Quarter of a Century (and Counting)

As of today (to the minute that this posted), I am officially the big Two Five. Do I feel differently? No, not really. The funny thing is, earlier this year I told people that I was already 25...getting ahead of my game, I suppose. Or maybe I do, in fact, feel older--maybe it was a freudian slip divulging how I subconsciously feel...

To celebrate my ever-aging presence, I thought I'd show some photos of me through the years--as a 6-week old baby, a 5 year old, 10 year old, 15 year old, 20 year old, and now. I'm sure I'll make my mom cry.

In honor of me coming into the world on this day, I will also share with you a list of 25 things I love/adore/enjoy/find to be humorous/that make me happy/you get the idea. A few months ago I blogged a list of 25 random things about me. Consider this an addendum to that post.

In no particular order, 25 Things That Make Me Happy:

1. I get a kick (no pun intended) out of kicking built-up

snow off of cars' fenders. I especially love it when they are huge and come off easily.

2. Bright, not too big & bulky, bracelets. My friend Nancy got me started with a cute, simple, seed-bead stretchy bracelet years ago, and I almost cried the day I played with it too much that it broke (and sent beads all over my car). I hardly ever wear them lately, though, because Little Sir just wants that and only that.

3. Winter. Oh how I love winter. Yes, it gets cold and Spring is a welcomed sight, but I love the chilly days and nights. The frost-bitten air. The quite stillness of late

nights and newly fallen snow. The wrappings of blankets with a mug of hot chocolate or wassail.

4. Reading through my past journal entries. If I open my journal to a previous entry I will usually read it. And most times that gets me reading farther and farther into the past. It's amazing how soon I forget what I wrote (even if it was just a couple of days previous).

5. My family. My little bity one, my big one, and my in-law one. They are all fabulous and I love them more and more each day.

6. Food. Glorious food. I love to eat. Pasta, salads, veggies, soups, beans, fruit, chocolate, bread, bread, bread, eggs, pie, brownies, ice cream, chips and salsa, pizza, and so much more. Lately I've fallen in love with Indian, Thai, and Chinese. Hmmm....

7. Disney animated movies. I own a couple dozen and still have a list of those I want in my collection. My favorites: Beauty & the Beast, 101 Dalmatians, Monsters Inc., Toy Story, Jungle Book.

8. Snuggling with Sam just before we fall asleep and right after waking up. That happens far and few between with an infant around, so I love those moments even more now.

9. Quiet time alone. I first discovered this when Sam moved to Colorado for school. Haven't had much of it until the other day when Sam took Winston somewhere in the morning. I had about 2 hours all to my self and the quiet of the house.

10. Fresh flowers. If I lived in an area of the world where they were more abundant, I'd want to bring some home as often as Sam gets a movie from the Red Box (or more often). I love other fresh plants, too, like poinsettias and Christmas cactus.

11. Swimming laps. I grew to love it during college and yearn to go more often.

12. Watching the dirt wash off my hands when I wash with soap. I know it's kind of gross, but I like to see the grey-ish black filth drip off my hands and down the sink.

13. Views from the top. Top of mountains, top of buildings, tops of hills--whatever. I like being able to see more than the tree across the street.

14. To see Winston recognize me from afar. Or get really excited to see me when I enter a room or come home from work.

15. My retro kitchen table and chairs. Straight from the 1950s, inherited from my Grandmother who passed away in 2006. Retro chartreuse green and baby turquoise. Totally groovy, baby.

16. Watching Sam run around like a crazy, silly man entertaining Winston. There is always delight spread across both faces, as well.

17. Shopping. Even better when there is money to spend. Less fun when looking for something specific (can you ever find it?!). Extra fun this time of year when there are oodles of incredible deals.

18. Finding an item I've been eyeing and wanting for a while on clearance. Always worth the wait.

19. Fudge. Peanut brittle. Divinity. English toffee. Only homemade. Once a year at Christmas time is perfect.

20. Popcorn. And ice-cold root beer. Popcorn and root beer and a movie together is fabulous.

21. Being married. It's awesome always having a companion around, especially when it comes to cleaning, cooking, and taking care of all other tasks (haha). And also all the other joys that only married people can relate to. There's nothing better.

22. Painted toenails. I don't always take the time to do it (especially in the wintery, closed-shoe months), but the funky looking toes sure look better with some color and sparkle.

23. Thinking about all the work a new home will need. New carpet, paint, and lots of other touch-ups. We don't have a home yet, but hopefully soon. I'm anxious to spend hours cleaning and sanitizing and preparing to live in a new place. I'm sure I'll not look forward to it once I'm actually there, but you know how that goes.

24. Sleep. Including cat-naps. I love when you wake up in the middle of the night and realize you can still sleep for a few hours, even though you feel like you've slept all night. I love when you wake up in the morning without an alarm clock just when you needed. I love when you wake up in the morning without ever waking up or even feeling yourself roll over during the night.

25. My ity-bity family. (Have I said that yet? Probably as often as I've mentioned food.) Life with Winstoncito and Sam is much more than I ever imagined. The next 25 years will only get better.

Discovering Christmas

The Christmas Tree

The Ornaments

With Santa Claus (#1)

The Grinch Encounter

Little Gingerbread Cousins

At Temple Square

With Santa Claus (#2)

Little Reindeer (or Ewok...depending on how you look at him)

Basket O' Fun

This is the best idea I've had in a long time.

It keeps him occupied for quite a while.

I do, however, think I'm creating an atmosphere of ADHD. He goes for one toy and while grabbing that one he sees another he wants and decides to go for that one instead...it goes on and on before he settles on one to chew.

The Last of the Gummy Smiles

This could be one of the last photos of Winston smiling without teeth, for he had one tooth cut through gums tonight. I noticed it while feeding him banana with my finger. It seemed to come out of no where--there hasn't been an increase in any "I'm teething" signs, such as drooling, fussiness, chewing, or tonguing for months.

Sam is totally excited for Little Sir to become even cuter with a toothy smile. I think I'll miss the gummy-ness.

W. passed his 7 month mark the other day. He's chunking up and filling out. His hair refuses to stand up now (time for another hair cut?).

We can't get enough of this little dude.

When's the last time you took bread to a concert?

I have some saxophones in one of my bands that sound a lot like ducks most of the time. One day I made light of the situation by saying that I would bring bread to rehearsal because of the sound. They didn't get better so I joked that the audience at the concert would bring bread and throw it at them. Last week we had the concert and when it was over one of the saxophonists said to me:

"Mr. Jewkes, no one in the audience brought bread!"

Something Is Hilarious

He giggles often, but before Sunday we had never heard him full-on laugh like this.

We have another video of him laughing for about 1 1/2 minutes after this video. And he was laughing for about that long before we caught this. We were laughing right along with him.

And as I write this, I am laughing out loud myself. Winston was sitting in his little car fussing because he wanted out. I crawled up to him from the opposite side he was looking and scared the poor little bageebies right out of him. He not only jumped, but his face formed into the most little frightened face you ever did see and his fusses turned into a shear screech of fear. It was so sad but it is making me laugh so hard.

The Challenges

Before posts about New Year's Resolutions start popping up in blogland, I wanted to mention some of the "resolutions" Sam and I have been working on for a little while (non-new-years-related).

One has been to include a handful of new recipes each time we plan a menu. You know how you seem to eat the same handful of meals over and over (and over) again? We want to get out of that rut. Plus, we like trying new things. And we have some cookbooks that have fabulous stuff that just need to be put to use, you know? AND we love food, so why not, huh?

Some fun new dinners we've tried:

- California Black Bean Burgers (there's a reason I listed this first--they were SUPER SCRUMPTIOUS!!)

- Broccoli enchiladas

- Rice noodles with peanut sauce

- Tempeh stir-fry with yogurt peanut sauce

- Pita fajitas

- Spanish tortilla

- Cheese & rice casserole

We mostly try to find meals that are different from the usual, and we're also exploring more vegetarian-style meals. Not because we're "converting," but because we want to eat less meat and more veggies and whole grains.

We only take a few minutes to rummage through the cookbooks and plan a menu with a complementary grocery list about once a month. We really only plan 8-10 meals, throwing in 2-3 newbies. It's amazing to me that 8-10 meals last almost a whole month for us--due to leftovers, eating at a family member's home, or something else that I can't seem to think of at this moment. Anyway, we've been pretty consistent about this since we moved to Salt Lake.

Another thing we do to help us with the new meal thing is to take pencils and write in our cookbooks. We will cross out a recipe we don't like and don't want to try again. We'll write in what we had to modify due to what ingredients we have or don't have. We'll circle and star the ones that we will for sure have again. You get the idea.

And the other little resolution is to do situps, pushups and lunges and/or squats every day. 20 situps center, 20 to the right side, 20 to the left side, 20 pushups, and 20 lunges and/or squats (sometimes my knees can't handle 20 of just squats, so that's why I vary this part). I've done something similar in the past, but never really put down exactly what to do and how much of it. At first I wanted to do it for 100 days (there are 100 total exercises), but I decided to first award ourselves if we do it daily until January 1st. We'll see how to modify at that point.

Oh, and I'm still trying to find a good reward...any suggestions?

One day I might blog some more about the yummy new meals with photos...but then again maybe not. Cute Winston always takes the blog's limelight--not much room for food photos, too. :)

Penguin Buddy de la Target

Winston discovered a friend in our new humidifier.

Aren't they both cute?

And, it's the awesome-est humidifier ever. Works super well and is cute. Target, 29 bucks. Boo yeah.

(Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE Target? No? See this post--it is all my thoughts and words, only not my thoughts and words. They are written by a fellow Target lover--my favorite fellow Target lover, if I do say so myself...)

Sudden Progress

It's an oxymoron, I know, but it sure seems like he couldn't do this one day and suddenly he is a pro today.

You should see how he steadies himself when he loses his balance--he has some skill! Each day he plays longer and longer sitting up (today more than 20 minutes at one time). It's kind of weird to turn around and see him sitting so nice and tall.

Next thing we know I'll turn around and he'll be no where in sight. Yikes to the crawling stage!

Pie, Glorious Pie

What more could we ask for?

Check out the bounty.

This year we only (yes, only) had 12 pies. And not one pumpkin, if you can believe it. My brother "burned" the pumpkin pie, and we forgot to bake the peach and razzleberry pies (we'll have those tomorrow!).

We made a mean german chocolate pie. And I must add that the from-scratch coconut cream in an Oreo crust was super scrumptious, also. And then there was the pecan, apple, cranberry apple, dutch apple, banana cream, pineapple cream, cheesecake, and lemon meringue. The French Silk pie was the first one attacked by all and the first one completely gone. The rest we're still eating away.

My mom says it's not Turkey Day in our family, it's Pie Day; the turkey is just a formality. And as Sam put it, one of the best things about Pie Day is we get some tomorrow...and the next day...and the next.

On another note, doesn't Winston look so comfy and yummy all snuggled up?

Thanksgiving Has Nothing To Do With Turkey

At my mom's, it's all about pies. And we spent all day yesterday making pies.

This pie is one of my favorites, but I have oh so many favorites.

It's French Silk--made purely of eggs, butter, sugar, and unsweetened chocolate in an Oreo crust.

One little piece is more than enough--it is so rich. I can't wait to have some later.

More photos of all the pies we will indulge in today to come.

Avocado Anyone?

Winston's first other-than-breast-milk food. He kept the food at the top of his mouth for a while as we laughed at him. He looked at us like, "What are you looking at?"

I Couldn't Help Myself

Christmas set up before Thanksgiving, just a few minutes before a beautiful snowfall.

I love this time of year.

Leavin' On A Jet Plane

I leave with Winston this morning for a conference in AZ.

I'm a little nervous to fly with him all by myself, but thankfully the flight should only be 1 hour and 45 minutes (ish). I hope he does well. Or poor persons sitting around us.

And to my dear friend [you know who you are]--I'm amazed that you did this with two little ones on a long, long flight. What an inspiration you are!

Growing and Growing

Happy 6-month (+ 1 day) birthday to Winston.

He is growing and growing--15 lbs 14 oz (about 30th percentile) and 27 inches long (about 80th percentile).

In 6 months, he has determined that he LOVES:

- chewing on his fingers and toes

- hanging upside down

- being held ALL. Day. long

- playing peek-a-boo

- bath time

- his little stuffed monkey

- walks and runs in the stroller

- cuddling with his ma & pa

He let's us know that he HATES:

- being put on or rolling onto his tummy

- being left alone in a room (or farther than 5 feet away) even for just a second

- his carseat (even with a cool car-seat-only-toy)

- the thought of falling asleep by himself

- sitting down--even if he's in your lap

Introducing Chester

Chester is a little elf that serves as Santa’s spy helper. With the help of my mom, I made this little feller to go along with this book. (While it was fun to make, I mentioned to my mom that I'm glad that I live now and not in the time where you couldn't buy dolls...it was a bit tedious to make.)

Basically, Chester watches to make sure we are good girls and boys and lets Santa know.

I think I will also have him dual as the messenger for another holiday tradition when Winston gets older.

I imagine something like this: Chester will hide each day during the holiday season, and one of the family members will run around the house to find him each morning.

Chester will then have a little gift wrapped in his hands explaining what is on the schedule for the day that is holiday-esque. Like going to Temple Square, making a holiday treat, or watching a holiday movie. You get the idea.

Chester will likely be involved in our holiday festivities for years to come.

PS I don't know about your weather, but outside here it is beginning to look a lot like a Winter Wonderland and both Winston & I are excited. You should have seen the smile on his face when he was caught in the blizzard from the car to the apartment. He loves it!

Balancing Act

For you, Grandpa Jewkes.

The World's Greatest Snack (for now)

I'm always hungry. Almost always, anyway. Especially 15 minutes after eating (not much exaggeration here--just ask Sam). And especially because I'm a nursing mother.

I'm always looking for something to eat, usually grabbing a banana, apple, some carrot sticks, toasted bread, yogurt, or some other item hanging out in my fridge or cupboards.

The latest greatest snack is captured in the following photo. Hmmm...it makes me drool and crave more just looking at it once more.

It is a toasted left-over cinnamon oatmeal (whole wheat) pancake (the recipe is in this packet bottom-right of page 8), spread with the ever-delicious nutella spread and an ice-cold glass of skim milk.

It's worth making extra pancakes each time, so I can have left-overs just like these.

Snip, Snip

Sam gave Winston his first little haircut the other day.

Winston was starting to have a comb-over look with his long mohawk, so Sam just snipped a teeny bit off the top, and now it stands up again.

I Looked Out the Window and What Did I See?

A cut bike lock, a helmet on the ground, and NO bike. Someone stole Sam's bike.

NOT cool.

Police report is in, and thankfully we had the serial number in a file somewhere. Chances of finding it are pretty good, according to the policeman.

The Whole Crayon Box

Only on Halloween do you get to wear cones on your head and coordinate your outfit to be matchy-matchy with the rest of your family.

Don't we look fabulous?

Baby Ghost (or Thank You Target Dollar Section)

The Hunt

Our family's "hunting grounds" is a beautiful place. It's hard to believe it has been 10 (maybe 9?) years since my first official hunt with a tag. And it's probably been 6 years since I've been to camp.

Sam and I met up with my family at camp on two separate nights. On opening day we arrived shortly before the crew came back to camp with their first kill.

Doesn't he look fancy all dressed up? (The deer, not my brother.)

We had a good time around camp. Sam went hiking with Winston, rode horses with my brother and his kids, and even did a little tracking.

Last Saturday was the first time that I can remember all of my siblings and my dad being at camp at the same time. I don't think it has ever happened before.

And once you hear us around the fire, you can probably tell why it doesn't happen very often.

I should have had the camera 2 minutes before this film--everyone was rowdy and much louder than this. You should have heard Sam laughing at the scene.

It was pretty funny.

Maybe next year we'll camp out with them.

No Seat Belt Scenario

I had to take a defensive driving course a couple of weeks ago. (No, not because I'm a bad driver. I had to take it in order to get reimbursed for travel expenses with my job.) A new insight about not wearing seat belts was shown to me.

There are probably many of you who knew this, but I had never considered how dangerous someone without a seat belt is to the other people in the car. Check out this video.

It's sickening, but WOW. I have always worn my seat belt, but now I will never start my car until ALL other passengers are belted--and not just for their safety but for mine!

Pass it on.

How Running is Like Unto Labor

About 5 summers ago I really got into running. Meaning that I ran probably at least 5 times a week and worked up to running 45-50 minutes without stopping. I LOATHED it in the beginning, but eventually grew to love it (who wouldn't grow to love running in Logan?).

But then I started having terrible knee pain. The doctors told me (basically) to stop doing what made the knees hurt. So, I stopped running and took up swimming. I now really enjoy swimming laps for exercise (I'll admit, though, it's been a while--Duchesne doesn't have an indoor pool and I haven't worked out a schedule with Mr. Little Baby since being in the SL valley).

The other day, however, I really wanted to go running with the boys. Sam had gone with Winston a few times, and it just sounded like fun.

Ha! How I fooled myself. :)

I soon remembered how much I hate running (until I get used to it, again, anyway). After my short non-stop 12 minute run (at a surprisingly good pace--not bad for not running in years), I thought about how running is like labor (or at least my labor with Winston).

1. They both are things to look forward to at the beginning.

2. During both you wonder what you got yourself into and can't wait until it's over.

3. During both you wonder how much longer you have to go

and how much longer you can make it without taking a break.

4. Both make you breath in out-of-the-ordinary ways and make your mouth and throat sore (I'll blame the cold weather while running and the moans and groans while laboring).

5. At the end you think, "That wasn't so bad, I could do it again."

But really, it was kind of nice. Hopefully we can fix the slow leak in the stroller tire soon, and bundle up the little dude again for another jog around the [big] block.

Maybe in a few months I'll be up to 45 minute runs again.

(But am I really that ambitious?)

I'm a "super human"

Since I started teaching I have played several instruments during class, including the trombone, trumpet, horn, and clarinet. Next week I plan to play the flute and eventually the saxophone as well.

Today while I was teaching, some of my students responded to me in Spanish saying: "Sí", yet they were not Latino. So I responded back to them in Spanish and one student then said: "Yo no hablemos español."

Then another student said the following:

"Wow, you're like a super human. You can play all the instruments and you speak Spanish."

Squawk, Squawk, Squeal, Repeat

I had a conference/training today, and this is just exactly how Winston acted all day long.

Yep--All. Day.

It started before he even got out of bed this morning, and he's still doing it now.

We stood outside the conference room for probably 90% of the meetings (the other 10% he was sleeping or eating).

It was very cute, and oh so very distracting.

My Philosophies of Life (Part 1)

• Have enough socks and underwear to last 2 weeks. That way, if you miss a week of laundry all is well.
• A closed door only means an opened one just out of sight.
• 30 minutes of exercise makes all the difference.
• The fruit of my tree of life is a peach. The world's greatest and sweetest peach.
• Don't try to out smart your kids--as soon as you try, they out smart you.
• A little bit of rain is sometimes all you need.

A Messy Tale: Sequel to "A Poopie Story"

With a pure, breast-feed infant, it's amazing this doesn't happen every day. Oh wait, it does...well, not every day, but often (and diaper brand doesn't make a difference). But it's not usually as messy as these last few times.

This story follows just about the same story line as the previous adventure: A Poopie Story

He's at it again.

Uh-oh!

Too messy to carry.

Can't wait for bath time.

All clean!

The little car-bouncer is clean now, too (although, it will probably always have this stain).

And the clothes are soaking, in order to become clean.

We love our pouting little stinker.

Happily Ever After (please, let there be no next time).