Saturday...

...is World AIDS Day.

If nothing else, I hope we'll all say a prayer today in which we give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the blessing of our own good health and ask Him humbly what we might do to help our 33.2 million brothers and sisters throughout the world who are living, and dying, with AIDS.

Kids' music that isn't annoying (Part Two)

This is our other favorite Children's CD: Putumayo Kids Presents African Playground. We discovered this one at the Ames Library several months ago and checked it out several times before breaking down and buying it for Kiddo's birthday. Our whole family loves it. Daddy-O especially appreciates that all the songs are performed by legitimate African artists who are popular throughout the continent. They hail from various countries-- Senegal, Benin, Uganda and South Africa, just to name a few. Unfortunately, no Sesotho songs, in case you were wondering. "Grammy" is also a fan-- heaven forbid we should go for a visit and forget to bring this CD with us!!



It was actually the only gift we managed to get him to smile about for a picture on his birthday. He'd seen it enough times that he recognized it immediately and popped it right out of the CD case as soon as we opened it. Whenever he hears Anjelique Kidjo's "Battu" start, he lights up and starts dancing. It is one of the cutest things ever! But his favorite song has to be Aura Msimang's "Langa Mo." The Zulu word "Hamba" is repeated several times in this song, and when he hears the song, he almost always calls out "Hamba" at least a few times.

Daddy-O's favorite is "Hello Hello" by Mose Fan Fan (from Congo) and I simply love "Jambo Bwana" by Them Mushrooms (from Kenya). I am very amused by the fact that I can now sing the chorus so I "know" some Swahili. ;) I also end up singing "Langa Mo" quite a bit, so now I also "know" some Zulu. The liner notes are fascinating and educational, so be sure to read them if you get a chance.

This music doesn't have a real "kid" vibe, but boy, does our kid enjoy it. I highly recommend this CD to anyone of any age. It is so catchy and upbeat, you'll find yourself and your kiddies dancing to it all the time.

Kids' music that isn't annoying (Part One)

Well, it's a sad day in our little home. We have to return our new favorite CD-- "Country Goes Raffi!"-- to the Library. We've renewed it twice already, so I guess we'd better give another family a turn. I've looked this up on Amazon.com, and unfortunately it's $17.98, so I guess we'll depend on the Library for a fix every now and then until we are "poor no more."

I am always looking for music that our budding musician will enjoy but that won't drive the Mama and the Daddy-O crazy. The kiddo and I are quite fond of Raffi, but Daddy-O is not a huge fan because he says Raffi puts him to sleep. When I saw this CD listed on the Library's website, I was pretty amused at the concept of country artists singing Raffi songs and knew I'd have to check it out-- especially when I saw Alison Krauss was one of those artists, and I am in total awe of her talent.

For us, this CD did not disappoint. While neither my husband or I are big country fans and I'm not familiar with about half of the artists, I like pretty much all of the songs on this CD-- really, the only song I skip is the lone selection sung by Raffi himself. The Kiddo LOVES, LOVES, LOVES "Shake My Sillies Out" and "Apples and Bananas." I sometimes hear him babbling words from those songs while he's playing. And the other morning, the kidlet woke up and said "Bowl! Bowl! Shirt! Shirt!" which we can only assume was a reference to "The Bowling Song." Daddy-O's favorite is "Baby Beluga" (in my view, way better than the original) and I, of course, can't get enough of AK's version of "Blessed Be." It is so beautiful that when I try to sing it to my son, I usually end up crying. Raul Malo's take on "Thanks a Lot" is also high on my list. I'm not sure who Marty Stuart is (doesn't he have a mullet?), but he's managed to actually get me to like the song "Naturally" -- not a small feat.

One of the great things about this CD is if you find yourself doing something so embarrassing as singing "Apples & Bananas" all over town, you can remind yourself that keith urban recorded it and he is considered very cool. Therefore, you are still cool also... right?

Why I am glad I'm not famous... Reason #1

If I ever have a picture taken of me that is this bad (and, oh, I think I may have already), at least it won't end up all over the Internet.

I really don't know anything about this Amy Winehouse chickie, but since she's a woman and she's famous, I would imagine she's got to be at least relatively pretty most of the time. The person who took, sold, or published this photo must not be a fan, though.

What the heck?

Every so often, I get an advertising email from Mary Kay. I happened to notice the following "headline" on the most recent message:


Okay, is it just me, or is there something wrong with this? I know that as a grad student and a stay-at-home mom, we seem to have taken a vow of poverty, but who really has enough moolah to be putting $25 gifts in the category of stocking stuffers? What happened to oranges or candy or socks or toothbrushes? Those are the types of things I've found in my stockings throughout the years. I would venture a guess that this year the only person who we'll spend more than $25 on is the kidlet. And believe me, I'll stretch that money the best way I know how.

Seriously, if you have this kind of cash on hand, send it our way...

I think aliens are inhabiting my body...

...because I actually watched the whole second half of a football game this afternoon-- and for once, I didn't hate it!!!!

I think it's actually this guy's fault.

Darn that Chris "Beanie" Wells!! And Go Buckeyes!!!

Pride goeth before the fall...

So... the previous post was all about how smart my little guy was-- and he still is... I'm pretty sure.

But this morning I decided to nurture his new-found creative leanings and gave him some crayons and paper to color while I got his breakfast ready.

When I came back, I noticed his teeth were just chomping away-- and there were deep purple crayon "crumbs" all over his chin.

"What are you eating?" I cried.

Looking innocently at me with those enormous brown eyes, he matter-of-factly replied, "Cackuh" (translation: "cracker").

No, sweetheart, crayons and crackers are not the same!!!!

(Note to Mikaela: I don't think you'll be wanting Kaden to copy him with that "food" choice!!!! ;) )

Further proof that my child is a genius...

Okay, I can't help it. I just have to boast a teensy bit on behalf of our little "Boko" (Sesotho word, meaning "brain").

Last night, my son surprised me by dumping all the pieces out of this wooden puzzle and putting them in, one by one, until he finished it ALL BY HIMSELF! Usually, he asks for "Hep... puh!" (translation: "help, please!") I guess he doesn't need my help anymore! Each time he would get a piece in correctly, I would cheer, "Yea! You did it!" and sometimes I even clapped. This made him squeal with delight and reply, "Ah did!" ("I did!")

I like the look of deep concentration on his face in these photos.

Here are some of his other recent smarty-pants sayings:

+ When he or Daddy leave his bedroom, "See Ya!"

+ Today he found, and dumped, a box of crayons on the floor in my room. When I discovered him and his mess, he looked up and said, "Pay-puh?" So I asked him if he wanted some paper and he said yes. When I gave it to him, he put crayon right to paper and said "Herkah! Herkah!" (translation: circle) So then I had to draw oh, 18 circles of different sizes and colors for him. How he knows/remembers the word "paper," I'm not totally sure. I have been very neglectful in not letting him really have any, or use crayons much... I guess that'll soon change, if he has anything to say about it!

+ My Norwegian relatives would appreciate this one: The kiddo and I were chatting one afternoon and I asked him a question, I can no longer remember what it was. His reply: "ya, sure" -- with a Scandinavian accent and everything. I then asked him if he was a little Norwegian baby, and he responded, "Heck, yeah!" He learned that little phrase from his Daddy-O, a Napoleon Dynamite fan.

+ Much to my dismay, he rarely calls us "ma-ma" and "da-da" anymore. He has learned to say "Mommy" and "Daddy" already. I am thrilled with all his growth and development, but I just really loved the way he'd call "Mama" in his lilting, dulcet voice... and it just reminds me that he won't be my baby much longer.

It's (finally) official!!!

I'm back in Primary!!! Woo-hoo!!!

It is no secret that I LOVE working with the kids in our Church, and as a result, every time I move to a new ward (congregation), I am quick to tell the Bishop that I am always ready to teach in Primary (ages 3-12) or even Nursery (18 mos. to 3 years). So I've been pretty sad for the last 3 and 1/2 months since I bid goodbye to my sweet little CTR-6 class in our old ward.

On October 28th, a member of the Bishopric asked me if I would teach the Valiant Girls (ages 10-12) class. I had a wonderful experience teaching that group in CF, so I was really excited and wholeheartedly agreed. He gave me a class list, a substitute list, and some info about when class meets, etc. and I went home expecting that sometime soon I would hear from the Primary about when to start.

By the time Saturday the 3rd rolled around, I was antsy so I called the Primary President. In talking to her, we figured out that I was issued the wrong calling-- they wanted me to teach the Sunbeams (kids turning 4 this calendar year). Well, okay, I taught Sunbeams in IC back when I was first married and liked that too so I said sure, whatever. I would have to adjust my thinking somewhat, though.

Then I got to Church on Sunday the 4th, and there wasn't any Ward Business so I wasn't sustained. I thought that was kinda weird. Then the Bishop asked to meet with me after Church, and I was just praying that there wasn't yet another misunderstanding. After all, I needed to be in Primary!

So, I met with the Bishop and he said that in the preceding week, they decided to release the current Primary Presidency, and called a new President. And she, Sister Kay, asked for me to serve as her 1st counselor. This was surely not what I was expecting-- I never aspire to leadership positions-- but it is in Primary and, hey, this way I get to see all the kids every week without having to teach a lesson every week. Not too bad a deal, if you ask me. But I am feeling a little overwhelmed at the idea of responsibility-- and giving Sharing Time so often.

So, yesterday (Nov. 11th), I was finally sustained and I can do a little happy dance. I also got to substitute in the Sunbeam class-- still teacher-less-- and whew, are they some busy kids! One of them, who I'd never met before, told me she was glad I was teaching because she loved me, and loved my dress! On the other hand, one of her classmates impatiently asked me during the lesson, "Why are you talking so much?" (Honey, that's what everyone wants to know!)

GOTTA LOVE PRIMARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Blog-free week

It seems that most days I do think about posting, but usually don't get that much time to do so unless I stay up in to the wee hours of the morning... like now. But even when I do get to the computer, I spend most of my time reading other people's blogs because you are all just so much more interesting than I am!!!

The husband now has way more work that requires the computer than he ever did as an undergrad, so when he's home, he's usually online typing papers or presentations, reading journal articles, or posting on his class sites. When he's not home, it's dangerous to try to use the computer unless the little kid is asleep. Otherwise, he is trying to type his own blog or something... somehow our 16-month-old managed to "add another printer" and set it as the default, among other things, when he has been pounding on the keyboard. For a while, we thought our printer was broken, because when we'd try to print something, nothing would happen. Finally we realized that the message to print was being sent to some mysterious second printer that we don't even have! Luckily, that was a problem that could be easily fixed.



On a related note, somehow our living room TV no longer has a power button! I have no earthly idea how he managed that one! The Daddy-O thinks that maybe Baby Hercules pushed it all the way in to the television. Is that even possible? I just know that I haven't seen it anywhere for almost a week now. The good news is, with no cable or satellite, and virtually no reception, that TV is mostly just used for a daily dose of one Elmo or Blue's Clues video. The bad news is, we couldn't afford to replace the 19-inch piece of junk even if we wanted to!



At the end of the week, my Little Man discovered that if he stood on top of the end table, he could reach the light switch. In the process of reaching for said light switch, he knocked the lamp off the table, breaking the shade. When I removed the battered lamp, he climbed right back up and again reached for that blasted light switch. In a big huff, the mean old mommy dumped all the board books out of the table and carted it down to the basement, thus ruining all the kidlet's fun. What he doesn't understand, though, is that my main concern was that I didn't want him to fall off the table and get broken next time!!!!

It's always something, isn't it? Maybe this is why I also have not been able to "hibernate" with my library books. :( Note: I also have to learn to not check so many out. But at least they're free!