my baby stalks the vacuum.

Like a bee to a flower, like backyard cats to cheese, like me to my inbox, Mary Tessa's desperately drawn to the vacuum.

I would have a sweet action montage here, but my camera was too sluggish. So you just get the approach and the arrival.

And, a cute video of some of her joy and rapture . . .

complete with vacuum AKA"jet-engine" background music (that unapologetically dissolves into baby-cam the last 20 seconds).

there was a little girl who had a little curl

I'm stewing--he doesn't want to kill babies.

I needed to revisit this post and these two articles to see why I think charity, good social action, and reproductive health issues are more complex than "for" or "against." The articles address why funding cannot flippantly be withdrawn from international reproductive aid programs. And if, after reading them, you still feel like saying, simplistically, "he just wants to kill babies," don't teach your five-year-old to say that on the playground.

I'm one who really avoids conflict, so this is hard for me to post, but I am feeling confronted by my inbox and my son's classmates.

a boy and his O

[while listening to NPR in the car on Inauguration Day]

Simon: Mom, what's the White House?

Alli: Can we live there?

Mom: Someone in your family has to be the President.

Simon: Mom, I have a new thing to be. . . . . . . . [dramatic pause]

Simon: President.

Alli: Mom, for President I want . . . [spoken like President is a holiday where you can receive things] . . . a . . . a street!

Simon: When I'm President I'm going to make lots of good rules. Like, Saturday . . . is Kool-aid day. Every school has to have kool-aid in their drinking fountain!

I'm so proud.

You should have seen me furiously trying to scratch down the words on an envelope at the next red light, while they all kept pursuing the conversation. It's a wild ride in the car with us, I tell you. You need to grow 7 ears. And cover 4 of them while Mary SQUAWKS along at 80 decibels and thinks she's contributing.

we miss Nanna

She bore our burdens, laughed at our jokes, played with our kids, and just made life generally jolly last week.

Nanna, thanks! We love you!

Allianna has invited you back for tomorrow, by the way.

a good day rising

We'll be leaving the house with a smile, down the driveway crafted by Nanna, Simon and Mark.

HAPPY INAUGURATION DAY!

a bit of MLKjr inspired service, as per Obama's request

We took the troops out for a very small smidge of community trash clean-up and beautification ; we made a small dent by picking up a black bag of trash for each of the six of us out of a nearby lot and did some festive chalk art for the two big days this week. Thanks Mark for taking the photos and picking up quite a bit too!

I'm sure the people who drove by when we were doing only chalking thought we were a bit kooky, but hey, this is what builds character, right?

Happy day to you and yours!

Kudos to Mark's mom for the well crafted O. She's out doing one on my driveway right now. You should come over and see it.

almost 29 in oh-9

in honor of all the 9-ey things this year, I'm snatching this list of 99 life experiences (thanks Julianne).

Things I have done already are in bold:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a Meteor Shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a Mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris (almost--I was about to get on the train to paris when i decided to fly home standby and see Mark--he'd just gotten home from his mission)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (i don't know if any of them got to edible size)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (Rhodesian Railways)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a Lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (close, does polar bear lake swimming on new year's count?)
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (it was an eventful summer in Zimbabwe)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (thanks Dad)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain (last month)
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial (very late at night with an exhausted baby Simon--thanks aaron for taking us!)
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (aren't they all speeding?)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (Mark has . . . I'm two days into my goal)
86. Visited the White House (the outside)--very briefly
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (um, no thanks?)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (only my children's . . .)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone (in)famous (kind of . . . i saw muammar ghaddafi's entourage drive by)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

I guess my Resolutions are clear: the Alamo, leaning tower of Pisa, and Disneyland.

an old family recipe.

the oldest family recipe I've ever made.

Mark's great-grandma Nothum's Christmas nut rolls.

These are full of Christmas nostalgia for us because we first had them on our honeymoon in Missouri. When we returned again to Missouri for Christmas '07 we were gifted with this copy of the recipe and with the last roll from that year's batch (which had been secreted away for such aficionados as Mark and me). ;)

and now! I've finally made them. The recipe has such a fun old world feel. Thirteen egg yolks. Pecans. Not tooooooooo sweet. Perfect. January is a jolly month after all.

if you have Nothum descendants in your family, you should make them--they're not too hard! people around you will purr!

if you're not related to a Nothum, what's your oldest family recipe? leave me a comment--this topic really intrigues me!

and finally, my oldest genetic family recipes are: green tomato pie, cobbler, swedish fried rice, rhubarb pie, swiss steak, and grilled cheese sandwiches. (i see all you taye/boones out there smiling at this list!)