March Madness

Enough said. Does this look familiar to anyone else? :)

Dan In Real Life

Andy and I watched this again last night and remembered how much we liked it. Steve Carell is so funny (we are big fans of The Office). But this time we also realized how much we love the soundtrack. It reminded me alot of the music from About a Boy, another fave. The person who wrote and performed most of the songs is a Norweigan named Sondre Lerche who is an amazing guitarist. It's very chill music and we downloaded the entire album off iTunes today. Check it out, if you're looking for something new. We particularly like "My Hands are Shaking," "To Be Surprised," and "Let My Love Open the Door." Let me know what you think.

Just Another Trip to the Library

There's something magical about libraries. For me, it's the rows upon rows of books just waiting to be read, the free movie selection, the quiet reading area to relax and peruse magazines, not to mention the peaceful quiet. Unfortunately, this magic only exists when I go to the library alone. With Ben, I frantically throw children's books and Thomas the Train movies into my bag as quickly as possible before he self destructs.

We have a wonderful library with a lively and engaging story time each week, which we faithfully attend. But for some reason, my normally fun, easygoing child seems to melt down quite often at the library. I'm talking full on knock-down, drag-out fits, not seen quite anywhere else. I don't know what it is, but the library seems to work a different sort of magic on Ben. The voodoo, demon possessing your body type. He likes to go, but doesn't like having to be quiet or restrained in any way. This also poses a problem in church, as you can imagine.

This week's trip was a doozy. I can laugh at it since I'm chalking it up to the fact that he's a little under the weather and suffering from post-travel jet lag. It was more embarrassing than upsetting. He tried to take a book away from another kid and I wouldn't let him, so he threw himself onto the floor and launched into a fit. I left him there to work it out, which led him to a bigger fit. We tried a time-out in the corner, but he kept on screaming, so I ended up having to haul him out, leaving my huge bag of unchecked books on the floor by the door so we wouldn't set off the beepers. I was in a conundrum as I held a kicking child who I wouldn't take back in, but didn't want to leave my bag. After a few minutes, a kind librarian came out and asked if she could help. She was gracious enough to check out our books for us and bring them out while I tried to calm Ben down. Then we high-tailed it out of there for a major time-out at home. He was fine as soon as we got in the car and wanted to "try again," but we'll have to wait for next week to do that. I'm just hoping the good magic rubs off sooner rather than later.

Freshly Shorn

Okay, so that makes Ben sound like he's a sheep. But he did go to the barber for a much-needed haircut. Behold the beauty of Cookie Cutters. Yes, I've written about them before, and yes, it would be cheaper for me to just buy a new set of clippers (ours broke) and cut Ben's hair myself. But he loves the little cars, the playground, the movie, and especially the sucker he gets as a treat. I love reading a magazine while he gets clipped instead of having to wrangle and cajole him myself. We tried setting up our little DVD player and having him watch Finding Nemo while Andy cut his hair, but the pros are quick, easy, and painless. Not to mention he actually gets a decent haircut. Plus, they spray something on his hair afterward that smells like chocolate chip cookies and I enjoy the scent for the rest of the day. Mmmm.

The shaggy hair before
Cars was the movie of the day
Voila - a new 'do
Showing off his sucker and balloon.

There and Back Again...

A Spring Break Tale.

A week ago Sunday, Ohio received its biggest snowfall in years: 20 inches over 2 days. A verifiable blizzard. So as any self-respecting person would do, we promptly left for warmer climes. Andy had his Boys' Golf Trip to Alabama planned for that weekend and I didn't want to be stuck alone for four days in the snow, so we found some cheap SkyMiles tickets and Ben and I jetted off to Phoenix for some fun and sun with my sister. I am a total sun baby - I hate to even wear socks. We loved being outside in the 80 degree weather every day and tortured the bronzed Arizona goddesses (hello, Scottsdale) with exposure to our pasty white skin.

The highlights of our trip: Long walks, playing at a multitude of fun parks, Ben not being able to handle sand in his shoes, eating delicious food, visiting family and friends, late-night chats, What-Not-To-Wear and Project Runway marathons, my first experiences watching Top Chef and America's Next Top Model (lay off, we don't have cable!), hiking Camelback, sinfullly delicious chocolate brownie fudge gelato at the Gelato Spot, riding a pint-sized train, the desert in bloom with its breathtaking wildflowers, and savoring the smell of orange blossoms. There's nowhere better than Arizona in the winter and spring. Arizona in the summer is another story...

Here are a few of the pictures, I'll post more later.

From snow...

To palm trees.

Shoveling snowdrifts... To playing at the Phoenix Zoo.

Pancake Perfection

Please indulge me, but I have to brag. I think Andy makes some of the best pancakes in the whole world. Some of the best breakfast food I've eaten, actually. He is a master at scrambled eggs and french toast as well. We didn't eat pancakes much growing up, and maybe it's because, bless her heart, my mom didn't have the gift for fluffy, white orbs of joy. They were more of the limp, burned variety. Every time Andy makes his pancakes I want to melt. Drown them in syrup and I think I've died and gone to heaven.

As for the eggs, he got his inspiration from some we ate while on our honeymoon. We stayed at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego and had some amazing eggs at their restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Maybe the taste was enhanced by the spectacular view. :) He's spent the next seven years perfecting his version, which often include cheese and sliced honey ham .They're the perfect consistency, a yummy blend of savory and sweet.

But I digress... Tonight, while we were eating some of Andy's delicious pancakes, he started asking Ben about some of his favorite things. It was fun to hear what our not-so-little boy thinks.

Favorite color: Purple (I think he gets this from me)

Favorite number: Two (probably because we always ask him how old he is)

Favorite animal: Giraffe

Favorite story: Monsters (That's funny, because he seems to be afraid of them in the middle of the night)

We are having lots of fun watching Ben grow.

Political Economics Primer

Today I got a huge treat: Ben took a long nap and I got to read the entire Wall Street Journal and much of this week's Economist. Both had some good articles on the candidates' economic platforms that I found enlightening and worth sharing. I know there are alot, hope I didn't get too carried away.

As a more-than-average informed citizen, but by no means a hardcore political junkie, I'm always looking for news sources that clearly and succinctly give a candidate's views on a particular topic. As you can tell from my favorite reading material, I lean more toward fiscal conservatism and free markets. What are your thoughts on the candidate's economic policies?

McCain's Economy Plan - discusses his basic economic prinicples. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120451614688707083.html?mod=hpp_us_inside_today

Obamanomics: Dr. Obama's patent economic medicine - Obama's policies on free trade http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10766642

Texas vs. Ohio - an editorial on how economic policy has affected two major primary states. As the citizen of one of the featured states(unfortunately the higher tax one), I can see why companies choose to move out of Ohio. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120450306595906431.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks

Wrong about Mexico - another editorial on why protectionist policies might not be the best idea, even though they might sound appealing.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120450518044806477.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

Obama and Clinton's plans for solving the housing crisis - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120451174292406851.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_leftbox

Democrat's ideas for ending NAFTA - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120450985647506721.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_leftbox

Who's Your Daddy?

Ben has been saying some funny things lately. Here are some of our recent favorites:

Tonight Andy was getting ready to call his dad and asked Ben, "Who's Daddy's daddy?," expecting him to say Grandpa Charlie.
Ben's response: Tiger Woods!

Oh, Andy wishes. Ben can identify Tiger Woods by sight, probably since he and Andy watch golf highlights almost every day on pgatour.com. Today Ben was talking about bunkers and greens as they watched the video. Oh, man...

Speaking of golf, only nine more days until the Boys-Only golf trip to Alabama and I get to be a golf widow.

Another funny story: Last night Ben said in his prayers, "I am thankful for trains and red sausage." We couldn't help laughing out loud. I know Ben loves bacon, hot dogs, sausage, Lil' Smokies and other fabulous processed pork products, but I didn't know just how much he liked them until then. The only thing I could think of was that I made lentil soup last night and let him eat a few bites of smoked sausage before I added it to the soup.