the moment. I even think that it looks good. dopey.

o is for oblivious.
I feel a bit oblivious to the world around me at the moment. I will speak more on this later.


y is for yak. one of mallory's favorite animals at the moment. i am trying to get her to learn the letter y by getting her to associate it with yak. no luck so far. I love watching her learn and grow. I am amazed how quickly she learns and all the things she is able to do. I keep trying to freeze time, but no luck so far.

well...thats it for me. I will tag Miranda, since one, I don't think i know your middle name, and two I don't know anyone else who blogs. which is why i feel oblivious to the world around me. since i left college, and then left the work force, I felt a little out of touch with the world. I don't know how to text message, hadn't heard of myspace until a couple of years after it became popular, haven't listened to a new, popular band in ages... sigh...i am growing old. have i told you about the gray hair I found?

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

how does your garden grow?

hmmm....tomatoes. I think doug has hit the point where he is tired of eating fresh tomatoes after bringing another eight ripe ones in. i say bring it on. though someday i will be tired of fresh tomatoes, fresh salsa, etc. though i doubt it will be very soon.


tomatoes from the seeds i planted late (we might get tomatoes all winter!)


banana pepper from seeds planted late


our tomatoes got so big and bushy that they fell over. i guess i need to do a better job of trimming. but they are gangbusters at producing tomatoes, especially for this family of three.

killer high chair

got mallory a new high chair at a garage sale a while ago, which brings our total number of high chairs to four. don't ask, long story. anyway, it is a nice wooden one with a nice wide base so it won't tip the baby over. good safety precaution, i think. the problem is, you think it isn't wide as it is, and you trip over it and stub your toe several times a day. For awhile, i thought it was just me, but doug and even mallory have done it as well. and visitors, too. so here is a warning if you ever come to visit me. watch out for the high chair. it is deadly.

here's the latest it has done to my toe:


with attached skin flap


without attached skin flap


you might ask yourself, why not get rid of the high chair? I have three others. valid question. i like how you can scoot it right up to the table, and mallory feels like part of the family as we eat. and it is a nice wooden one. fashion vs. pain, i guess. we will see how long it lasts.

picture of said high chair:



I need to stain it a darker brown, but that's another story

Thursday, August 16, 2007

organic chemistry modeling kits

This is why you should save your organic chemistry modeling kits. just in case you need to entertain 7 and 4 year old boys. also a good reason why you should keep your organic chemistry book, in case said boys ask you all sorts of questions and you can't remember...


my nephew, Nate -- the four year old


my nephew, Brandon -- the seven year old

Brandon asked the more in depth questions, Nate just got excited when i told him what it was, "I've got a pentane ring!" Mallory just liked sorting the bonds from the atoms.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

hmmm chocolate

made this shirt for my sister-in-law Mellisa last Christmas (while she was still pregnant). It had some obvious flaws in it, so I made her a new one and kept this one for me.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Murphy's law applied to children's books

I've decided that the more inane a book is, the more often the child wants to read it.

latest flower to bloom

only one of my bulbs that i planted to bloom yet. hmmm. i think it is a dahlia. i like.



don't you love the morning glory creeping in? @^#$!@%^^$ morning glories!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

congratulations!

congratulations to bill and sasha are in order. so, here is Baby Song by colin meloy of the decemberists


Thursday, July 12, 2007

Pregnancy is a highly unpleasant ailment, in which a seven -plus pound parasite develops in the lady's tummy

quote from The Poo Bomb: The Tales of Parental Terror. great book if you ever get sick of sappy parenting books. I have just made it to page three and there are several great lines in there, including,

advice to dads: when you're at the ultrasound, when you see that twitchy little creature on the black-and-white monitor, do not say, "Oh G**! What is that? Hit it with a brick!" This will not help.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

an ode to Steel House

They are shutting down Steel House, the place where I lived in Moscow for the first two years of my college career. which makes me very sad. the current residents of steel house are renting a sorority house, i believe, for two years until they can raise money to fix Steel house. I hope it works. I think that the sorority house is a better option than just making it another hall in the regular dorms. independence was what steel house was all about.


here's a link to an article about it:

http://www.today.uidaho.edu/details.aspx?id=3787

and remembering my days there, when you were in your shower and had to move out of the way of the water when somebody flushed the toilet, here is a clip from garrison keillor:

Saturday, July 07, 2007

My favorite wildflower picture

A parade of wildflowers



phew. not everything that grew were weeds.

gardening joys

I planted a bunch of old seeds i had kicking around the house (I think that they were given to me for my wedding), and didn't think that I would get much growth. boy was I wrong. plus i planted them about 2 months later than they were supposed to. in may vs. march. So if you would like a tomato, jalapeno pepper, or a banana pepper plant to put in a pot so that you can bring it inside when the cold weather strikes, let me know. there is no way i can keep all of them, so they will be thrown away. if mallory doesn't pull them out first.

the tomato plants:



The tomato plant that I planted when I was supposed to. you see the catching up the others have to do.



the pepper plants. though i must sadly report that since i took this picture, i think i killed all the jalapeno plants. if i have any make a recovery, i will let you know.



the mischievous mallory. another reason why there might not be much hope left for the other plants. You might want to be quick, if you want some.

Friday, July 06, 2007

A weed or not a weed

The previous owners of our house used to park their boat on a patch of grass (well it was mostly weeds) by our driveway. Since we don't have a boat and it was mostly weeds, Doug tore it all out and was going to put gravel down. well, i came up with the bright idea of planting a flower garden. and planting wildflower seeds. in a place that was covered with weeds previously. So all spring and summer, I have been playing a guessing game as to whether or not what was coming up were weeds or wildflowers. I wouldn't let doug tell me, he thought they were all weeds and that we needed to put gravel down. My most promising bunch, and most productive growers turned out to be trees. oh well. but, i have finally cleared out the trees, morning glories, and the rest of the weeds, and these are pictures of the leftovers that i couldn't decide on. so, I thought that I would ask you what you thought:

the dandelion:

favorite of kids to pick
beautiful, especially when covering entire fields.
i almost thought about just planting dandelion seeds there, because they are so hardy. but i thought i had better stay on good terms with my neighbors.

 

 

mallory who picked said dandelion

Dandelion: weed or flower?
Weed (ah, going with the crowd, eh?)
Flower (aren't they pretty?)
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com


This one looks like it might be a thistle, but it looks different from other thistles that i have seen. So i gave it the benefit of the doubt.

 


Is this a weed or a flower?
weed
flower
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com


This one was interesting. I thought it was going to flower (see the yellow bud on the right?), but within a day, it had switched to seed. and it looks slightly suspicious as well.

 
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A flower or a weed?
weed (you are suspicious as well)
flower (are you sure?)
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com


Morning glories:

like dandelions, they have very pretty flowers, but they choke out the growth of everything around them. and trying to get rid of them is near impossible. their roots system is deep and impregnable.

they do sell them in seed packets.



What's the story, Morning Glory?
Weed (can never get rid of the stinking things)
Flower (you buy the seed packets, don't you?)
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com