Beren After First Day of Kindergarten

Tooth Fairy Where art Thou?

Big day at our house today. Beren couldn't quite make it to the first day of kindergarten before shedding teeth. He lies in bed as I speak, dreaming of the untold wealth accruing beneath his pillow. Earlier today he tried to convince me that said fairy leaves gifts as well as lucre. Nice try buddy! Gotta save something for Santa.

The Rice Crispy Rameumptom

*Warning: If you are not a Mormon, this post will make no sense whatsoever.
So in my youth Sunday School class, we just got to the part about Alma and his bretheren going on a mission to reclaim the apostate Zoramites. When they get there, they discover the people have indeed gone astray and are worshipping by climbing to the the top of a tower (Rameumptom=Holy Stand), reciting a very unhumble "prayer" and then forgetting about God entirely until the following week. This was my idea to help the kids remember the story. Naturally we had to tear down that tower and consume it! One of them even tried to devour the Lego Zoramite, but I restrained him.

What Goes Through The Mind of a Five Year Old?

On the way to church today, we got the following two questions from Beren out of nowhere.

1) Is metal harder than concrete?

2) Is power invisible?

It's like he's secretly building a mad scientist's bunker and had a few things he couldn't work out just yet.

Paul Senior's Got Nothin On Me!

You lookin at me?! Are YOU looking at me??!!!!

Behold . . . the auto!

Halleluia! Hosanna! Yee-haw! The great car search is over. Peace can once again reign in Castle Mowrer. Better make that that Hovel Mowrer since we are now financially of the peasant class. Oh well, we can always live in our car :). Long may it transport us thither and yon while watching DVD's, loafing on leather, and coasting along on cruise control. Ahhhhh . . . my Sienna, how I love thee. There ought to be a song . . .

Berenisms: Consumer Reports

It's that time again. Time to replace our tired old cars, or at least one of them. Heather picked up the latest edition of Consumer Reports Used Car Buying Guide. I kid you not, Beren has read that guide EASILY 10 times more than Heather and I put together. And, since he can actually read, and not just look at the pictures, he takes great pleasure in letting people know how desirable their cars are. We've had several talks about how it is not appropriate to tell Brother Soandso that their Chevy whatever is a terrible car because the 2005 redesign introduced clumsy handling and a harsh ride.. When he discovered that Grandma's car was a Consumer Reports 'best bet', he had to call her that night and share the great news.

He's 5. FIVE. As in one year for every finger on your right hand (based on the average hand, actual finger counts may vary).

What have we gotten ourselves into? I can only hope he'll use his powers for good.

Girls Night Out!

So these chicks are my homies from the Yamhill Ward. We've been through a lot together . . . Sunday school, seminary, high school, and in some cases, college. Amazingly, we were all together in one place and are still so smokin', how could we not get together? Going clockwise from the left this is Sara Walker, Sarah Webster, Mindy Judd, Me, and Rachel Rollins (Rachel made me swear I would post that she is prego in this pic). So is Sarah (Blanchard) Webster., but more newly so.

CRUISE REUNION #3

For those who may not remember, we made a couple of great friends on our first cruise 2 years ago. Since that time, Windy (Washington) and Brian (California) have come to see us annually to rekindle the joy.

We went on the Willamette jetboats this time which was totally fun, if a little damp. Brian graciously yielded his seat on the edge to me for the return trip. Hence my bespeckled teeshirt and hair that took two days to comb through. What a gentleman.




Chilling out at Saturday Market.


Okay, you have to admit, this is some killer photography. Too bad our friends had to suffer for my art.


Eric was so exhilarated when he found out he was getting two board games for his birthday that he transformed into Vishnu and promptly wet himself.

Beren's 5th Birthday!

Beren, on the day he turned five, practicing his French Stewart impression

For his birthday activity, Beren chose to go to the Children's museum. Though I have hope for him to evidence theatrical tendencies, he seems to have inherited a disturbing amount of his father's minimalism. Out of the whole wardrobe room in the theater, all he wanted were the shoes.

His favorite place was the simulated grocery store. You can't tell from the photo, but he was very thorough. He passed every single item over the scanner individually even if the customer had millions of things in his/her cart.



Daddy had fun too. A little too much really.

Beren ponders the all important birthday wish . . . What would my mother want? Should I wish her a new dress, a new car, one full night of restful sleep? I wish I knew.

The Halls Grace us With Their Washingtonian Presence

Don't be fooled by this stoic image. Moments before they were going down the slide and screaming like little girls.

This is their new chunk baby, Blake.

What goes up . . .

. . . Must come down.

Berenisms

Dad: Some day you'll be as tall as I am. I'm done growing taller, but you're still going.

Beren: You're as old as you can get, huh?

Dad: lol. Something like that.

Why Can't Vacations Last Forever?

What happens in Mexico stays in Mexico! Just kidding . . . they're virgin :).

Scuba anyone? We almost didn't think we were gonna be able to do this. It was rather intimidating and felt extremely awkward at first. Fortunatley we persevered and lived.

Eric had this dress made for me for my birthday. Isn't he great? I got to pick the fabric, go to fittings etc. and pick the style.

Four-wheeling in Mazatlan. I could do this all day. Really.

Lunch at Pipis! We discovered the restuarant in 1996 and it became a favorite. Going back was pure nostalgic joy!

Beren Asserts His Independence

All I want is a picture of my little boy practicing his talk for primary . . . smiling. Is that too much to ask?

It's my birfday!

What can I say? Twenty-five never felt so good!

Happy Valentines(ish) Day!

So if you read "Brallierfest" (and you really should)you already know about this, but for those of you who secretly resent Becki for her lightning-quick posting ability (her kids probably went hungry just so she could get hers up first) here is my more leisurely post about the same event. On February 16th we went to a stake dance together. We ate, we danced, we irritated older couples by taking tons of pictures and hiding in the decorative bushes and we played Balderdash in the gameroom (the reason Eric consented to go). They had a cool floor show with "Lion Dancers" (see pic) who shredded some lettuce from the Stake President's hand. We did not eat this symbolic salad, but a good time was had by all.

I like to call this one: "Jolly Bralliers" OR "Handsome and the Hottie" OR "We're so happy to be friends with the Mowrers we can't stop grinning like maniacs"

The Nose Plays

Beren clutches mom's sleeve in Blockbuster . . .
Beren: Did someone say my name?
Mom: No, I don't think so. Did you hear someone say it?
Beren: (in confidential tones) It's coming from inside my nose.
Mom: (Chortle, guffaw, chuckle etc.)

Later on that evening . . .
Mom: Is there still someone talking inside your nose?
Beren: (with great disdain) No Mom! That only happens about once a week.

The Golden Princess

3/15/2008
3/22/2008

Nuff said?

Fleeting Sanity?

For just the briefest of moments today, I was reading a forum post on BGG and suddenly felt incredibly disturbed that the text of the page was straight up and down and was likely to fall off the bottom of the screen if I didn't tilt the monitor backwards immediately.

I have no idea what this means.