Tad-a-poles and Fwogs

If you've "liked" the Calm Crazy Facebook page (yes, shameless plug) then you already know that we've been caring for some tadpoles here at the house. Sam, our 14-year-old, brought some up from the creek a little over a week ago and the little kids went completely ga-ga over them. We've had near constant talk of "tad-a-poles" and "fwogs" ever since. I never knew how much fun a project like this could be; I have to admit to being completely charmed by the whole thing.

The tadpoles' habitat used to be in a much smaller tupperware container but we found this great plastic container while we were cleaning out our closet this weekend--you know, in preparation for 'The Big Move Part Zwei'. Last night Sam ran down to the creek to get more 'crick muck' (I type out 'creek' here on the old blog but the Hoosier in me thinks 'crick' every single time) and then we dumped our five original tad-a-poles into the new and improved version.

At one point during the evening I managed to get Zander and Izzy to sit still long enough to take a little video of them talking about the whole thing. Right before the start of the video I told them to tell me what they were looking at, but the rest is pretty much all them. The video is pretty cute (obviously I'm a bit biased) and just over a minute long. But really. I dare you to watch this thing and not smile.

I think I've thanked Sam about 50 times for coming up with this idea. It probably would never have occurred to me that these two would enjoy it this much. And, I have to say, Jason and I like it too. There are all kinds of little bugs and things in that water. It's really neat to watch. We've got our own little ecosystem in that box.

Have you ever raised tadpoles? What kinds of science projects have you done with your kids?

Uncle Nathan's Big Surprise

Want to know how a 25-year-old man cemented the title of "Best Uncle Ever"? You might think that getting all four of his nephews (plus sister, brother-in-law, and father) into Disney Land for free might do it. I do believe that would have been enough. Nate being Nate, however, prescribes to the adage: Go big or go home. Getting the boys into Disney wasn't enough for him. No, no...he had to do--more.

Did you know that Disney has a Jedi Academy? The Jedi Master in brown may or may not be a friend of Nate's. How freakishly awesome is that?

Turns out, they pull kids right out of the crowd to train in the ways of the Jedi. Sam, Jake, and Zander were all picked. Here is Jake at the beginning of training. He is quite serious.

That kid in the bottom left corner? You may be able to figure out by his hair that it's Zander. He's supposed to be listening to the lesson but he spent some serious time trying to attach the light saber to his shorts.

This came back to bite him in the butt a little later. He was the (only) recipient of (repeated) remedial Jedi training throughout the lesson.

Jake was in heaven. The smiles on all three boys' faces during instruction were priceless. The kids (there were around 20 in all) did great, following the directions of the Master Jedi and copying their every move. I really thought we were going to go home and hear about nothing but the training they were able to do, the moves they had learned...

...but I was so wrong. We heard about a lot more than that! Can you believe that Darth Vader came right out of the ground?! This event was made 1000 times better for the simple fact that we had no idea it was going to happen! So incredible!

Do you remember, though, how I mentioned that Zander was just a wee bit on the overwhelmed side all day? At the appearance of Darth Vader, we started watching Master Z for signs of cracking. He was nervous but the crack didn't actually happen until the next act...I have to say, I might have cracked too.

Don't worry. Nate's friend pulled Zander from the group right away and brought him back to us. He had a blast with the training but by then was fully ready to return to the safety of the 2-inch space between mom and dad. (I kid. He was fine as soon as he knew he didn't have to fight them. That doesn't sound as funny though, does it? Oh well. Such is life.)

Here's Jake being confronted by Darth Vader. "Join me on the dark side, young Jedi."

Jake wasn't interested. Poor Darth Vader. Jake held his own. He was also able to fight Darth Maul but I didn't get any decent pictures of that. (Sam fought Darth Maul as well. I did not have a good angle to take pictures of Sam during this whole thing; my dad took several great ones. I was going to take them off his Facebook page but couldn't get it figured out.)

The two Darths fought the children--er, I mean Jedi--and then retreated after being soundly defeated. Not after issuing several dire sounding, empty threats, of course. We all know how those bad guys roll.

There was a graduation ceremony after the great fight but there are too many identifiable children in the shot to post it here. All three boys have a neat little certificate to go with their memories of the day, though. So much fun! And there you have it. How one man became the World's Best Uncle in the course of a single day! How often do kids get to live out their dreams like this? So neat!

Visit in Anaheim, Part I

Two weeks ago our family traveled down to Anaheim. You see, we've been back in the states for nearly nine months but we hadn't been able to swing a visit with my dad yet. He was in Anaheim for business and since it's so much closer to drive the 10 hours it takes to get there--as opposed to the 20+ hours it takes to get to El Paso--we decided to make a long weekend of it.

Here's dad with Jake and Zander on the first night. (Yes, Zander is wearing my glasses. Ignore how that suddenly makes him look more like his momma!)

This is the best "group" shot we could get the first night. Izzy was a little stand-offish at first. I'm not sure if it was the new people or the long car ride that did him in, but he came around the next day.

My brother Nate, who lives in the area, managed to get us into Disney Land for free. Yes. All seven of us (not including Izzy as he's free anyway). How awesome is my brother? Uncle Nate took quite the shine to Zander--and vice versa, I assure you. He (Nate) kept telling us that the two of them had more hair together than the rest of us combined. He may have something there.

A picture of my baby brother without a million kids hanging from him. I love him!

One of the better group shots from D-Day (Disney Day). Jason and I thought that Izzy would be the wild card but we were wrong. Although he's still only two, Izzy did great! Poor Zander was completely overwhelmed, though. Disney Land is a big difference from the relative quiet of German and Sierra Nevada foothills living that he's been used to. In this picture, Zander is looking up the exit stairs of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. I think he was concerned that he was going to have to go back up there. (He was NOT a fan.)

Jason and I took the two older kids to Disney World (Orlando, FL) in 2002, but we haven't had another Disney experience since. I'll admit: we weren't overly enthusiastic about this idea; however, it was fantastic! We all had so much fun. (Even Zander came around. It was the next day, but he did come around!)

Through his friend, Nate was able to treat the three older kids to a really spectacular surprise. I will share more about that tomorrow. It was so neat that it deserves its own post!

Y'all Are Awesome

And I seriously mean that!

For one, thank you so much for all the questions! They are fantastic and I can't wait to start working on them! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Also, thank you for the encouragement after yesterday's post. It's been a rough month for me and I have been getting very discouraged. You guys are right, though. Tomorrow really is another day (hello, inner Scarlett!) and I need to just dust myself off and get back on the horse. So here we go!

I know this post is lame but I just wanted to acknowledge the support you all gave me this week. We are still in the middle of birthday madness (two birthdays in one week can be interesting--anyone else get to deal with that?). I may be a little MIA for the next couple of days but then I will be back and returning the favor again!

Birthday Request

Today is my birthday. If you give me about five minutes, I can probably tell you how old I am...but there's no guarantee it will be the right answer. I spent half of the year I was 22 telling everyone I was 23. I am one of those people who truly does believe that age is only a number, nothing more. I did not care the year I turned 30; I don't see myself freaking out over 40 either.

I do, however, tease my husband mercilessly about being "so much" older than me. But see, it's so much fun to watch him squirm! (And, for the record, he's only 2.5 years older than me. Not such a big deal--just don't tell him I told you that!)

Anyway! For my birthday, what I would really like is questions from you. Is there something you've always wondered but never took the time to ask? Is there something you think every time you see this blog pop up on your reader but have never shared? Or, is there some random silly question that is in your head right now simply because I asked if you had a question?

Ask me! Serious, silly, random, controversial, personal, deep, or inane: I don't care! (Well, okay...personal is one thing; mean-spirited is another. Please be nice!) Ask me in the comments to this post or by e-mail (there's a direct link to my e-mail in the right-hand column). Family and friends can also ask me via FB. That's all I want for my birthday: questions from you guys!

I promise to do--at the least--a post of answers. It would tickle me silly to get enough questions of varying types to prompt several posts but I'm not greedy. I'll take whatever I get.

Oh, yeah. I'll save you one question. This is my 34th birthday! (And I am sure that I'm right this time!)

Happy 14th Birthday, Sam!

Fourteen years ago today, Jason and I met someone new...

An early birthday present for me...

A new playmate for him...

I look at that sweet little face and wonder...

Where has the time gone?

Happy 14th birthday, Samuel! Mom and dad love you.

Sparkling Green Water and Shiny Golden Rocks

We took the kids to our favorite local state park the other day. Our original goal was to walk a new trail, but we didn't get very far. After getting maybe a quarter mile down the path, we stopped to investigate a little beach area on the bank of the South Yuba River. You know what happens when you put a bunch of boys near rocks and water, right? They start throwing them in. And if the rocks are big enough? They start making bridges and pathways to the little islands in the middle of the river. The kids were having so much fun that we ended up staying on our little beach for well over an hour. Even then we only left because it was getting dark!

If you remember my first post about this park, you might have figured out what Sam had on the end of his finger. It's a small gold flake. I think it's technically called gold dust. (Y'all had me laughing with the guesses yesterday! I'm almost glad I don't have a great camera! Now I'm going to be looking for more things I can do like this because it was fun!)

The weather was gorgeous. It was over 60 degrees and the sun was out--we could see the gold dust sparkling under the water. Sam, who has been very excited about the prospect of panning for gold, was over the moon with glee.

It wasn't long before he ditched the shoes and socks, rolled up his pant legs, and got down to business. This was serious stuff, y'all.

We haven't picked up proper panning supplies just yet, but he did a good job improvising. It's not in the picture but we also utilized someone's discarded coffee cup and lid. (Had to get in our community service for the day, don'tcha know?!)

I mentioned that it was 60 degrees, right? It was lovely outside, but that water was frigid. His hands and feet were lobster red. I did the mom thing and worried about him "catching his death of cold"--and all I got was the I'm-nearly-14-gimme-a-break-mom eyeroll. He's got it down pretty well. *insert exasperated mom sigh here*

Can you believe the color of the water? It was gorgeous. The deeper parts were slighter more turquoise and the interplay of that with the emerald green was breathtaking. That kid there isn't too bad, either. This picture of him amuses me because, for once, you can see my family in his face. Everyone generally says, "Wow! He looks just like Jason!" And he does, but in this photo I can see my dad's dad. It's the chin and jawline.

It was a great day and, at the end of it, we had about eight decent-sized flakes. He's very gung-ho about finding some more; his birthday is next week and I'm trying to find some basic panning supplies. Not the metal detector and big-time supplies the guy across from us had (holy moly!), but a pan and some tweezers or something. Panning for gold is not one of the activities I ever saw this family getting into but it's rather looking like we will. Maybe we'll luck out like this guy. On second thought--maybe that metal detector isn't such a terrible idea.

Have you ever panned for gold? What kind of area specific hobbies do people have where you live?

Christmas Activities for Kids

Well, the kids are out of school and we've nearly arrived at Christmas Day. I can't believe how quickly the month went; wasn't it Thanksgiving just yesterday?

Jason is about to start his holiday leave, so we're about to launch into pre-Christmas activities here at the house. (That's code for: won't be around much for a few days.) We'll be doing a lot of baking, Christmas special watching, light-seeing, and monkeying around the house. I can't wait! We are especially excited about touring the Christmas lights in the surrounding communities. Christmas lights are not something that Germans do as a general rule; the boys have been absolutely enthralled with the displays put on here. (Izzy may or may not have made a big deal about someone's garage light. I'm not sure he really "gets it" just yet.)

I had originally planned to do a few posts throughout the month highlighting some of our favorite Christmas traditions. I started out with good intentions (see cookie and snowflake posts) but just never got my act together enough to get the rest out there. I've run out of time to put together an individual post on each of our favorites, but here's a look at what you were saved from:

snowmen pizza

Awhile back, I ran across this post over at Foursons. (Can you guess what initially attracted me to that particular blog?!) I saw that pizza snowman idea and just fell in love! So we went ahead and did it this year. It was a lot of fun, even if we didn't have all the ingredients we planned to include. I also really love this blogger's idea for a Christmas countdown. I may start that up once the boys get a little older.

jingle bell bracelets

This is something we ran across last year and it was a huge hit! It is incredibly simple (thread a pipe cleaner through bells), but kids really love it! The boys wore their bracelets for days. My friend Stacy over at Kids Stuff World added them to her winter activities and that is where I ran across them. (Her bracelets were much prettier than ours!) She has a ton of great ideas over there. I frequently get lost in the site, surfing from one great project to the next.

salt dough ornaments

This is an old standby for many families but another one that we just started last year. I don't even remember the recipe we used to make the dough; just Google "salt dough recipe" and find one that works for you. (I do know that we went with one that did not call for glycerin and it worked out just fine. Just so you know.) You can shape the ornaments yourself or roll them out and use cookie cutters. Paint away, dry, spray with varnish (optional), and hang on tree!

mock gingerbread houses

This may well be the boys' favorite activity. Who wouldn't love something that calls for graham crackers, lots of icing, and every kind of candy or cookie the kids can find. We've done these for years! Some fun ideas: upside-down ice cream cones as Christmas trees, square pretzels as windows, marshmallow snowmen, candy corn for "fire", or pretzel sticks for a log cabin feel. Just buy a bunch of junk and turn your kids loose; you will be delighted with what they come up with.

reindeer food

If you have a school-age child, chances are that you've done this one. The first time I ever heard of it was Sam's Kindergarten year. Find and mix some rolled oats, bird seed (tropical mixes make for a great look but just plain corn is fun too), and colored sugar crystals. We used to use glitter but that just didn't seem healthy for the birds. (You know. In case the reindeer leave leftovers. Ahem.) Maybe the sugar isn't either but at least it dissolves away. Just a thought! Put them in a container and explain to the kids that it is magic food that helps the reindeer fly. Before bed on Christmas Eve, take the kids outside (or find an awesome window like the one Jason and I had in Germany) and let them scatter the food on the lawn (or roof, if possible). So much fun to watch!

So this is what we will be up to over the next couple days! It may seem late in the month to be doing all this, but we always save the kids' favorites for Christmas break. It breaks the days up and keeps them busy. Plus, you know, they are less likely to drive me completely nuts. That is always a good thing!

Do you do a variation of any of these? Or something completely different? I would absolutely love to see it! Leave me a comment or a link and let me know. I'm always looking for new activities for the kids.

My Christmas Nemesis

Let me tell you about my absolute least favorite activity for the holiday season. The Christmas card. It is, I kid you not, my personal nemesis.

In the 15 years that Jason and I have been married, I have attempted Christmas cards for 13. (No cards went out our first year together for multiple reasons; in 2001 we were both deployed.) I buy the cards every year. I address the cards. I fill out the cards. I put the cards in the envelopes. And then it all goes to poo. I think I have a success rate of around 45%. The problem is bad enough that I've worked it into my 101 goals list. (See #19.)

Some years I get the Christmas card picture taken. I think I even had them printed out one year. Another year I didn't get the pictures done but I did put stamps on the envelopes. And, because I am a freakin' genius, I always write the year up the upper right hand corner of the card--there's no using those cards the next year, in other words. But, more than 50% of the time, the cards don't go out!

My problem is, once again, that perfectionist streak. I want an actual Christmas card; not a photo card. I want personal messages in each card. I want a current picture of the kids in each card. I like to put confetti in the cards. (Yes, I'm one of those people.) And I love putting a sticker on the back of the envelope. If I can't get all those things done then I just don't want to send them out. I've talked about this tendency before. It is a serious problem for me and really affects all aspects of my life.

This year I threw caution to the wind. I ordered our cards from one of the online photo places. I decided that I just want to get them out. They came in yesterday afternoon and after the kids went to bed I sat down to address them. You want to know how imperfect these things really are? No personal letters; I didn't even sign them on the back. No confetti. (All my friends just sighed in relief. Ha ha!) Half of them have a scribble mark in the return address because I kept trying to put our address from Germany. (You know, the one we used for seven years!) I got at least three paper cuts while working on them but I just kept pressing forward, determined to get to the finish line.

I deserve a medal, I tell ya!

All kidding aside, this is kind of a big deal for me. I fully get how ridiculous these issues are. It's liberating for me to be able to put aside some of my neurotic tendencies and just git'er done! I'm kind of proud of myself in a sheepish, let's-try-not-to-get-too-full-of-ourselves kinda way.

What about you? Is there a holiday tradition that isn't exactly your favorite? And how particular about your cards are you?

Winner-Winner-Chicken-Dinner!

Yay!!!

Okay, so it's not the $100K prize; I'm not going to complain about $100, though! That's pretty cool, right? We don't play often, but we both love a good scratch-off game. I have one rule: I will only use a dime to do the scratching. Why? For luck, of course! Dimes are little like pixies, therefore magical. True story.

So $100 is very nice, but wouldn't it be lovely to win the big prize? With $100,000 we could pay off our van, sock some money away (replenish our savings after the move), and take an awesome vacation. Man, that would be awesome. I think I'd take a couple grand and sprinkle it around to anonymously brighten random people's day too. I think it would be so much fun!

Tell me: What would you do with $100,000? (We'll pretend the government wouldn't take half of it, okay? It's more fun to answer that way!)

**We bought this ticket with our own money. I'm not advertising for the California Lottery system; just sharing a random fun event from our week!**

Cookies for Santa

December is one of those months where the "crazy" threatens to overwhelm the "calm" around here. Between school and work functions, holiday planning, and family traditions, it's about all we can do to keep our heads above the egg nog. I'm sure we're not alone here, am I right? The older kids roll with the punches pretty well, but Z and Iz are young enough that it is still necessary for us to have some control over the chaos. They need to maintain just a semblance of their every day schedule or else we all pay the price.

Jason and I do not want to overwhelm the younger kids with tons of high pressure situations over the month, but we want to be able to establish traditions and let the older kids have a great holiday season. It's a delicate balance, but we've found a few ways to make things easier on ourselves. Over the next few weeks, I'd like to share a few of our pre-Christmas activities with you, along with a couple of tips to make your life easier--no matter how many kids you have!

One of our family's favorite Christmas traditions is making cookies for Santa. Young or old, big group or small, this is one activity that everyone loves. When we first started this (waaaayyyy back in the late 1990's), I was determined to make this our ((cue announcer mega voice and flashing lights)) PREMIERE CHRISTMAS TRADITION!!! Cookies from scratch, picture perfect icing, and--of course--everyone smiling every step of the way in photos worthy of family magazine placement.

Reality check, please! Small children + high expectations = spectacular fail. Those of you with very young children (or hopes for future young children) may want to commit that formula to memory. It will serve you better than high school algebra. I promise.

At some point I do still want to find the "perfect" sugar cookie recipe but, in my life as the mother of multiple children, I routinely forget to make the dough on time. Most sugar cookie recipes call for some "sit in the fridge" time and I just can't seem to remember that. So, in the meantime, we cheat. You know those pre-made packages of sugar cookie dough in your refrigerated section at the local grocery store? Yup. We roll those bad boys out and go to town. It gets the job done and I have one less thing to stress about.

The kids help in the rolling and cutting process but we're so involved with the extra flour and whatnot that I never get a picture. I'm not going to lie, they each cut out about three and then get bored and wonder off. Jason and I mix up a batch of glaze and divide it out for five colors. Here's what we usually start with:

My boys take this decorating business serious, folks. Here's Sam, circa 2007.

Jake: same year, same determination.

Zander, 2008. (I can't believe he's only 2 here; he's twice the size that Izzy is now!)

I don't know where they get all that focus and intensity from...

I don't have any great pictures of it, but we have tons of sprinkles, jimmies, and non pareils too. We just pass out the cookies and get to work. You might have noticed that our family uses paintbrushes for the decorating. I don't know if there is a better way, but this way is a lot of fun. Contrary to what the above pictures show, there is a lot of laughing, singing, and joking during this activity. We usually pop in some sort of Christmas cartoon or turn on the radio.

(Note for projects requiring sprinkles or glitter-type supplies: Use one of those disposable plastic table cloths to aid with clean up. All you have to do is gather it up and shake it outside. We started doing that last year after we bought our new table. I'm probably the last mother in the world to think of that, but just in case there's someone else out there I figured I would share.)

Here's your finished result:

Cute, huh? They are yummy too! These cookies keep very well stacked in airtight storage containers. You can throw some bread in with them to help them stay fresh. We just put a layer of wax paper between every layer of cookies. Everyone gets to eat one after our decorating fun. Then, just before bed, each child picks out a special cookie to leave on Santa's plate. (We always do our cookies on Christmas Eve.)

My only other sanity saving tip would be to make sure you start early enough for post-activity baths. Especially if you have a Zander.

Or a Sam.

What kind of cookies does your family leave Santa? Do you have any additional sanity-saving tips for baking/decorating cookies with kids? Please leave them!

Post-Halloween Costume Parade

Feeling a little blue over the end of Halloween? Feel like you didn't get enough chances to display your adorable offspring in all their costumed glory? Well, here's your chance!

Stacy of Kids Stuff World is holding an "after party" of sorts over at her place. Head on over with your wonderful Halloween pictures and join in the fun. C'mon ladies! I know you have them. Show off those cute kids!

P.S. Can someone tell me how to make that picture into a link? I guess I don't know how!

Halloween 2010!

A little late in the day, but here are our pictures from Halloween night! A few notes on the costume choices:

This was the first year that we've really gone the "scary" route with Sam. He decided to be the Grim Reaper. However, he thought that the scythe was "too much" to carry so he left it in the van. The little kids did mostly okay seeing him in the costume. Mostly.

This year is the first in five years that Jake's been anything other than a Redskins player. He'd have worn it again, I'm sure--if he hadn't outgrown the costume. He is a big time Star Wars fan but he hated this costume. It wasn't put together well. I think I may be able to talk him into a homemade costume next year. Yay!

Zander chose a knight because he is IN LOVE with dragons. It was perfect for him and he was absolutely adorable.

Izzy was a cow. BECAUSE! Every. Stinking. Time. We pass a cow he screams, "MOOOOO! It's a MOOOOO!" (Unless he's saying it's a horse. But, you know.) So we thought it would be cute. And it was! But you know what? He said "moo" maybe one time the whole night. Eh. Whatcha gonna do, right?

Last year I took one picture of the group and it came out perfect. This year I took about 20 (in two different locations, no less!) and this is the best I got:

We went to a local festival-type thing at a State Park down the road earlier in the day. There was face painting and Zander agreed to sit for the lady to get a horse on his face. He picked out the horse and at the time I thought that was a strange choice for him. Horse? Really? But then we put his costume on and it suddenly just worked! The boy is clearly a genius.

Last shot, I promise! Here's Izzy doing his first real trick-or-treat. He did a couple houses last year but spent most of the time in his stroller. This year we didn't even bring the stroller. (Sob!) He was so cute. He would yell out, "Cheet!" at every stop, grab his candy, and then run away with a trailing "Dank you!" Everybody loved him; it was great.

So that was our first real American Halloween since 2002! It was a lot of fun. No worries about parking or super-crowded streets. (It's not as bad as it used to be, but Halloween at Ramstein and Vogelweh was not a lot of fun for parents before they put up all those new townhomes. Man oh man!)

I hope everyone else had a great and safe Halloween! And can y'all believe that it is November?! Thanksgiving, here we come!

Day Four: Favorite Book

Man, oh man. Where do I even start?

I have a love of books that is...well, probably a little unhealthy to be honest. I've wondered at times if I don't have an addiction to reading. I go through withdrawal if I go too long between reading material. You'll see me twitching and slapping at the crook of my arm and everything. It's bad.

Also...I have a strange quirk about books. Once I pick up a book, I am compelled to read through it as fast as I can. I feel this peculiar responsibility for the characters, as though they are "stuck" at whatever point in the story that I quit reading. This is probably a sign that I saw the movie The Neverending Story too many times as a child. (I totally forgot to add that one to my favorite movie post. Atreyu-uuuuuuuuuuu!)

You laugh, but I am serious. It's bad.

Anyway, the point is that I go through books very quickly. And I have this thing about buying my books instead of borrowing them from the library. I buy them new for reasons too ridiculous to bore you with. Jason has pretty much started to refuse to buy me books less than 4- or 500 pages. He says it's just not economical because the $7-20/book should last me more than 4 or 5 hours. He's probably right. We don't have to share that with him though, right? He's kind of annoying when I admit he has a point about something.

Okay, so favorite books. Good grief. Even with all this stalling I still don't know where to start!

At this point I don't read much in the way of classics or anything too "high brow." I read Sophie's Choice a couple summers ago and about fried my brain. (Jason was happy though; he really felt like he got his money out of that one.) It's just too much for me to read those kinds of books and keep up with the kids. Maybe in a few years. I read a lot of today's popular authors, though. Lots and lots. I'm not incredibly picky about what I read; because of the whole character stuck in the book issue I have, I will read complete crap just to give a character closure. (No, really. I told you it was bad.)

I can tell you that I love Dean Koontz. With the exception of the Frankenstein books he's been writing, there really isn't anything of his that I don't like. My favorites of his are probably the Odd Thomas books, followed by Life Expectancy, and then Twilight Eyes. The best thing about any Koontz book (in my opinion) is the underlying positive energy. The laughter and humor through dark times...it's how I try to approach life. (Not that I always succeed, of course.)

I used to be a HUGE fan of Stephen King's books. I have a copy of IT that has seen better days. The Stand was also great. (I'm talking about the books, you understand. Not the horrible made-for-tv movies that were based off the books. He should never allow anything other than short stories to be made for tv or the big screen. Not even all those, though. The Mist made a horrible movie but was a terrific story.) His newer stuff leaves me cold and the Dark Tower series just plain irritated me. (Sorry, Mr. King! I still think you are awesome.)

My most recent favorite series has been the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Love them!

I love, love, love Anne of Green Gables and all the books in that series. If I absolutely had to pick a favorite I would pick this series. No, I couldn't choose just one; it would definitely have to be the all eight books.

Also from my childhood: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Boxcar Children, and A Wrinkle in Time. Oh! And A Little Princess and The Secret Garden. I still read those last two from time to time. Now that I think of it, kids have all the great books.

So many adults claim that they don't have the time to sit and read a book. Do you make time in your day or week to read? What have you read recently?

Day Three: Favorite TV Program

Living in Europe for nearly seven years has impeded our ability to stay completely on top of television programs (at least in a timely manner), but I think we've done okay anyway. Thank goodness for today's technology our we'd be stuck in a massive Pop Culture black hole.

As with anything, I can't really pick just one favorite. So here's a little list:

Jason and I both love home improvement shows. If we had to pick a type of show to call our favorite, this might be it. Anything with a do-it-yourself approach? Yeah, we're all over that. We have owned one home and while we were ready to give up that particular house when the time came, we are really looking forward to the freedom living in a house of our own again. We'll probably always be in the middle of some project or another when the time comes.

Dexter: The serial killer show, not the cartoon. I adore this show and have been watching it since the first season. (Thank you, Danny!) I would be lying if I said that Michael C. Hall wasn't a huge part of why I love the show. Shh! Don't tell Jason. I have every intention of reading the book which the show is based after; I just have to remember to order it. I hope it doesn't mess up the series for me. Hm...maybe I don't want to read it.

Big Love: I have no idea why I love this show so. I talk a lot through the show (sorry, baby) because some of the ideas are so crazy to me. A man with three wives?! Is he glutton for punishment? A wife who shares her husband with other women?! Is she super secure or a complete loon? All kidding aside, I find the idea of polygamy interesting in that it is so different from what I believe is right for me. (Did anyone read the story about polygamy in The National Geographic a couple months ago? I enjoyed that too!)

True Blood: Yes, I have succumbed to the vampire madness. I blame Melanie. She sucked me into the damn Twilight series and then followed it up with the Sookie Stackhouse books. THEN it was all, "You have to watch True Blood!" (Just kidding, Meme!) I actually like that the show doesn't really follow the books; I have no more idea what is going to happen than Jason does, even though I have read the books.

I just realized that these are all cable tv shows. I'm boycotting most network TV because they keep canceling the shows I like. Jason and I think that having us as fans for a show is the kiss of death. Firefly, Jericho, and October Road were all super popular in this house and then BAM! They went away. Firefly got a movie to wrap things up, Jericho got an extra half season...but we'll never know who the real father was on October Road! Boooo! Hiss!

Which reminds me of one of the things I am looking forward to when we get back to the states! I miss Maury! "You are NOT the father!" Those are the freakin' best! I can't wait.

What shows do you like? Do you have a "guilty pleasure" television show? What kind of show gets your interest?

Day Two: Favorite Movie

We don't need to go through the "favorite" speech again, do we? Okay, good. Now that we've gotten that out of the way...

I'm not really a big movie fan. I love music, love books, and enjoy several TV shows, but movies aren't so much my thing. I'm not positive, but I think I can count the number of times I have been to the movies post-high school (including movies with the kids) on my fingers and toes without having to add any extra appendages. I graduated in 1995, so you do the math.

(Side Note: Melanie, this in NO WAY means that I do not want to go to the movies on Friday. I do like the occasional movie and a girl's night out without the kids is definitely something I want to do right now!!! Please don't uninvite me!)

Jason loves movies so we do a lot of renting. We have different ideas of what makes a movie "good," though. He loves thrillers and horror flicks, action movies, and historical dramas. Oh, and the newish genre of "stupid, gross humor." I don't know what the correct term is for those, but he likes those as well. (I could hang with those up through the Adam Sandler stage...anything past that is a little too obnoxious for me.) I end up "multi-tasking" through a lot of movies because they just don't hold my interest.

The movies that I enjoy most don't really get made anymore. (Lord, that makes me sound 100 years old!) I like movies that depict normal life trials and show everyday people making it through everyday events with humor and grace. Father of the Bride, Parenthood, Steel Magnolias...all these movies are in my Top 10 List. I love The Money Pit, She's Having a Baby, and Raising Arizona. I love the goofiness of The Goonies and the coming of age story that is Stand By Me. I will never pass up an opportunity to watch Baby Boom or Funny Farm. All these movies are very out of style but timeless to me.

On second thought, I do enjoy movies. I'm just stuck in a time warp! How about you? Do you like the movies of today? Do you prefer movies that tell a story or movies with a lot of action? What kind of movie grabs your interest?

DayTrip: Mainau, Germany

Jason took a few weeks of leave in April. We did a lot of housework and prep for the move but we managed to have a little fun too. We planned and managed to take two trips during our little family vacation time. It was beyond spectacular to spend all that time together. We had so much fun!

Our first trip took us all the way down to where Germany butts up against Switzerland and Austria. In that small area there is a very big lake. Here in Europe it is frequently referred to as "Bodensee"; however, Americans generally know it as "Lake Constance." We didn't have time to see the entire area so we decide to make a one day trip to the island of Mainau. It was gorgeous! (This trip also managed to mark off one of the travel goals I have set in my 101 Project.)

This first picture was taken just as we crossed the bridge onto the island. The water was so crystal clear. I don't think I've ever seen such clean water.

Here's Jason with the welcoming flower which greets you at the park opening. I'm guessing that this display changes from time to time. It was so funny to come around the corner and see this cheerful flower and its smiling face. The kids really enjoyed it.

The island is home to a huge variety of flowers, bushes, and trees. They even have a few sequoias. Here are Izzy and I with one of them. I guess we'll be seeing some more of these in the nearish future.
Sam spotted this tree and instantly just had to have his picture with it. About 30 seconds after I shot this picture he realized there were bees in the tree. Sam has had a rather intense fear of bees since getting stung last summer. Needless to say, we didn't get any more pictures after that.
Jake really loved this trip. He's very cooperative about getting his picture taken (for the most part) but we usually get this funny little closed-mouth smile when he knows the camera is pointing in his general direction. It was nice to get a big old grin for once!

Zander has been to several parks and whatnot where there were flowers growing, but never quite this many and never without being in a stroller. We spent a lot of the day swooping down on him as he attempted to pick every flower in the park. It was an interesting experience! Here he is with a beautiful bed of daffodils near the front of the park.

One of the neatest things about Mainau is the butterfly house that is in the middle of the park. It is supposed to be the biggest butterfly house in Germany and it has a TON of butterflies! Just for fair warning, it is hot in there. If you go to Mainau in the summer I'm not sure that you'll have as enjoyable experience in there as we did, but it was great the day we went. You shouldn't have any trouble spotting the butterflies, but there are several of these "feeding stations" scattered throughout the place. It sure does make it easier to snap a few pictures!

The whole place is set up like a little tropical forest, with all sorts of plants and flowers. There is a stream that runs across the path at one point (just a small amount of water) and a waterfall too. Here are the three older boys in a small "cave" in the butterfly house, underneath the waterfall. If you look through the water you can make out a bridge across the way. The platform in the water is covered in turtles.

In the kids' section of the park there is a small pond where ducks and fish live. I thought I would throw this picture in just to show how very clear the water was. No murk, whatsoever. And one really, really big fish! That thing was nearly the length of my entire arm.

The park was very family friendly, although it didn't appear that we were allowed to take our own food in for a picnic. That is pretty unusual for Germany. We took our backpack carrier that day because we weren't sure the place was stroller-friendly or not; it was! (The butterfly house isn't, but the rest of the park definitely is. You could leave your stroller outside the butterfly house if you took your valuables with you.) A backpack carrier works pretty well, though! Izzy spent most of the day in his and he was pretty happy. See?