Ghost Hill

Jonah wrote a book today during church...It is called Ghost Hill. I present it here for your reading pleasure. (The reason the word "hele" is crossed out is because that is how Jonah says "hill." It is more like "heel." When I told him it had an "I" he said "No, Daddy, not hill, heel! Like a bump on the ground." Whatever. This is the cover:

Title page:

Page one:

Page two:

Page three:

finis

As a proud parent I would like to point out that he did the whole thing by himself, with no help, including the spelling (Other than the whole hill-heel thing.)

End of Year Review

I realize that it is already the 17th, and you probably don’t care what we thought of our media consumption in 2009. Perhaps it is presumptuous to assume that you would care anyway regardless of when we wrote it. But I love a good year end list. If you don’t, move on. More blogs with pictures of our kids soon.

Best Movies of 2009

He said: Amy and I don’t see a lot of movies. Firstly, because we have small kids, one of who is a super cute little smiley girl. We don’t get out much. In fact, as I reviewed the movies we did see this year and liked, I realized that not a single one of them was seen in the theater together. And secondly, as a true teevaholic, I have a crazy short attention span. But that being said, we recently saw 500 Days of Summer and I thought it was delightful. It was one of those quirky indie movies where people dress is clothes that no one really wears in real life so it is charming and timeless. But it had great acting, beautiful music and was touching, insightful and lovely.
Guilty Pleasure: Zombieland. If you know me, you know I love Zombies. And this was such a great Zombie movie. I saw it by myself on a business trip like a big loser, but I laughed a lot and I drank a big diet coke. And it had a Zombie clown that landed on its nose when it died with a satisfying “hah-HAH.” (Mom: don’t read this review and go rent this movie. You wouldn’t like it.)
Also on my list: Up, Star Trek and I Love You, Man.

She said: What with being enormously pregnant the first part of the year and then having a newborn the second half, I'm not sure I saw a single movie in the theaters this year. I take that back. . .I saw "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." Does that count? I don't think so either. But I did like 500 Days of Summer and I'm watching, as we speak, Sunshine Cleaning, which I find delightful so far. And I saw Lars and the Real Girl for the first time this year, which I loved so, so much.

Best TV Shows of 2009

He said: This is a tough one for me. I would say it is like choosing my favorite child, but that is a lot easier - it is Lila. There is a lot of old favorites on this list. Lost was fantastic this year. Mind-bending but totally satisfying. I can’t wait for the new season to start. Friday Night Lights is still one of the best shows on TV. If you are not watching it, shame on you. I loved the villainous McCoys last season and the mutiny of the Dillon Panthers. I’m a Lion now. But I think the best thing to happen to TV this year was the plethora of new 30-min comedies. If I had to chose a favorite, I would go with Modern Family. It is charming and hilarious. But Community would be a close second. It still has some ups and downs, but when it is up, it is genius. Did you see the holiday episode? And let us not forget the old faves that are still delivering: The Office, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation.
If there was one show this year that fills me with joy, it is Glee. I know it is polarizing but I don’t care! I love the songs, I love the characters, I love the slightly dark edge to it, and mostly I love having Jane Lynch on network TV. And yes, there is a Glee playlist on my iPod and yes, I listen to it really loud while I drive home from work and sing along like a 14 year old girl. So sue me.
Also on the list: Southland, Mad Men (Would you judge me if I didn’t include it?)


She said: Josh and I pretty much enjoy the same shows. Love Lost and Friday Night Lights. But I have to say my favorite this year is Community. Not only does it have the unbeatable combination of great writing and a great cast, it is based on one of those scenarios that makes you a bit envious (it's the same reason Twilight was such a hit -- who doesn't want a good-looking, rich high school boyfriend who adores her?). Maybe we don't all want to be at community college, but I for one would love to be a part of this quirky, tight-knight study group.
Worst: The Bachelor: On The Wings of Love for many, many reasons, least of which is the title. And yes, I blame myself. Also, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which I've insisted on watching because it's some sort of teenage phenomenon, and I was trying to be convinced that it wasn't a ginormous piece of crap. But it is. And parents beware. . .just because it's on ABC Family does not mean it has any redeeming quality whatsoever. It's TRA-SHY.


Best Books of 2009

He said: I read 39 books this year. So take THAT people who think I watch too much TV! And there were some delightful ones. Here are my top 5, in no particular order:

• Drood by Dan Simmons. I think Simmons is one of the best contemporary writers. This is the story of Charles Dickens’ contemporary Wilkie Collins and his fascination/obsession with Dickens and his nemesis/stalker/character Edwin Drood. The book is spooky and delightful and haunting.
• Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman. A superhero novel told mainly from the point of view of its Super Villain, Dr. Impossible. It was fast paced like a comic book but with great characters. It simultaneously payed homage to and made fun of the superhero genre in a very entertaining way.
• The Magicians by Lev Grossman. There is no way to describe this book without making it sound like some weird knock off of Harry Potter. So it is basically a weird knock off of Harry Potter, but not for kids, but still utterly compelling. It is one of those books that when it ended I wished there was more, or a sequel or something
• Catching Fire by Susan Collins. This is the sequel to the wonderful Hunger Games that I loved last year that is the story or a reality TV show where kids are forced to kill each other. Sounds delightful, right? The sequel was even better and took the story into darker, but more profound places. I can’t wait to see where this story goes.
• The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. This book has BY FAR the best title of the year, if not the best title ever. It is about...you guessed it, Zombies! But it is about what the world would be like 100 or 200 years after the Zombie apocalypse. Basically we would all live in fenced in cites surrounded by forests full of zombies - the forests of hands and teeth. I also love the author because she is about my age and worked for the man for a lot of years and then decided to take a risk and become an author. She’s my hero.

She said: I was way too braindead to do too much reading this year. I read a handful of books, but nothing that I can even remember when I look back. I really liked The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I vow to have more titles to add to next year's list, also because I have a huge stack of delicious looking novels that I'm dying to have the motivation to read.

Best Purchase of 2009

Josh insists that it's his MacBook. But I'm going to say it's these:

Some beautiful, unbreakable, salt and pepper shakers that I found at Ross for $3! I mean, really. . .$3! And I love them.
Runner-up: My mountain of Pier 1 pillows for our master bedroom. They make fantastic pillows, those Pier 1 people.

Best Gift of 2009

These goblets, from our wonderful friend, Amelia, who knew I liked them and sent them my way. I find them pretty enough to display on my mantle. . .which is exactly what I did.

Best Decision that Came to Fruition in 2009

My ray of sunshine, Lila. It's no secret that, after having Noel, we were through with having children. And I will remind him of this fact as he gets older -- that his sister almost didn't exist because he was/still is such a special "challenge." But Lila is the shiznitty. She's perfectly pleasant all of the time and always, ALWAYS has a smile on her face. I feel so blessed and grateful that she came into our lives. I know God owed me big for the one-two punch of Jonah-Noel, but it's much more than I could've hoped for.

Best Smile of 2009. I'll let you decide.

Warning: The following post is mostly for the Grandmas

This is one of those posts that is basically just full of pictures of our kids. So, if that kind of thing bores you, move on. We won't feel bad. And I know that it is mid-January, but this is the Christmas blog. So deal with it.

After last years "crazy snow storms with 6-hour airport wait" on the 23rd, we decided that it wasn't worth trying to fly before the holidays. We booked our flight for the 25th in the evening. We had our own quiet Christmas Eve.

We did our best to keep the kids occupied all day. They were a little hyped up, but we survived. Jonah was real keen on the fact that Santa needed cookies and the reindeer needed carrots. Santa had already had too many cookies that Christmas season, and had many many more before the month was out. But a determined little boy can't be turned down.

I don't know why Noel looks so annoyed. I am sure someone had said something or done something that didn't fit into his life plan. So we read our books and told the Christmas stories and got the stocking all laid out.

I don't remember the exact hour of the waking. I know it was early, and I know the kids nearly had a meltdown in the 2 minutes it took me to run downstairs, turn the lights on and get the video camera. All in all, the day was a hit. The kids were fun and said thank you, and played well together.

I realized I had officially become my mother when I was frantically picking up wrapping paper and stuffing it into a garbage bag, concerned that some crucial instructions, or small parts to some toy would get buried in the mess.

Does this picture remind you of last Christmas? I think this will be a theme with this one. Once he opens the latest video game, he spends the rest of the morning playing it.

Lila got into the spirit of things. Most of her toys would get stolen by her brothers shortly after she opened them, but she is pretty good natured and didn't mind.

Later that afternoon, we headed off to the airport. It was mostly uneventful - the kids are getting pretty good at traveling, and we know how to read the signs of meltdowns, so we can head most of them off.

Even though it was officially after Christmas, we had some Christmas traditions that needed to be celebrated.

I know it comes as a surprise that Noel chose not to be in the nativity. He is usually so flexible and willing to do whatever anyone suggests.

The kids made some delightful Christmas Cookies (remember before when I said that many more cookies were eaten before the end of the month? These are the cookies. Ok, fine. These are some of the cookies. I ate other cookies too.)

And because there are two Grandma's in Utah, Christmas became a three day celebration. The boys got to play Mariokart with their cousins, which they thought was about the greatest thing ever.

Lila hung out with her cute cousin Saren. I don't know if you can tell, but Lila is a couple of inches taller than Saren, and about 6 months younger. We make 'em tall at our house.

Lila also got her first Cabbage Patch doll from Grandma B. Her name is Kacy Gwendolyn (Seriously, Xavier Roberts, what is up with you?) Lila thinks she is delightful and smiles any time she sees her. Of course, Lila smiles when she sees most things.

It was great to see family and friends. Happy Christmas!

Classy Glasses

There will be more blogs soon, I hope. Christmas photos need to be posted...Year end top 10 lists need to be done (even though it is like the 5th..is it even worth it?) But I wanted to share this first.

Amy and I have often though Jonah was a bit spacey. He could never see things when we pointed them out to him. In our defense, he can't find his own shoes if they are 4 inches from his feet. We've suspected that he might need glasses, and it was confirmed by his vision screening test when he started kindergarten. But, in true "Parent-of-the-Year" fashion, we decided to wait to take him to get a real eye exam until he was added to our insurance.

So I took him to the eye doctor today (it was quite the bonding moment) and discovered his vision was at about 20/60. Or in layman's terms real crappy. So we have placed an order for some glasses. Here he is, trying them on:

I still think he is a cutie.