Pictures from the Beach

This photo is not going on the Christmas card, but it probably should.

Our friends from Salt Lake, the Cards

She'll kill me when she sees this posted

Nate, clearly not getting soaked in the icy December water

Which one do you think is stronger? Marshall or Tyler?

I still love the haircut, even more so blowing in the wind

Possibly my favorite picture ever.

Haircut

Before:On a whim, while getting Evan and Rebi's hair neat around the edges, we convinced Ellie to get a haircut. She's been unhappy with her curse hair for quite some time, but didn't want it short. That is, until Rebi exerted her big sister "peer" pressure. And then the lady "trimming" it told her she had enough to donate to Locks for Love.

And here are the results:

Tell me how you really feel

Being the last week before Christmas, my life is so leisurely that I have loads of time for introspection. If you have loads of time to give me new personal crises to mull over, feel free to go here:
http://kevan.org/johari?name=frizzlefry

and tell me how you really feel. You can leave a name so I can pester you as to WHY you feel that way about me the next time I see you, or you are welcome to remain anonymous. I can worry myself to sleep every night with or without full disclosure.

Thanks Katz. I was a little short on angst in my life.

Crap! I forgot the cookies for the piano recital!

Come on Over!

Because we are having 10-12 girls over tonight, I have cleaned my house (well, kind of, but a triumph for me, none the less).

Feel free to stop by and witness the Christmas miracle. But don't expect too much. The slave labor around here is really not of the best quality!

So Not Happening

I had lofty plans to make cinnamon rolls for the neighbors for Christmas gifts. I made 2 pans last night. They were yummy.

Informed Consumerism

As a family, our social studies experiment for the next year is on consumerism. For a long time, it has really bothered me that we spend loads of money on items that then clutter up my house. I have been curtailing my own spending, but I admit I still can't resist a good sale. Especially if I can justify it as something we need. But really, how many T shirts can a 6-year old need at once? Especially the 6-year old that insists on wearing the same shirt every day?

So, I don't buy a lot of non-useful items- certainly not much in the way of furniture, decorations, matching dishes, or DVD's. Mostly everything we buy is books, clothes, toys. And, the volume of paper that comes in the mail and home from the school is beyond my capabilities to deal with.

However, even with all of this internal conflict, I haven't really been able to put into words why I feel the way I do or why I want to change things, aside from getting clutter under control. So, this movie came through on a mailing list I'm on and it helped put a few things into words for me. And the kids agreed it is something we can work on.

Please know, the video is 20 minutes long. The part of it that we needed to hear was under the tab labeled consumption, and you could just watch that part if you wanted to. Also, the video is quite liberal, with a healthy dose of politics thrown in. We had to ignore that. We also had to discuss-as a family- how some issues have been over simplified, some have been exaggerated and at least one fact was wrong. But, the message remains the same. We need to be more intelligent and purposeful about our consumption. Let me know what you think, and in the meantime we will keep you posted on how the battle goes to get our lives under control here.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

http://www.storyofstuff.com/pdfs/annie_leonard_footnoted_script.pdf

Timothy Tyler (a tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)

Once Upon a Time, there was a little boy named Tyler. Tyler loved to trick people. He especially loved to play jokes on his Sunday School teachers. He liked to trick them with math questions, stump them on hang man, and play other minor practical jokes. His teachers liked to stop me in the hall to share a giggle over his pranks. Sometimes, I didn’t even run the other way in fear.

Tyler hated it that after a few weeks, his teachers would figure him out, or someone would think to warn them, or I might even give them the heads up and his pranks would no longer work. So, while other kids would mourn teachers leaving, he would rejoice. Someone new to torture.

Once Upon a Time, about 3 months ago, Tyler got a new teacher. She is lovely. And, Tyler was happy with her. Not only was she genuinely soft spoken and kind, she was apparently good for some long term teasing. Is there anyone who can’t see where this story is going? Shall we add a little dialogue?

L: “I’ve been meaning to ask you, which name do you prefer for your son?” (and I’m trying to remember which of the 3 she means and why)
Me: You mean Tyler?
L: Oh, so he normally goes by Tyler? (She has certainly noticed the puzzled look on my face by now. Hasn’t she?)
Me: Well, yeah. He goes by Tyler.
L: So is his name Tyler Timothy, or Timothy Tyler?
Me: Umm, neither. His name is Tyler Scott (more puzzled look, now bordering on concerned)
L: So he’s been telling me to call him Timothy for no reason?

I felt bad for laughing, but at that point a giggle escaped me and it all clicked in place. He has been messing with her brain for three months!

Once Upon a Time, there was a boy named Tyler who got busted. I hope she’s not too nice to pull a fast one on him in return!

And do you know what Timothy pulled tonight? He convinced me to take him to a local pizza place for a going away party for his friend that is moving. Except after playing a few video games, it was pretty obvious the “friend” wasn’t really coming. Tyler was sincerely sorry later. And we did have fun.