Magical trip to the North Pole

This past weekend we ventured to the North Pole on the famous Polar Express (made famous by Chris Van Allsburg). We went with three other families I met at education classes.

Ok, ok...we didn't really go to the North Pole, but we had a great time pretending.

First we boarded our train, waiting in sub-zero temps to get on. Doesn't it look fancy?


Then while en route the kids played peekaboo with each other (B is the one with the hat).


After a dramatic story-telling at the train depot, everyone got a bell to take home and the opportunity to sit on Santa's lap.


It was very well done. We'll probably go again in a couple of years when Bea will actually remember going. She had a good time.

Little old lady

Here is a video of our little old lady. She's a little unstable, but is determined to get where she wants to go.

The summer is going by quickly, and the 21st will be B's 1st birthday. I can hardly believe it. Where did the year go?

She can say a couple of words (mama, dada, hi, all done), but understands much more. No teeth yet, but she'll probably be getting some soon. B enjoys eating and is the best eater in her daycare (according to one teacher). Her hair is coming in, but she still has the Caesar 'do. She loves to play in the dog bowls and hear the echo of her voice (apparently the acoustics are superb). Pat the Bunny is her favorite book. She love's to put her finger in Paul's mommy's ring and sniff the flowers. She can nearly climb into the tub and is likes to stand at the baby gate while I cook dinner. This morning I barely caught her by the ankle as she scooted underneath our bed. She's fast, I tell ya! She has no fear of the water, which is quite scary.

What a fabulous summer to be 1!

Speed Demon

Well, nothing is safe in the house any more. As you can see in the above video, B has decided the army crawl will be her mode of transportation. Nothing is safe. Bates tolerates her well, considering her main goal in life is to steal his toys.

Hail

I forgot to mention that a couple of weeks ago we had damaging hail. It happened while we were at work, and both of our cars were on campus. The Mountaineer didn't' get any damage, but the Civic has about 10 small dings all over it. I'm assuming the thickness of the car body had something to do with it???

When I walked out of work, the hail was everywhere. I just had to take this picture.

I just can't resist..wink wink

This is too good to pass up

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=453199&in_page_id=1811

However, the second picture concerning the queens reaction doesn't really match.

;)

Survey results (a year and a half later)

OK -- The results are in...well, they've been in for a long long time. In September 2005 I asked Harry Potter fans to answer a short survey about Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book #6). In preparation of the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book #7) I thought I would post the results.


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Have your read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?

Yes 88.9% (8)
No 11.1% (1) Thanks Mum for taking the survey!

Which statement best reflects your views about Snape:
I think Snape is a good guy 44.4% (4)
I think Snape is a bad guy (0)
I think Snape is neither a good or bad guy (0)
I think Snape is both a good and bad guy 44.4% (4)
Who's Snape? 11.1% (1)

Why did you answer #2 the way you did?
1. Good & Bad: The Connection - WBUR Interview Transcript 12 Oct 1999 What about Snape? JKR: Snape is a very sadistic teacher, loosely based on a teacher I myself had, I have to say. I think children are very aware and we are kidding ourselves if we don't think that they are, that teachers do sometimes abuse their power and this particular teacher does abuse his power. He's not a particularly pleasant person at all. However, everyone should keep their eye on Snape, I'll just say that because there is more to him than meets the eye and you will find out part of what I am talking about if you read Book 4. No, I'm not trying to drum up more sales, go to the library and get it out. I'd rather people read it. One of our internet correspondents wondered if Snape is going to fall in love. JKR: (JKR laughs) Who on earth would want Snape in love with them? That's a very horrible idea. There's an important kind of redemptive pattern to Snape JKR: He, um, there's so much I wish I could say to you, and I can't because it would ruin. I promise you, whoever asked that question, can I just say to you that I'm slightly stunned that you've said that and you'll find out why I'm so stunned if you read Book 7. That's all I'm going to say.

2. Good Guy: Maybe I just like Alan Rickman (who does play a great villain) but I think Snape is up to something that Dumbledore started and Snape is going to have to finish. He's spent too much time protecting the "good guys" and too many of his "bad guy" characteristics can be explained away (eg Dumbledore also asked him to protect his students, re: Malfoy). Did he totally take out Dumbledore or is the portrait of the headmaster going to play a part in the future? Or will Dumbledore do a Gandalf? (I think the phoenix is the key here.) Just some speculations.

3. Good & Bad: It makes him a more interesting and fully dimensional character.

4. Who's Snape? Must read those books. Mum

5. Good & Bad guy: I think that there has to be some reason that Dumbledore trusted Snape. He couldn't have been that wrong! I think Snape is a jerk, though. But he had to kill Dumbledore, or Malfoy would die.

6. Good Guy: Snape had to protect Draco (from the Unbreakable Vow) and I think the only way to do that was to kill, or appear to kill, Dumbledore. I suspect Dumbledore is still alive. The book makes a big deal about unspoken spells and I think either he or Snape did one to counteract the killing curse. Also, Snape's excuse for not killing Harry was weak. He probably could've captured Harry or hurt him a lot.

7. Good & Bad: I think Snape has potential to go both ways, he seems to feel obligated to "do the right thing" in certain areas, yet is unable to be totally good or bad.

B's first attempt at solids...

Two weeks ago we started B on solids. First stop: rice cereal... and maybe a face shield for mom!

Heaven is.....

.....being spoonfed mashed avocados

Cold!

B-B-B-BRRRR! It's cold!!!!

Ice crystals melting on Clay's eyelashes/brows after taking Bates for a walk.

P.S. Go Colts (okay, okay, it's really "go Peyton." Right, ladies?).

Ah...the weekend

My top favorite things about this weekend:

DVD. A viewing of In July (funniest moment: the final result of a physics instructor figuring out how fast he has to drive to jump over a small river) on Friday night.

Children's store. A trip to Lots for Tots (children's consignment store): found another baby gate, a set of wooden blocks, one pair of white socks and a hanging toy that fills the missing spot on our bouncy seat.

MMMM....food. A well needed trip to Sam's Club to stock up on supplies. Best find: Cuties California Clementines, clementines that taste better than any other clementine I've ever tasted. I loved to eat these in CA, but haven't found them in Minnesota until yesterday. I've tried other brands over the years, hoping for the taste of a California Cutie....yuck yuck yuck. I am in heaven and will go back and get 20 more pounds.

[pause...clementine break]

Cooking. An afternoon spent in the kitchen..I boiled eggs, made an apple crisp and began my yogurt making experiment.

Homemade yogurt. I decided to make my own yogurt because it seems relatively easy, is cheaper than buying store-bought yogurt, is a food B will be eating soon and is rumored to be very creamy and super sweet (not tart like store-bought yogurt). I followed the directions from Super Baby Food. In a nut shell you 1) heat milk to approx. 185 degrees, 2) cool milk to approx. 115 degrees, 3) add starter (either a packet of bacteria or a couple spoonfuls of yogurt), 4) incubate between 90 and 120 degrees for 4-12 hours. Steps 1-3 were fairly easy, but step 4 proved to be a little more difficult. If I lived in the Middle East or Riverside, CA, I could just put the yogurt mixture outside and wait. But I live in Duluth. So I used my half-gallon Igloo Playmate water jug. I'm not sure how long it really took, as I went to bed after 5 hours of incubation and at 3AM took it out of the cooler. I put it in the fridge and this morning I had my own home-made yogurt. It smelled and tasted like yogurt, so I must have done something right.

Scrabble. A Saturday night game of Scrabble with my husband...a complete game. He won by just a handful of points. Background music: The Lawrence Welk Show

A giggle. I think B giggled on Saturday, but I can't say for sure. I made a tent out of a blanket with both of us underneath it. I started tickling her, and she made some strange laughing noise she hadn't made before. It wasn't a squeal, it wasn't a scream, but more like a chuckle.

The Heater. The heater decided to quit working....on a Sunday...on one of the coldest days of the year. It was only a condensation pressure switch, but it cost $173 to fix.

Overall, a great weekend!

Yo, Rocky!

I love the new movie Rocky Balboa...it has me whistling Rocky's theme song all the time. Clay and I went and saw it last week. My parents watched B while we went. All said, we were gone exactly 2 hours and she slept the whole time. so all my worrying during the film was for nothing. Maybe it was because it's the first movie I've seen in a theatre since The DaVinci Code and An Inconvenient Truth this summer. Maybe it was because it was my first "fun" thing without the baby (Christmas shopping, car shopping and a CPR class don't count). I found the movie very endearing even though I think boxing is a dumb sport.

So last night...we watched Rocky I
Tonight it's Rocky II

:)

We've had to wait a week to rent them. There must be a big demand for these old flicks.