Chez Scoville

PNW

2009-07-04T14:01:00.010-07:00

Dear Daddy,

We have been having a blast hiking, picking strawberries, playing at the beach, going for walks, riding tractors, and eating FRESH halibut. Grandpa made delicious strawberry jam and makes a fresh strawberry pie everyday. We loved riding the airplane and the big ferry to get to great-grandma's house. We were very good, but Ian cried a little on the plane so mommy sang him the "popcorn" song. Then the lady sitting next to us made mommy sing it 15 more times so she could learn it. We miss you and hope you are having fun riding your bike and watching the Tour de France.

Love,

Max and Ian

p.s. more pics on flickr

enrichment photos

2009-06-19T14:42:00.003-07:00

These photos (of an enrichment activity for church) are for Molly, who didn't get to see the final product of our planning. It turned out great and your chicken salad croissant sandwiches were delicious.

p.s. This was such an easy event to clean up...we did box dinners and didn't have dishes to wash or food tables to set up. Most people took their boxes home so there was minimal garbage. Such a great idea and tied in with our "out of the box" theme.

big news

2009-06-16T14:11:00.005-07:00

I should be posting about the latest haps at chez scoville, but I am so EXHAUSTED after a week and a half of flying solo while J-P was in Belgium. He made it home safely and brought back the most amazing chocolate I've ever tasted. I was patient and waited to do our ultrasound until he got back. Here is the first picture of our baby girl. I still don't believe it.

delta trip

2009-06-03T20:12:00.004-07:00

We spent the week before Memorial day in Delta with J-P's mom. The boys had loads of fun, despite having really high fevers the entire week. I was pretty miserable with morning sickness , but I did my best to appear somewhat congenial. We spent Memorial weekend in Richfield with J-P's siblings. I was thrilled to get a girls' day out with the sister-in-laws and the boys loved hanging out with their cousins. We still can't believe a whole year has passed since J-P's dad's passing.

more pics on flickr...

FLOUR

2009-05-15T16:14:00.004-07:00

Who needs toys when mom forgets to lock the pantry?

18 & 16

2009-05-14T14:35:00.007-07:00

Ian is officially 18 months old. He did great in nursery, zero tears. He did even better at his appointment today, holding VERY still so the doctor could examine him and not making a peep the whole visit except to tell the doctor "bye-bye" as he walked out. He is a chatterbox...much like his namesakes (his great-grandpa and great-uncle McDonald). He is a fantastic eater. He eats everything I make and always wants seconds. He is ALWAYS happy and never cries unless he gets hurt. When injured, he cries out "BONK, MOMMY, BONK! Kiss it (as he extends the injured body part)." And then the tears subside. He loves to dialogue everything he sees, and usually throws in a random color as well. "White truck...pink flower...black car...etc." The funny part is that he never actually uses the correct color. When we color, he holds up the orange crayon and says "white", then holds the green one and says "blue". I'm not sure if he is colorblind or if he just hasn't figured out the concept of color yet. Here are his stats:

height: 34 1/2 inches (95th percentile)
weight: 23 lbs 8 oz (20th percentile)
head: 18 3/4 inches (50th percentile)

I'm not sure that he is quite that tall, I am a little skeptical of their measuring techniques after seeing Max measured the correct way at the endocrinologist. Max is growing well, by-the-way (75th percentile for height and weight), and we are no longer taking him to any specialists. Huge relief.
I am 16 weeks now. I wish I could say that I'm feeling great, but the morning sickness seems to be lingering and I have zero appetite, not to mention an extremely sensitive gag reflex. J-P is tired of dealing with pregnancy drama and constantly remarks "I sure hope this is a girl, because we are DONE!" I figured I would be sentimental and start documenting my pregnancy with photos in case he is serious. I'm not showing a ton, but at 102 pounds my stomach would be half that thick if it didn't have a baby in it. My doctor doesn't seem worried about my weight loss at all (I have been worried sick), he just says "you will have to gain a lot of weight later on to make up for it." I don't think that will be a problem. Assuming that my appetite returns, that is.

update

2009-05-06T13:25:00.005-07:00

It's been awhile. Sorry. I've been sick. Here is an overdue update on our fam:

J-P: Has been traveling. A lot. He went to India in March with his Duke class, and got really sick. He is on a plane home from CA right now, and leaves for Belgium in a few weeks. He is more than thrilled to be able to go back to France while he is there, and has been facebooking his old acquaintances there. He has also joined a cycling group which rides every morning at the crack of dawn.

M-A: Has been SICK. So sick. I finally got to the point where I had to wean Ian cold-turkey in one day so I could take zofran, only to find out that it doesn't work. At least not that well. Between zofran, unisom, acupressure bands, and sips of gatorade, I was able to stay alive. I have thrown up at every eatery within reasonable driving distance, and I will probably never be able to eat mexican food again. I am feeling a little bit better, and my dehydration headache is starting to ease. I can finally drink water again, which is a huge blessing considering how hot it is right now in AZ.

Max: Has taken his vehicle obsession to a whole new level. He is no longer satisfied to announce the color and type of each vehicle that passes us, he is intent on knowing the make as well. He is a little shaky when it comes to identifying shapes, but he can accurately identify a Chevy, Ford, Nissan, Honda, Acura, etc...just by looking at the symbol. "That blue pick-up truck has horns on it mommy, that means it's a dodge ram...Oh look!, that white car has a blue circle on it...that means it's a ford." The other day we were in the parking lot at Lowe's when a teenager in a beat-up nissan drove past us. Max yelled and pointed "LOOK! that car is a NISSAN mommy!" The teenager (who heard everything thanks to an open window) parked his car and angrily strutted over to us with his gangsta limp. He looked at me like he wanted to start a fight. "Excuse me, did he just try to tell me what kind of car I have?", he said with a major attitude. "I'm so sorry, he is a little bit obsessed with cars brands right now..." He cut me off and said "Dude! that is SO cool," and chuckled as he walked into the store.

Ian: Has been talking. A lot. He is a little parrot, and repeats just about everything he hears. He is putting 3 words together--"no, my drink!...outside dig shovel...drink cold water..." and is very good with possessives, "momma's shoe"..." max's crib"..."my blanket"...etc. He loves to read and brings me books all day long. Some of the first words he learned were "book" and "lap" because he loves to sit on my lap and read. He is super sweet and snugly. I am definitely not ready for him to grow up. I am, however, more than ready for him to go to nursery next week! These last 18 months have flown by.

mud and boys

2009-04-17T15:28:00.006-07:00

When I found out Max was going to be a boy, I cried for three days. Boys have never liked me. My brothers HATED me. My bossy, know-it-all personality fostered nothing but sibling rivalry and dissension. Luckily I have a very bold mother who told me many years ago that "boys don't like bossy girls" and that if I ever wanted to get married I would have to change. I worked hard and was finally able to convince a boy to marry me at the ripe age of 26.

Now boys are old hat for me. Little boys, that is. They like trucks, mud, playing outside, breaking things, and adventure. Seeing a mud covered head doesn't phase me anymore. I can totally handle mud. No big deal. Mud is easy. Boys are easy. Plus, little boys LOVE their mothers.

On my mind: Will baby number three be a boy? I'm assuming it will be. Which is fine. I have all the clothes, skills, and toys (the ones that survive) necessary to parent another boy. But what if it's not? I don't have any idea what to do with a girl. For now, we are assuming it's a boy. We can find out for sure in 7 more weeks, or go the surprise route and find out on Oct. 31. What would you do? Oh, and do you know of any cute 3 letter boy names? We've run out of ideas. Not that we're stuck on that trend.

more pics on flickr

for the record

2009-03-20T16:19:00.003-07:00

Today when I called J-P to tell him something funny Max said, he responded with "how come you never write these things down on the blog?" I informed him that my current hiatus from habitual blogging is the direct result of a full hard drive. I can't download any pics to my computer. Blogging is not fun without pictures. The end.

I did agree that I need to be better about documenting our humorous moments. Here is the aforementioned funny episode:

Preface: Ian learned how to open child locks before he could walk. He's smart like that. After a month of careful observation, Max caught on. Now they are always opening cupboards and making huge messes. If I let them. And sometimes I do. It's easier than fighting them and lifting all 30-something pounds of Max into his crib for timeout.

Today they got into the cupboard under the sink. The one with the garbage and all the dangerous chemicals. Ian was pulling out different industrial cleaners and Max was searching through the garbage. "GET OUT OF HERE! You know you aren't supposed to play in here!", I yelled. Max gave me a half-eye roll, pushed me away and said "mom, just go look at your computer".

be careful what you say

2009-03-10T21:54:00.002-07:00

Max picks up on everything. Everything. The other day when we were watching the bachelor (so embarrassing to admit), Max woke up crying. He was sick, so I brought him into the kitchen to give him some tylenol. I didn't think he would notice the t.v. so I didn't pause it. On his way back to bed he stopped, gave his daddy a very passionate kiss on the cheek, and gazed into his eyes with a big smile before continuing on to his room. Both of our jaws dropped. We couldn't believe what he picked up from watching 30 seconds of a not-for-children show.

Today Ian was playing behind the couch. The boys KNOW they are not supposed to play behind the couch. When Max saw Ian back there, he hollered "Get out of there baby! You hear me baby?, I said get out of there! Oh my goodness baby. I so mad at you. I going to count. One, two, three, four, five...OK, go a time out baby!!!" I almost busted a gut laughing. I'm starting to learn how careful I have to be. Max is so observant and he remembers everything. Sometimes I don't realize my faults until he mirrors them.

blueberry rolls

2009-02-26T22:54:00.004-07:00

Sorry, life is crazy busy and I haven't had a chance to post the recipe. The other problem: I don't have a recipe. These came about when I was making whole wheat bread the other day and was craving something sweet so I decided to turn half the batch into blueberry and cinnamon rolls. I'm sure they would come out much better if you used your favorite sweet roll dough recipe. Anyway, for the blueberry sauce I just put some frozen blueberries (sorry I don't measure) into a sauce pan with a tiny bit of lemon/orange juice and some sugar. I cooked it until it started to thicken and then added a little cornstarch (you have to dissolve it in cold water first...but not a lot of water) to make it thicker. You could probably use blueberry fruit spread (TJ's has a great one) instead. I put a little (vegan) butter on the rolled out dough and then spread on the blueberry stuff. Frost them with glaze or your fav sweet roll frosting. Here is someone else's take on it.

food

2009-02-20T14:24:00.008-07:00

Food is on my mind. I had to teach a class on healthy, low-budget cooking last week. I spent a whole day in the kitchen preparing samples. Max spent a whole day in the kitchen "cooking" and making messes.

"I just making hot chocolate mommy. I put onions and sugar and cheerios in my hot chocolate mommy. I working so hard mommy. I such a good worker mommy. I cooking just like you mommy..."
I planted round four of our garden this morning (with plenty of marigolds to scare the bugs away). I also planted stevia for the first time. I've never used it before, mostly because it's so expensive. Fingers are crossed that we will have better luck this time than we did last fall. While outside I was also very surprised to discover our first orange ever hiding under some branches. Hopefully the limes and lemons aren't far behind.
In trying to get as much use as possible out of my wheat grinder, I have been baking a lot. Bread, muffins, and a new personal fav: blueberry rolls.

dance party

2009-02-17T09:07:00.002-07:00

This video is a 'get well soon' shout out to Ian's fav singer Rihanna. Whenever he hears her music he stops what he's doing and starts dancing. His dancing skills aren't bad for a 15-month-old. Max can dance too, but gets camera shy.

click HERE for video

Outside

2009-02-09T12:39:00.004-07:00

We have been outside lately. And for a good reason. When we stay inside disaster happens. I end up cleaning red paint off of my curtains, walls, and children. I end up cleaning bodily excretions (both types) out of the carpet. I end up sweeping entire bags of crushed tortilla chips off the floor. I end up losing my temper when Max finds my laptop and pulls four of the keys off. In short, I end up losing my mind.

Outside the fresh air clears my head. I can read uninterrupted while the boys bury themselves in dirt. Sarah came over on Saturday and documented our typical day HERE.

And yes, a typical day includes Jane Austen and leggings. I am ADDICTED to leggings. When I asked J-P if it was appropriate for me to wear them in public (public as in to the gym) he replied "Uh, well, you do know that...uh...they show parts of your body that are...uh...well...not quite as uh...toned...as other parts of your body?" Cracks me up.

embarrassment

2009-02-02T08:33:00.005-07:00

I rarely get embarrassed. I can remember two specific times in my 30 years that I have been truly embarrassed. That's all.

This past month, feelings reminiscent of embarrassment have been abounding.

I am embarrassed that I have read the twilight series three times (the 2nd and 3rd time were during long road trips). I am more embarrassed that I have seen the movie four times. Yes, four.

I'm embarrassed to admit I had never read a Jane Austen book before 2009. After watching Pride and Prejudice three times over the holidays, I sent J-P to the store to buy me the 5 hour mini-series. Still unsatisfied, I thought long and hard about how I could get more details about the story when the thought FINALLY hit me--"oh yeah, there's totally a book". I took it off the shelf (yes I even own it) and read it in two days. I also read Sense and Sensibility and Emma in January, and started Mansfield Park yesterday. I am thoroughly addicted.

This is perhaps the worst account: My sister-in-law Sarah came over a couple weeks ago and told me (with marked enthusiasm) that the Cardinals were going to the Superbowl. My immediate thoughts were "Aren't the Cardinals a baseball team? Why is Sarah so excited? Who cares?" Trying to be polite, I replied "Oh. Was that like unexpected or something?" To which she replied that it was very unexpected. I didn't think about it again until I was walking through Walmart and there were pictures of the Cardinals everywhere. The whole store was bleeding red with Cardinals memorabilia. "Why are the Cardinals so popular here? I don't get it...oh, wait...that sign says 'Arizona Cardinals'. Oh. Whoops. I probably should have known that. That's embarrassing."

Even more embarrassing was that I shoplifted for the 127th time on my way out of the store. A gigantic rubbermaid storage bin. After loudly repeating "NO, THIS ISN'T A RETURN, I JUST FORGOT TO PAY FOR IT" to the hard-of-hearing walmart greeter, I finally made it past her to go pay. She started laughing hysterically as I lugged the giant thing back inside with two cranky toddlers in tow. "This is so not funny", I said under my breath as I passed her.

1.22.08

2009-01-22T09:35:00.005-07:00

j-p,

it rained last night. i am looking out the window at our wet shoes on the back patio. this is the first day we've stayed inside. my grandma and i have been reading jane austen books, watching jane austen movies, shopping, and drinking blueberry soda from trader joe's.

is there a trader joe's in china? i don't think i can move there if there's not.
last night grandma instigated a dance party. you would never guess she is in her 80's. ian went crazy. he LOVES to dance. almost gave himself whiplash. max did a few half-hearted dance moves. he hasn't been himself this week. still misses you.
oh, and ian is now 14 months. he is picking up new words everyday. things like "oatmeal" (oh-meal), "avocado" (acado), "car", "truck", "drop it" (as he drops food on the floor. and laughs), "banana" (nana), "nose", "neck", etc. he's a total genius. well, either a genius or fortunate to have a chatterbox brother talking (yelling?) at him all day long.

i am so exhausted by the end of the day i can't move. but that's not the only reason i miss you.

be safe. and don't eat pork.

je t'aime,

m-a

a letter

2009-01-19T06:33:00.004-07:00

Dear J-P,

My days begin promptly at 5 a.m. I endeavor to put the baby back to sleep, yet to no avail. He is wide-eyed, increasingly talkative, and laughs at my vain attempts. It is impossible to stay mad at him, however, when he showers me with kisses, hugs, and spends his morning playing, laughing, and dancing about the room.

Max misses you. Immensely. He has been acting out in the most atrocious ways. No doubt a direct result of your absence. Before your next trip you must teach me the dump truck song, the fire truck song, and the big rig song. He is deeply vexed by my inability to carry a tune, and even more disturbed when I am unable to comply with his request for a backhoe loader song. As a result he is on a nap strike. Yesterday he spent an hour and a half jumping up and down in his crib while screaming "NO, I NOT TAKE A NAP!" over and over through tantrum-style tears.

The weather is absolutely divine. We spend the better part of the afternoon outdoors. Today the forecast predicts another perfect 78 degrees. Great-grandma McDonald is enjoying her stay and has been obliged to read to the boys, giving me a much needed break from the truck books.

Please make haste in returning to us, as the children find me a dull, insipid playmate in comparison to you and I'm not sure how long they can endure your absence.

Affectionately,

M-A

p.s. if you continue to find the pollution incapacitating, i urge you to forgo your pride and install a gas mask about your face.

2009

2009-01-16T14:08:00.005-07:00

Hello again. Sorry about the blogging hiatus. I'm not pregnant (I know you were wondering). We've been busy. And sick. And tired. And traveling. And I have been reading. A lot. Too much. I can't help it. Jane Austen is a genius.

Holiday Highlights 2008:

-Ian suffered the violent wrath of the stomach flu
-We spent Christmas in Utah with J-P's fam
-Max made his acting debut as a shepherd in the family nativity production
-J-P and siblings installed a new wood floor for his mom
-J-P and siblings took snowboarding trip
-We spent new year's eve in CA with my fam
-Played at the beach
-Played with cousins
-Rushed max to the ER due to his worst allergic reaction yet.
We are finally home (ok, we've been home for almost 2 weeks), and chugging into 2009 at full speed. J-P's January India trip was canceled (darn terrorists), so his professors decided to take them to Shanghai instead. I have been busy trying to put our house back together and clean up after the toddler tornado duo.

My new year's resolution is quite simple: Survive. If I survive, my additional resolutions are: Organize (because it restores my sanity), Simplify (because I can't do everything. believe me. i've tried), Eat more miso soup (because it makes me happy), Spend more time outside (because who doesn't need more vitamin D), read to my children more (because it's the least I can do).

That's all. Happy 2009.

p.s. most of our holiday pics are on J-P's computer so i'll post them later.
p.s.s. the weather is entirely perfect here. a sublime 75 degrees. not a cloud in the sky. it is impossible not to be happy.

setting the record straight

2008-12-09T21:23:00.005-07:00

Max is a know-it-all. Just like me. He is so much like me, in fact, that it's a little spooky. I had no clue these tendencies where genetic. Things like spouting off random facts, correcting people, getting the last word in, making up answers to questions (and delivering said answer as if it were an indisputable fact). He is not the apple that didn't fall far from the tree, he is the tree. Already.

We put up the Christmas tree while the boys were asleep. The next morning I said "Max, do you like the tree?" He looked at me with impatient eyes and said "that's not a tree mommy, that's a Christmas tree." All day long it's "that's not a truck mommy, that's a dump truck"..."that's not green mommy, that's blue"... "that's not a car mommy, that's a police car"...and so on.

It gets better. While walking past the lady behind the fabric counter at Joann's, he blatantly stated "that's not a witch mommy, that's just a lady." Maybe because they had a large witch by the counter during Halloween? So embarrassing.

The worst offense? A few days ago I had just put the baby down for a nap. As I quietly closed the door, Max came marching towards me, playing his drums as loudly as possible. "MAX!!! What are you..." He quickly cut me off with "I not waking up the baby mommy, i just playing the drums." There is no reasoning with him. He is right. End of story. The fact the I know exactly how he feels does not augment my patience level. Our little family will have to do some stretching to make room for two know-it-alls. Wish us luck.

family picture outtakes

2008-12-07T20:43:00.005-07:00

My sister-in-law Sarah stopped by yesterday, so we dragged her to the park to take a few quick pictures. Max did not cooperate. Don't be surprised if you see a shot like this one in our Christmas card this year. And no, your eyes are not fooling you...Max is almost as big as I am.

Here are some candids of the boys. I couldn't get Max to look at the camera.Perhaps Max's bad attitude was a direct result of the fact that earlier that morning I FORCED him, against his will, to sit on Santa's lap at our church Christmas party. I've been prepping him for the santa photo op for months now. I've been reading him Christmas stories and talking up santa's good qualities. Every time he sees a picture of santa, he says "santa's really nice mommy." All my efforts did not pay off, as is evidenced by the picture below.

As we were walking out, I said "Max, you are supposed tell santa what you want for Christmas." He stopped crying, turned to face santa, sniffled twice and said "uh, I want a backhoe loader and some candy". Then we left.

p.s. max has an intense infatuation with backhoe loaders. i barely know what they are and had to reference his truck book to make sure i was buying him the right thing...

thanksgiving

2008-11-30T21:43:00.005-07:00

I hosted my first thanksgiving this year. I am told I hosted one before. I vaguely remember nausea and vomiting...pretty sure I blocked the rest out. Did we eat any turkey? Sorry guys. Hopefully I made up for it this year.
I soaked the turkey in a brine before I cooked it (recipe here). I was skeptical, but it turned out very moist. We had a dairy-free dinner (lots o allergies on the scoville side). It wasn't super great, but everyone could eat it. That's what counts, right? I'll work on finding better recipes.
We lounged around, went to the movies, played at the park, chatted, played games, went to see the Mesa temple lights, and ate lots of food. Thanks to my mother-in-law and sisters-in law for all their help. We had a great time. You can check out pics on flickr.

p.s. I had lofty thanksgiving decorating plans (I think I have come down with seasonal decorating disorder), but due to some unexpected events most of them did not come to fruition. I did manage to finish my turkey silhouette...just in the nick of time. Check it out here.

ode to eanie

2008-11-20T09:30:00.004-07:00

Ian is a year old. How did this happen? There is no slowing down this growing up process, despite my concerted efforts. He seems to be hastening the process by meeting milestones much faster than Max did. He has a completely different personality than Max, yet shares one important scoville trait: he is a HUGE tease. He balances Max's fears with his fearlessness and is the perfect addition to our family.

One year stats:

height: 31 3/4 inches (93%)
weight: 21 lbs 7 oz (26%)
head: 18 1/4 (47%)

Special skills: Walking, running, talking, climbing, dancing, teasing, taking off poopy diapers, opening child locks, biting, nodding yes and no, and more.

Nicknames (include but are not limited to): eanie, baby, "E", baby "E", eanie bean, beanie wean, beanie, bubba chubs, E.B., bambino chino, gubs, chubs,

Interests:

playing with Max

taking a bath with max

unloading the dishwasher

riding his truck

His first word(s): "whats that?" (same as max, i suppose curiosity is in our blood...). He also loves to push his cars and say "vroom...vroom". Other words he has used (not with phonetic perfection, but definitely audible) are "yeah", "ma-ma", "ball", "bath", "book", "this", "what's this?". A few weeks ago I looked at him and said "Eanie, do you want a banana?" "Yeah", he quickly replied while nodding his head up and down. He's basically a genius. Takes after his mom.

frustration

2008-11-13T22:05:00.004-07:00

It's amazing how polarized our nation is becoming. Maybe it has always been this way and I'm just starting to pay attention. Who knows. This is getting out of control. Interesting that foxnews.com is the only site that has posted the story. CBS, on the other hand, is giving the prop 8 opposition free advertising with this article. The bias in the mainstream media is sickening. I don't understand how the prop 8 opposition can demand "tolerance" when they obviously have zero tolerance for the opposing viewpoint and no respect for the democratic process. After reading about all the vandalism, fires, attacks, boycotts, vulgarity, etc. I find it extremely ironic that they accuse us of hate.

What kind of world will my children grow up in? What happened to good old-fashioned family values? Scares me to death. I wish I could turn back time.

keep calm and carry on

2008-11-12T10:20:00.004-07:00

I recently purchased this World War II reproduction poster. It is hanging on my wall as a reminder to 'keep calm and carry on'... it's my new motto.

When Max

draws an eyeliner mural on my bedroom door...
dumps out two boxes of cereal in 5 seconds flat...
takes a blue marker to the chair i reupholstered (in dry-clean-only fabric)
slams Ian's hand/head/foot in the door...
takes off his diaper and pees on me...
rips out my garden plants...
dumps soup on his head...
rips all the pages out of his books...
climbs up the pantry and dumps the honey out...

I take a deep breath and glance at my poster. Words are powerful. I think every mother of a two-year-old boy should have this poster hanging in their house. I'm telling you, it helps. I wish I could channel all of Max's spontaneity and creativity in a constructive (and not destructive) way.

In addition to documenting his naughtiness, I also wanted to jot down a few funny things he has said lately:

"I'll mow the lawn mommy...someday, somehow." (as he was pushing his toy mower)
"Watch out dude!" (when a truck almost his us the other day)
"Take care!" (as I was saying goodbye to a former student that checked us out at Old Navy)
"The garbage truck comes Wednesday and Saturday mommy, NOT Thursday." (this is only funny because he says it every 1.5 minutes...just in case I forget. It's amazing that he has learned the days of the week just so he can figure out when the garbage truck will come.)

policital unrest

2008-11-10T22:46:00.003-07:00

I thought that after the elections were over I would be able to relax. I thought the election hoopla would end. I thought the vandalism would end. We would accept the will of the people, put our differences aside, and move forward. Simple as that. That's what I was planning to do.

I didn't see the backlash coming. At all.

Now that it is in full force, I can't seem to pull myself away from the news coverage. I need to check myself into news junkie rehab. Seriously, I go to bed WAY too late. After hearing lots of horrible things, it's refreshing to read things like this. This was also interesting. The worst that has happened (that i know of) in our neighborhood is someone setting fire to the dumpster next to our chapel during church. I am regretting not pulling Max out of nursery to see the fire truck. He would have loved it.

Mitt Romney 2012 anyone?

p.s. the church's official statement is here