Day 2

It was one of those days where you feel like you take two steps forward, but then eggs are bowled across your kitchen floor and it's like taking two steps back. Not in a good, Paula Abdul song kind of way - I got nothing done. But I found a pair of pants that I thought were gone forever and gorgeous flowers magically appeared in my kitchen. Which brings me to...

Rule #2 Be ridiculously nice to the birthday weeker.

This means leave the last clean breakfast spoon, warm up the bed, don't throw yogurt on the floor (that should be easy for non-toddlers), and hand over the remote. Basically, do whatever you need to let the birthday weeker know that you feel like their birth was a true blessing, if you don't already do this on a daily basis. "Because it's my birthday week" works well here, too.

Happy Birthday Week To Me!

I tried to kick off my birthday week yesterday with a churro from Costco, but all the other kids got to them first. So, I decided that I would try my luck with starting birthday week today. It was a good decision since I woke up to pancakes and got a kiss on the lips, with a little tongue (literally little), from Davis. That's right, I said birthday week. That's what Eric and I have done since we were married. But we've never set guidelines for this week of total self-loving, "celebrate me, I was born" tradition.

Rule #1 The birthday weeker is always right.
If there is ever a dispute, birthday weeker simply states, "But it's my birthday week." KO - round 1! You gotta keep that one in your pocket at all times...

At Dinner

Eric - (mock exasperation) "Ahh, Davis! You threw guacamole crap on my pants..."
Jenny - (sarcasm) "Davis, tell daddy that guacamoles don't crap."
Eric - (wisdom) "Davis, tell mommy that there are no 'guacamoles' - they're avocados."

The funny thing was, Davis didn't say a word.

2008

'Member how when New Year's Eve hit for the year 2000 everyone thought the world was going to explode or at least the machines would turn on us? 'Member? Well, it is the year 2008 and the machines in this household are just dying... Our portable DVD player broke on our plane trip back from Salt Lake (if you've never felt fear, take a 14 month-old on a plane with a bunch of strangers and expect the worst). Then our TV decided to sensor everything on the bottom third of the screen and one of Davis' toys won't stop revving its engine. Last, our wireless Internet is only working wired. I feel like we have regressed to near dial-up status and are living out a really mild version of Maximum Overdrive.

So, now that I have shared how spoiled we are, I'm going to go enjoy the New Year the old fashioned way and go to bed. I hope our robo-maid has turned down the bed...

Very, very, very merry christmas!

Driving around this morning, Eric and I saw multiple joggers in the Avenues of Salt Lake City. There are many things wrong with this - first, it's the Avenues (for anyone unfamiliar with the Avenues, it's a neighborhood on the foothills of Salt Lake...more like foot "mountains" and some were running uphill). Second, it's Christmas. And C, it snowed a good 8-10 inches last night. We couldn't imagine what compulsion makes one run in such conditions, but then again we're not runners in the most optimal circumstances - on a warm-not-hot day, level terrain, at sea level, NOT CHRISTMAS MORNING. We quickly concluded that they were either without shelter and they needed to run to keep warm or they are running from something. But that something must have been invisible and that's really freaky...

409 Days of Davis

We finally finished raking our leaves! That's huge for us, especially since we have 12 trees on our property. While raking, bagging, freezing - we discovered our son is a workhorse! We had to tear him away from his "mini" rake, little man hands with an iron grip, running away to get to sweet freedom with his new gardening implement... This bodes well for our future as tyrants. Maybe he'll big enough to do the gutters next year.

In Our Opinion...

Typing out our Christmas lists, I thought about how much I would love to get Toy Story 2 (hint,hint)-I think I was glued more than my niece and nephews when we saw it in the theater. Then I pondered, "was that one of the only sequels that was better than the original?" And then I remembered that I've had this debate before and that reminded me that I don't have that great of a memory anymore... So, after dusting out the cobwebs in my skull, the list of Eric and Jenny's "better/equal sequels" started to come back to me along with some newer ones as well (some of these are considered trilogies, for the technical people out there):
Empire Strikes Back
Gods Must Be Crazy II
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Shrek 2 (not "the Third")
Wayne's World 2 isn't bad for a sequel
Lord of the Rings - Two Towers/Return of the King
Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum
Ocean's Thirteen
not Pirates of the Caribbean

I know there are more out there. Please leave your opinions and suggestions - we can better our list only if you leave your comments...

Trypto-fan

I'm still not a little bit country...

But Garth Brooks puts on an amazing show. Beautiful, adventurous Miranda flew in from Florida for 24 hours to see cowboy Garth and his awesome live performance. Of course, this does mean that I am open to all kinds of scrutiny from country fans and country haters alike, but that's OK. There were a lot of cowboy hats, boots and twangs. But the Wranglers were the most interesting part. Some people should not wear these second-skin pants, it's a privilege not a right. Fun fact: Wranglers aren't just Wranglers 'cause they're tight - they actually don't have a seam on the inside so as not to chafe the wearer while riding horses, mechanical bulls, fences, etc,. But Miranda and I saw no horses or mechanical bulls parked outside the concert so I'm thinking Wranglers were worn for the "tight" aspect. The closest Miranda and I came to "cowgirling" up was the twang. It was like being around someone from London, eventually you take on a little British accent.

This brings up the topic that Kansas City has a new venue that just about everybody is coming to - Billy Joel, Dancing with the Stars Tour, Elton John, the Blue Man Group... So, if you find yourself with nothing to do and a hankering for some entertainment, you are welcome to come stay with us. Yes, we're talking to you Hannah Montana fans.

Boo

It's been a fun fall and the people around here change fast. Well, maybe just Davis. But here is a smattering of photos that I haven't had a chance to post yet.From the actual Halloween in our old neighborhood. Trick-or-treating=chasing Davis, chasing all the kids dressed-up funny. A little after school Daddy-son giggle. Who needs toys when you have a Dustbuster to drag around? But it has to be turned on and full of stuff that can be potentially shaken loose for it to be tempting...
Davis finally has a tie, and doesn't he look employable? His skills include dust busting (see above picture). He also likes to put his tie in everything - snack cups, water fountains, Daddy's mouth. I guess he's more like a monkey with a tie, and they're not so employable (Fact: I misspelled "employable" in a elementary school spelling bee. Not my finest moment. That will be Davis' first word.)

Davis' newest bear friend. We hope it sticks for now 'cause it's just too cute to see him hugging. But we don't think he's monogamous, since he lunged for the giant bear outside of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and would not let go. By the way, I highly recommend the Apple Pie Carmel Apple.