New Camera!

I've wanted a Canon Rebel for some time as my pitiful Kodak point and shoot left much to be desired. Thankfully, Bryan is now employed again (and not a moment too soon!) and it became economically feasible to make the plunge into SLR world. We just brought home the new addition yesterday so I've not had a lot of time to play with it yet but I am already SO happy with the results:



Ignore the dirty face in this one--is there a way to Photoshop filth from a child's face? (I'm intending to learn Photoshop too)--but I am quite pleased to be able to finally achieve (pardon the usage of a super technical term here) the blurry background behind the subject of the picture:



And while I am on the topic of new things, now is as good a time as any to introduce Albert. We adopted Albert two weeks ago--he is around 10 weeks old and the sweetest kitten EVER. And this is coming from a self-professed non-cat person. Long story short on Albert--Bryan and I had decided, despite the fact that I was not a cat person AT ALL, to get Jonathan a kitten for his fifth birthday this July. Then Arthur decided to take a nip out of my lip. He'd done the same thing about two years ago and Bryan and I discussed at that time that was it, he'd gotten his "one bite free" and the next time, he was out. I love the grouchy dear but having a dog who bites with no forewarning is absolutely unacceptable, especially when combined with a child. Luckily, my sister did not mind to add Arthur to her pack of creatures, so Arthur now lives in Georgia and we are now a cat family. So far, so good.



I was hoping for good weather today so that I could take Jonathan to a park or play ground to try out the new camera as well as the zoom lens but looks like I will have to wait until Jonathan's first soccer practice of the season tomorrow for that. Unfortunately, the rainy day today has left all three us us (Albert seems unaffected) looking much like this:

Reason 4,632 why I love Ellen DeGeneres

This quote.

"I gotta work out. I keep saying it all the time. I keep saying I gotta start working out. It's been about two months since I've worked out. And I just don't have the time. Which uh..is odd. Because I have the time to go out to dinner. And uh..and watch tv. And get a bone density test. And uh.. try to figure out what my phone number spells in words."

Nothing irks me more these days than people commenting on my workout schedule and saying something like "Oh, I wish I had the time to work out." Like I don't have a million other things going on right now? I just want to scream "Dude, make it a priority and you will be surprised about how you found the time!!"

Can you tell I have some animosity today? I need a vacation!

Wednesday rant over.

Super Bowl 2010

He didn't even make it to the kick-off.



Our Super Bowl party of three just did him in. It must have been the mass quantities of queso dip and fried food that I prepared for the occasion. Jonathan sat back on the couch, said that he was taking a break from eating his chicken and promptly passed out. One day this may be him at a college party after too much beer, where falling asleep so early could earn him a date with a Sharpie. Or worse.

But, for this time, it's just sweet, beautiful innocence.

Greats

I've been horrible about updating this blog. I've waffled on whether I wanted to continue it or just give it up. I'm so anal about doing things in order that I've wondered if I can ever catch up. Earlier today, while thinking about this for the millionth time, I decided that I'm not ready to let it go, at least not yet.

This decision was reached as I was looking at Jonathan, listening to him talk about something. He seemed so OLD all of a sudden, leaving me to wonder where in the world the tiny infant son I once held in my arms had gone. Then I realized, with a bit of a shock, that he will be FIVE (5!!) this year and I started to internally panic over the fact that the infant days seem so long ago that I have trouble remembering them. That made the decision for me right there--I must continue to catalog these moments so that I can more clearly remember them.

I pretty much left off with our vacation to Florida in August. While there have been a few posts since then, chronologically in my photos is a trip that we took with my grandparents to Cass, West Virginia. Mama and Papa, as they are more commonly called, are my Dad's parents. They have a "camp" as they call their house in the mountains. As a child, I went there with them several times. Papa has, pretty much since Jonathan was born, talked about taking Jonathan there. This year seemed like the right time so we went for a couple of days over Labor Day weekend.

The feeling of visiting a place with the same people with whom I visited it before, but also with my husband and my son, was pretty amazing. It also was a bit eerie as things looked much the same as I recall from my last visit twenty-ish years earlier.

The case of characters for this trip were Mama and myself,



Papa and Bryan,



Jonathan and his new friend, Davis, acquired right before this photo from the gift shop.



This wooden train was one of a few changes since my last visit. Jonathan enjoyed it quite a bit while the men in the party went to get tickets for our train ride.




The train ride to Whittaker Station was just as I recalled, but for the fact that the train cars are now covered, which is a great improvement. I promise, I really was happy to be on the train.



This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. I have no idea why. Jonathan wasn't scared by the train whistle but it was a lot louder than what his experience with his toy Thomas trains had lead him to believe.



After we left Cass, we headed back to the "camp" to eat dinner and spend the night. Just like Cass, the camp was just as I remembered it. Of note is the furniture, which looks like it came from a whore house from the 1970s.




Also worth mention is the stuffed and mounted squirrel that I killed on my first and only hunting trip with my Dad and my sister Laura; I think I was in fourth grade and she was in third. Bryan really enjoyed this part of the trip as well as the various other dead animals the living room contained, most if not all of which were "taken" by my father. I am super proud :)





We had an incredible visit. Jonathan is so lucky to have great grandparents who are still living and in good health; I feel lucky to have them as well. Sure, Papa is super political (unfortunately, not of the same persuasion as Bryan and myself) and it was a Saturday night spent much differently than we do things at home in Louisville, but memories like these cannot be taken for granted and I am certain that we will wish there were more of them.

On a lighter note, where else can you snap a photo of your precious four year old holding a plastic bear tongue obtained from a bear rug, the same plastic bear tongue that you yourself played with as a child?



Yeah, hanging out with the greats is good stuff.

Gym Etiquette, Part One

Dear Guy in Red Tank Top in Noon Spinning Today at the Downtown YMCA:

The beans or whatever you ate today for breakfast and/or morning snack were not a good choice. Further, the Y provides towels for a reason; please utilize them and do not splash your bodily fluids onto those sitting around you.

Thank you,

Chick in the blue dry-fit shirt sitting behind you on December 11

P.S. To the older man in the teensy blue biking shorts--I would say that your attire today was unacceptable but since your milk white legs are even whiter than my own, I welcome you to exercise beside me at any time. Deodorant would be a nice touch before the next class though. Or maybe a shower sometime in the last couple of days. But still, welcome. JRF

Movin' On Up

Jonathan finally outgrew his Little Tikes Roadster toddler bed. Bryan and I had been in discussions about whether to buy a new bed or just a frame or whatnot when my mother came to visit and suggested that we just cut the legs off the full-sized bed that was already in his room. Bryan busted out the saw and, voila, a "new" bed.

Jonathan and I immediately set to work finding new bedding. His initial suggestion was Spongebob. I know, shocking. I immediately nixed that idea and offered up my first pick, pirates. We eventually reached a compromise and chose this set.

I ordered everything this weekend and, thanks to Target and their super fast (and may I add FREE) shipping, it arrived today. Jonathan is thrilled with the new bedding and I am happy that it is not a licensed character. Life is all about compromise, right?

Why does he look like he's taking a poo rather than the pretend sleeping as I requested?



Oddly, this is much how I sleep at night. Seriously. I wonder if this sort of thing can be inherited?

Halloween

For the third year running, we trick-or-treated this year with our good friends, the Effingers. As always, our children had a blast hanging out and the weather was perfect for the festivities. As an added bonus, the Effingers' live in a neighborhood that strongly favors chocolate and as an even better bonus, Cindy took charge of the pictures so our photo memories are 110% better than they would have been had I been left to my measly point and shoot.

Before heading out, the kids decorated cupcakes. I found a great deal on a pirate themed set at Michaels, complete with edible images and watercolors to paint on the designs.



Despite the fact that endless whining typically occurs when I ask Jonathan to get dressed on a day to day basis, the prospect of putting on his Halloween costume magically cured him of his professed inability to dress himself:



My youngest sister, Melissa, sent Jonathan a huge box of Halloween-related gifts the week before Halloween. Included in the loot were multi-colored teeth. All three children LOVED them. Us parents did not so much love the immense amount of saliva that accompanied them. Ick.



My handsome fireman. If his career goal stays the same, he may actually dress like this for real one day: