Time to Update!

/ Jo Bird / 2 Comments

Why is blogging dying?  I’m reminded of an episode of Colbert where he is promoting his book, he says

“For my younger audience, a book is like a blog for people with an attention span.”

I would take that one step further and say

“For my younger readers, a blog is like Instagram for people with an attention span.” 

Have I made that joke before?

Oh well, I’m ready to get back into it.

I’ve definitely said that before.

and I was proud

/ Jo Bird / 1 Comment

It’s dangerous to write a post after midnight.  In the morning when my more reasonable, less vulnerable self returns I might be embarrassed.  Oh well.

I can’t sleep, too many thoughts… and I’m a little afraid of what I’m going to dream about. 

I was thinking though, about how these tragedies can bring out the best in us.  We are more kind, we are more gentle, we are more loving.  We give virtual hugs and we are quick to forget the things we were arguing about yesterday.  My heart aches, and yet it is so full of love, I feel like I could hug anyone that would let me, or anyone who needed it. 

But then I thought, it’s too bad that it takes a tragedy to make us feel that way. 

Then, a few minutes ago while trying to distract myself in cyberspace, I came across this video.  I don’t know whether I laughed or cried more.  (A happy, emotionally exhausted cry.)


Caine’s Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

Anyway, I realized that the world is full of good, and although tragedies give us opportunity for unity, there is kindness all around.  I thought, there is so much love in communities, so much love in our country, and so much love in humanity. 

And I was proud.

The kitchen table

/ Jo Bird / 6 Comments

Back in January I posted about our kitchen table.  That post caused me to be filled with so much nostalgia and sentimentality that I couldn’t bear to part with it.  The pictures don’t quite do justice to the wear and use the table exhibited, and Richard was excited about the new table.  With promises to restore the old, abused table to a new glory, I insisted we keep it.  We gave away our new table to a good home. 

Months… later…

Our old abused table has been restored.  It was a project of massive undertaking, and I spent countless hours on it.  Let 2012 be remembered as “The Year of the Table.”

We ate at a card table (or out on the picnic table when weather permitted) for months.  For the better part of a year to be truthful.  But alas! She is finished, and we love her.  We look forward to more debates, laughter, games, budgets, homework, crafts and meals on her newly stained surface. 

Our last meal at the card table.  

Okay, so these pictures make the perfectionist in me squirm a little bit.  I used paint and a water based polycrylic on the chairs and table legs, and then I stained the table top and used an oil based polyurethane.  I also used a paint sprayer on the chairs and a foam brush on the table top, so there is an obvious difference in “shine.”  This bothers me.  But Richard is rolling his eyes as he reads this because he is so happy that it’s done.  He’ll never let me touch it again. 

She isn’t without her flaws- no amount of sanding could remove these knarly marks where the Hall family’s first bassett hound made use of her puppy teeth.  But such imperfections arouse pleasant memories.  (Please ignore the cherry tomato from last night’s dinner.)

So you’ll just have to come see it yourself, or take my word for it that it looks better in person.  Just like the “Before” pictures don’t do justice to the wear and tear, these “After” pictures don’t do justice to the new glory. 

Mim is THREE

/ Jo Bird / 2 Comments
 
 
Miriam is such a complex combination of tough and tender.  Sweet and sassy.  Wild and mild.  She has taken my parenting paradigm and knocked it upside down with giggles and glee. 
 
With manipulative delight she tries to smile her way out of every naughty thing she does.
 
“You happy Mom?” She asks as she coy-ishly cocks her head to one side.
 
She is currently testing limits in a new, nerve frazzling way that has both Richard and I mourning the loss of our baby girl that was once more sweet and less sassy.  But one thing that hasn’t changed since she first started to walk is that when I sit cross-legged on the floor, she’ll be in my lap in five seconds flat.
 
Her mischievous antics drive me mad, but I can see right through them to a little soul who has to compete constantly with her siblings for attention. 
 
Miriam loves to be social, she loves nursery and music class at the library. She always asks to see her friends and cousins.  She would wear flip-flops year ’round if I let her and she finally “yikes yeggings” under her skirts.  She sucks her thumb more than ever and especially while watching her favorite shows “Yiddle Eindines” and “Micky Mouse Cubhouse.”  

 
I love Mim. I love painting her fingernails and braiding her hair.  I love the way she looks just like me when she cries her sensitive tears when her feelings have been hurt.  I love her bubbly, active, attention demanding personality and I love having her in our family. 


Zietgeist

/ Jo Bird / 5 Comments

A post two days in a row? Don’t hold your breath for tomorrow.  I’m working backwards here, and since all my pictures from Las Vegas/Disneyland/Ragnar are on my phone (so sad!) I will post them from my phone… sometime…

I ran my second half-marathon on November 3rd, my first since 2009.  It was awesome.  This picture is my weak attempt at looking strong when I had absolutely no strength left.  But that’s actually a really satisfying feeling. 

 
 
The weather was really cold at first, but fine once I got running.  I wish the sun would have peeked out a little more, I love running in the sunshine.  It makes me feel like a champion.  But all the leaves were changing and it was a really pretty route out to Hidden Springs and back.  The people of Hidden Springs came out on their porches and cheered us on.  My favorite was a little girl sitting alone on her porch with a sign that said
 
“Don’t look now, but an elephant is chasin’ ya!”
 
I guess maybe it’s just the way my body processes adrenaline but I always get really choked-up at the beginning of races.  All the people cheering, all the excitement and anticipation and a little fear.  It’s just a lot for a sentimental girl like me to take in.  Running a race is just an emotional experience for me.
 
I love how after a couple miles a group forms around you. Your comrades of the 9:45 mile pace.  And when we would pass each other, or get to tough hills, there would be pats on the back, clapping or brief cheers of encouragement.  I felt like I bonded with a couple women in particular who helped push me just a little further up those brutal hills. 
 
Taking a turn for the cheesy here:
 
At the end of the race when I saw these women, they smiled at me and congratulated me and I got choked up again. I sort of imagined getting through our mortal experience and meeting our pace comrades in the realms above.  So much love, so much gratitude, so much relief.
 
“We made it!” We say to each other.
 
“You were strong when I was weak, and I was strong when you were weak. And together we made it.”
 
Ahem.  Okay.  I hope you didn’t just throw up in your mouth.   I need to stop, because writing this post has me choked up all over again!

 
 

Elf on the Shelf

/ Jo Bird / 3 Comments
**
I’m keeping up appearances here, for whoever might read this blog. 
 
Kip is an Elf from the North Pole that comes to visit us in December.  You know, to keep an eye out for Santa and to set a bad example by causing mischief that makes the kids laugh hysterically.  If you are wondering if you should invite an elf to your house, maybe this letter will encourage you. 
 
P.S. Eli did this entirely on his own.  I wasn’t even sure if the kids remembered Kip.
 
 

 
“Kip I love you I want you
 to come back I love you
very much can you come
back I want you to do that
can you come back
please can you come back”


Halloween 2012

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 Pumpkin carving- which wasn’t actually done ON Halloween but in preparation for it.  Simon was the only one of the kids who was willing to really dig out the guts of the pumpkin. Everyone else was either not interested in getting dirty or not interested in being chastised by me for accidentally throwing precious pumpkin seeds in the garbage can. 

 I’ve always wanted to do a family costume theme and this is the closest we’ve gotten.  I was pretty proud of myself for throwing together four jedi robes in one week.  They were all made out of felt except Princess Leia’s.  And three cheers for props that are already household items. 

Richard took the kids out trick-or-treating and I stayed home and devoured passed out candy.  Then he brought the littles back and took Cam and Eli out for a second round. The weather was great and the kids didn’t have to wear much at all under their costumes.  Bonus!

political apropos

/ Jo Bird / 2 Comments

(Did I use that term in an appropriate context?)

In this season of intense political warfare, a few thoughts from some smart people. 

Firstly- Meredith my political sunshine:

“Democrats and Republicans have such different experiences, today, that their realities are fundamentally different. And thus, their interpretation of the “facts” will not coalesce. Ben Smith at Buzzfeed expanded on this by suggesting this divergence of realities is much more amplified this election season because in the United States now have such stark divisions in our media, that our “realities” are reinforced by an “authority” (the media). And i would take it one step further and extend this media reinforcement to include venues where likeminded people come together via online groups and forums to agree on perceived realities. in sum, falsehoods can become facts when enough people confirm them, and more than ever today, there are places to go for the affirmation.”

Secondly – Dallin H. Oaks:

“That the Constitution was ratified is largely attributable to the fact that the principal leaders in the states were willing to vote for a document that failed to embody every one of their preferences.

In other words, one should not expect perfection—one certainly should not expect all of his personal preferences—in a document that must represent a consensus. One should not sulk over a representative body’s failure to attain perfection. Americans are well advised to support the best that can be obtained in the circumstances that prevail. That is sound advice not only for the drafting of a constitution but also for the adoption and administration of laws under it.”

Third – Benjamin Franklin:

“For having lived long, I have experienced many Instances of being oblig’d, by better Information or fuller Consideration, to change Opinions even on important Subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise”

and lastly my ever-wise big brother Bryan:

“Arguably, [an individual] should find the best in conservativism (traditional family values, religiously-rooted morality, self-reliance, etc.) as compelling as the best in liberalism (visiting and caring for the poor, helping those who cannot help themselves, constant striving to improve others’ quality of life, etc.). I am heartily skeptical of the side that claims so adamantly to have a monopoly on The Good.” 

 
 
I hope they don’t mind me sharing their words.  I would love to write my own thoughts on the subject, but while I cut and pasted the above quotes Mim and Si were accomplishing this:

It is Rice Krispies.  It is karma for when I did the same thing with Cheerios as a child.  It is why I must choose between neglecting the blog or neglecting the children.  It is time for this mom to put her laptop away. 

And yes, Miriam is wearing Eli’s underwear.