Don't Be Scared

Do your kids cower outside in fear because your house if filled with rampant Jellyfish?
Ours did, until we decided to take action and let those jellyfish know that they are not welcome. Jonah made and put up a sign:
Do you see the Jellyfish? And do you see the brazen "X" next to it? I think the message is clear. No. More. Jellyfish.

First Day of School

I just got an email from the Council of Parents Who Write Blogs Because They Think People Are Interested in the Cute/Funny Things Their Children Do (The PWWBBTTPAIC/FTTCD. Are you a member?) Evidently, my membership had been put under suspension because I had neglected to post a picture of Jonah on the first day of school. I hereby rectify that situation.
Happy?

Check me out

Hey! Check me out. I was interviewed on my questionable expertise for the Mormon Lady Blog, Light Refreshments Served.

Thanks, Lisa!

A bird, two boxes and a cup

Amy and I have a problem in our new home. The walls are big and expansive and beige. They were newly painted when we moved in and were professionally done, so there are no bubbles, or drips or painting outside the line. As much as we love a colorful house, we just don't want to repaint them unless they are professionally done. I would be willing to do the work, but then Amy would be driven mad by all of the mistakes, of which there would be many. So for now we are leaving them beige.

So we needed art. Art is expensive!! We also needed big art. Big art is really expensive!! I know on all the design shows they just paint their own original art, but we are not very creative. So we decided to do something we don't ever do. Get crafty.

Amy had seen a collage in West Elm of interesting framed images all grouped together. We liked it, but again...expensive! So we went to Ikea, bought some frames and some fabric, went to Michael's for some colored paper, did some photocopying, nailing and stapling and this is what we came up with:
We were pretty pleased and felt like it would be easy to change in the future if we needed to. And the whole thing cost about $50.

First I was going to one of those awesome blogs that posts step by step pictures, but I got bored of taking all of those photos after 2. So here is what I've got.
Here is Amy cutting out the bird silhouette. She is a whiz with the craft knife. (Purchased at Michael's for just this event!)
Here is me nailing Ikea fabric to Ikea wood frames. (I realize I am not really in the picture. Amy was still cutting. But see the hammer? And nails? I was doing that.) PS. Don't you love that fabric?

When Noel woke up this morning and saw it he started laughing like it was the funniest thing he had ever seen and said "There is a bird on our wall! A bird, two boxes and a cup!" Critics!

Many other chores were ignored on this Saturday, but we fell much better about the room now. Here it is in context:
Eat your heart out Paige Davis!!!

Also, don't get used to me posting every day. I can't promise it will continue.

Gentlemen (and Ladies,) Start your Tivos.

It is finally here. If you have ever met me, or heard about me, or been in a room with me for more than five minutes, or read this blog, you know that I love TV. And one of the activities I look forward to each year is the arrival of the Entertainment Weekly Fall TV preview. And it has arrived. Hallelujah! I have been getting antsy, because of few shows have been starting (90210 - anyone watch? Pretty good!) and I just didn't feel like I was prepared. I didn't have a plan. And that I do not like.

So each year when the EWFTVP arrives, I sit down with two highlighter (blue for the downstairs Tivo and red for the upstairs) peruse the pages and highlight which shows will be on which TV. Sometimes there are small panics as we realize that there are overlaps that require some planning and scheduling and family discussions of which show goes on which TV. Like when we discovered that The Biggest Loser was on at the same time as House and the aforementioned 90210. What to do!? We felt the best decision was to move the biggest loser upstairs, so that we wouldn't be watching it in the room next to the kitchen, because for some reason that champion of weight loss makes me want to eat Joe-Joes and ice cream. See - it is all about planning.

Once the shows are highlighted, I print out a list of season premiere dates and highlight the shows in the matching color. That way I never miss a premiere, and I set it up on the correct Tivo.

I know some of you think I am crazy, now. And some of you may respect me for my foresight and planning. At least I won't forget to catch the first episode of Fringe.

I am an Oregonian

I would like to officially apologize for leaving my blog as a picture of my big fat mug for so long. When I wrote that "How do we look?" blog, my intention was to get a couple of responses and them write a new blog a few days later. Um, oops. It has now been there for MORE THAN A MONTH! It started to feel a little desperate and if you were thinking we were a bit desperate, I am sorry. Please let it be noted that posting that picture was my idea and not at all my wife's. She's too classy for that. And now, on to tonight's featured blog.
NOTE: Why are my blogs always lists? Does that mean I am a bad writer? Eric?

I love this state. I think this blog has made that obvious enough. But I don't quite feel like I belong yet. I heard once that you have to live in New York City for 10 years before you can be "A New Yorker." I don't know what our waiting period is here. I think if you own a bike, a Columbia Jacket and shoes purchased at REI (check, check and check, BTW) you're pretty much there. But I still feel a little silly referring to myself as an Oregonian after only living here for 6 months. I do think I have hit some major milestones on the road to stateizenship (so I make up words. Jealous?) and I wanted to share.


1) I let my lawn die. Not on purpose. We went to Utah in June and we don't have an automatic sprinkler system. So it died. In Utah, that would be justification enough for your neighborhood to draw and quarter you and bathe in your blood. Not here! Here, a lot of people let their lawns die. We love the environment in Oregon more than the rest of you. We love it so much that we think it is wasteful to use water to keeps lawns alive. That's so 1988. We just let them die and then they naturally come back to life when the autumnal showers come. Or we just accidentally let them die and then pretend it is because of our love for Mother Nature. Seriously, how white trash do my kids look in this picture?

2) We broke down and bought reusable grocery bags. Those nice people at Trader Joe's were starting to look angry when we asked for regular bags. Here is my environmental question of the day: Isn't the amount of energy and carbon being used to manufacture all of the reusable bags that are so trendy right now sort of off setting their green-ness? I don't know. I am not a scientist. I am just another Oregonian with reusable bags.

3) We own bikes. We bought them in the spring when we first got them. In the beginning, we used them quite a bit. Then the heat of summer came (85 degrees. Sweltering) and we stopped for a bit. We pulled them out again for a Labor Day ride and either I am even more out of shape than I used to be (probably true) or my kids have tripled in size since the beginning of the spring. It nearly killed me to go up a hill.

4) I have an Oregon drivers license. It is apparently the law here that you get one when you move into the state, which I think is actually the law in most states. When I went to the DMV there was a little notice on the door that said that by entering the premises, you were consenting to have your image used on TV. Huh? That seemed odd, until I walked in and saw him:
Matt Roloff! Star of Little People, Big World, which if you are just tuning in, is filmed a few miles from our house! He was getting a driver's licence, which seems like a good thing to be at the DMV for. I am a student of reality TV, so I didn't do anything stupid, or look at the cameras or whatever. I accepted my role as "background" and went in and sat down with a real bored look on my face so they could cut to establishing shots of me as "bored looking guy at the DMV." Then Matt sat RIGHT NEXT TO ME!! Then his number got called (which seems to happen REAL fast if you are at the DMV and also on a reality TV show) and he got up and left. I realized I had forgotten something in my car so I ran out to get it and when I was walking back in, he was walking out. I held the door for him, which he didn't use, because he is NOT disabled. He can get the door for himself, thank you very much. I hope I don't cause too much trouble in the editing room, because first I was sitting next to him, and then I was opening the door for him as he left which may throw off the continuity of the episode. Also, I was wearing a bright orange polo, so even if you don't see my face, you can see the polo and know it is me.

So hooray for being an Oregonian. I am going to try not to make my next entry be a list. I think it is getting a little old. I have some lovely pictures of a recent trip to Bear Lake to post, so stay tuned. I will leave you with this awesome sneak peak:
Stay tuned!!