Oops! Check Back in a Few Days!

OK, OK, OK! I hoped to have this blog up-to-date before I sent out our Christmas letter. Oh, well. As you can see, it just didn't happen. December was a crazy jumble of unpacking from our 4-weeks in Bemidji and Thanksgiving weekend at the lake; Jason's 12-days on the road for his residency interviews; Christmas parties, socials and activities we just needed to squeeze in (a visit to Santa, the lights on the Riverwalk, a walk through Bethlehem, etc.); recovering from having the wind knocked out of us with the military match announcement; and our whirlwind Christmas week in Minnesota. We returned from Bemidji on Friday and turned right around for our Christmas celebration up in New Braunfels with the Goodwins (and Papa's birthday). I intend to sit down with this blog this week or so. I'll send a mass email to let y'all know when I get our camera downloaded and finish the update!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2009!!!

Happy #9

Happy Anniversary to us! We celebrated nine years of marital bliss yesterday. We made no grand plans, but actually ended up with a week-long celebration. We started with an impromptu Neil Diamond concert on Sunday (the 12th). We scored free tickets to see the "Jewish Elvis Presley" from friends of the family. Our neighbor, Rose, watched the kiddos. Neil still rocks! He played all my favs: "Forever in Blue Jeans," "America," "Sweet Caroline," "Kentucky Woman," "Holly Holy," and of course the inspiration for this blog, "It's a Beautiful Noise." The next day, Jason gave me a bouquet of a dozen red roses and a dozen yellow roses (for his "Yellow Rose of Texas"). Maybe he listened to the lyrics when Neil sang, "You Don't Bring Me Flowers!" I was able to enjoy the flowers all week.

On our anniversary proper (October 16th) we had a family gathering at Jason's Deli. Mia had avocado, Nate had grilled cheese, and the lovebirds had Ciabatta 'Bello & Ciabatta Bing! sandwiches. Then we went to Circuit City to buy my present--a new digital camera, the Canon Sureshot. Did I mention we needed a new digital camera since Nate dropped ours on the floor last week? Now it just makes a weird grinding sound when it's turned on. What is the traditional gift for the ninth year anyway? Oh, Wiki says it's pottery or china. We're always ones to buck the establishment. ;)

On Friday (taking advantage of the Parent's Night Out program at Grace Point church) we had our date night. We started with joint massages at Spa d'Sante. It was quite rejuvenating! The masseuse came in, looked at my back and said, "I can see your knots from up here!" Jason's masseuse looked over and said, "It's not good when your knots TALK!" I had a massage when Mia was 3 months old and the masseur (Oscar) said, "What happened to your shoulders? Were you in an accident?" I am tense in my shoulders. After being rubbed down, we walked next door to Syn Sushi a new robata & sushi bar in town. We loved it. They had just been reviewed by the Express-News and were very excited to showcase their wares. Check out the names of the rolls we sampled: Fallen Angel, Tiger Eye and Sexy Red Devil. It was a nice evening--almost like our life BC.

"Beautiful Noise" Full Lyrics

Some people have inquired about our new blog title. It was in fact inspired by the Neil Diamond concert Jason & I went to with Bill & Jeanie earlier this week. I'm a long-time Neil fan. I grew up listening to the "Forever In Blue Jeans" 8-track over-and-over again on my parents' 1970's entertainment console. Here are the full lyrics to the song--it describes life pretty well:

What a beautiful noise
Comin up from the street
Got a beautiful sound
Its got a beautiful beat

Its a beautiful noise
Goin on everywhere
Like the clickety-clack
Of a train on a track
Its got a rhythm to spare

Its a beautiful noise
And its sound that I love
And its fit me as well
As a hand in a glove
Yes it does, yes it does

What a beautiful noise
Comin up from the park
Its the song of the kids
And it plays until dark
Its the song of the cars

On their furious flights
But theres even romance
In the way that they dance
To beat of the lights

Its a beautiful noise
And its a sound that I love
And it makes me feel good
Like a hand in a glove
Yes it does, yes it does
What a beautiful noise

Its a beautiful noise
Made of joy an of strife
Like a symphony played
By a passing parade
Its the music of life

What a beautiful noise
Comin up to my room
And its beggin for me
Just to give it a tune

Men in Trees (or suburban fences)

Jason and Nate had their first official "guys weekend" this weekend--they went camping! We started with a trial run in the backyard before moving on to the wild. First, the boys set up the red tent--Nate loved using the mallet to pound in the stakes. After they set up camp, Jason played campfire songs on the guitar around the "campfire" (charcoal grill) and Nate played his Little Tikes piano. Amelia and I were invited out to the patio for dinner--hotdogs on the grill, beans and smores! Nate roasted his own marshmallow over the coals. After dinner and clean up, it was almost dark so the boys set off on their scavenger hunt. Nate broke our camera earlier this week, so I don't have any photos of the campsite, but I took a picture of the scavenger list at a later date to jog our memory. Jason reported that Nate thought walking through the neighborhood in the dark with a flashlight, a list and a collection bag was pretty darn cool. BTW, his "something funny" was a fuzzy piece of blue pillow stuffing or insulation (some sort of trash).

Upon their return, I set up an "animal find." I took Nate's plastic animals (I tried to stick with the one's found in nature--like the wolf, deer, spider, snake, etc.) and hid them around the yard. Nate was told was there were 10 wild animals hiding in the backyard. He had to use his flashlight to find them (like an Easter egg hunt). Nate enjoyed this game so much, Jason had to hide the animals for about 5 more iterations. The boys finally got their jammies on, then read some "camping bedtime books" ("Berenstain Bears Get Lost in a Cave", "Richard Scary: The Camp Out" "Mercer Mayer: Just Me and My Dad"). After they shut the lights out, they looked at teh stars and told spooky stories. I told Jason the guidelines for 3-year-olds are usually "keep it benign, don't leave too much to the imagination, don't talk about death, etc. So, the next morning I find out Jason story went something like this...these people went somewhere they shouldn't have and they died, so now they haunt this place and scare the people away so they don't make the same mistake. They're nice ghosts!" We'll see how long before the nightmares kick in! It actually didn't seem to phase Nate. He ended up sleeping through the night and waking up past 7:00!

As a perfect cap to the weekend, Jason took Nate on his errand to Home Depot Saturday morning. Not only did Nate get to jump on and off the tractors, but they were conducting a Kid's Project Workshop while they were there--a fire truck! Jason got to help Nate assemble the pre-cut firetruck pieces with a real hammer & nails. The truck even came with a whistle and Nate got to keep his personalized Home Depot apron! Nate thought he was quite the big boy!

I think both boys had a blast. I see more guy weekends in the future!

The Return from Mississippi

Well we made it! 12 days on the open road from San Antonio to McComb, Mississippi and back in a stuffed-to-the gills Navigator with a 3-month-old, a 3-year-old, an almost 6-year-old, a 14-year-old and 4 adults (with corresponding paraphernalia) hauling a 14-foot trailer. On the roadtrip, we stopped at a rest stop at the Texas-Louisiana state line. On the "nature trail" through the bayou out back we saw a baby alligator, a water moccasin, bull frogs, fish, etc. It was a pleasant break from the interstate scenery. Later, we stopped in Beaux Bridge, Louisiana for some Cajun cookin'. Nate tried alligator for the first time. "Mmmm, I like it!" (It's fried and dipped in ketchup, what's not to like?) When we got to Campmeetin', we stuffed the gaggle in a cabin with Grandmother & Granddaddy, four more adults and an 18-month-old pistol. And you know what? Again, I can't wait to go back next year!

The days were filled with slow wake-ups on the porch with a cup of coffee--Nate reading books or playing with tractors, watching Nate pedal his little 12" bike with training wheels all over the campground (especially on the volleyball court), swimming in the creek (he made it down the big slide a couple of times this year with Daddy), singing songs with the other preschoolers, hunting for frogs with the other boys and girls after dark (thanks for the frog-huntin' flashlight, Sandy!), feeding the cows (#68 found him again this year), and playing in the dirt. He's starting to remember the cousins and faces he met last year. Jason was able to join us again for the last four days (after the Step 2--another national licensing test). He made it to both Nathaniel's and Amelia's first Campmeetings.

The Campmeetin' experience was a little different for me this year--with two kids on two schedules, there wasn't quite as much time to chat, walk the loop, and generally flit about. Amelia is still feeding once or twice in the night (she actually adapted very well), so I was pretty tired during the day because of the interrupted slumber. Nate, Amelia and I shared a room. Nate was up on the top bunk, thinking he was pretty big stuff. He loved sharing the room with Mom and Amelia. He checked on his sister every night before climbing up to bed. Like I said, there weren't as many late nights chatting with the cousins on the porch; but I made it off the rope swing for the third year in a row and managed to polish of a bag of boiled peanuts or two after the sun went down! And, Alas! There was no blueberry picking this year. The drought in the area really hit hard and the nephew of the uncle who lets us pick (gleam) his leftover crop was going to be lucky to get one harvest. Oh well. I'm not sure when we would have fit it in anyway.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll let this slideshow sum up the rest of the trip...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

DID YOU KNOW? "Mississippi" is the second song on Bob Dylan's 2001 album "Love and Theft