A Dave Story

Yesterday there was a drug rep lunch at around 11:30. She brought some In-N-Out burgers and fries for the lunch. Unfortunately Dave was tied up and couldn't make it 'til about 4pm. When he got to the room everyone was gone (of course) but he could still smell the In-N-Out burgers. So, he decided to look for them. He found a bunch of burgers in the trash, under some other things, and so he took one out, heated it in the microwave and ate it. Does anybody else see a problem with this?

Remembering Mom

We had a lovely get-together with a few of my mom's friends. Mostly we just sat and visited. A few have moved to other areas in SD so it was fun for everyone to catch up. I served cinnamon rolls and juice and water. I asked on friend to bring fruit and another to bring a jello salad-type thing. The fruit was really the only thing that got eaten. I think maybe 1 cinnamon roll was gone. I had forgotten that everyone is on a diet so next time I will plan food that everyone can eat -- probably just plain fruits and veggies. We had a lovely time. One friend brought over some flowers for me to set out on display and then take to the cemetary at a later time. I took the kids with me to the cemetary last weekend. I explained to Calvin that a cemetary is where we bury the dead people. He said, "Mom, are there any bones there . . .like dinosaur bones?" I thought it was such a cute question. I realized I did a teriible job explaining a cemetary to him. He also asked "Is it going to be gross?" I assured him the bodies were far under the ground and in safe boxes! Calvin actually really enjoyed the cemetary. We wandered all around and he wanted to know the name on every headstone. He did ask at one point where his was and I told him he wasn't dead (yet) so he doesn't have a headstone. We did find another Calvin there but there was a different last name and he was interested in seeing that. Next time we go to the cemetary I think I need to focus more on teaching Calvin that all those headstones represent people in heaven rather than talking about the people underneath the headstone since that is really the important part. Below are a few pictures. I don't have a picture of all the friends becuase I didn't have my camera out that day. Hopefully, I'll get one from those who did bring cameras and be able to post it later.



I thought this pic was very sweet. Little Clare looking at the name "Clare" just in front of her.

Reading the Bible

Calvin attends a Christian Preschool that is associated with the Christian Church where the preschool takes place. As such, they learn Christian virtues and have Christ centered themes such as "Jesus loves you" and things like that. As a gift when the kids first started school they sent a bible home for each family so that the families would know what the kids are reading at school (as far as the BIBLE is concerned) and also so that families could study the Bible with the kids at home. Calvin's class reads one bible story a week. I am glad I have a copy of Calvin's little bible so that I can see what they will be reading and we can discuss it at home. I am also interested in seeing how accurate the translation is. Every time I read a story in the little bible I go to my King James Bible to compare stories and I have found the kids' version to be accurate for the most part. I have also found that I am learning a lot from studying the Bible (King James) and paying close attention to all the details. The kids bible is illustrated with silly cartoons and has simple sentences. It is kind of funny to see. The kids seem to like it. Someone asked what the publisher/name of the book was so I'm including a picture below. And one of the stories. (I'm not necessarily trying to endorse this little Bible, I'm just sharing what Calvin's school is like and showing you the funny illustrations on the book.)

I am glad Calvin is going to a Christian school where he can learn good things like loving each other, loving Jesus, saying prayer before snack time, and celebrate Easter and Christmas, etc. Public schools have gone way overboard (in my opinion) in trying to cut out anything that is not 100% politacaly correct, or at least they have in this area. When I was growing up we did Christmas, Hanukkah and learned all about those things and now it is forbidden to mention anything having to do with religion.

Who'd Be a Juggler?

Last night, in front of thousands of people,
he placed a pencil on his nose
and balanced a chair upright on it
while he spun a dozen plates behind his back.
Then he slowly stood on his head to read a book
at the same time as he transferred the lot
to the big toe of his left foot.
They said it was impossible.

This morning, in our own kitchen,
I ask him to help with the washing-up-
so he gets up, knocks over a chair,
trips over the cat, swears, drops the tray
and smashes the whole blooming lot!
You wouldn't think it was possible.

-Cicely Herbert

One of my friends brought over a couple of books of poetry collections for the kids (and me). I have been reading them all week and loved it! This one was one of my favorites. It made me think of Dave :) (except dave doesn't swear). Last night he cleaned the kichen while I was at choir practice. Choir is super fun but becoming quite an ordeal. I was there last night from 5-10pm. Dave has been great to babysit and have no spouse on sunday afternoon/evening without complaining!

P.S. The party was great. I'll post some pictures and notes on it sometime soon.

Quick Quotes

From Calvin:
"Mom, I'm going to name my cat Evan" ( he doesn't have a cat and dave doesn't have a dog)
"Dad, what are you going to name your dog? I think you should call it Calvin"


From Dave:
"hey, Denise. Calvin ate a nail this morning. Oh, and I think Clare ate one yesterday. I think it'll be fine but if they start having severe stomach pain you should proably take them to the hospital."

From Denise:
"Like Father like Son" (Referring to Calvin's SEVEN CAVITITES. He had his first trip to the dentist this week. He was very cooperative and I wish he hadn't been becuase then they wouldn't have found all the cavities.)

leopard shark picture

This didn't work on the last post so here it is again.

Sea Kayaking

Yesterday we went to the beach with some friends to go sea kayaking. Below is a picture of the sea kayak just like the one we used. I didn't bring the camera so I just found a pic that was like our kayak. It seated two people and you aren't strapped in at all. We had a good time. The hardest part is just getting out to the ocean through the waves. The beach we were at didn't have big waves so it wasn't too much of a problem.

Dave and I went out for a while and then we went back to shore to pick up calvin. He was pretty scared as we went out past the waves but then he thought it was great. He took a turn rowing the boat and loved to see the sharks and fish. He went out alone with dave (and sat in the front seat all by himself) a couple more times thoroughout the day. He loved it! And is talking about going to do it again soon. One time when dave and Calvin were coming into shore Dave flipped the boat on a big wave and calvin went into the water. ( dave would proably want me to insert that it was not his fault the kayak flipped but as they were coming in he had to turn to avoid some people and it made the boat rock.) Calvin was a trooper about that and said the big waves were kind of scary but still wanted to go out again. I was impressed!






Very near shore was a school of 100 or more leopard sharks. They sit pretty near the sand and are completely harmless. It was amazing to sit in our little boat and see dozens below us. There were also people out snorkling and scuba diving and swimming but I would not be comforable swimming with them even though they are not the kind that bite. They range in size from 3-7 feet. It was neat!

Old-Fashioned Rasin Filled Cookies

I have been cooking today for . . .ummmm... 3 hours already and I'm still not done with all the cookies. These are a cookie that a raisin lover will die over and everyone else will think is gross. I am making them for the Mom's party in a few days. They freeze perfecty so they are great to do ahead of time. Here's the recipe for those of you who love raisins or know someone who does love them! They are a lot of work and make a big mess.

Clare helped me in the kitchen for a while this morning. I told her we were making cookies. She was very excited to come help. Before I even finished creaming the butter she was saying "ahhhh .... cookie" (meaning "I want a bite of cookie"). She tasted the dough at every stage and thought it was great everytime.


Old-Fashioned Raisin Filled Cookies

½ cup butter
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
2 ¼ cup flour
2 t baking powder
½ t salt
2 T milk
½ t vanilla

Cream butter. Add sugar and egg, and beat until fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Add vanilla. Prepare raisin filling
Roll dough out to ¼ inch thick. Cut with cookie cutter about 3 inches in diameter. Add 1 teaspoon to center and fold over and press edges together with fingers or a fork. Prick the top with fork. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until just done.

Raisin filling
2 cups chopped raisins
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
1 t lemon juice

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook on low heat until thick, stirring constantly. Cool.


Quick note from denise: Today I doubled the recipe and I ended up with lots of extra raisin filling ( I always do). So, next time I'm going to try doubling the dough part and just increasing the raisin filling by 1/2. I think it'd be perfect.


About the color change on the blog. The dark blue was getting too dark. I'm not sure I love what I have now (and didn't even plan on making it scarlet and grey) so bear with me as I make some changes. I love looking at all the blogs that are so beautifully done. I don't think mine will ever be great but I'd like it to be somewhat plesant to look at!

Grocery Store Grump

Yesterday we had a little run-in with a guy in the grocery store. Calvin and I were looking at the singing hallmark cards and clare was smelling candles next to us. The kids were actually pretty well behaved for the moment. ( and we have had some real bad moments this week in other stores/ public places). Anyway, clare bumped our cart which in turn bumped the guy standing behind her (he was also looking at cards). He turned around and said to me "can you control your children. If you're going to bring your kids into the store you need to control them" It appeared that his temper was barely under control. I was so shocked that he was upset because really the kids were being fine. So I said, "okay" but didn't really do anything. The lady sanding next to me turned around and told the guy that "she's just little" (referring to clare). He told her that he didn't "appreciate being annoyed by other people's kids." She told him that if he felt this way he should probably leave until we were all done looking at cards. He said he was going to customer service to report my kids and she offered to accompany him to the front of the store. Then he huffed and puffed and went back to reading his cards. It thought it was funny that he was so riled up about it all. I think we was probably just annoyed by listening to 3 different singing cards at once, but that was just because there were three of us (the lady, me and Calvin) all reading separate cards. Calvin was putting each card right back where it came from after he listened to it. Clare (for once) wasn't throwing cards all over the floor. Anyway, I also got a kick out of the lady who stood up for us. She was probably more upset than I was though I admit it hurt my feelings to be yelled at for having such annoying kids. It also made me appreciate all the other times when the kids really have been HORRIBLE and nobody has said anything about it.

oh, and if you haven't seen all those singing cards, you should check them out! They are pretty fun!

Go Buckeyes!

Last weekend we went to the UCLA BYU game up at the Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl is UCLA's home stadium and also the location of the Rose Bowl (bowl game in Jan). It is quite far away from UCLA's campus so it isn't the typical college football experience. The student section isn't huge. The Rose Bowl never sells out -- except for the actual bowl game. The BYU section at this game was pretty large.




We went with our good friends Joseph and Tracy Larson. They live about an hour north of us. The Rose Bowl is another 90 min. north of them in Pasadena. This picture was taken right at the end of the game. you might be able to see the score board in the background. BYU lost 27 to 17. The first half was ridden with mistakes for the Y and they were down quite a bit by the half. The second half was a fun game and it was pretty close for most of the half. I though BYU played pretty well but their penalties and turnovers cost them the game.

I sure miss Columbus and Ohio State football on Saturday. The UCLA game was fun but not even comparable to an OSU game. The crowd was dead in contrast to the lively OSU stadium. Anyway, they always say there is a big difference between football out west and in the mid-west/south/east. We can see why they say that! Still, it is pretty fun to go to a game!

We hope to someday go back to the Rose Bowl for the bowl game when OSU is playing there. It happens frequently since the winner of the BIG 10 usually plays the PAC 10 winner there (unless they are in a championship game).

Thanks to my dad for getting Dave and I matching BYU shirts!

Clare at Sea World

I added this picture last mintue becuase the one below is not as cute (and I meant to post this one originally).

Clare is terrified of all the animals at sea world. the picture below shows how she sat through the sea lion and otter show. She doesn't like dolphins either and is even more terrified of Shamu (the one and only time we went to that show she was shaking the entire time). It all started a few months ago on our first visit she was startled/scared of the dolphins popping up out of the water and ever since then she has been scared of all the sea animals!

She does like penguin exhibit and the birds that hang out at the park.


There is a great kids play area at Sea World. WE went there last week to play one last time before it closes down for a year long rennovation.
Clare prefers eating and just chillin' to playing with the other kids.



There is a giant sand area with lots of big trucks and several other fun areas, playgrounds, etc. to play at.

Firsts

Today was Calvin's first day of preschool. He has been very excited about school for the last week or two. This morning he kept saying "Mom, why do you have to come in? Why don't you just drop me off and I'll go in by myself. Okay?" I thought it was kind of funny. And, I do have to take him in to sign in and then sign out when I pick him up. I had previously been worried that he'd cry or not want to go or something like that but after we saw his class on Friday he knew it was going to be great. Clare was pretty bummed not to get to stay and play.

Clare's first words this morning when I went to get her out of bed were, "I want a cookie." I thought maybe I didn't hear her right but sure enough she led me right to where the cookies were. (she didn't get one). Yesterday I made cookies around 4 in the afternoon. We were able to convince Clare that they were "hot, hot" until after dinner when she was able to have one. Clare loves sweets. She says cookie clear as a bell. It is one of her newer words.


PS. The weather is back to perfect. My 50th b-day party is Sept. 18th. I'm still trying to figure out what to do for food, etc.

The Heat!

You've probably never heard so much complaining about heat from someone in SD but seriously, this is crazy. Today the high is 105. We spent the morning at the beach. It was the most beautiful day at the beach I have seen. (I'm pretty sure I think that everytime I go to the beach -- but really today was great). The waves were really big and clear. The water was cool and refreshing. It was great.

Today would have been my Mom's 50th birthday. It is weird to think of her as being 50 since she never even turned 42 before she died. 50 sounds old and 42 sounds younger (as I get older). I wonder what we'd be doing today if she were around. I am planning a little brunch/party with some of her friends to celebrate her birthday and just to have the chance to see them all. It will be in a couple of weeks. I haven't gotten invitations out but will do so either tonight or tomorrow, I hope. I am glad I didn't plan it for this week because it is too hot to have people over to my house.

Football Saturday!

Are you excited?!! We sure are!

Here are some of the highlights of the day (so far) . ..

Dave woke up early with Calvin and put on his OSU jersey! Calvin is also wearing an OSU shirt. Oh, how we miss Columubs on a day like today. And, OSU won. :)

Michigan lost to a AA team! CRAZY! They were ranked #5 pre season and now they'll probably drop out of the rankings. Dave wonders if they'll fire Lloyd Carr right now. He is 0-3 v. OSU the last three years which doesn't help his case at all. Plus they have all returning players, a 4th year starting QB, a RB that was a Heisman candidate . .. .they should not be losing the opening game to a AA team. It is the first time in history a AA team has beaten a ranked team. Ouch!

BYU won! I'm not as true blue as many but since we're going to the game next week (at UCLA) I hope they have a decent team so that that game isn't totally miserable. And, I hope it cools off by then. Today it is 100 degrees here at our house. That is hot for us! (we don't run AC) We are a bit inland and today there is a 15 degree difference between us and the coast. I think we'll head down to the beach later tonight to enjoy the beautiful day. In SD September is still a summer month so we have a while to wait before we start having a trend of cooler days. I will miss the Ohio fall -- weather, trees changing, and Buckeye fever! It is rumored that OSU is playing USC down here next year though it is not on the schedule. If they are coming Dave will do everything in his power to get the day off and get tickets to go (with me of course).


Speaking of football and ohio -- did you hear about the high school prank at the Hilliard Darby V. Hillard Davidson? It was pretty funny and made national news. There is a video posted on You Tube that we thought was interesting. I don't know how to insert it here, but I'll paste the link below. The thing I like about this prank is that it was well thought out and didn't hurt anyone or damage any property. The kids who planned it were still punished (of course) but I think all sports people have gotten a big kick out of it.

Here is the link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Y_AkT7PEM

Here is a link to a newspaper article:
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/highschool/news/story?id=2997862