storytelling

I asked Abraham to tell me a story. Here it is:

Once upon a time there was a old man, and a beast ate him. The end.

:)

miscommunication

All three of us are lying in bed and we accidentally play telephone. I say something to Abraham (who knows what it actually was), which Anderson interprets as "Don't touch my elbow." So he says to Abraham, "You can touch my elbow," which Abraham misunderstands and replies rather indignantly, "No, I don't want to touch your antelope!"

...Maybe you had to be there.

Seen Around Town

I want to start a new thing where I share here some articles, videos, blogs, etc that I run across that are interesting, inspiring, or otherwise amazing. I'm always reading fabulous things, and some I share over email or Facebook, but this would be a great way for me to keep track of them as well. So here it goes for this week!

Health and Nutrition

66 Things You Can Grow Without a Garden

Saving Food from the Fridge - Awesome article about beautifully un-refrigerating food

The Color Run - Fun, fun marathon coming to Nashville; all ages, no running skills needed - who's with me??

Fraudulent Olive Oil - This blog post summarizes a recent study on olive oil and links to a list of which ones passed the test and which ones were found to be impure (hint: most of them! even Whole Foods!). Also, this is a great blog overall for home-made, all-natural recipes for everything. 

Parenting

Why French Parents are Superior

Enable Me to Grow - Great Baha'i site/blog I found on teaching virtues to toddlers; currently sharing lots of wonderful Ayyam-i-Ha activities and ideas


Thoughts? Comments? Anything cool you want to share with me?

By request

For your perusal, a few relatively recent photos of the Ham. First from an impromptu photo shoot during Thanksgiving, and the second from a fall photo shoot. Maybe I should have added "learn how to take pictures" to my new year's aspirations. But with such a cute subject, my patented "take a bunch and some will turn out" style seems to work just fine.

Yes, those are baby Toms.

New Year's Reflections

Do you think you can change the kind of person you are? I don't mean like, learning to ski, or becoming a better cook, or even disciplining yourself to be more patient. But more like this, for instance: If I write as one of my new year's resolutions that I want to be more spontaneous, is that really something that is possible and achievable? Even if I manage to let go of all reservations when someone else suggests a spontaneous activity, would I really be able to, on my own, decide to do something without first planning it out?

Another example, can I BECOME a morning person? It seems, thus far in my life, that no matter how early I have to get up or how much sleep I get, I just don't jump out of bed ready to go. As I tell Abraham, I have to wake up slowly. Is this just my natural personality, or can it be changed?

All the talk of resolutions on the occasion of the new year has me thinking about ways in which I'd like to change my life, too. But the middle of winter seems a strange time for making changes. And, I'd like to be reasonable with it all. A year is a long time, sure, but rather than vague "be a better person" platitudes, I'd like something concrete, that I can measure. It's the non-spontaneous side of me. It also may be the side of me that likes to make lists. Really, how could I resist the opportunity to make a list of things to accomplish in the new year? So here goes. A preliminary list, anyway. I may add more as the week (or month, or year) goes on.

What are your resolutions?

Also, creative ways to display resolutions here. I might need to try something like this.

New Year’s Resolutions

1.       Learn:

a.       To use the sewing machine

b.      To knit

2.       Create:

a.       12 pieces of art (one a month)

b.      Adaily rhythm chart

c.       A morning and evening routine (prayers and yoga)

d.      Photobook for Abraham, Year 2

3.       Write:

a.       Regular blog posts

b.      Poetry

c.       A novel

4.       Read:

     (I am leaving off the actual items here, lest I be too embarrassed for not having read them already.)

5.       Be:

a.       “A kindly tongue is the loadstone of the hearts of men. It is the bread of the spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning, it is the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding.”

b.      “I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love.”

c.       “Humanity is not perfect. There are imperfections in every human being, and you will always become unhappy if you look toward the people themselves. But if you look toward God, you will love them and be kind to them, for the world of God is the world of perfection and complete mercy.”

d.      “The imperfect eye beholds imperfections. The eye that covers faults looks toward the Creator of souls.”

6.       Do:

a.       Organize one room a month, doing at least one small thing a day

run, run, as fast as you can

I'm really slacking at blogging, I know. I keep thinking I need to just crack down, but it doesn't seem to happen. Anyway, Abraham is saying some hilarious stuff these days, and I have to write it down so I don't forget. For instance, yesterday he randomly started singing, "Baa baa, black sheep, have you any gingerbread man cookies?" Here are a couple other gems:

Getting into bed, I say, "Abraham, can you scoot over? I don't have any room. I'm going to fall off."

He throws his arm around me and says, "I'll save you, Mommy."


-----


Further proof that Abraham was scarred by the first 20 minutes of The Jungle Book. Anderson was going out to a movie and Abraham said he wanted to go too. Anderson said he couldn't go because it was an adult movie.

Abraham: Too scary?

Anderson: Yeah, it's a little scary.

Abraham: Like Mowgli?

Thanksgiving was nice. More on that later, hopefully. Now, a conversation from last night.

(Playing "Professor says"...which is the library's version of Simon says. During dinner. Which he is not eating.)

Me: Professor says, touch your head.

(Abraham touches his head.)

Me: Professor says, touch your nose.

(Abraham touches his nose.)

Me: Professor says, come take a bite of your food.

Abraham: Professor says, walk away. (Abraham walks away.)

Me: Touché, Abraham.