Egg Hunt and Spring Break Fun

I thought I'd pop on here and share a couple of fun videos from the past little while.  The first is from when my sister Rachel and her family came to visit over their spring break.  Even though it was a couple of weeks until Easter, we decided to do an egg hunt and I recorded this fun video while we were doing it:

We did this for a family home evening activity and everyone had a lot of fun!

The second video is from our trip to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History today.  I got three free tickets from one of my students who had helped out at their poison exhibit.  His research group studies monarch butterflies, which are poisonous, so they were invited to help out at a special night at the museum.  He got the tickets as a thank you and then passed them on to me when I mentioned that we hadn't been yet.  So, thanks Kevin!  This little video just has some photo highlights from the trip:

Anyways, that's a couple of fun things that have been happening around here lately!

-Jacob

Happy Birthday, baby girl!

It is high time for a post about Jubilee's birthday! I've been meaning to post about it for so long that she's 13 months now, and I can't remember how much of her amazing-ness developed in the last month. I'll just tell you about all of it.

Firstly, I've got to record about that extraordinary period of two weeks or so when she started to really walk and get into stuff at a whole new level. It just happened one day, you know. Jubilee was 10 months old. I was going along, business as usual, and I look over to find her trying to pull the glass bowls out of the bottom rack of the dishwasher. I scoop her away and close the dishwasher only to find that in the course of those 3 seconds she has begun eating out of the trash can. I put the trash can up on the counter top, in a horribly inconvenient but safely out of reach spot, only to find that she has moved on to emptying the breakables out of the cupboard. AAH! The only thing I could think was:

"This battle station is fully armed and operational." 

As it turns out, the proper quote is "Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station!" Some of my cousins would be ashamed of me. But that's ok. 

Since then we've permanently moved the garbage can into a cupboard, gotten back in the habit of keeping sharp knives in the top rack of the dishwasher, and rearranged some dishes. Oh, also we moved the cereal, because that got dumped all over the floor several times. 

For her birthday, I wanted to invite some friends over and have cupcakes. I even went so far as telling some people the day we would celebrate. But I never got my act together, so we ended up having a family celebration. 

Jubilee's brothers decorated her cupcake!
"And dad lighted it on fire and the baby touched it! Say that, mom!" - Levi

Jubilee very much enjoyed her cupcake, as you can see here.

 She wasn't a big fan of the birthday crown her brothers made for her, though.

And here's everyone else in the family at the party.

Here is the video I got of the festivities. It explains why Levi is so sad, above. 

stuffed animals

We made some stuffed animals together this week! Levi's was made from one of Jubilee's old onesies. Benjamin's, well, you can hear about it in the video. :D

"It's a headband!" said Benjamin. 

"Wait, turn it this way and it's a crown!" Alysa added.

Look who's walking!

So, Jubilee has been wanting to walk for a long time.  She makes us hold her hands so that she can walk all around the house and hasn't shown a great deal of interest in crawling because, hey, everyone else in this house can walk!  (She does crawl now, just never very far - just as much as she needs to do so that she can get where she wants to go.)  Well, today Jubilee has been willing to let go of our hands and actually do some walking.  Here's a video:

Hooray for Jubilee!

A New Teddy

For Christmas, Benjamin got a new teddy bear because he lost his old one.  We're still baffled as to where it could have gone!  We must have left it somewhere, possibly at the temple when we made a trip to St. Louis. Anyways, a new teddy bear was at the top of Benjamin's Christmas wish list, and he wasn't disappointed on Christmas!  I wrote up some clues, so he went on a short detective hunt to find his bear under the couch in the living room.  Later in the day, he interviewed his new teddy bear (which is named Teddy, just like his old bear was) and I've embedded the video above.  Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Edit:  I realize Benjamin's not the easiest to understand, so here's a transcript:
Benjamin:  Hi there, Teddy.
Benjamin (Teddy's voice):  Hi!
Benjamin:  Do you like... like your blankets, my blankets?
Teddy:  Sure!
Benjamin:  How do you like your... how do you like... your new house?
Teddy:  Great!
Benjamin:  How do you like Sheepie?  (Sheepie is a stuffed sheep Benjamin received as a gift when he was a baby.)
Teddy:  Great!
Benjamin:  And how do you like me?
Teddy:  Super great!
Benjamin:  OK, that's the end of the video!
Teddy:  OK!

--Jacob

Sing a song

Whew! It has been a fun summer so far, I'll tell you. I've started teaching Kindermusik again and it keeps me hopping. The boys are benefiting from their musik and movement instruction, as I hoped they would. Levi has just started singing, and it is beyond adorable. Here is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star:



Benjamin decided he wanted to sing for the video camera, too. His selection is The Wise Man and The Foolish Man:



Couldn't resist sharing these!

Levi Walks!

"Video killed the radio star"

We have videos for you!  Yes, I know we've been holding out.  As we finally emptied our card onto our computer I noticed that we hadn't shared any videos since Thanksgiving at least. Whew. But! Without further ado, something for the grandparents...

(click on the videos to see them larger on YouTube)

Accidental Poetry

Occasionally a poem pops out of my head during journal writing.  Usually late at night, when my guard is down.  Here is last night's:

Can't do enough in a day,
Ain't got no time for play,
Already forgot what I was going to say,
That's what it's like to be me today.

I'm sure there are some days when you can relate.

Edited to add: Mahaha! My brother has made this into a song.  Accompanied on the banjolele he got last week! It is awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL0RHEwqiYI

Distraction

Sometimes, I love distraction.  It serves me well as a mother: "while I read this to you, let's get dressed!" "You got a bonk, poor guy. Look! A dog!"

This morning, however, I was the one distracted. Watching this lovely little video, in fact.  The consequence?  I had to vacuum granola out of my bed.

So, you know, just check to make sure the granola is put away before you watch.



(Thanks to Laini for posting the video to begin with.)

Rapunzel's Revenge Book Trailer Voting

You can now vote for your favorite trailer at Shannon Hale's blog!  Somehow my maiden name is with my entry, but it works.  It's a good name.  Yeehaw!

Rapunzel's Revenge Book Trailer

My entry into the Rapunzel's Revenge Book Trailer Contest is live! And I still chuckle at the funny parts even though I watched the footage at least 50 times. :D What do you guys think?

Contest info here and here. I will let you know when the voting begins!

Curtis Orchard

We went and visited Curtis Orchard tonight with our former next-door neighbor Stacy. Since we didn't get there until 5 minutes before they closed, we mostly just looked around and enjoyed watching Benjamin explore. There was a litter of kittens and he had a fantastic time chasing them around.

This one actually let him pet it. He was very gentle.

In the wagon corral

So tall!

Driving Home with Stacy

We'll have to go back another time when we can pick apples, choose a pumpkin, see the goats, play on the jungle gym, etc. etc. :D We had fun though. I wish I'd brought the good video camera -- these videos are so cute.

Benjamin kept squeaking at the cats:

Here he finally corners the orange one -- for a second:

And now he's willing to say "hi" from behind bars:

Video, Apology, Reviews.

Here is a video of Benjamin saying some of his favorite words. It's a bit old -- it got lost in the move, as it were. Enjoy!

Speaking of the move, we are settling in well. We are not, however, prepared to have three wards worth of women at my place with only three days notice. I just about went into cardiac arrest when I thought that was going to happen. So, many apologies to those of you who were accidentally forwarded an email to that effect. I would LOVE to have you all over. Just not yet. And maybe not all at once.

Oh! Other random things I've been wanting to say: I have been enjoying the album Volume One by She & Him. It's got a old-fashioned/new-fashioned feel. Kind of like The Carpenters meets ...oh, Vanessa Carlton or something. Check it out. Also, we enjoyed watching the movie 17 Again last night. It's kind of like Mrs. Doubtfire, but not as creepy. :)

11 months old

First, a really cute peekaboo video. Whenever we play together in Benjamin's room, he walks over to his crib and pulls the blanket his Grandma Stewart made for him out between the bars. Then, this sort of cuteness ensues:


As you can see, he's also started making more attempts at communication. He now says "dad" to mean dad, but he also says it to mean mom, and when he's just babbling. He also makes the "th" noise you hear above anytime we mention teeth. When he is hungry, he blows his lips out in a sort of "boo." Then, of course, there is his usual "ah!" which means many things -- much like the communications of Sunny Baudelaire.

He loves turning lights off and on. Mostly on. And he absolutely adores pictures of himself. Here I've caught the two boys playing one of their favorite games: Dad takes a picture of Benjamin on his cell phone, and shows it to him. Repeat as desired. This particular time Benjamin also happens to have put on one of my Sunday dresses. :D
Benjamin also loves to ride on his daddy's shoulders:
Can you believe he is almost a year old? Speaking of which... if anyone out there wants to lend us an actual video camera for that historic event, it would be much appreciated. The digital camera is great, but lacks a certain something.

Benjamin Walks!

Mr. Suave Lyrics (Including English Translation)

I served my mission in the Philippines and while I was there I got to hear many of the incredibly popular Filipino songs on the radio. One that was always being sung at the videokehans (karaoke bars) was Mr. Suave by Parokya ni Edgar. I never paid any attention to the lyrics besides "Ako si Mr. Suave" (My name is Mr. Suave). So I was browsing iTunes the other day and I wondered if I could find any of the Filipino songs I heard while I was there. I found Mr. Suave and a few other titles, and then had Alysa pick one based on the 30 second preview. She picked Mr. Suave so we downloaded it and listened to it. It is a hilarious song. I'll go ahead and post the lyrics and my rough translation for your benefit and enjoyment. There is also a YouTube video of the original music video if you want to watch/listen to the song. Be warned, Filipinos are fond of including lots of scantily clad women in their media. (Lyrics are taken from www.lyricsdownload.com)

Nasa ulap ba ang yong mga mata
Tila malayo ang yong pagtingala
Pakay ko lamang na ikay mapangiti
Ito'y aking lambing
Subok na ang aking pag-ibig
Ikaw lamang sa buong daigdig
Tinitibok ng puso ko'y dinggin
Sumama kana saakin

Ako si Mr. Suave
OOhhh grabe
Habulin ng babae
Araw man o gabe
Oo ako si Mr. Suave
Oohhh grabe
Hayup kung dumiskarte
Wala silang masabe

Kaya't wag kanang malungkot
Problema'y ibaon sa limot
Pagka't nandito lang ako
Umiibig sa'yo

hoy, hoy, hoy, hoy, hoy, hoy (7X)

At kung kailangan na ika'y paligayahin
Wag magalinglangan na ika'y lumapit sa akin
Hatid sa atin ng suave kong bigote
Ang smooth na smooth na kilite

(Repeat *)

hoy, hoy, hoy, hoy, hoy, hoy (7X)

English:

Are your eyes in the clouds?
It seems like you're looking up far away
My only mission is for you to smile
This is my tenderness
Try out my love
You are the only one in the whole world
My heartbeat can be heard
Come now with me

My name is Mr. Suave
Ooooh wow!
Being chased by the girls
Day or night
Yes, my name is Mr. Suave
Oooooh wow!
I'm an animal when I've got my game on
They're speechless

So don't be sad
Throw away all your problems
Because I'm just here
Loving you

hoy, hoy, hoy, hoy, hoy, hoy (7X)

And if you need cheering up
Don't forget(?) that you can come to me
My suave moustache will bring us together
The super smooth tickle

(Repeat *)

hoy, hoy, hoy, hoy, hoy, hoy (7X)

"A bear in his natural habitat..."

"...a Studebaker!"

Here we have a document'ry about the human child. Heart pounding footage. Excellent semi-British narrator!



Here you have a photo I posted on facebook that everyone seems to like.

And here you have a photo of Benjamin where he looks so OLD! It's like you can see the older kid in him! Just waiting to emerge!

You might like to know that Benjamin detests all green vegetables I have given him (namely: green beans , peas, broccoli and "spring mix") whether they are fresh and put through my baby food mill or whether they come from a jar -- except one. He loves sauteed spinach. I just cook it up with some vegetable oil and garlic, then grind it for him. He can't get enough.

Also, my Everead review of Alvin Ho (good book!) was featured on the Cybils blog today. If you're looking for a good book, visit the previous two links.

First real crawling

and it was captured on video, too. He's been caught going much further today when motivated. We're doin' it! We're crawling!

In other news, I've been planning a baby shower and a Stake dance that will take place on the same day -- tomorrow. It will be a marathon, but a very fun marathon! Jacob has started his first week of his last two classes ever. After this semester it'll just be research (and, you know, papers and thesis defenses and conferences and such).

Your quotable quote for today comes from the other week when I woke up late in the morning to the sunlight streaming in my window: "So. . . bright! . . . Like our Father's mercy!"

Why are we thinking about babyproofing?