Dixie Speedway

"Come to the demolition derby!" he said. "I think they're going to race some cars beforehand, it'll be fun!"

We got there just after 7, they didn't start smashing anything on purpose until around 11. What a culture shock it was! Jared took me to Dixie Speedway with some of his coworkers (yes, "dixie") and we got hip-deep in local culture.

The racing was NUTS! The track was dirt, and short, so it seemed like most of the racing was turning., and the trick with turning was to not go spinning out of control what with the ground being nothing but red clay.

Thank heavens Jared remembered ear plugs! Although some noseplugs would have helped too - the smell of gas and dirt was intense... WHEWEE!

I actually got really into it. The loud and the shaking when a race started was pretty exhilarating, although a co-worker and I agreed that the whole driving-slow-because-they-need-to-clear-an-accident-but-the-guys-in-the-back-now-have-a-chance-to catch-up-to-the-guy-in-front-who-WAS-half-a-track-ahead-and-now-they're-right-behind-him-trying-to-over-take-him-all-sneaky-like seemed pretty unfair. But what do we know?

Oh, and the guy waving the flag was fabulous. Really splendid technique.

I do have to say my favorite moment of the night was when Jared got up and announced "I'm going to buy something fried."

Predictablly, he came back wanting to change careers because the idea of charging $3 for $.15 of batter and powdered sugar sounded awesome. And it was numnummy!

Oh - and no pics of this - but did you know there's cars that race that have 2 drivers - one with the wheel and one in charge of the gas and brakes?!? And the nuttiest thing was - those cars had NO accidents in their race, unlike all the others with one driver! We should get that done to our van. Solei could steer!

Then at the end came the demolition derby. It was too dark to get decent pictures or video, but it was not at all what I expected. The junkers drove up, the flag came down and they just started ramming into each other. I thought there'd be some kind of pagentry or something, but nope, just smashing. And yes, there was fire. Very gratifying. And very awesome.

I learned back when I lived in Texas to just set aside my comfort zone and enjoy what the world around me had to offer, even if it did seem pretty nutty. I wish I'd learned it sooner, but I am having a ball experiencing this southern thing! This is right up there with the monster truck rally we went to on our first anniversary:)

Can't take any more...

Everytime I open our page I see that silly grin and it's driving me nuts.

Life has been crazy the last few weeks. Our home was host to a music camp for a week. It drove wife to the edge. She apparently doesn't like screaming 6 year old girls all day long. She's also working on a new album with her band "The Border Collies" as well as one with her treo "Tres de Solei." In preparation for a huge month of September where they are playing 7 different show in just one month.

Work has been insane for me. It's "crunch time" in the toy business and my brain is at full capacity. I created this massive spreadsheet to track all of the forecasts we have from our customers and all the orders I've placed to my factories. If you don't count sleep, I spend more time with this spreadsheet than I do with my wife and child.

Our ward (Church) has begun a focus on "Missionary Work" and being the Assistant Ward Mission Leader (assistant mission leader for my congregation) I'm kind of in the middle of everything. It's an interesting place to be.

We had visits from my sister and brother and thier spouses and families. Nana was in grandma heaven with so many kids. They had SO much fun spending time together. Our Daughter LOVES her cousins and every day would ask for "PAPA-NANA house" to go play with them. We can't wait for them to come back!

From the cute child file:

Daughter is learning how to pray. She is really really good at it and prays basically on her own. On Thursday evening she was praying over dinner and she asked to "Bless Spongebob". I think we need to cut down her TV time.

huh??

Dude, I just saw Kirby - the LDS actor from the Singles Ward, The RM and that embarassing BOM movie - in a Miller Light commercial. Seriously!

Announcement:

Hear ye, hear ye. Let it be known that on the seventeenth of July, our fair daughter went POO in the POTTY.

Let the celebrations begin.

Face?

Look what our little girl taught daddy!

Concept of Heaven

An Anglican leader talks about his new book that exposes the correct view of heaven on The Colbert Report (Someone should tell him he's ripping off Mormon theology...)

Can you blame me?

How can I not love these two cutest of girls??

Long Week

This week has made me realize how lucky I really am. I have an amazing wife who loves me and does so much for me. Sometimes it's not until someone is absent that you realize how important they are to you. I need to do better at recognizing that and letting her know that.

Based on the reports I have heard, my wife is having a great time with her siblings. Our daughter is having the grandest of times with her grandmother and other relatives. They are both having the time of their lives. Reva bought two extra SD cards to capture all the memories, so I'm sure she will post loads of photos. I, on the other hand, can't wait for their return.

Nothing more to report.

Alone

I have been banned from the family reunion. Who gets banned from a family reunion??

BANNED by none other than my wife. My own wife banned me. Apparently I don't travel well and would spoil her fun. No beach, no Grilling out, no put-put golf, no aquarium, no daughter, no wife for one whole week.

Instead I have to stay home and try to keep myself occupied. Alone in a cold (actually hot) and lonely house.

Sad pictures to come.

bleckety blah

Sorry, today is one of those we-need-to-update-but-there-isn't-anything-interesing-to-say blogs. So instead, you get whatever is on our memory card.

You're welcome!

So for Jared's birthday, he wanted to go garage sale-ing, since it's something he loves and I ... not so much. We ended up with this:


How much would you pay for a Pow-pow-power Wheels? 20 smackers. It's hilarious - she can press the "gas" and go, but she can't use the steering wheel. You gotta come over and see it!



Nothing earth-shattering here, she just likes walking around the house with her hat over her face. Yes, she does bump into stuff.

My trio band (Tres de Solei - nope, still don't have a new name) played a pretty awesome gig this weekend at a Highland Games in north Georgia. It was a BLAST!! We kind of stole the show once or twice, and layed in a downpour for one set. Soggy, but still happy!


And as fun as it was to play, I also got some awesome girl time and we had a ball. Mostly messing around twith the timer button on Michael's camera.





And last but not least - here's a shot of Jared, our favorite daddy on this Father's Day.

This morning when he went to get Solei out of bed, she stood up and said "I love you!" Coolest gift ever! (except for all the stuff he's been buying for the last few months and saying they were birthday and Father's day gifts - the scooter, the meat grinder and sausage maker, the projector that turned our basement into a movie theater, and a 6 pack of IBC root beer) Solei adores her dad because he's patient when I'm not, loving when I'm moody, and crazy when she is too. He's the one with the guts to do her hair every Sunday morning, to teach her how to fetch stuff for us, and the person she reaches for when she's happy or sad. Yay, daddy!!!

It almost makes me want to have more... just because he told me we had to. But the thought of having another one still makes me want to throw myself in front of Solei's Power Wheels. I'm currently negotiating pushing back the baby thing a few years - although who here has ever known me to be able to resist Jared's mind games? I think he needs to spend some time with a really horrible baby. Anyone have one you could lend us for a few hours??

And speaking of fathers - dad was giving his ukelele a test drive, and ended up giving Solei some hula lessons today. Thank heaven for fathers!

Happy Father's Day!

ALLDONEALLDONEALLDONE!

Oh BOY have I been excited for today!! It was Solei's first day of swimming lessons!!!! And she's been freakishly pumped - every now and then, she'd look up and ask hopefully "Class? Swimming?" And due to some massive preparation, we squeezed into one of the few parent and tot classes at the local aquatic center - 3 weeks, two days a week - all for $20! There are so few spaces, you have to register within the first few minutes or you won't get in. But I DID!! WOOHOO!!! (I tried to get a good shot of her in her suit - this at gives a good idea of the adorability)

With all that build-up, you'd have thought it would have gone a tad better today, but we are talking about a 19 month old here.

1. We were a few minutes early, and she wanted in the water NOW. I told her nicely not yet, and she was the only child to throw a MASSIVE tantrum. Whee!

2. When we finally got in, she went bonkers and wanted out of my arms, while all the other chilren lovingly grabbed onto their mommies. I asked the teacher if I could let her drown just a little bit to let her know what would happen if I wasn't holding on for dear life, but she advised against it. She was right. At the very end, I dunked her under once, and she got hysterical. I forgot how much she hates water in her eyes - she'd have hated the rest of the class (even more;)

3. Once she realized I wasn't letting go, she proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes (of a 30 minute class) smiling broadly and proclaiming over and over - "Alldonealldonealldonealldonealldonealldonealldonealdonealldone!!! (etc.)" So I had to use all my trickery to keep her in the water and amused. Phew!

When we got in the car, I asked if she'd had fun, and she smiled and shouted "FUN! Swim class!!" So I think she's willing to go back... I might go back too. Well, for $20, I'll do just about anything;)

So with all that insanity, you'd think I would be completely opposed to having any more - and you'd be right. Apparently, I really dislike babies. But I committed to this family thing and siblings are a part of it. Dagnabit. And with Jared turning 32 this weekend, he's afraid he won't be able to chase any more kids much longer. Old man and all that.

Since the last one was a shock and a half, we're trying to plan out the next one - and that's where y'all come in. We figure the best time to give birth next time is in the spring - not too pregnant at the Christmas rush but not big and preggo during the summer either. So it looks like we are trying for getting pregnant July or August, and wouldn't it be fun if we were ALL PREGNANT at the SAME TIME?!? We're trying to recruit some other baby-ing couples, but so far, no luck. Come on, people!! It's the Summer of Love ! Do it for your country - er.. blog friends?

Seriously! Think about it!

Random Parenting Moment

The Setup: Our daughter has a set of leapfrog letters that stick to the fridge and they have a base unit that sings songs when you put the letters in the base unit. She loves to play with it.

Imagine this: Daddy (me) is washing dishes and daughter is playing at the fridge. She'd moved to the other side of the fridge where I couldn't see her. After a few minutes of strange noises I turned and asked:

"Solei dear, what are you doing?"

A little head peeks around the corner of the fridge and this is the response I get:

"Pooping."

"Pooping?"

"Pooping"

She was right. She's a quick learner.

We should be used to it, but it still stings when it happens. The LDS church has been inexistance for about 178 years now, and yet the intolerance and hatred always seems to surprise and hurt. The Washington Post did an article about how the community in Washington D.C. was trying to block the building of one of our churches on 16th Street (with about 45 other churches in the vicinity) for various reasons. The nastiest part of the article was this little tidbit:

And the Mormons are finding little support from the neighborhood's clergy,
including one pastor who said his objection is rooted not in architecture, but
theology.
"They don't accept Jesus as the Messiah; they accept him as the
prophet," said Edward Wilson, pastor at Church of Christ, a block from the
Mormon site. "It's wrong, I disagree with it, and I wouldn't want them in the
neighborhood."

To get a job as a pastor, those people have to at least have a graduate degree in religion - yet, I lowly religiously uneducated gal that I am know that the doctrinal issue he has with us is something he should bring up with the ISLAMIC church. That's their view, not ours. We're the flippin' Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints! And you don't want someone in your neigborhood you disagree with? Blegh. So Jared found their church e.mail and sent a note to the offended/offending pastor:


Dear Mr Wilson,

This afternoon I read the story on the proposed new Church on 16th Street in the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/23/AR2008052302750.html?hpid=moreheadlines). Hopefully the Washington Post mis-quoted you in reference to the beliefs of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The quote reads: "They don't accept Jesus as the Messiah; they accept him as the prophet."

Your quote could not be more untrue. My guess is that you were mis-quoted. I'd suggest contacting the Washington Post and asking them to correct the error so that you can set the record straight. Individuals so misquoted, who have failed to do so, have often lost credibility on matters of religion, and my assumption is that you are not interested in that happening.

If you were quoted correctly, I would direct you to the following website (created and maintained by the same church) which repeated attests and testifies of the divinity and saving mission of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: http://jesuschrist.lds.org. They do not hold Him to be a mere prophet: "Mormons" do, indeed, accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Messiah, the Alpha and Omega and their personal Savior. They are grateful for his mission and sacrifice and strive to live lives, showing their devotion to the Lord by blessing his children around the world.

With Love and Respect,
etc.

I hope this pastor reads this with a little more compassion than he usually does with those "untouchables" he disagrees with. This is my issue with religions where people are paid to teach others -it's a business, not a faith.

Rant over. Enjoy the holiday - go hug someone you don't agree with!

Dancing Queen

If you aren't family, don't watch this. It's short, but it's not for the adults - it's a kiddo distracter. Solei wanted to watch it over and over and over again. Well, mostly because it's all her, but it's cute nonetheless. You've been warned.

What's in a (band) name?

I needs help, people. My celtic trio is in need of a new name... like, today, and I can't for the life of me think of one. I like band names like The Charms, Solas, Oisre, The Cardigans, Bad Haggis, Flogging Molly, but finding one that fits our sound is though .

It's the three of us, two chicks and the world's most awesome guitarist. I thought maybe I coul find some cool Gaelic word with the Gaelic dictionary, and that's a start, but I need a word that describes us and is also not completely confusing. (You can check out our Myspace here for audio)

Ideas? Puleeeze? Thanks!

Newest member of the family

Jared informed me that our blog is boring, to anyone who is not as completely enamoured with our daughter as we are. Well, is THIS boring??

Don't ask me how he talked me into it, because I don't think he did. I really don't remember him actually asking if he could have one.

Go ahead, ask him why it's so practical. And a total buy. Realy, he'll tell you. He's already had one person he extoled its virtues to go out and buy the exact same bike. Same color. Creepy. One reason he desperately needed it was his old scooter could only go about 35mph, and even though he just commutes 3 miles to work, 35 just ain't gonna cut it with Atlanta drivers. Even if it is the back streets.

That's the old one. Italian. Actually used as a mail scooter. In Italy. They apparently don't care about getting their mail very quickly.

Okay, I know that my mom reads this so that is at least ONE person who is enamoured with our kid. So that picture was for her.

And that one.


Nana and Papa came by and tried it out. Nana refused to get on if Papa was driving. Heehee. I'll post the video of that later. Unfortunately I didn''t get a shot of Papa wobbling down the driveway.

I'll leave you with this disturbing shot of suburban, WASPy housewife stangeness.

Boring?? I wish.

For mom

I'm finally getting around to posting these pictures of Easter. I've been super busy not cleaning my house. My mom got Solei this uber cute dress and I desperately tried to get a decent picture for her. The results:

1. She wouldn't stop moving!

2. Girl has to sit sometime.

3. Okay, I could NOT get a good shot of the whole dress what with al the moving and such, so we gotta take whats we get. Look how faboo the dress looks on her, mom!

4. Dress. Plus a crazy look, but check out that dress!

5. Believe it or not, this is the best family shot we got. The next one was with Solei running away from us.

6. We're so dang hott.

Back Yard

Our back yard was just as bad a the rest of the house when we purchased it. Solei LOVES being outside so we really wanted to make the backyard somewhere she could play. A few weeks ago we borrowed a tiller, bought some grass seed and fertilizer and went to work.

Here are the results! A patch of GRASS!!!


Here is Solei with Daddy (and his new specs).

Mommy joined in the fun and we got this great little picture of our family.

Here's Solei and Daddy closing up the vent so that she couldn't put anything down it...

And finally! Here is the smartest 18 month-old baby ever. While we are a little biased, she is amazing!

Temple!

Our freakishly smart baby came up to me the other day with a picture she'd found somewhere - it was a gift I'd received in Young Women a mazillion years ago, and along with a sweet caption, there was a grainy black and white image of Christ's face.

"Mamee? Dis Jesus."

I stared at Jared in shock- "Did YOU tell her who this was?"

"Nope." Do you know what this means? This means she listens to me!!! (oh, and also forthcoming is a video of her counting to 10. GENIUS.)

So today, I took her to the LDS bookstore to get a picture of Christ for her bedroom. She really responds to them, and I figure with all the negative images she's getting in the world, she needs as many positive ones as she can get.

Right as we walked in she smiled and pointed at a picture and said "Temple!" Wow. So I went up to a picture of Christ and asked her who it was. "Jesus!" An another - "Jesus!" She recognized every image of his sweet presence. I considered buying a poster of the temple, but I thought about it and I thought it might be nice for her to see a picture of the temple in her room with her in it, so we headed down the street and I snapped pictures while Solei ran around the temple grounds laughing and shouting "Temple!"... and also "Truck!" There's construction across the street and I had to keep her from running to them. In between the wrangling, I got some good pictures that I think are poster worthy. Tell me which one you would pick? (I'm leaning towards #5)

#1.

#2.

#3.


#4.

#5.

An Open Letter to My Husband

Like I could keep my 2 cents to myself:)

Here's an Open Letter to My husband:

Dear Husband,

Over the last few years I have come to realize that you are not as crusty as you pretend to be. Deep down you are a softie, doing whatever you can to help another person in need (especially me), and I don't tell you as often as I should how grateful I am that you love me, despite your better judgement. When we got married I knew that I was marrying someone that was exactly right for me. You are insane, brilliant, and the most service-driven person I've ever known. Most of all you never stop trying. You try to understand me, to understand Solei, to make me happy (not an easy feat, I'll grant you) and to always be better husband and father. You are everything that I need. You never, ever let me get bored and I'm always surprised at how strange our lives can get.

The last three years have been a the happiest, most secure years of my life. Things have never been more in flux - we're always moving, always changing jobs, always flying by the seat of our pants, but you always let me know how much you love me, and that constant is the one reason why I let you get away with most of your crazy ideas. I'm also amazed at how much you do as a husband and a father. I always hear women wishing their husbands would take a more active role, and I am so grateful that no matter what, I can always count you to be at my side and taking care of everything with me- especially all that outdoor stuff and the bug killing duties. And the taxes!!! (I have never been more happy that I decided to say "I do" when I hear you say "Honey, the taxes are done!")

You love Solei, you change diapers, you get up with her in the middle of the night, and you're always thinking of ways to make my life easier, and more fun. You accept my faults and my weaknesses, but you never let me dwell on them and help me turn them into strengths. You are always thinking of ways you can bring a smile to my face - be it a milkshake, yoga classes or 30-second hugs. And most of all: You love me for what I am. This is not nearly as lengthy and thorough as it could (and should) be, but don't worry, I'll probably think of lots more wonderful things to say right when your are trying to get to sleep tonight. I love you with all my heart. Thank you for all you do.

With Great Love, Wife

Open Letter

An Open Letter to My Wife:

Dear Wife,

Over the last few years I have come to realize that I am not very good a making you feel as special as you deserve. You do wonderful things for me and I want you to know how much I love you.

When we got married I knew that I was marrying someone that was exactly right for me. You are fun, energetic, social and loving. Most of all you are forgiving and patient. You are everything that I need. You put up with my crazy ideas, like driving to Alabama to buy a scooter or working on my home Root Beer project.

The last three years have been a roller coaster. We’ve gotten to know each other. We’ve moved four times. We’ve grown. We’ve traveled. We’ve had a child. I know motherhood was somewhere on your to-do list long after “rock star” and “retire” but I am so grateful that you were willing to take that plunge. You are a wonderful mother. We are both kind of lost sometimes as parents, but you are amazing. You’ve stood by my side and supported me through all that I’ve done.

You let me hold the remote. You clean up after us all. You cook wonderful dinners every night. You do our laundry. You love and care for Solei. You, well you know. And most of all: You love me for what I am.

This is not nearly as lengthy and thorough as it could (and should) be. I love you with all my heart. Thank you for all you do.


With Great Love,

Husband

Texamess

SOOOOOOO..... Still no posts by the wife. This whole blog thing was her idea. Let's all leave a comment about how much we wish she would blog instead of boring old me!!!



I've been very stingy about my vacation days over the last year. When you go from a job where you have 4 weeks a year to one where you get a mere 2 weeks a year, you kind of freak out. But it was about time that we took Solei out to meet my aunt and uncle and grandpa in Texas. (Two weeks minus two days...)

They don't get out to visit very often because they have their kids to visit and Jimbo's job at the prison gives him few vacation days (and they use them to plant their Pea Patch). Next time you are in Woodville ask Jimbo about getting locked in a cell...


We had a good a bad visit. It's kind of a long story but let's use these key words to create a mental image:

*10 acres just outside of Woodville, Tx
*Free Single Wide Mobile Home
*No Internet
*Mildewy Mattress
*The Plague

Okay the story really doesn't have the plague in it, but it might as well. After two days sleeping on the item listed before the Plague I felt like I had the Plague. The doctor said it wasn't the plague and gave me antibiotics to treat the sore throat that I got. Although I cannot specifically target the mattress as the source of my illness, Occam's Razor would teach us that it was. No amount of candle or air freshener or fans could stop the smell!

We spent twelve hours in our new van over night the first night. Solei only woke up screaming for an hour. The trip home was better. She loved her time with us in the car (and more so with the "Fishies" on Finding Nemo).

Here is the trailer (painted neon yellow-green to blend into the environment)



The weather and company were amazing. We had wonderful 70 degree, partly cloudy days. Aunt Wendy, Grandpa and Uncle Jimbo were amazing company and Wendy cooked some of the best food I've eaten.

This didn't end up being one of those relaxing vacations. I spent some considerable time underneath the trailer running wire and piping - next to the burrow of some animal that I never identified - thankfully. It was NOT more scared of me than I was of it.

Next time we are going to bring an RV.

Here are some pics:

Solei LOVED riding on Wendy's Golf Cart (Wendy and Jimbo live next door)

Solei had some dessert. The bowl became a hat:

The Stairs on Grandpa's Trailer were a seemingly endless source of entertainment:

The neighbors had goats which Solei had a blast "baaaa-ing" at. The neighbors also had this stone seahorse.

You can see some of the land in the background. We found a golf ball the other day and Solei and I had fun throwing it around the yard.



Here's a pic of Solei with Wendy, Jimbo and Grandpa. Solei had such a great time with all of them!!

Beard, Beard The Musical Fruit

So- nothing is more exciting in life than a beard contest at work. Imagine it, two weeks full of excuses not to hassle with shaving! Can you think of anything better???

Here's my contribution:


As it turns out, I work with someone who is part Big Foot. You'd never guess it by looking at his feet, but those hair genes are unmistakable. (Bigfoot exists and I swear I will prove it some day!).

Once the contest was officially lost by me, it was time to see how awesome I could potentially look with some sort of facial hair.

Here's me sporting the "Friendly Mutton Chops":

This look lasted a full 24 hours. The guy mixing our paint at Wal-Mart was a little disturbed by the look, so were all the other people who saw Creepy McGee holding the hand of our little girl.

The next day was the handlebar mustache! These pictures totally doesn't do me justice. I am actually not entirely opposed to this look. If someday we were to move somewhere a little more rural, I'd totally sport this look (assuming of course my lovely wife goes blind and loses all feeling in her fingers, face, etc.)

In all honesty, this isn't that bad, right?