Descent into Silliness

I thought I would take some photos of Ellie and myself today. It went predictably:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7547303@N05/sets/72157625958881816/show/

Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Happy 6th birthday, Ellie! We had a fun little party with a few neighbors and friends, and ate the most beautiful, delicious rainbow cake EVER (made by our dear friend Sposita)! Games included "duck, duck, goose" and "pin the horn on the unicorn-pegasus". (You would not believe how long it took me to figure out how to tile an image of a unicorn-pegasus and print it large enough for the game.) The festivities were finished off with a pinata filled with candy and school supplies (erasers, pencil grips, sharpeners, etc). A good time seemed to have been had by all.

1st day of 1st grade

This week Ellie started 1st grade. She was a little nervous, but she perked up a lot when we told her that she would get to eat lunch at school. Apparently that sounded REALLY fun. :-)

This is Ellie's best friend. They were in kindergarten together, and now they are in the same 1st grade class. She moved here from Korea in the middle of the semester last year and didn't speak any English. She was the most morose little thing I've ever seen...never got excited, never smiled. Ellie took to her immediately, and they managed to communicate pretty well without words. They would hug and hold hands while walking home from school. :-) Slowly she learned the language, and now she is quite the talker! We feel blessed to have her in our lives as a sweet little friend.

Down Baby, Down

This is the kids' new favorite game. -confused shrug-

Five Years

Five years ago yesterday, on August 1 2005, we arrived at our new home, excited at the adventure that awaited us:

Two years ago, on August 1 2008, we were happily welcoming our beautiful new baby and trying to figure out how to balance everything:

Yesterday, we enjoyed a particularly nice Sunday at church, chatted with our dear friends, played at the park, and felt grateful to be where we are, doing what we are doing, with our awesome children, and surrounded by people we love:

Letter I'm sending to the White House & all my congressional representatives

Dear President Obama,

I am one of your supporters. I voted for you. I listened to your speeches, and when the Economist endorsed you, I was so happy that I photocopied the cover and taped it in my apartment window. I think you are an inspiring leader, and a much better choice for president than was your main competitor in 2008. I am college-educated, center-to-left-leaning, registered Independent...it was support from people like me that gave you the edge in the election. And I think you are now making a big mistake.

Mr. President, I am writing because I am concerned that, like other presidents before you, your ambition for legacy is leading you to make a foolish choice in a high-risk, high-rewards gamble that will have deep and lasting effects for our nation and my children. You have decided to cancel the Constellation program and the Ares rocket, and instead rely on the development of new commercial rockets to transport astronauts to the International Space Station. If I understand correctly, you believe that the private commercial market will provide the hotbed of innovation necessary to take space travel to the next level. You hope that competition and innovation will help bring down costs. I suspect that you would love to see the commercialization of space travel remembered in the history books as a turning point for the industry, leading to great leaps and bounds in space technology progress.

Many high-ranking and well-respected participants in our past manned space program have publicly opposed your plan, and I have no expertise to add to what you have already heard. I have only worries. I worry that there won't be sufficient financial motivation to encourage the level of investment necessary to build a privately owned space program. I worry that our space technology edge will be lost entirely to Russia or China, with negative national security consequences. I worry that my children will not dream of the stars and will take science less seriously in school. I worry that current experts in space transportation will be discouraged, unwilling to relocate to work with startups, and will get out of the space industry altogether, thus losing a generation of experience and knowledge. Most of all, I worry that this will mark the end of an era for our country.

As a voter and citizen, your confidence in the private market seems odd so shortly after spending billions of dollars of taxpayer money to bail out the failing auto industry. If our private companies can't even make cars without routinely falling into bankruptcy, why will they succeed in a market with enormous startup costs and limited, politically-dependent demand? I can't help but think of a previous president, whom you frequently criticize, who also let his ambition for legacy and his "vision" interfere with his decision making. He ignored the experts, made wildly optimistic predictions, and wanted very badly to be remembered as changing the course of history. He did change history...but not the way he wanted. Please don't follow his example. Our dominance in manned space flight is too precious to waste on a gamble.

Earnestly,

Maile etc.

Fixit Clinic Newspaper Article

Here's an article in the Berkeley Daily Planet about the Fixit Clinic: http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2010-04-30/article/35177?headline=Reduce-Reuse-Recycle-and-Repair It features E prominently. :-)

Pink Rain Boots

School photos are taken from mid-chest and up...right? That's what I thought and dressed her for.

I thought wrong, apparently. :-)

But seriously, I am just in love with this photo. This captures my daughter perfectly.

Happy Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, we had a "Fixit Clinic" in our little community. The idea: bring your broken stuff and volunteers help you try to fix it. E. and I took our vacuum that hasn't worked in way too long. She helped me unscrew the base, and we poked around and found the problem, fixed it, and put the thing back together again.

I remember fixing things in the basement with Dad when I was young. We don't have a shop (yet), but I can wield a screwdriver with the best of them. It has served me well, and I want my children to learn their way around a toolbox and know that they can fix things when they put their mind to it.

Photos of B. to come shortly. Just a quick bit about him: he's starting to really talk! Today's new word: "wehdi" or rather, "WEHDI WEHDI WEHDI!!!!" This he yelled very emphatically when he was "ready" to get out of his highchair after breakfast this morning. Also, another favorite new word: "stuuuk" as in "I'm stuck in this stroller/highchair/bead necklace/balloon string/toy with a hold just barely be enough for my hand...and I can't get out! Help!!"

Oh, and since my parents complained during my last visit that I forgot to tell them...

http://www.amazon.com/Hello-Village-Maile-Urbancic/dp/1449595022/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259692377&sr=8-1

and

http://hellovillagebook.com

There. Sorry for forgetting.

Want to know?

Want to know what happens when you add a toddler, a jar of Vaseline, and five unsupervised minutes?

No, you don't.

Why We're Getting A Baby Gate

Dear Son,

I'm really glad you're learning so much and growing up to be a curious, adventurous boy. I'm sure the world is a fantastically interesting place to you, with new experiences to be had every single day. You have no sense of fear...which, I imagine, you will use to your advantage as an adult.

However, Sweetheart, I must admit that this climbing on the kitchen table thing is getting a teensy bit wearing. Catching you fishing in the cookie jar a while ago was pretty darn cute. Catching you fishing in the peanut butter jar last week was, I have to say, slightly less endearing. And that thing on Sunday where you individually mashed into the floor a whole bag's worth of grapes while we weren't paying attention? Left a big, sticky mess, Honey. Yesterday when you dumped a bag of cereal all over the floor in the seconds it took me to get your sister a clean pair of socks...you know, that was kind of a hassle to clean up. And let's not even talk about Friday when you helped yourself to fist-fulls of freshly-baked pumpkin chocolate bundt cake right before my friend's baby shower. Yes, I cut out the part you mangled and took it anyway, and yes, the chocolate stains you made in the living room will probably come out, but that's not the point.

The point is, enjoy your freedom tomorrow...because party's over, bud.

-Mom

Your Quiz of the Day

1. Find the DVD player remote.
2. Identify which helpful toddler tried to put it away for us.
3. Guess how many hours of searching it took to find it.

Hand in the cookie jar

B. is a climber. If he sees an opportunity for a higher vertical vantage point, he never lets it pass. I've seen him standing on the topmost edge of the little slide climber toy on our porch, with one foot on top of the other...because, you know, that extra inch might just make a difference.

Naturally, this is bad news for Mom and Dad:

And good news for B:

E: "a hundred million snails!" & B: "ROAR!"

One of the problems with blogging is that it is subject to what M. and I call the "home teaching effect". Say you're a well-intentioned home teacher (or visiting teacher), but you get busy and miss a month or two. Naturally you feel guilty about it and mean to really do a good job next month. But then, you want to do such a good job that it'll take more time than you typically have, so you put it off. Pretty soon you're pushing it out of your mind because it makes you feel bad...and then even avoiding your teachees in the halls at church. The only real cure for this self-perpetuating problem is to face up to the fact that you're never going to get around to doing a really great job, kick yourself into at least a phone call, and try to regain some semblance of self-respect.

I have this issue with blogging. (And thank-you cards, but that's another post altogether.) I keep meaning to post birthday photos, back-to-school photos, this awesome video compilation of our Disneyland trip from last December...etc. And I think, "I can't post something new if I haven't posted X yet!" But...alas, obviously this strategy isn't working for me. And so, I humbly offer a few recent photos and videos. If I get to it, I'll post that other stuff. And if I don't, at least there will be these.

This video is of E. presenting her poster in her kindergarten class when she was Friend of the Week. Notice her request at the end. When she asked, her teacher looked at me to see what I thought, and I shook my head because E. and I hadn't prepared for it. I wanted us to have another day or so to practice so everything could go smoothly. But...

Use the password: "keepsafe"

...but E. was so crushed at the prospect of not getting her single Friend of the Week request of reading the book at storytime that we went for it. (We have a great teacher who was very patient and let us do it after E. was so visibly disappointed and I agreed to it.) And just so you know, this is long and pretty boring for non-grandparents, so I forgive you if you skip most of it.

Use the password: "keepsafe"

One more. B. went as a lion to the ward Halloween party, so we taught him to roar. He just decided last week that walking was the way to go (he's been able to walk for over a month, but until last week, preferred to crawl), and he's been upright ever since.

Use the password: "keepsafe"

GOAL: Catch a Bird

Yes, they came up with this themselves.

No, they haven't caught one yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Chaos

At our house we obey the laws of thermodynamics.

As time increases, we tend toward entropy.

Benji "Talks"

Benji is becoming quite the conversationalist. We've been teaching him baby sign language, and he's starting to grasp it bit by bit. Two funny stories:

The sign for "more" is kind of like clapping, with each hand's fingers together in a point. We make this sign when Benji is eating, then give him more of whatever he's munching on. The other day he was nibbling on cheerios and bits of cheese. I was sitting near him, absent-mindedly snacking on stray cheerios from his tray. He ran out of cheese, so I made the sign for "more" to see if he made it back (which would mean he was still hungry). He looked at me, paused, and then picked up and gave me another cheerio. What a good sharer!

Today, he was eating lunch and I decided to listen to some music while doing dishes. He got excited and listened attentively. When the song was over, he started fussing so I made a sign for "music". He immediately made it back, grinning. I put on another album, and he was very pleased. BUT, then I had the nerve to start the dishes again. I turned the water on and clanked around with the plates. A few moments later, he started fussing again, making the new "music" sign and glaring at me. Apparently, my dish-doing was too loud and was interfering with his tunes! Sheesh. :)

Help Their Miracle Happen!

Good things come to those who wait...at least that is the hope for Mike's brother and sister-in-law, Dan and Aranne. This amazing couple has been waiting for two years to adopt a baby into their loving home. I can't think of anyone who would make better, more dedicated parents to a very lucky child then they would. If you know someone who is considering adoption and is looking for an adoptive family to give a baby a wonderful home, please pass on the link to Dan and Aranne's blog: http://www.danielandaranne.blogspot.com. We pray that their miracle will happen soon!

Snips and snails and puppy-dog tails...that's what my little girl is made of.

The first year after we came to Berkeley, I decided to try my hand at gardening. I got myself a lovely plot in the community garden, worked hard to clear the brush, and planted a dozen rows or so of various produce. I watered diligently for several weeks and was pleased as punch as my pretty green sprouts came up. Several weeks later I noticed that my carrot seedlings looked just like my pea sprouts, which looked just like my parsley...in fact, ALL my seedlings looked identical! Identical to the area's most common weed, that is. What happened? Some sort of nasty pest ate all my tender little sprouts and so for weeks I watered the happiest weeds in the city.

Ellie loves growing things, though, so I thought we'd try again, this time with a smaller plot. We began with just a corner and planted two basil starts and six strawberry starts:


We soon discovered which pest probably did in my first horticultural attempt:


Now, Ellie has a thing for bugs and snails and all things Insecta (or rather, Gastropoda, in this case). She spent the entire gardening trip collecting snails with increasing zeal and joy. I don't mind bugs myself, but I was more than happy to let her grab up the handfuls (literally!) of snails that were hanging out in the corners of our plot. Altogether she found probably over 40 of them...and boy, was she thrilled!


These suckers are big! They are one of the varieties of snail that they eat in France. Apparently, some entreprenuring Frenchman brought them over to Oakland in the 1800's thinking he would make millions selling them as delicacies. Good for the snails -- they didn't catch on as the next tasty snack. Even better for the snails -- they LOVED our climate. Bad for the Frenchman, though: generations of gardeners now curse his name.

This is only some of Ellie's catch:


Here's my happy, happy snail girl:


Benji has learned to sit up. He likes balls. He likes holding them, chewing on them, rolling them, crawling after them, patting them, and giggling at them.

The many moods of Benji: thoughtful...


...amused...


...playful...

...and showing off... his new teeth, that is! He is just getting his third set in, bringing the grand total to six little white pearls. Looks like he has the same gap in his front teeth that Ellie has (courtesy of Mike's genes). I try not to think of our future orthodontist bills.


One last family photo, taken on the UC Berkeley campus. Can you find the scary, ferocious tiger? Hint: look for a gap in the front teeth.