yeah, i'm bored

wanna make something of it?

the end

Something I love about kids (and I think most people appreciate this) is the fun ways they come up with to express their thoughts. At about age 2-3, Noodle mixed up many of her compound words, resulting in things like "markbook" for "bookmark," "packback" for "backpack," etc. She also called flip-flops "flop flops." Spud does the same thing with some of his words, but I think my favorite is "got for" and "get for". "Mom, don't get for me." "You got for my water, mom." If you haven't figured it out, it's his version of forgot. I love that he even uses the appropriate ending, although it's of course the prefix the way he says it.

Another Spudism that I loved, but he has now outgrown, is the expression, "I don't how to." Our thoughts on this was that the word know equaled no in his mind, so he left it out. We'd ask him to say a new word or do something, and if he couldn't, he'd reply, "I don't how to." Sometimes he would say, mostly to himself, "I how to." Last night I noticed for the first time him saying, "I don't know how to." Sigh... I guess it will always live in my memory.

monday cuteness

dogs in the snow

one hundred

A couple of weeks ago we told Noodle we'd make a "100 Cake" when she could count to 100 by herself. Well, on Thursday she did it! We ate the last of the cake yesterday and it was delicious down to the final bite!

a free screen clean

Does your monitor need a cleaning?

live free or die hard

We saw this movie last weekend (David had seen it in the theater with some guy friends when it came out) and I totally loved it. Great action sequences, and I thought the Mac ad guy did awesome. And, I have to admit, I think Bruce Willis is kind of a hottie. There is this funny music video on the DVD (it does swear a bit, so you may not want to watch it with your kids) Die Hard Tribute Music Video. I've never seen the other Die Hard movies, but I give this one two thumbs up.

today's funny

stuff white people like

the Rudy Tootster

He's ours!!

So we went and met Rudy tonight, and brought him home with us. He is a WONDERFUL dog! He's very submissive to Daisy and he likes to play. He's met the cats and seems interested but not at all hostile. And, unlike a number of bassets, he's pretty quick to learn. I just took him & Daisy out for a walk and he was pulling quite a lot, so I did the whole "stop every time the leash gets taut" bit and he caught on. Pretty good!

very cool prank

in honor of Lincoln's Birthday...

Yes, it's tomorrow, but I'm sharing this today. It's all made of pennies. The artist said, "
I used 1,702 pennies to make a portrait of Lincoln. Sorting the coins took about seven hours, and making the image took about six. Clay Bavor - May 2005"

soybean dreams

Happy New Year!

It's The Year of the RAT!!!

In honor of the New Year, might I suggest viewing one of the following movies:

Charlotte's Web
The Secret of Nimh
Ratatouille
Willard (this is for you scary movie fans)
Flushed Away
Dr. Doolittle (the Eddie Murphy one)
Babe (okay, so they're mice, but pretty close)


The Rat is the first sign of the Chinese Zodiac 12 year cycle. Mythology has it that the Emperor told the animals that there would be a race to his palace to see who would be honored with a place in the zodiac. Both the cat and the rat, being poor swimmers (though in fact, rats are quite good swimmers) hitched a ride on the back of the ox/water buffalo to cross the river. The Rat knew he had to do something to increase his advantage, so he shoved the cat into the water. When they reached the other side, the rat hopped off the ox and ran to the palace, claiming first place. The cat ended up making it to the palace in 13th place, too late to secure a year in the calendar. And that's why cats hate both rats and the water.

I was born in the Year of the Horse, as was Noodle.

HORSE
People born in the Year of the Horse are very popular. They like to be entertained and like being around large crowds. They are wise, talented, and very good with their hands. They are cheerful, skillful with money, and perceptive, although they sometimes talk way too much for their own good. They are very independent and don’t listen to others advice. They are most compatible with Tigers, Dogs, and Sheep.

I especially like the part about not listening to others' advice. It's good to be me.

Look up your Chinese Zodiac Sign here

P.S. The Rat in the photo is my boy Finny. Happily, he's still with us.

out of his shell..er, cage

So I think Jake, our rabbit, has finally decided he likes us. He really truly likes us. A while back I put a small rug outside of his cage door so he could hop out without slipping on the vinyl flooring. He liked his rug a lot, and would hop in and out of his cage, but rarely leave the rug. So on Monday I bought him a LONGER rug (a 6' x 2' runner-type) and put it outside his cage. Thinking that if nothing else, he now had a bit more room that he felt comfortable hopping around on. Well, give him an inch and he takes a mile! He has now decided that he looooves hopping around the family room (adjacent to the kitchen and a few feet away from his cage. He hops around, up on the sofas, under the ottoman, on Daisy's bed, everywhere! And tonight he has, several times, turned into a rabbit blob due to ecstasy while we've been scritching his head.

We're pretty happy that he has decided to officially join the family now.

maybe...

We have been in touch with Utah Friends of Basset Hounds about this super cutie named Rudy. He's 2 years old. Here's his "bio":

I'm a sweet energetic eager-to-please boy! I love pig hooves, fetch, walking, running, and lots of play! I am great with kids and other dogs. I am very small compared to other basset hounds, but I might fill out with time. I would do best in an active home preferably with other dogs, kids, or both! I am crate trained and would thrive in a home that would maintain this practice. (If left uncrated when alone, I will make up games to play with all your stuff! I'm creative that way!) I am full of love and would be a great addition to any active family! Can I enjoy my second puppyhood with you?



We're having our "home check" this weekend to see if we are a suitable basset family, and then we'll get to meet him and see if he'd be a good fit for us. I think he's beautiful, and I do like that he is on the smaller side for a basset hound. They can get to be quite large. David's family had a basset hound named Nestle for a long time. She died a couple years ago. My brother has a basset hound named "di-oh-gee," who is about 6 1/2 years old. Unfortunately they aren't "house dog" people, so their basset lives in the backyard.

farewell to two little friends...

So in the past week we've said goodbye to two of our rats, Quito & Loki. Quito, our youngest at about 21 months -- which is still fairly old for a rat -- died rather suddenly last week. He was fine, then one day he seemed a bit sluggish but no other symptoms, and then he passed the next day. The picture is of him as a young rat. He was kind of a runt, which made him Noodle's favorite.



Loki, one of our old boys (28 months) has been losing weight for a while and then about 9 days ago got some sort of infection. We debated whether to give him a course of antibiotics, but it generally kills their appetites, and since he is so old we didn't think it would be the best choice. He was still eating (quite enthusiastically), so we just let him stay with the other two rats and gave him lots of yummy food. Today when we came home from errands, he had passed away.



So now we're down to two rats. We have Tully & Finny left. Finny is Loki's brother, so he's the same age, but he is in better shape for now. Tully is Quito's slightly older brother (by 3-4 weeks). We haven't had so few since we started keeping rats five years ago.

Farewell little guys. See you on the other side.

learn something new every day

Today I learned that, according to myth/legend/superstition, you can bury a statue of Saint Joseph aka San Jose in your yard upside down to help your house sell faster. I told this to David and he knew it already. I think it must be his Mexican half that has some sort of internal Saint dictionary.

dogs in the news

So I've loosely followed the Michael Vick dogfighting story and have been interested in the fates of the dogs who were rescued. Twenty-two of them went to Best Friends in Kanab, UT, where my niece works as a Vet Tech Assistant, and twelve (or 13?) more were taken to BAD RAP in San Francisco, CA. The stories of some of these dogs are heart wrenching. Or rather I should say the likely stories, as we'll never know for sure. But the dogs are, on the whole, doing really well and enjoying their chance at regular lives. It makes me sick to think of the people in the world who can so inhumanely brutalize animals. Right now in Utah we are trying to get a more strict animal torture bill passed. I've collected signatures and sent emails. I hope it passes this year.

The NYTimes did a front page article today about the "Viktory Dogs" at Best Friends. Check it out!

this is cool