To My Hero

Boppa,

Happy Birthday!

I thought about you all day.  I even sang a bit of the birthday song in your honor.

I also made you cupcakes!

Boppa, you are one of a kind.  I like to follow you around and sit on your lap.  I like to help you out.  I love to sit on your motorcycle.  Most of all, I want to be just like you.

I love you Boppa!

Love, 

Nonoy

P.S.  Don't worry, Mom thinks she got most of the egg shells out.

His Great Great Grandparents

This is the plot for the earthly remains of my father's paternal grandparents, Robert W. Murray and his wife, Florence Conover. I never met him and she died when I was two. I have a picture of her holding me when I was a baby. I do have the copies of two journal entries of hers and a pretty piece of jewelry that once belonged to her. I treasure these things. I really love my family, including those that came and left this earth long before my arrival. I recognize the sacrifices they made to make a life for their children and in turn their grandchildren all the way down to me. Knowing about them makes me want to try a little harder to do a little better. I hope to live up to the name they passed on to me.
This was our 100th visit to the cemetery for 2009. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but I have actually lost count (maybe the 5th or so). Thus far, we have paid our respects to 15 of my direct ancestors in this single cemetery. This doesn't account for their relatives. If it did, I think I could assume relation to every person buried there. I'm from a long line of small town dwellers (particularly dwellers of this small town). Therefore, I am somehow related to most people in town and most dead people in the cemetery. There are good things that come from this (makes family history research fairly simple) and there are some bad things (sometimes you just don't want to go where everybody know your name... like the grocery store).

Happy Friday

Have a wild weekend everyone.  

We plan to. 

 

Of course, with boys like these, we cannot plan otherwise.

Our Very Favorite Place

A few years ago I attended a fireside for my Relief Society.  The speaker was Elder Koelliker from one of the quorums of the Seventy.  I don't remember which and I think he was newly called at the time, but he had also served or was still serving on the Temple Committee of the church. So he spoke about temples.  Not just that, but raising your children to love and look to the temple.  That evening was extremely influential on my ideas and ideology about parenting.  I could write a sermon about it.  But I'll spare you and just say that our activities Saturday were largely a product of Elder Koelliker's fireside.  I came home that night a few years ago with a short list of things we could do to be better parents which really had never occurred to me.  One of them was to physically take our children to the temple fairly regularly so that they could walk around the grounds and feel what is to be felt there.  

And so we did that Saturday.  

Upon arriving, (a bit more than an hour's drive,) we discovered that we weren't totally prepared to walk around the temple grounds.  It slipped our minds to wear appropriate clothes.  Feeling too casual in dress, we decided to stop in the parking lot and show our boys the temple from there.  Nolan was excited to see it anyway.  He talks about temples all the time and points out any tower/spire (on the playground, clock towers, churches, you name it) and calls it a temple.  It was good to be able to clear things up for him a little bit.  Unfortunately, we didn't get very close to the temple, but there's always next time.  Luckily, the Sacred Grove and Joseph Smith Homes are right down the road, so we walked to them and went into Palmyra for a while.  Next time we'll be better prepared to feel like we can walk around the grounds of the temple and show our reverence for a place that we hold most sacred. 

P.S.  I'm sorry if that's not how Koelliker is really spelled.

A Mom and Her Sweeties

The three of us spend all day, every day together.

And that is just the best thing I can think of.

The Ice is Melting

I shouldn't say this out loud, but it seems that Spring is making its way.  We are so happy.  Relieved is a better word.  Similar to last March, I'm left wondering how we survived an entire season spent indoors.  PTB tells me that next winter will be better because both boys will be old enough to really enjoy playing in the snow.  I won't hold my breath.  In fact, I don't even want to think about Winter until October when it will inevitably snow in time for Halloween.  Heaven help us.

Nolan picked up right where he left off.  Riding bikes. Digging in mud.  Sending cars down the slide.  Taking mother-drawn wagon rides.  Trampoline jumping.  He was born for the outdoors.  A real professional.  Most of this is new and exciting to Gerret, as he wasn't as mobile back when Winter knocked on our door.  

These boys like to play.  It is so interesting to watch their stages of development interact.  Nolan has an incredible imagination.  Gerret is incredibly curious.  Nolan can make the most simple object come to life as he pretends it is who knows what (I'm not usually quite sure).  So then Mr. Curious demands the object (he can be demanding) and upon receiving it, displays a genuinely puzzled expression. He hasn't realized yet that these things don't fly around making sound effects on their own.

A Beautiful Day+An Old Cemetery

Truth be told, I love family history. And I currently live in a prime location for the doing of it. So I've been doing it. And suddenly the weather started cooperating and my boys are old enough to keep their cool in the cool for extended periods of time. So, we took our first trip of the year to the local cemetery. Thankfully, my youngest sister accompanied us and graciously pushed a stroller while I tried to decipher a map (which marked roads that no longer exist..... confusing). I have lots and lots and lots of ancestors in this particular cemetery, so we visited just a few before a stinky smell called our attention to a full diaper and we had to evacuate emergency style. I'm organizing my notes and working with a map (yes that map..... confusing) to direct a grand tour of the Grove Cemetery (for my family and my parents' family and if you wanna come, you can too, but I don't know how interesting other people's ancestors are to me, so I won't be sad if you aren't interested). In other words, you may hear more about this in the future, but it's for my own entertainment, so don't worry if you don't care at all.

we really live off of oreos

I don't buy stuff like this, but the Aunts have it and my boys see it and moan and complain until they get some too.  This happens all the time.

If Not Meat, What Does a Lady Eat (and subsequently feed her family)?

Uh... good question.  If you have any suggestions, I'm up for them.

Good sources of protein (other than meat): 

eggs, legumes, nuts, fish (not meat,right?), dairy, and tofu (so far, tofu has not been on my menu and I'm undecided as to if it will ever be... so I'm eager for suggestions in the tofu category) 

Ideas that we've tried and found at least somewhat successful:

Black Bean Chili (think lots of beans)

Quiche 

Lasagna

Penne w/ Tuna and Red Onion

Homemade Pizza (one of our favorites... it's all in the dough)

Burritos

Whole Wheat Spaghetti w/ garlic zucchini and fresh tomato

Ravioli or Tortellini (get it fresh or frozen.  frozen is cheaper. fresh is probably better)

tuna wraps (doesn't sound great, but this was my favorite new meal)

Grilled Cheese and tomato soup

Potato and Corn Chowder (an old favorite minus the ham... and I think it's just as good without it)

I also ran across a recipe for a meatless entree called Mexican Lasagna (a casserole type thing).  Sounds good.  I haven't tried it yet.

 If I think the meal is lacking enough protein, I serve green beans.

We eat salad and steamed vegetables on the side mostly or sometimes just raw vegetables. Nolan really likes sweet peppers raw.  He also prefers cooked green vegetables over most other food.  Weirdo. 

I think that's all I have to say about our eating habits.  How's that?  

Animals: Wild, Raw, Cooked and Otherwise

I cooked meat for dinner on Thursday.  It was the first time in 2 weeks.  I cooked it special because the missionaries ate at our house.  We aren't vegetarian (After all, we did eat the meat after I cooked it) but just decided to cut back on meat.  Like way back.  As in, I'd prefer not to eat it ever, but will sometimes for the sake of other people.  I was reminded of this preference when I handled it raw.  Gross!  I could go a long time without eating meat if it means I don't have to deal with it raw.  The meal was very tasty, but not worth the consequent full, unhealthy, slightly heavy, lethargic feeling.  For me, life without meat isn't so bad.

After dark that same night, we needed to go outside for something and upon opening the door, were greeted by one of these:

(the deer, not the angel... this pretty photo is not my own)

She met us face to face.  Four of her friends were scattered across our lawn.  We were all startled.

Later the same evening, I opened the door to take some compost out and right at my feet was this ugly little fellow (probably anticipating a compost delivery):

(Don't ever let anyone tell you they're cute.)  

He ran away.  My heart nearly did too.

I'm going to start being more cautious when I open my door at night.  Who knows what could greet me in the future?  I'm thinking: Cougars.

Speaking of wild animals  

This one has taken up growling as his primary mode of communication.  It's a real setback to language development when your child favors animal over human sounds.  We had a similar experience with Nolan.

Summary:

Vegetables are good.

Close up animals are spooky.

Child is crazy wild.