Merry Christmas

The kids and I decided that our sugar intake needed to be increased for the holiday season, so we made cookies and caramel.

 Don't talk to them!  They are serious about their work.

Murphy

We have had a visitor in our home for the past few months.  We thought that he would only stay for a short while, but I think he is just kicking it in the spare bedroom and has no intention of moving.  No, it is not the former president of Liberia -- it is Murphy.

Out of Africa

I may seem like a mild-mannered risk-averse homebody, but don't let my sedentary lifestyle fool you.  I learned today that I am also a trusted confidant of the former president of Liberia. His son told me so in a letter.

Langy gets his groove on

Snapping out a rhythm (sort of)

Langdon has always demonstrated a preference for certain kinds of music.  As an infant, his cries were immediately calmed upon hearing Dee Snider of Twisted Sister shout "I wanna rock!" ().  Seriously.

Rorschach test on hardwood

Quick, what do you see...

click to embiggen

Good Bye, Farewell to October

October is gone and I am glad.  Very glad.  Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or Travis' suddenly non-starting car, or the constant candy coma that everyone in my house was in, or the snotty noses, or the mysterious bruises on Langdon's head, or whatever -- but I feel better already simply because it is no longer October.  I was looking back at the pictures from October to see what we had done.  So here goes.

Back to Kindergarten

This morning, Karsten and I scarfed down some oatmeal, put on our jackets, and set off into the crisp autumn air to walk to school.  When we arrived, we hung our gear on a shared coat hook and entered the classroom together.  No, I wasn't being the over-protective parent -- I was there on official business.  It was my first stint as a kindergarten parent-volunteer.

1/3

Travis and I had temporarily put home improvement projects on hold, but we forgot to send the memo to our neighbors.  They wanted the fence between us fixed.  These people are a nice older couple a few years from retirement, that treat our kids well.  This is the only picture i could find of the said fence.  It was probably the best section, but you get the idea.

cupcakes, balloons, and rainbows

Taegan finally turned 4.  She has been talking about her birthday since June.  Making a birthday list since Christmas.  And acting 13 since birth.  Needless to say, she was ready to party last Thursday.

Cowboys like us

Melissa and I come from Pendleton, Oregon.  When the topic of hometowns comes up here in the Willamette Valley, people often remark, "Oh, I drove through Pendleton once on the way to...."  I suppose we're fortunate that I-84 runs through the place, otherwise a lot of people would have no reason to see it at all.  It's relatively quiet, except during the second week of September -- that's when the rodeo comes to town.

Addicted to Quack!

Starting this week, I share a portion of my morning work commute with Karsten as I drive him to school.  If he's feeling any anxiety about starting kindergarten, he hasn't shown it.  He did express concern that his new academic schedule would preclude watching Ducks football with me on Saturday afternoons.  Ah, the rigors of kindergarten.

Unbiased and impartial review

So last weekend we went to Portland to enjoy the Crowded House concert. Travis and I have never been to a concert together.  Actually, the last concert I attended was Heavy D and the Boyz when I was still a teenager.  Yes, I know you are all jealous that I was that cool.

We're the same age again!

Nature's full of temporary oddities.  For example, the orbit of Pluto (which is still a planet dangit!) brings it inside the orbit of Neptune for a 20-year period every 248 years.  This temporarily leaves Neptune as the planet farthest from the sun.  Closer to home, every summer for a 2-month period, Melissa can honestly say her age is one year less than her husband.  That ends today!

Steppin' out

Our family enjoys the outdoors.  How we enjoy the outdoors is a question of taste.  Melissa and Taeg' enjoy being in the outdoors -- camping under the stars, hiking a woodland trail, experiencing the sensation of small insects flying around their faces.  Karst' and I, on the other hand, enjoy observing the outdoors from the air conditioned comfort of the indoors.  Like the female-type people in our family, we are inspired by mountain vistas and Pacific sunsets.  We just believe the beauty of creation goes best with a big bowl of ice cream we just got from the freezer.

Crowded House 101

This post is primarily intended to get my wife up to speed on the music of Crowded House -- since she's graciously agreed to accompany me to their concert later this month.  She has no idea who they are.

O.L.D.

I have been feeling old lately.

This does not make me feel any younger.

Wipeout!

I know it's not a new show -- and that even when it was new, it was still a rip-off of an old Japanese game show -- but my family has suddenly and inexplicably become huge fans of Wipeout.

Stronger, Faster, Awesomer

Karst' became a 6-year-old this week. While his birthday celebration was still in the planning stages, he advised us that he would prefer to forgo the traditional cake, and instead go with a large quantity of birthday donuts. We obliged.

Jam'n

Sometime during the clubhouse making process I managed to make jam. Let me rephrase, I managed to squish a bunch of yummy strawberries and make my kitchen appear as if a massacre had occurred there.

Celebrating our Freedom

I used to be married to a guy that liked this blog. And to prove his love, he would B.L.O.G. This made me very happy because it took the pressure off me to keep up. I hate to write and am bad at it. He loves to write and gets paid to do it so he must be good. I am crappy at taking pictures. He loves to tweak with my crappy pictures. It was true love. I am still married to the man, maybe he is proving his love in some other way. Like frying bacon. Yummy bacon.

Anyway. My Dad came to town over the 4th of July and we celebrated by working our butts off for 12 hours on Saturday. We built this. Technically, when he left all the walls were up and the roof was on. I got the idea/plans from Ana at knock-off wood.


Everyone helped. My Dad rocks. My son loves to use the drill. Taeg' will eat A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G. Yes, anything includes peanut shells that the previous owner from 300 years ago put down in the flower bed. Travis hates the drill or any other wicked awesome loud power tool and so does Langy. They both tried to escape the noise and crawl up in the fetal position when the miter saw turned on. Ok, ok, I lied. Travis helped a lot, unless it required the use of a tape measure then he resumed the fetal position with Langdon.

Karsten, Taegan, Langdon and I have been working on it almost everyday since and we are still NOT done. It did look like this.

There is trim work still to be done. and some shingles. and a lot of sanding. and a rail. and more paint. and more cutting. and staining. and a telescope. and some sand. But until then it looks like this... You would think that I would at least have a farmers tan to show for my efforts. Nope. Nothing. I swear that since I have turned 30 my skin repels the sun. I believe that I actually get whiter when the sun comes out. Anyway. I love having a project. I really like this Clubhouse. But, I believe it may become a money pit. Wouldn't a pool or at least a trampoline be awesome, so you could jump from the roof? How about a dumbwaiter under the house that you could climb into and then it would lift you up through the clubhouse floor? or a zip line? Or a pole to slide down when your too lazy to use the ladder, zip line, dumbwaiter, rope ladder, or climb on the roof and jump off. Maybe it just needs it's own electrical panel so Trav' can hook up a hot plate and fry me some bacon.

Yay for America where I can eat bacon and build a mini house behind my real house for my kids to live in.

Medical Update

Sorry to interrupt this boring blog dry spell but we have a medical update.

Langdon is 6 months old and to celebrate the kids and I went with him to get his legs shot full of holes. Gotta love vaccines.

real life

The beach was so great that now we are suffering from withdrawals. It was getting so bad that I painted stuff. I hate painting, but Karsten and Taegan love it. I almost hate painting enough that I would rather clean up after them. almost.

The life aquatic with Lang' Stoddard

Update: Shelly posted some more photos from our week at the beach.

This week, Lang' ventured into the Pacific for the first time.  At five months old, he's kind of a tough interview -- but judging from the feral cat sounds he was making, I think he enjoyed it quite a bit.

Congratulations Tony!

Yesterday we joined my sister Bre, her husband Tony, and a significant portion of the Stoddard and Spratling clans to celebrate Tony's graduation from (ahem) a little-known state university in Corvallis.  It was a lot of fun.

Dog-sitting [Updated]

Signs

Karsten and Taegan have different artistic styles.  Karsten's preferred medium is a No. 2 pencil sharpened to fine point.  His work appears to be inspired by Picasso's synthetic cubism.  Taeggy, on the other hand, deals almost exclusively in colors.  She does not stay in the lines.  She's an impressionist like Monet.

Hunk

Langy is a big ol' hunk.

4 Month stats:
Head = 17" = 72%
Weight = 16#15oz = 83%
Height = 27 1/8" = 97%

Toothy Taeg'

It's been over a year now since Karsten discovered the unbridled joy of dental check-ups.  This afternoon he accompanied his little sister to the dentist's office for her first experience.

what ya gonna do

This is what you have to do after you build and re-build a fort 46 times, eat left overs for lunch, play in the freezing cold rain until your hands are numb, and then take a warm shower...

SNOW!!

What the... WHAT?!
(you need to know who Liz Lemon is to truly appreciate that saying!)

Anywho, it snowed a few days ago. YES, in April. It snowed so much that it actually stuck to the ground. The kids ran around and quickly got on their snow gear. Good thing they were quick because by the time I got out the camera, it was mostly melted. They were able to entertain themselves in a mud puddle after the big thaw.

The baby

Langdon is 3 months old. Our baby is growing up fast. Today, when I put him in bed I realized that I couldn't wrap the blanket around him because he was too big, so I just laid it over him and tucked it around the best I could. It was weird. It feels like he has been around forever, but at the same time it seems like we just brought him home from the hospital.

Easter Weekend

The Stoddard clan all returned to Pendleton this past weekend to celebrate Easter and watch the General Conference broadcast (along with some Final Four action).

I refer you to Mom Stoddard's personal diary for a report of events, which included aggressive mini football-dunking and fairy princesses wielding bouquets of death.*

Guidelines for airport monkey inspectors

Just when I thought flying commercial couldn't be more demeaning, they now want to inspect my monkey.

This helpful government website instantly made me think of Inspector Clouseau's questioning of the blind beggar and his "minkey" (video here).

I've never heard of a helper monkey, but I definitely want one now.

TSA saves the best for last:

"The inspection process may require that the handler take off the monkey’s diaper as part of the visual inspection."

My monkey will be completley potty-trained and will wear Batman Underoos.

Taegan! [Updated]

I have found myself saying that name a lot lately. And not in hushed reverent tones either.

Taegan! has needed a place to hang her little treasures. I came up with this:





I put the letters of her name up because she is learning to spell her name. So many people mispronounce (tay-gan) it or spell it wrong that I figured I would teach her to spell it and she can correct them if she chooses. So far, Karsten and probably even Langdon know how to spell it but Taegan! just can't figure out why it is such an important thing to know. Maybe the letters will help her, because she loves to look at them.
This is the first time I have used modge podge. I don't hate the stuff, but I might if I am forced to get in touch with my crafty side again.


Don't thumb-your-nose at my craftiness. This was the only thing that I could come up with that fit the space. She likes it and I can see my fridge again, so I like it!


UPDATE:
OK, due to popular demand (I can think of one person off the top of my head) I will explain how I made this.

My first priority was cost. I didn't want to spend any money and I had seen something like this last summer on someone's blog and thought it was clever, but couldn't find it again when I wanted to make one. So, this is my version of someone else's idea that I couldn't remember!

I measured Taegan's! space between the dresser and the corner. I believe it was less then 3' more like 33" so I went into the garage and looked at the wood I had laying around and I found a 8' x 1" x 2". I then grabbed some clothes pins and realized I no likie with the skinny board, but I was so lazy and didn't want to break out the table saw to make a wider board with some other wood I had (our garage has been clean for months, Langdon was in the garage with me and I just didn't feel like holding a baby while dust was blowing in our faces), so I made a mental note to look for mini clothes pins. Two months later, I remembered to look for mini clothes pins and they were right next to some Modge Podge. A crafty friend of mine has been telling be about Modge Podge (it is just CRAFTY GLUE) so I grabbed both, not intending to use it for this project at all. Total cost for glue and pins under $2.

I laid out the mini clothes pins on the two 33" boards and spaced them out with my eyeballs, alternated them up/down/up, took the springy out, glue them on with wood glue and painted both white. I then painted my hands white while trying to paint the other half of the clothes pins. After everything dried I put the springy thing back on the glued half and then attached the other side of the clothes pins. The next morning, after finding the stud locations, I slapped them on the wall using my nail gun.

Taegan! put her treasures in it and was happy as a clam for about 30 seconds. Then she said that they didn't look that cute and she wished they were pink. I just couldn't bring myself to pull them off the wall and paint my hands pink, that is when I remembered the crafty glue. I always read blogs with people doing crafty stuff with wood, vinyl letters, scrapbook paper and modge podge and figured it was my chance to prove to my daughter that it didn't need to be painted pink to be cute! I found some wrapping paper with polka dots in our bin and cut out little strips to fit on the top of the clothes pins. Coated each pin with crafty glue, pressed on the paper, let dry, more glue, dry, glue, dry, glue, dry, very light sand around the edge of paper, glue, dry, glue. TA-DA. Yesterday, Taegan! told me thanks and that she loved it! Well worth the $2.

Big, Bigger, Biggest

Langdon is 2 months old. Well, technically he is 2.5 months now. But better late then never, is my current motto.

He is quick to give ya a smirk, but you really need to work hard to get a true grin, and you will probably be breaking a sweat to get a giggle. He is quite vocal and loves to offer his opinions during a conversation with an Oooohh, Ahhhh, whah or just a random yelp.

He is healthy, happy and sleeping awesome. Trav' and I have obviously adjusted to him sleeping great, because this morning he woke up a couple hours early and when I pried myself outta bed I realized that he had been sleeping for 9 hours and I should quit complaining. After I fed him, he went back to bed, and I decided to go grocery shopping. I should do that more often, Winco at 6am is great. You can shop right from the pallets in the middle of the isle!

Back to the subject at hand, here's for all you number people:

Height: 25.5" --- 99%

Weight: 13#, 11oz. --- 87%

Head Circ: 16.5" --- 89%

And here is for the people that truly care:

I had him smiling and giggling, so I grabbed the camera and this is the "avoiding eye contact' look I got after I turned it on, whatever. We still like him, A LOT.

First Day of Spring

Springtime in Eugene is my favorite time of the year. It's the payoff for all the dreary gray skies and rain of late-Autumn and Winter. 

We hiked around Hendricks Park this morning to take in the warm sunshine and the beautiful scenery.

Taeg' and Karst' in a rare moment of introspection.

Local Gang

A few years ago, when we were looking for a larger home we knew the area where we wanted to buy. It was mostly older homes, the schools are great, the neighborhoods are filled with older couples and well older families too, tons of trees, gorgeous views if you get high enough on the hills. We finally found a home for sale and have been enjoying our little slice of heaven.

Until...





These turkeys are crazy. Our neighbor's dogs are scared of them. They were in our backyard a few months ago and we counted 29. Yes 29 female turkeys in my little yard. Don't get me wrong I love a little wildlife (especially to eat) but 29 turkeys in one neighborhood seems a bit much. A couple of days ago, they were at the neighbors house across the street. I was having a hard time counting them all, but I know there were at least 50. This time the boys showed up. It was pretty cool to watch the guys strut their stuff, puff out their chest, and get their tail feathers all fanned out just to get a gal's attention.

But in the back of my mind, I just kept thinking... "If I lived a few more miles south so I was out of town, I wouldn't hesitate to invite my talkin' in his sleep brother-in-law over for a little turkey shoot out. Loser cleans the birds of course.

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Karsten has been asking me what we do on St. Patrick's Day for the last 3 weeks. Taegan tried to explain to him that it was just a holiday that comes after Valentine's Day and before Easter but he wasn't having any of it. I told him it is a day that we can celebrate green, like the color you crazy hippies. I just don't have the heart to tell him it was originally for a Catholic St. but some how Ireland turn it into a green wearing, beer drinking, holiday and the rest of the free world has turned it into a weird thing about green and pinching. Taeg' decided she wasn't wearing green no matter what, because green is NOT pink! whatever. Karsten freaked out when I told him he could wear his Oregon jersey because it is green. He stated that he is saving it for the next Oregon game. I didn't have the heart to explain that the basketball team sucks and finally fired Kent and are not in the tourney and that most of the football team is in jail. Maybe we will start cheering on the baseball (boring) team!

Anyways this is what we did:

YUMMY, even without frosting!

The pros call it rainbow, I call 'em tie dye. I haven't heard a word of complaint about St. Patty's Day since I pulled these beauties out!

The kids

For a guy who isn't even two months old, Lang' is a pretty easy-going fellow...

...that is, until his (overly) affectionate older sister draws near.

Grandma Shirlene visited this past weekend with her camera.  We drove an hour to Haceta Head State Park, where Cape Creek meets the Pacific, and she snapped a few pictures.  It's one of the kids' favorite places to visit.

The Bald and the Beautiful

Question: Which Federation starship captain does Langdon resemble?

Did you really just say James T. Kirk?

[Facepalm]

Here, take a closer look.

Does this help?

If you said Captain Jean Luc Picard, 10,000 quatloos for you!

We also would have accepted "That guy who plays John Locke on Lost" -- even though it was only one episode and he was technically an admiral. [Aside: so is the "fake" John Locke a smoke monster or what? I'm so confused.]

I've always wondered why the cure for male pattern baldness apparently still eludes hair scientists of the 24th century.

What's New!

Travis and I have agreed that the last 3 weeks have been a total fog. I am not even sure about what day of the week it is, but this morning I realized that a lot has happened in the last little bit and I have only been semiconscious to acknowledge it.

Here are the latest happenings at our house with pictures to prove some of it:
(They may not be in chronological order but I am pretty sure they did happen.)

1. I lost 35lbs in 48 hours, but I also discovered my love for oatmeal cookies shortly after. no pictures!

2. A large tree blew over during a wind storm and took out our fence and landed on the neighbors house. I guess that will happen when your roots are not even 12" under ground! Stupid Tree.

3. Karsten learned to shave (w/ his pretend razor) and frequently comments about how smooth his skin is. Thanks a lot Dave & Etta!

4. We are all adjusting to the lack of sleep and I have accepted that my kids may have bags or dark circles under their eyes for a few months.

5. Langdon slept 9 hours last night. Now only if I had gone to sleep when he did... curse you free trial of Netflix with previous seasons of 30 Rock. He is very proud of his accomplishment!


6. Next week will be the first primary activity, in 5 years, that I will get to drop off my kids and walk away and then return 30 minutes late! I was released from primary before Langdon arrived.

7. A quarter note! Seriously, why is this important to my eternal salvation! I have been called as the Relief Society chorister. I can hear my Mother now, "you will have wished you listened to me, Melissa, this is useful information. Everyone needs to know how to lead music"! I seriously have to practice leading the music, last week I practiced with the Mo-Tab and was ready to go, but they changed the song on me at the last minute. Meanies!

8. I left the cave and went grocery shopping at Costco and Walmart. We all (3 kids and a mom) survived and even got everything on the list. Which is more than I can say about the last time I went to Walmart.

9. We got a new vacuum and the kids and Travis are in love. Well, Langdon loves to sleep while it is on and Travis, Karsten and Taeg' love to vacuum... Heavenly!

Hey Anne Geddes! How we doin'? [Updated]

So photographing infants appears simple enough.  All you have to do is point and shoot, right?  Sure, you can bring in some props and go a little nuts -- but there's really no need to oversell it.  Babies are inherently cute.

So, uh, here are the results of our photo shoot today with Langdon.  Bear in mind that we did not employ a professional photographer, or even an amateur one...or even one familiar with basic photography.  We did these ourselves... 

This one seems to say, "Are you gone yet?"

"Please go away"

"If annoying is hereditary, I hope I'm adopted."

"Zzzzzzzzzz"

Not bad for a first effort. Our subject seems a little difficult, but I've heard that's not uncommon in the modeling industry.  I think we'll try some new poses and maybe some exotic locations, or something.

Thank you all for the well-wishes and support.
___________________________

UPDATE: As far as I know, Langdon has not seen Napoleon Dynamite -- nevertheless his "Uncle Rico" is quite good...