A new church calling for Jen!

I finally have a new calling. As most everybody I have ever talked to knows, I have been teaching primary for almost 5 years now and I am completely burnt out. About two weeks ago I was called to be the new Activity Day Leader. I love it. We had our first activity this past week and it was so much fun. All of the girls are really great. There were about 11 of them (I think it is usually about 12-15 that come). It was a 2 hour activity rather than the usual 1 hour, since the next scheduled activity falls on Christmas. We obviously won’t be having that one so we had an extra long Christmas Extravaganza. I was a little nervous because I had less than a week to plan it after I was called. We made Christmas cookies, Christmas tree ornaments, an advent chain, wrote thank you notes to the old Activity day leader, had popcorn and eggnog, and read Christmas stories. Wow! We got a lot done in 2 hours. Anyway, I’m just really excited to have such a fantastic new calling. Oh, and added bonus, after January (I’m still filling in as a Primary teacher) I’ll be able to go to Sunday School and Relief Society or just help Adam wander the halls with Jack.

October-Jack's birthday party in San Angelo

On Sunday, before my Aunt and Uncle had to leave, we had a birthday party for Jack. He loved his cake as you can tell from the pictures. Thankfully he got a lot of really cute clothes, since he is growing out of all of his old ones so quickly. He’s only 13 months-old and he’s wearing 18 month clothes. He’s a big boy.

Jack's not quite sure about the cake yet.
Mmmmm good


I love it, I really love it!
I can't wait for next year.

More San Angelo Pictures

Mommy and Allie in the process of getting dressed.
Daddy and Jack-they are two handsome guys!


Auntie Kathy and Jen
A picture of Uncle Joe taking a picture of Jack.
Mom, Auntie Kathy, and Jen

October-Our Trip to San Angelo

So, no big surprise that I have not been able to keep up with my blogs like I said I would (that was back in October after having not posted one in over 2 months). So, I may just have to post one giant blog every month to chronicle what we have been up to in that month. At the rate I’m going, I’ll be lucky to write a blog quarterly.

At the end of October we went to San Angelo to visit my parents and to celebrate Jack’s first birthday. My Aunt Kathy and Uncle Niko were visiting from Boston. My brother, Joe, was also visiting my parents. My other brother, Matt, lives in San Angelo. So it was a family reunion of sorts. We had a great time. Joe has recently taken up photography as his latest hobby. He bought a new camera for over $2000. It takes amazing pictures, especially compared to our camera. Joe spent most of his time taking pictures of the family. It was so nice not to have to worry about snapping pictures of our own. Luckily he should be there for Christmas, so maybe we’ll get some decent pictures then too.

We were hoping to find a local Halloween party to go to since we would be missing our church party. But for some reason in San Angelo, they had all either already happened or were going to be on Sunday. So, we (I think it was my Mom’s idea) decided to get the kids dressed up in their costumes and send Allie around the doors of the house to get candy. We had a ton of people there, so first Allie went to all of the outside doors and then she went to the inside bedroom doors. She had a great time and was quite excited by all of the candy that she got.

Allie wanted in on Jack's pumpkin pics
The closest thing to a decent family picture that we'll have for a while
Me and my brothers (Joe and Matt)
My whole family (we finally got one without my Dad putting bunny ears on my Mom)
Grammy and Allie
Aunt Kathy and Uncle Niko
Mommy and Jack

What a happy little pumpkin
My Mom got Allie a cowboy hat while we were in West Texas (how fitting). She decided to put it on with her butterfly costume.
For some reason my Mom thought that the people who were passing candy out to Allie should also dress up. I reminded her that usually only the tricker-treaters dress up. Her dramatic side really comes out when she is with her sisters
Nana looking beautiful
This picture of my Dad's dog ("Girlie Dog" -that's the best name he could come up with for her) was taken at night. It was completely dark, but with Joe's new camera (did I mention it cost over $2000) we could see her in the picture. We thought it was funny that she looked like she was smiling.

I Spy...

Anyone remember playing the game I Spy...? Take a few minutes and try playing a game with the person on your left.

Plump Halloween Pumpkin

Jack was a pumpkin for Halloween this year. He actually was wearing the costume that Allie wore two years ago. There is a pumpkin hat that goes with the costume, but he kept pulling it off before we could get a picture. Maybe anyone with Photoshop experience can edit in a hat.

Last year Jack dressed up as a 3-day old baby for Halloween. He was cuddly and cute.

Halloween Princess Butterfly

Allie was a princess butterfly for Halloween this year (she was a cheerleader last year and a pumpkin the year before). As you can see in the below picture, she wore a pink leotard with a fluffy skirt and wings. She added a wand to complete the ensemble.
What were you for Halloween?

Pumpkin Patch

Ok,I'm back. It's been a really long time since I've posted a blog. I'm really going to try to keep up with things now (We'll see how long that lasts). Even though I haven't gotten any blogs posted lately, if you check out my book lists, you'll see that I have gotten a lot of books read. That counts for something, right? I have so much to post...Another trip to Sea World, Auntie K and Grandma's trip to Austin, Our trip to San Angelo, Jack's first birthday, Halloween. I think I'll start with last weekend (October 20th-I guess it's been two weekends ago now). We took the family to the pumpkin patch at the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm. It's supposed to be world famous (or maybe it's just Texas famous). The weather was beautiful in the morning, but by the time we got everyone ready, loaded up, and drove out there (about a 45 min. drive) it was getting pretty hot, so we only stayed for about an hour. That sounds like a short period of time but we were able to do a lot. Mostly Allie wanted to sit in the swing at the playscape (this is Allie's new favorite thing-just sitting in the swing and being pushed forever). We also went on the hay ride which took us all around to the different activity areas. Allie was surprisingly good while we were on it. Jack was a little wiggly toward the end. After we left, Adam and I decided to take the kids to one of the local barbecue places that we see advertised on the TV all of the time. We figured we wouldn't be in Elgin again anytime soon. We got in line to order our food and Allie had a major meltdown. So, we left and ended up with all the other families who had toddlers, at McDonald's. At least they had an indoor playscape. Maybe we'll have to wait another10-15 years to take the kids anywhere but Chik-fil-a or McDonald's.

Allie reliving her glory days as a pumpkin

Jack-the cutest pumpkin of all

We finally got one of Jack sitting still. Every time we were about to take the picture, he would crawl off.

Mommy and the kids

Daddy and the kiddos

A little bit taller

Some of us wish that we were just a little bit taller.

Now that Jack likes to climb up on anything he can get his hands on, we have to keep the counters clear. He'll try anything to reach as high as he can and pull down whatever his fingers touch.

Allie likes to play in the kitchen sink and often uses a stool for extra leverage. The other day, Jack found another stool and placed it next to the kitchen sink, trying to emulate his sister's every move. For him, it sure beat trying to stand on Allie's stool.

We're still alive

Those of you who only know us only through our blog might be wondering to yourselves, "What on earth happened to the West's?" Actually, our readers have probably stopped checking for new blogs and moved on to other things.

Well, I am here to say that we are back (hopefully). We have a bevy of pictures and stories that beg to be told on the Internets. So sit back, relax, and await our the next chapter in the Tales of West. (FYI, our stories are being optioned for a big time Hollywood production staring Nicholas Cage or somebody.) Or you may want to do something more productive with your life. It's up to you.

Fall 2007 TV picks

What will you be watching on TV during the upcoming season? If you haven’t already done so, now may be a good time to start planning. I guess your viewing habits may vary based on the technology you employ. Those with the ability to record shows with a DVR may plan differently than those of us who don't have such a device. Also, your type of service may vastly affect the amount of stations and thus shows to choose from. You have more channels to choose from if you have cable or satellite TV.

Below you will find the shows I plan on following during the upcoming Fall 2007 TV season. We don't have satellite or cable and also don't have a DVR. We do have a VCR which will be used here and there to record a few things. So, we are limited to over-the-air channels.

Sunday

• None (I may record Dallas Cowboys football games)
  

Monday

• None
  

Tuesday

• Law and Order: SVU (NBC)
  

Wednesday

• None
  

Thursday

• My Name is Earl (NBC)
• The Office (NBC)
  

Friday

• None
  

Saturday

• Saturday Night College Football (ABC)
  

Midseason shows I will try to watch:

• According to Jim (ABC)
• The IT Crowd (NBC)
• Law and Order (NBC)
  

It looks like I am pretty much confined to NBC and ABC. If The Simpson's (FOX) didn't show on Sunday, I may add that to my list. Others shows of interest to me are Dateline (NBC), 48 Hours Investigates (CBS), and 20/20 (ABC).

Jen and I share a mutual interest in The Office, which is my favorite show on TV right now. I can bet Jen's schedule will include shows such as Desperate Housewives and the midseason return of Lost. She'll also probably catch Supernanny.

Drop us a comment with your Fall 2007 TV picks.

There's something to an early bedtime

Over the past few years, I have come to value sleep. At night or during the day; I just love the feeling of resting my head and eyes for a few minutes or hours. Actually, sleep is quite great anytime I can get it. My trouble is that I like to catch the late-night talk shows or catch-up on some TV on DVD once the kids and Jen go to bed. I guess I really have no one but myself to blame if I stay up too late.

I think the kids, too, have come to value their sleep. Just see the two of them at bedtime when naps haven't gone so well earlier in the day. It's not a pretty sight. The bedtime routine around our house used to be a bit hectic and at times still is. We have made a few changes, however, that have helped. We now put Jack down to sleep at 7:00pm and Allie stays up a little later. Both kids used to go to bed at 7:30pm, but that meant trying to get two tired kids ready for bed at the same time. Staggering the bedtimes has made the routine a little easier, especially when Jen has to get both kids ready for bed because I am not home.

One great byproduct of staggered bedtimes is that we get to spend a little one-on-one time with Allie before she goes to bed. On good days she stays up until 8:00pm or so, a full hour after her younger brother goes to bed. Allie likes to play "peek-a-boo," which is her version of hide-and-go-seek. She also like to read books. We use the time before bed to do some of those things that she really likes.

Both kids seem to be taking to the staggered bed times pretty well. Jack is usually quite tired by 7:00pm, and he was the main reason for the change in routine. Allie likes the extra attention before bed. And Allie will often sleep until 8:00am or so the next morning, which is a pleasing change from her 6:00am-6:30am awakenings she was pulling a few months ago.

So, as I mentioned, I like sleep. It is nice to get everyone on a nice sleep schedule. Now I just have to cut out watching late-night talks shows and maybe I'll get on a good schedule too.

Movie reviews on the brain

I like movies. In fact, you too may have at least a slight interest in what we call the motion picture. Well, I’m thinkng about putting a few movie reviews on our family blog. We don’t see too many new movies in the theater, but do see some a bit later on DVD. So, not all of the reviews will be of current movies.

Now you may ask out loud, “Why should I listen to another person on the Internet reviewing movies?” That’s a great question and one I don’t really have an answer for. Here's how I see it--I like to see movies and thought that I might share with others my thoughts and ideas about the ones I see. Hey, for all we know this may be a one-and-done adventure!

My goal is to provide simple, clear reviews that don’t go over the head of the average movie viewer (that’s me). There are plenty of professional (and amateur) reviewers who will take an artistic look at all of the cinematic features and blow you away with their technical knowledge of the movie making process. There are also plenty of people who log on and give their quick opinion after seeing the latest movies. For example, you can check out simple MSN.com user reviews of Evan Almighty or potentially more comprehensive Yahoo! user reviews of the same movie. I hope for my reviews to fall somewhere in between. Not too technical and not too sparse.

I don’t have much on tap of what to include in the reviews. I bet I will mention the soundtrack and music in most reviews, because those things matter a lot to me. I probably won’t be critical of colors and wardrobes, because those things don’t matter a lot to me. I don’t know if I’ll have a star or thumb rating system…maybe I’ll try out a few different things and see what works best. Please leave a comment or contact me through the normal channels if you have any suggestions of things you’d like to see in my reviews. You can also let me know of things you don’t want to see in the reviews, but I’ll probably ignore your requests (just trying to be honest here).

If you would rather skip my reviews and read movie reviews elsewhere, or just learn more than you ever needed to know about a particular movie, then check out a few of the sites below.

• The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) (database of movies, TV shows, performers, etc.)
• Movie Review Query Engine (database of movie reviews from around the world)
• Filmcritic.com (an oldie that employs its own reviewers)
• Screen It! (well-detailed movie reviews for parents[and others]; free reviews debut a few weeks after the movie hits theaters)
• Parent Previews (family run movie review site for parents [and others])
• Eric D. Snyder movie reviews (satiric freelance movie critic who reviews almost everything--and his a fellow BYU graduate)

Piano on the cheap, anyone?

How much would you pay for a free piano? Of course, quite a goofy question. Well, we did just that this past weekend. We were able to snag a free, upright piano, as long as we could pick it up and transport it to out house. Seeing that we don't own a truck and only have two adults in the house, we were going to have to find some help.

On Thursday, Jen forwarded me an email from a family at church that is moving and getting rid of their piano. Jen didn't even read the email, rather simply forwarded it on to me. I felt I had to jump on it because the email had gone out to all of the church members and I wanted a shot at a free piano. I shot off an email to the family saying that we would love to take the piano off of their hands. Now, I had never seen or heard the piano, but thought that a free piano is worth it, right?

The reply came back that we could have the piano as long as we come and take it away. By this time, Jen was wondering what we would do with a piano. We already have a small digital piano that has suited us just well for a number of years (and will continue to do so). I felt that the chance at an upright that the kids could bang on and play without having to use a power switch just couldn't be passed up.

So, I arranged a couple of guys from church to help us out. One happened to have a pick-up truck and offered it's use. On Saturday at 1:00pm we all showed up to move this piano. It turns out that the piano is a converted player piano and still has most of the player piano parts inside of it. That makes an already heavy piano a little heavier. Now there were four of us big, strapping, young lads to move this thing, so we shouldn't have any trouble, right? One of us lads was an active fireman, however.

After all of that build-up, I am sorry to report that we didn't drop the piano on a toe or let it roll down the sidewalk. Too bad, because that would get a great addition to the story. It took a total of 30-40 minutes to move the piano from one house into the truck, drive a couple of miles to our house, and unload the piano into our living room. And the piano is definitely used (by a few families, I hear), but is actually in good condition considering it's age and history. I'll try my hand at some tuning, but I suspect most, if not all, of the strings could use replacing, among other things.

The funny thing about the whole process is that the family who gave us the piano was so, very appreciative that we took the piano. They keep saying things like, "We can't thank you enough," and "You have helped us out so much." I wonder why they wanted to get rid of the piano so bad...

What would life be like without your nose?

A few weeks ago at church, while Jack and I were in Sunday School and Allie was in nursery (Sunday School for kids her age), Allie began not feeling well. She was brought to me because by this time she was consistently crying. Jen was teaching her primary class (Sunday School for toddlers to pre-teens) and couldn't accommodate one or both of our children. To be fair, Allie was not feeling well earlier in the day and had a cold the previous week.

When Allie arrived with one of her nursery leaders, she was mumbling something that I asked her to repeat. She then clearly said, in a small, whimpering voice, "I can't smell anymore." The nursery leader initially thought that Allie had said, "I can't spell anymore," which would be quite a feat for a non-spelling toddler. Allie's nose was quite stuffed up at this point from the previous cold and the crying. It was quite cute and it got me thinking about living live without the ability to smell.

I guess I shouldn't take my nose and the ability to smell for granted. I would hate to not be able to "smell anymore."
(It was later discovered that Allie had an ear infection in both ears and since that time has had a difficult time returning to nursery on her own.)

Random Pictures

These are just some random pictures of the kids that we thought were cute. Oh, we added a new link on the left side of our blog to some of our family pictures. So if you want to see anymore pictures of these cuties, you can just click there. Allie all ready for church
Allie loves her little brother
Allie helping Daddy wash the car (they make a great team)

Allie reading to Jack-they look like they just got caught(the pacifier is officially gone-Adam threw it away)
Allie and Jack playing together at their "new" (craigslist) kitchen
Jack playing in one of his favorite places, my mom’s down blanket
Jack and Daddy looking cute and comfy

C is for Cookie

Adam has had a hankering for his mom's ginger snaps for weeks. He kept claiming he was going to make them (I know better than that). So, Allie and I decided we would surprise him and make them ourselves. I emailed Kristen to get Cynthia's recipe. In the meantime, I looked online to find a similar recipe for moist ginger snaps. I found one that looked really good and when Kristen emailed me back, it turned out to be almost identical to Cynthia's (the only difference was it had salt added and cooked at a lower temp.) I used that recipe and they were so yummy, just like the ones Adam's mom and sister make. They were so good that we had to make a second batch before the weekend was over (sad, but true). I never ate ginger snaps growing up. It's one of the many things that Adam and his family have introduced me to. I am kind of surprised that his family likes them so much since, as Cynthia often reminds me "Adam doesn't come from a spicy food family". I'm just glad that this is one recipe full of spice that they do like. Yum-O!

Here is the recipe I used

3/4 cup shortening

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

2 cups flour

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 t salt
Combine the shortening, egg, sugar and molasses. Add the remaining ingredients. Chill for 1 hour, then shape into balls. Roll the balls in sugar and arrange on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for a scant 8 minutes in a 350 degree oven. They come off the cookie sheet much more easily if you let them sit for a minute after they come out of the oven.

How much would you pay for a hub cap?

A few weeks ago, after driving a number of miles from home on the freeway, we noticed that a hub cap was missing from the right, rear tire on our Toyota Corolla (see right). We tried to back-track on some of the roads we had just traveled, but did not find out missing hub cap. I thought to myself, hub caps are usually made out of cheap plastic and polycarbonate materials and shouldn't be too expensive to replace.

I started my price searching at a local Toyota dealer because I figured I would get a ceiling price for one hub cap. Needless to say, $85 for one lousy hub cap was too much for me. So I tried the trusty old Internet. A few online stores offered good deals at only $75 per cap. Wow, I thought. I had better jump at the chance to save $10 off the dealers, price.

None-the-less, I decided to keep checking for a lower price. I made my way to eBay and found a few sellers offering "slightly used" hub caps for only $35 a piece. Now, we are talking! Upon further inspection, however, some of the ads mentioned that their hub caps may or may not have the original Toyota symbol in the middle of the hub cap--in other words, they are selling "original" Toyota hub caps, but shipping cheap knock-offs to customers.

By this time, I had decided to give up and buy a set of 4 cheap, non-Toyota hub caps. Last Saturday, I ventured into Wal-mart to pick up a few odds and ends and made my way to the automotive aisle to price hub caps. Low and behold I found the exact hub caps that are on my 1993 Dodge Shadow for $13, so I now know where to find some replacements, if I need any. I also spotted a set of hub caps, also for $13, that looked very similar to my authentic Toyota hub caps.

So, for less than $15 we are the proud owners of four new, Toyota-like hub caps (here's a comparison of the two types).

Anyone need three, slightly used 2005 Toyota Corolla hub caps?

Only $85 each.

He's a stand up kind of guy

Jack just learned to stand up by himself (holding onto things). Now that is all he wants to do.

Jack standing and holding onto Allie’s bed (he is so proud of himself)
This is usually how I find him when he wakes up.

Our week with Grammy and Nana

Last week my mom (Grammy) and my grandma (Nana) came into town. We had so much fun with them.

Here is Grammy putting makeup on Allie.
The finished product
We have been trying to get a four generation picture taken of me, my mom, my grandmother, and Allie since Allie was born. We have all of our matching outfits picked out, we just never make it to Sears when we are all together. So, we decided to just go ahead and snap one as Grammy and Nana were on their way out the door (no matching outfits).

While my mom was here, she stayed home with Jack so that I could take Allie to the Austin Children's Museum. We met some friends there and had a great time together. The picture above is of Allie driving a replica of an Austin City Bus. I think there may be a future in it for her.
Allie and her friend, Ellie, at the museum dressed up as construction workers.
My mom stayed with the kids for the day on Tuesday so that Adam and I could go to Sea World by ourselves. We had so much fun together, just the two of us (and Shamu).