A Word About Girly

Our little punky girl is almost 8 months now and has made the leap that separates slug-babies from cute, interactive, sparkly babies. (She is the latter now). She still has her mohawk but has added to her punk look with two tiny little bottom teeth. We haven't gotten a picture of them yet because she only displays them for very special occasions.

She rolls around like a champ, sits up straight and tall with no help and can wiggle an impressive distance when our backs are turned. She loves her brother even when he's a little bit rough with her. She also loves to listen to her daddy's fiddling and her mama's singing. Books are another favorite, though she's as fond of eating them as of listening to the stories.

Her favorite game is peek-a-boo with blankets. Pretty simple: she lays on her back and pulls the blanket over her head, slaps her belly a few times, then pulls the blanket off and looks around. This adorable video is of said game. Her parents, of course, do not get bored with it, but we won't be offended if you do. Just don't tell us.

She doesn't sleep very well and we haven't figured out how to fix that one little flaw yet. I guess nobody is perfect. But she's pretty close.

March: I Heart Ireland (4 of 4)

Is it Friday again? Then you're in for a treat because this weeks film is the best of all! (It's also one of Happy's favorites and comes with his strong endorsement.)

Ok, I know this isn't actually a poster for the movie, but the real movie poster is kind of lame. This is much better.

The Secret of Kells is an animated film that gorgeously imagines the creation of the Book of Kells. For those unfamiliar with said book, it is a 9th-Century Irish manuscript containing the four Gospels. It is famous for its elaborate illuminations and is a great masterpiece of early Christian art. I was mildly obsessed with the Book of Kells for about six months in eighth grade and spent hours trying to create celtic interlace myself.
Ok, on to the film. The animation is simply beautiful. You'll be completely transfixed. It received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature in 2010. Nothing like the current trend of digital, almost-3d-creepy cartoons these days, it is painterly and artistic. Of course, it uses digital animation...why not, right? But it's not gimmicky or video-gamey. Such a relief!

The story is great too. There's so much to love about this movie that I think I'll just leave you to watch it and get your own impressions. 

Up next week: How to Steal a Million

March: I Heart Ireland (3 of 4)

Another week, another flick.  This time, it's "The Quiet Man" starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara.

Wayne stars as a man returning to his roots. Irish-born, American-raised (I don't think he could handle an Irish accent, do you?). He returns to the village of his birth and within 5 minutes falls in love with fiery spinster (their word, not mine) Maureen O'Hara. Made in 1952, this film brims over with every quaint Irish stereotype short of leprechauns. As it is John Wayne, it's also full of brooding tough-guyness and an ever-so-slightly misogynistic love-story. But it's a fun classic and worth a watch. 

up next week: The Secret of Kells

A Very Happy Saint Pat's Day to Ye!

Maybe we've got Irish-envy. Maybe it's that we love all things green. Maybe we wish we could find a pot-o-gold. Whatever the reason, we're feeling especially festive this year and wanted to share a musical Saint Patrick's Day greeting with you.
You'd be right in guessing that we don't have a lot of time to play music together these days, but we were both able to record a few things individually. Curmudgeon has been entertaining us all with his Irish-fiddle-playing and I still like to sing the old sad songs. Don't mind the noisy pub-goers in the background. We thought they were so cute that I didn't want to cut them out during the editing process. I also (apologies to Curmudgeon) enjoyed the little warm-up sounds and squeaks of the fiddle. And since I was in control of editing, I left those in too. Because they're charming.

Enjoy!

A Man and His Art

We've been treated to a few glimpses of Happy's burgeoning creativity:

You might wonder why in the world his parents let him take crayons to bed with him... it's a good question. He only recently became interested in drawing with them. Mostly he just plays "dump them out and put them back into their jar". 

Actually, though it means we'll be doing some painting in his room before we move out of this house, I think the room's look has improved.

This is our fridge and the magnet-drawing he created one morning. I thought it was pretty cute.

March: I Heart Ireland (2 of 4)

It's another Friday and time for another movie in our series. This week we present:

I had seen this movie around and heard of it, but really had no inclination to watch it until Curmudgeon enlightened me to a few facts:

1- It's Irish and since we're lovers of all things British (especially when it comes to entertainment), that's an immediate plus.

2- It's hilarious. Also a plus.

3- The "waking" refers to a funeral wake, not awakening. You wouldn't think that would matter at all, but for some reason I was immediately more interested.

The story follows the townsfolk of one small village in rural Ireland. One of their citizens, Ned Devine wins the lottery--and dies of the shock.  Not about to let a good thing pass by, his friends and neighbors devise a scheme to fool the lotto executive who comes to town that Ned is indeed alive and well and ready to claim his winnings. Funny, touching and lighthearted, this is a pleaser in any crowd.

Hope you're ready for some good Irish fun.

up next week: The Quiet Man

We're one week into cloth diapers.

We were fortunate enough to inherit a great collection of diapers and supplies from one of my friends when Punky was born. Though I have thought cloth diapering would be a great idea for some time, it's taken us seven months to take the plunge. Of course, there were some good reasons for that:

1) fear.  

It's amazing just how intimidating a simple little pile of rags can be. 

I had never even seen cloth diapers in action, so I had no idea exactly how to do it and felt flummoxed by the many online instructions, blog posts and advice columns. They didn't make any sense until I actually got my babies into the things. Then it all became clear.

2. laundry. 

It's already hard enough for me to keep up with all the clothes to be washed, not to mention the towels, sheets and blankets that don't get washed nearly as often as they should! It seemed completely foolhardy to add another load that would HAVE to be washed everyday. But you know, the laundry has been a non-issue so far. I still can't keep up with the clothes or linens, but like all things of necessity, the diapers get done because if I slack off on that then my babies will have to run around naked all day. So I do laundry.

A problem that I have not solved, however, is that my babies are huge. We're using large and one-size (at their largest) for both of them and Happy is just barely squeezing in. For the most part it's fine during the day, but nighttime is a nightmare.

Last night Happy went through 4 diapers and 2 pajamas before 1:30 a.m. Then I caved and just slapped a disposable on him because I could see it was a battle I'd already lost (I'd consider getting up 6 times--including a couple times for Punky--in 3 hours losing, wouldn't you?)

But they sure look a lot cuter than the old paper ones, don't they!

Men Singing

We have been doing a lot of musical arranging lately. I think for both of us it has provided an enjoyable creative release and we've been learning a lot as we experiment on our patient and long-suffering musical friends. 

The only performance we've managed to record yet is this one by Curmudgeon. It is his own arrangement of "As I Survey the Wondrous Cross" which he and 3 friends sang in church last week. It was really lovely so I'm glad we were able to get a nice recording to share with you!

As I Survey the Wondrous Cross (click the link to go to the audio stream)

If any of you would be interested in getting a copy of the sheet music just let us know. We'd be glad to email you a copy (maybe you'd like to try it out yourself!).

March: I Heart Ireland (1 of 4)

Another month with another conveniently exploitable holiday. Luckily, there are some just great Irish (or Irish-themed) movies out there that we are very happy to present to you. First up: The Secret of Roan Inish.

I remember seeing this film for the first time in a tiny movie theatre in Anchorage, Alaska. My mom and I had traveled there for a school trip of some kind...maybe the spelling bee? Anyway, we went out for dinner (Chinese, incidentally. Which has nothing to do with this post, just a trivial fact) then wanted to see a movie. You have to understand that restaurants and movie theatres were rare and precious as our family was living in isolated, tiny Chignik Bay at the time where the favored village entertainment involved crackin-wise on the CB Radio.

So Mom and I went to the theatre and got tickets to The Secret of Roan Inish. We'd never heard of it and had no idea what it was about, but I was probably about 9 years old at the time and it was likely the only movie that looked age-appropriate. The next two hours were pure magic and I've never forgotten the movie, the tiny theatre with its uncomfortable wooden chairs and squeaky floor or that lovely evening spent with just my mom and me.

The real draw for this film is the raw beauty of the land (just look at that gorgeous stillframe... it's typical of the whole film) and nature. The story is compelling and happy-fying. I realize that's not a word, but it's the best way I can describe it. "Uplifting" is too trite. It just makes me happy to watch it. 

No synopsis this time. You should just watch and be happy-fied. Enjoy.

Portraits

We recently had our family portraits taken by an incredibly talented friend of mine. After seeing ours, you will probably be tempted to call her up right now to book a session. You definitely should, so here's her website: www.bephotodesigns.com

The day we (I should say "I") picked was incredibly cold and pretty windy too. We bundled the kids up underneath their clothes so that we wouldn't have winter coats in the pictures, but it just made them look extra bulky. Especially poor little Happy. He was a real champ for the first 20 minutes, but that was just about as much as he could handle of 19 frigid degrees. Punky was more cheerful than her brother in the cold, but by the end of the shoot she looked pretty much done.

With all that going against us, it's even more impressive what great shots BreAnne was able to get. These are just a few of our favorites.