As told through pictures...
(Disclaimer: These pictures are from mid-July, so, you know, they're like half a lifetime ago.)
That Reminds Me, I Need To Get More Capitaine Crounche!
42 minutes ago
Showing posts with label Jonathan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jonathan. Show all posts
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
I Swear! Other Stuff Happened, Too!
I planted bulbs, and though only the paperwhites came up they were my favorites anyway. One of then even bloomed!
We had the usual Easter party at my Mom's. I missed having Dad there, especially with it being a new house and all. So much change, but having family together will always be the same.
We colored and hunted our own eggs, at home.
The kids decided to film their own movie, a thrilling adaptation of Little Miss Muffet. This would be one of the stills from the set.
The Aztex are back! And we got tickets! We've been to a couple games and it's always a good time.
We got a car, too. It is a Mazda5, but not the one from the other post. For $5k less we got 2 years newer, 50k less miles, leather seats and tinted windows. Yeah.
A sunflower sprouted up in our back yard, fell over, then produced blossoms all up the length of the stem. There's probably 100 or more flowers on it.
Joseph turned 6! He asked for a square cake that was chocolate with chocolate and M&Ms. He wore his Super Cape to the soccer game, too.
Yes, Lucy came two days later. Several people asked me when I was due, at church. I told them "Technically, a week and a half. In all practicality, any day, now." I was at that very moment having contractions that never actually went away. Here she is at home, getting all settled in.
She makes the big kids (all 3 of them!) look enormous.
And finally, today, at about noon, Joseph lost his first tooth. He's so excited!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Test Drive
Today makes 35 weeks. We're tidying things up, getting ready for the little one. One of those tasks is finding a new car. As much as I adored my Echo, it is, sadly, no longer with us. And, as practical and useful as Brent's Corolla is, it still has the same principle flaw the Echo did--only 5 seats. So we need something bigger than a sedan, and we'd like to do it without going into debt. Not having a car payment, ever, has been a huge blessing during those tight times in our life together. We still want something that drives like a car, though, not a truck, and gets decent gas mileage--going from 32-36 mpg to ~18 mpg was just not going to cut it for us. We've kept an eye on our options for several years and knew that with our requirements we would get to choose from the astounding total of 1 model. (Canada and Mexico both have several more options. I'm still kind of peeved about that.)
Finding a Mazda5 isn't all that hard, considering that the company refuses to market the poor thing, lest at any time the demand go up and they be required to actually make more of them. Finding one with a manual transmission is a little more difficult, but still doable. Finding a used one, though, is nigh unto impossible. My guess would be that the sort of people who enjoy driving a stick are not the sort of people who trade in their cars "just 'cause."
Anyway, after months of searching we found one. We've test driven a couple of them, though not one of the older models, and I wanted to go check it out so that I could make sure my legs actually fit into the car. I have, in my lifetime, had to rule out a car or two simply because my knee was up against the steering column. What followed is one of those experiences that was horrifying, at the time, but caused us to laugh all the way home.
I wasn't altogether too worried when the sales guys had to make a few calls to figure out where the car was. It's a large dealer with a patchwork collection of mini-lots. We walked across a small side street and past a few other cars as everyone chatted. James was enjoying the sunshine and his bottle of water that we'd grabbed from the cooler while waiting. Our salesman went and grabbed the key and opened the front door. He then pushed the button to unlock the rest of the car and muttered something about getting the car jumped so he could get the locks working. What was that? Surely I heard wrong. He left and I figured out the manual locks for the back doors. James and I hopped in the back and started poking around while Jonathan looked over the console up front. Sure enough, the sales guy comes back with a battery starter, pops the hood, and gets things cranked up. I never did figure out how the battery had died in the first place. I couldn't quiet believe that they'd left the lights on, and yet that's somehow the impression I was given from his explanation. Everyone piled in, with me in the driver's seat.
As I was pulling out of the lot, the lights on the dials started flickering. Halfway through my turn, in the middle of the street, the whole thing died. Jonathan and the salesman had to quickly hop out, wave traffic around us (we didn't have enough power to even flash the hazard lights), and push the car to the side of the road. We jumped the battery again. I pulled around the corner, just as the lights flickered again, and watched as it died, again, while I tried to get it in the driveway. After yet another jump, and having driven maybe 250 ft., they took it into the shop to get a new battery. I sincerely hope that that's the only thing wrong with it.
I could tell that our salesman was embarrassed by what had happened, but was bravely holding on and pretending that everything was great. We played along and asked the price. There wasn't a sticker on the car, nor had there been a price in the online listing. His answer? $19,995. Excuse me?!? I can buy a new one, for that price. He tried to explain that that particular portion of the dealership deals with people who have really bad credit, so the price is to cover the risk, or something like that. We didn't really let him finish. A car that age with that sort of mileage is only worth $11k. That's if it's in great condition, too, and this one was slightly worn with use. We left, shaking our heads at the sheer audacity of that quote, especially after all we'd gone through at their hands. We giggled at how awful the whole thing was, all the way home.
I did go back later, though, after they'd replaced the battery. I still needed to know about my knees.
Finding a Mazda5 isn't all that hard, considering that the company refuses to market the poor thing, lest at any time the demand go up and they be required to actually make more of them. Finding one with a manual transmission is a little more difficult, but still doable. Finding a used one, though, is nigh unto impossible. My guess would be that the sort of people who enjoy driving a stick are not the sort of people who trade in their cars "just 'cause."
Anyway, after months of searching we found one. We've test driven a couple of them, though not one of the older models, and I wanted to go check it out so that I could make sure my legs actually fit into the car. I have, in my lifetime, had to rule out a car or two simply because my knee was up against the steering column. What followed is one of those experiences that was horrifying, at the time, but caused us to laugh all the way home.
I wasn't altogether too worried when the sales guys had to make a few calls to figure out where the car was. It's a large dealer with a patchwork collection of mini-lots. We walked across a small side street and past a few other cars as everyone chatted. James was enjoying the sunshine and his bottle of water that we'd grabbed from the cooler while waiting. Our salesman went and grabbed the key and opened the front door. He then pushed the button to unlock the rest of the car and muttered something about getting the car jumped so he could get the locks working. What was that? Surely I heard wrong. He left and I figured out the manual locks for the back doors. James and I hopped in the back and started poking around while Jonathan looked over the console up front. Sure enough, the sales guy comes back with a battery starter, pops the hood, and gets things cranked up. I never did figure out how the battery had died in the first place. I couldn't quiet believe that they'd left the lights on, and yet that's somehow the impression I was given from his explanation. Everyone piled in, with me in the driver's seat.
As I was pulling out of the lot, the lights on the dials started flickering. Halfway through my turn, in the middle of the street, the whole thing died. Jonathan and the salesman had to quickly hop out, wave traffic around us (we didn't have enough power to even flash the hazard lights), and push the car to the side of the road. We jumped the battery again. I pulled around the corner, just as the lights flickered again, and watched as it died, again, while I tried to get it in the driveway. After yet another jump, and having driven maybe 250 ft., they took it into the shop to get a new battery. I sincerely hope that that's the only thing wrong with it.
I could tell that our salesman was embarrassed by what had happened, but was bravely holding on and pretending that everything was great. We played along and asked the price. There wasn't a sticker on the car, nor had there been a price in the online listing. His answer? $19,995. Excuse me?!? I can buy a new one, for that price. He tried to explain that that particular portion of the dealership deals with people who have really bad credit, so the price is to cover the risk, or something like that. We didn't really let him finish. A car that age with that sort of mileage is only worth $11k. That's if it's in great condition, too, and this one was slightly worn with use. We left, shaking our heads at the sheer audacity of that quote, especially after all we'd gone through at their hands. We giggled at how awful the whole thing was, all the way home.
I did go back later, though, after they'd replaced the battery. I still needed to know about my knees.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Musings on Words
Jonathan and I have weird conversations, sometimes. They might be about history and anachronisms in a movie, both good and bad; or sentence construction that throws off the meaning and/or flow of a paragraph in a novel; or philosophical reasons why that LOL cat picture just doesn't work. Many of them are a delightful mix of academic and absurd that both stretch the mind and tickle the funny bone. Every now and again we come across a real doozy.
While reminiscing on missions and Nauvoo and such, Jonathan remembered an English class he had taught. One of the students asked what the difference between "some-" and "any-" (somewhere/anywhere, sometime/anytime, someone/anyone, etc.) was. As the teacher, he did the best he could but even a decade later still wasn't satisfied with the answer he'd given. Now, he asked if I could do any better. At the beginning, I stumbled along, just as most of us would. There were a lot of wells and ums involved. I could feel the difference, almost taste it, but just couldn't describe it. I eventually decided that some- has an implied restriction, as if there was an expectation on the asker's part, that simply isn't present when any- is used. Think about walking into a darkened room and hearing a noise--there's a vast difference between the question "Is someone there?" and "Is anyone there?" The former includes the expectation that there is a person in the room making the noise, while in the latter the asker might have already written it off as wind, settling objects, or even a pet.
Have you ever tried to explain something that's barely explainable?
While reminiscing on missions and Nauvoo and such, Jonathan remembered an English class he had taught. One of the students asked what the difference between "some-" and "any-" (somewhere/anywhere, sometime/anytime, someone/anyone, etc.) was. As the teacher, he did the best he could but even a decade later still wasn't satisfied with the answer he'd given. Now, he asked if I could do any better. At the beginning, I stumbled along, just as most of us would. There were a lot of wells and ums involved. I could feel the difference, almost taste it, but just couldn't describe it. I eventually decided that some- has an implied restriction, as if there was an expectation on the asker's part, that simply isn't present when any- is used. Think about walking into a darkened room and hearing a noise--there's a vast difference between the question "Is someone there?" and "Is anyone there?" The former includes the expectation that there is a person in the room making the noise, while in the latter the asker might have already written it off as wind, settling objects, or even a pet.
Have you ever tried to explain something that's barely explainable?
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
To my Very Best Friend,
The last two weeks have been rough. What should have been a simple hospital stop (if you can call it that) for my Dad turned into a sudden four nightmarish days of his final illness and passing, then another three of quiet arrangements. From the very first phone call, you were there with a hug and a shoulder to cry on. You took on all three kids without a second thought as I spent as much time as possible with my mom and brothers. You rearranged your schedule, you put off important tasks, and you called in reinforcements so you could go with me for the hard parts. You didn't blink when I felt I needed to go back to the hospital at 9pm and asked no questions when I didn't come home. You made sure I was where I needed to be, even if it meant odd car arrangements or soothing a screaming James who was not happy that his mom was leaving him. Again. And when the end came, you were by my side holding my hand. When I came unglued, you were there to hold me. Thank you for being my best friend, my husband, my love. I don't know what I would be without you.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Soccer!!!
We've been wanting to get the kids into soccer for ages. Then, at the beginning of January, Elena brought home a flier from school about a soccer league at the Rec Center. $30 for the season? You bet, baby! Both Elena and Joseph are on teams, and Jonathan is coaching Elena's. They've both had a couple practices and today was the first Game Day.
Joseph was so super excited to go play. He loves kicking the ball, and loooves kicking at the goal. He came running to tell me when he managed to get it in.
He pouted when play took the ball to the other end of the field, though. Hunched shoulders, great heaving sighs...
but he was off again as soon as it came back.
By the time Elena's game started, 2 hours later, it'd started to drizzle.
No matter, Coach and the kids were off and running.
And then the rain picked up and Joseph decided he needed an umbrella from the car. Then, with the game still going on and all the new mud I couldn't let James get down, so I got to hold him. And that means no more pictures because James grabs everything and there's no real reason to go breaking perfectly good cameras.
Anyway, good games, kids!
Joseph was so super excited to go play. He loves kicking the ball, and loooves kicking at the goal. He came running to tell me when he managed to get it in.
He pouted when play took the ball to the other end of the field, though. Hunched shoulders, great heaving sighs...
but he was off again as soon as it came back.
By the time Elena's game started, 2 hours later, it'd started to drizzle.
No matter, Coach and the kids were off and running.
And then the rain picked up and Joseph decided he needed an umbrella from the car. Then, with the game still going on and all the new mud I couldn't let James get down, so I got to hold him. And that means no more pictures because James grabs everything and there's no real reason to go breaking perfectly good cameras.
Anyway, good games, kids!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Snow Day
There was something about the fresh snow that made me want to work on my photography skills.
It's easy to see ordinary things in a new way when dusted with a fresh layer of snow.
The whole world is ready for a new start.
Even if we've done it before, everything around us is a new discovery.
And then, if we're really ready to enjoy the wonders before us, we ditch the camera, flop down on the ground, and make snow angels in the parking lot...
or grab a laundry hamper lid and go sledding on the hill by the laundry room.
Most of it is already gone, melted by the sun's return. It was a fun morning, worth getting woken up some time before 6am so the superintendent can tell us to sleep in. Only just, though.
It's easy to see ordinary things in a new way when dusted with a fresh layer of snow.
The whole world is ready for a new start.
Even if we've done it before, everything around us is a new discovery.
And then, if we're really ready to enjoy the wonders before us, we ditch the camera, flop down on the ground, and make snow angels in the parking lot...
or grab a laundry hamper lid and go sledding on the hill by the laundry room.
Most of it is already gone, melted by the sun's return. It was a fun morning, worth getting woken up some time before 6am so the superintendent can tell us to sleep in. Only just, though.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Frozen Beauty
The last time there was snow in the forecast, we got no more than a handful of pathetic, hard pellets. I knew it was going to be cold, today, and even though Elena and I walked through rain and sleet on the way to school I didn't really expect anything interesting. Boy was I wrong.
Huge fat flakes whirled around us like startled flocks of icy doves, dropping feather-soft down that melted on our cheeks. Joseph and I tried to catch some on our tongues while James loved feeling the crunch of snow under his shoes.
The simplest things became magical--a gap in the fence became a portal to an untouched world, bright green leaves practically glowed under a dusting of white.
We'd slip back inside for warm apple cider when our hands were red and aching from the cold, but James would cry and run to the door, begging for more.
Elena's class got to go out three times and she loved the snowball fights with her friends.
When Jonathan finished work he helped Elena and Joseph gather snow from all the cars to use in their snowman. It doesn't look all that happy, but that might be because it knows tomorrow is going to be warmer.
It's been a while since I've laughed so much at such small things. It's been beautiful.
Huge fat flakes whirled around us like startled flocks of icy doves, dropping feather-soft down that melted on our cheeks. Joseph and I tried to catch some on our tongues while James loved feeling the crunch of snow under his shoes.
The simplest things became magical--a gap in the fence became a portal to an untouched world, bright green leaves practically glowed under a dusting of white.
We'd slip back inside for warm apple cider when our hands were red and aching from the cold, but James would cry and run to the door, begging for more.
Elena's class got to go out three times and she loved the snowball fights with her friends.
When Jonathan finished work he helped Elena and Joseph gather snow from all the cars to use in their snowman. It doesn't look all that happy, but that might be because it knows tomorrow is going to be warmer.
It's been a while since I've laughed so much at such small things. It's been beautiful.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happy Birthday, Daddy!
We found a yummy new cake recipe and whipped it up for Jonathan's birthday. 30 tasted good.
Monday, July 27, 2009
"Mom, I Need a Box..."
"Why do you need a box, sweetheart?"
"I need a box to cut holes in so I can make canons."
"Canons? Like on a pirate ship?"
"Yes!"
So Daddy helped them make a pirate ship out of a box we had in the hall. James is playing the part of the sea monster, in the pictures.
Oh, and this is how the canons work.
"I need a box to cut holes in so I can make canons."
"Canons? Like on a pirate ship?"
"Yes!"
So Daddy helped them make a pirate ship out of a box we had in the hall. James is playing the part of the sea monster, in the pictures.
Oh, and this is how the canons work.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Boys
Jonathan has an impingement in his right shoulder. He went to the doctor, yesterday, and now has horse-pill sized ibuprofen to take and an appointment for physical therapy. He can still work, but it's a good thing the studio doesn't have nearly as many appointments as they did two weeks ago.
Joseph has learned to count to ten. When he plays the marble game with Daddy and Elena, he likes to count the marbles.
While watching the Rose Bowl with Daddy, James found something to hold on to.
Joseph has learned to count to ten. When he plays the marble game with Daddy and Elena, he likes to count the marbles.
While watching the Rose Bowl with Daddy, James found something to hold on to.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Six Years
Yesterday was our anniversary. It's been an interesting, and sometimes rough, six years but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Here's to another sixty years up ahead.
Man, we look so young (and thin?) in that picture.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Daddy/Daughter Campout
Able bodied men who didn't have daughters headed out to Lake Jackson to help clean up, Saturday. Those who did have daughters were excused so they could go camping, Friday night. I hadn't realized it, but apparently Daddy/Daughter is huge. Inactive dads take their girls camping for this. Non-member dads take their girls camping for this. No one wants to upset that sort of thing. I've been feeling great so I excused Jonathan from newborn duty (Joseph and James would be asleep for most the time he'd be gone, anyway) and he and Elena packed their gear and headed out.
Elena, of course, loved the tent and everything about it. She kept Daddy up half the night with "now what can we do?"
There were friends to see and cook hot dogs on sticks (camp forks) with.
They swam in the lake, and Daddy found a castle.
Everyone had a good time, and came back in even better spirits than they left in. It must have been a success!
Elena, of course, loved the tent and everything about it. She kept Daddy up half the night with "now what can we do?"
There were friends to see and cook hot dogs on sticks (camp forks) with.
They swam in the lake, and Daddy found a castle.
Everyone had a good time, and came back in even better spirits than they left in. It must have been a success!
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