Bridges

We had home teachers come over tonight. Going off the First Presidency message for the month, they asked what the kids knew about bridges. One question they asked was what bridges are for. Both if them came up with some solid answers (getting over a lake, etc), but Katie, with a flash of inspiration, said, "I know! They are so poor people have a place to sleep!"

I'm glad to know Katie is looking out for others.

A Few Baby Tips

A friend of mine sent me an email with some photos taken from the book "Safe Baby Handling Tips" (http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Baby-Handling-Tips-David/dp/0762424915/?tag=c00lstuff-20). You can see the whole list here: www.c00lstuff.com/1133/Do_s_and_don_ts_with_babies/)

These were just a few of my favorites.

Yea for Ryan!

I am happy to report that Ryan will continue to have gainful employment for the next three years. The way things work here at Darden is that after three years, they have the option to either fire you (bad) or keep you for another three years (great).

I didn't get the sense from Ryan that his third year review was something I needed to worry about, so I didn't. But I guess there is always the chance that something could go wrong. Either way, I'm happy to say that he did great, and we are here at least until he goes up for tenure. Then we (meaning Ryan primarily, with me getting heavily emotionally involved) get to go through the process again, but much more intensely.

What I love the most, though, is what a big deal his colleagues at Darden have made about it. He has had so many visits, emails, etc., to congratulate him. There are a lot of things I love about Darden, but this is one of the best. It's a great community to be a part of.

So, congratulations to Ryan, and thank you to Darden!

Google Family Roll Call

When Ryan and I were talking on the phone tonight, the topic of where we show up when our names are googled came up. Ryan googled "amy quinn blog"--I'm NOWHERE in site. I finally took the time to go until I found something that had to do with me. On the 8th page is a mention from the original "quinnsunite blog". If I google "amy quinn", I make page 6 for something I did during my master's progam at Michigan. BUT, if I google "amy b quinn", I am #1. The amazing thing I did? Buy a house in St Louis. I have really made my mark. Ryan typed his name in and said "Oh, look! I'm number one!" What a show off.

So, in case you were wondering where you rank, let me tell you. I went through and just typed in the first and last name, no quotes (except for my desperate "amy b quinn")

Robert: #1. In fact, it's its own little section. Being an author really gets you places.
Delsa: #1 (and only "delsa quinn" when put into quotes). Blogs and your mission have put you on the map.
Shauri: #1. She dominated page 1, with the only intrution being a youtube video by another Shauri Quinn with the tags "transvestite" and "cowboy". Well, I think that's a different Shauri Quinn... (update: that is her video, and it's a great clip)
Ryan: #1. That says a lot since he doesn't blog and has a pretty common name. At least one of us in this marriage is famous. And I should mention he beat out #2: "A Gay Jock's Call to Arms".
Shawn: #2. Very impressive, and he dominates page 1. Let's see what we can do to get him to the top.
Lisa: Sorry lady, but I gave up after page 15. You've got even more competition than me (an author, a TV person, a psychologist...it's pretty bad). So everyone mention Lisa in their blogs.
Abram: #1. About half the first page is his. My favorite BY FAR is his mention in the Rex E Lee memorial run that shows up at the bottom. Way to go! Nice to break of all of the lawyer stuff with a little bit of your past. At least I'm guessing it's you...were you 23 in the year 2000?
Kristin: I found the EFN on page 4. The blogs pull through once again.
Travis: Makes page 3 for being director of sales for his NBA-D league team. Not too bad!
Garrett: Pulls out an impressive page 1 with his "Letters to Garrett" book.

I tried out my family, and although I gave up trying to find my dad (way too much competition), he showed up as #3 when I added on the word marathon. Good job! My mom came up on page two after I added on the word Montana for being in the "race for the cure" (unless you count her phone number being first...). I gave up on my sister, Jennifer Anderson, and her husband...way too many! Brian hit page 3 with a photo album, and his wife, Yoshimi has the honor of being completely missing (when her name is in quotes). Not a single result. So... YOSHIMI BURNSIDE!! Go find that Google! Nathan made page one for his work, I couldn't find Chad, and Richard made page two for his half-marathon. Paty got a hit (when I put her name in quotes) on her mission website. I couldn't find Crystal and I couldn't tell if I found Karen or not.

This was in no means rigorously done. In fact, just the opposite. So feel free to correct me. All I know is that I'm DONE with google for the night. It's time to go enjoy my first night of American Idol without commercials (we just got DVR a couple of months ago).

A quick update: Google found "Yoshimi Burnside"! She has a hit! Google is so amazing, it's almost spooky.

Robert C. Baker is Smiling Up in Heaven

I was reminded today of an NPR blurb a year or so ago about a man named Robert C. Baker. I actually didn't remember his name, only that the man who had created the chicken nugget had died. Well, up there in heaven, I think he was happy today.

Why? Because there is a little girl here in my house who really loves his work. I had to leave the house for an hour to go run a couple of errands, and I left Andrew and Katie with a friend and her kids here in my house. It was lunch time, so I left a Sam's club bag of chicken nuggets for them, along with some applesauce, etc. I told her I usually give my kids about 5 or 6 pieces each, and left her to feed the masses.

When I got back, Katie proudly announced that she had eaten 18 chicken nuggets (give or take 1). What in the world? That's like a whole chicken. I mean, I'm a fan of the nuggets and all, but I can't even imagine eating that many as an adult. And that's not just because they taste like cardboard.

I guess my friend's kids sometimes eat large quantities, and she hadn't really kept track of how many she had given Katie until Katie had finished off her third plateful and then asked for more. What can I say--when she likes something, she likes it a lot.

Shauri's Shout-out

Here are just 10 of the reasons I love Shauri:

1. She converted me to game night. I was a little hesitant at first (I know I'm not the only one who has felt that way), but I love it now.
2. She can win most people over in a matter of minutes with her sassy wit. And those who aren't won over clearly have no sense of humor.
3. She, like her mother, loves to laugh. I have images of the two of them laughing for amazingly extended periods of time because they egg each other on.
4. She's a creative genius, whether it's her writing, her pictures, whatever.
5. She continues to recreate and improve herself as she goes through life.
6. She is an amazing gift-giver. She gives a lot of gifts, and they all are so thoughtful--how does she do it?
7. She's open and honest about her life (including her breasts and PMS--just two of the many great stories on her blog).
8. She is the queen of finding humor in everyday situations. And somehow humorous situations seem to find her back.
9. Speaking of blogs, I love the fact that she helped get me hooked on blogs. Her constant prodding to post on the original QuinnsUnite blog got me started and her frequent comments left on my blog regarding how much she loves it when I actually post something help me want to find things to write.
10. She's a dynamite caramel-corn making partner. It has been way too long since we've done that.

You're the best!

Why I Never Do School Portraits

This pose cost me $20. I don't know how I got suckered into thinking that I needed to do school portraits--I should know better. I think it's because when I didn't do it last year, the picture was actually cute. Just my luck.

I did have a strike against me since he's going through the jack-o-lantern phase of having very mismatched and missing teeth. Along with that, I attempted to gel his hair for picture day which resulted in the big chunk that split off and landed on his forehead. Add to that the fact that when you tell him to smile, he generally just grits his teeth in the happiest way he can and squints one eye--and here is what you get.

I felt obliged to add on a second picture just to show that he's usually a really cute kid, in spite of the fact that he doesn't always smile so well.

I will say that compared to the sports photo of Katie from a few months back, Mason got the better end of the deal. But at least I didn't actually pay money for that one. (Here's the link for that one in case you forgot what that gem looked like: http://quinnsunite.blogspot.com/2007/04/here-is-proof-from-katies-soccer-photo.html

The Answer is: January 8th

If you've ever wondered how long a Halloween pumpkin might be able to last if you never carved it and just left it sitting on a bench outside of your house, my study shows it is roughly the beginning of January. I have no doubt it could have lasted much longer had the weather not gotten into the 70's this past week.

Now that it has begun melting into my bench, I think the time has finally come to say goodbye. Luckily garbage day is tomorrow.

I played my first game of Pokemon the other night. It was Mason's "special night" (meaning he got to stay up late and decide what we would do together). I'm not sure why I have such a physical aversion to it, but I had a hard time even saying the names of my victorious Pokemon without a little bit of sarcasm/derision/annoyance.

I have decided, though, that I need to have a better attitude since this is probably just the first of many times to come where I will need to learn to be interested in something my children care about. Even if this only lasts a few months, that's a pretty big chunk of time for me to be annoyed at the thing they love to do the most. So, viva la Pokemon.

I even tried playing it with Katie yesterday after she kept bugging me about it. It's a door I didn't want to open, since I'm very content playing UNO with her. But that's what she wanted to do, so I went along with it. What it taught me is that I need to learn the rules since I'm quite confident Katie was making up a decent percentage of the things she told me (mostly just because she really didn't know, but would confidently give it her best shot).

Mason came home from school yesterday saying that he had decided he wasn't going to suck his thumb anymore. Obviously this was good news, but also something I had heard before. He told me this time he really meant it, because of what his book buddy (an older student that comes in to read with him) told him. He let Mason know that he shouldn't do it because he would put germs in his body and DIE if he did. I've gone with the "crooked teeth" reasoning, and the "getting sick" reasoning, but "certain death" hadn't entered my mind. The fact that Mason has survived 7-years of this without death must not have occurred to him, nor did I point it out. If it takes lying to make it stop, I think I'm willing to give it a shot.

Andrew reminded me once again this morning of why I love hardwood floors so much. I heard Andrew start crying, and I came in to my living room to find strawberry/blueberry smoothie all over the floor. In my St Louis house with all of it's white carpet this would have been an all day cleanup. As it was, after 5 minutes and a roll of paper towels I was done. I've got to celebrate the little things in my life.

Happy Birthday Garrett--a little late, but straight from the heart

Why we love Garrett:

1. He admires Andrew's devious mind and doesn't shy away from his violent affections.

2. He brings the light in Katie out, and will "do it again" after chasing her, tickling her, or throwing her around.

3. He makes solid attempts to connect with Mason in spite of the fact they have nothing in common.

4. He and Amy have very compatible senses of humor.

5. He always hugs Ryan after making fun of him (just like Amy).

6. He lets Ryan be on his basketball team.

7. He has the finest assortment of t-shirts of anyone in our social network. We hope they don't feel neglected now that he's the proud owner of an Adelaide Crows jersey.

8. He is the Scrabble king.

9. He was "heaps good" at mastering Australian idioms.

10. He is one of the most loving people we know, and we love him.

Delsa's Birthday List

Here's a toast to our beloved Delsa. Just a few of the reasons we love you:

1. One of the things we love the most is her ability to laugh. At herself, at others, at nothing. And the best part (which Amy has picked up on) is the accompanying knee-slap. As she described to the missionaries: "Don't you just ever feel it bubbling up inside you and there's no way to keep it inside?" They had no idea what she was talking about--they clearly need to get a better sense of humor.

2. She is a fantastic grandmother. Once she realized that Mason and Katie were Poke-addicts, she decided to try to learn the game so she could play with them. Amy hasn't even done that.

3. That she has loved Amy as a daughter.

4. She taught Ryan how to clean bathrooms--and everything else--way better than Amy. (Amy appreciates that more than Ryan).

5. We can't make a list without including her cooking. Unparalleled.

6. We admire the way that she is taking the challenge of finding her role on her mission with amazing humility and courage.

7. She walks with Christ.

8. She doesn't recycle: which means that she never gives the same talk twice, in spite of the fact that she has had to give hundreds.

9. Every woman who meets her thinks she's their best friend.

10. She's the fastest counter-cleaner on the planet. Don't leave anything unattended, or you will find it put away before you can use it.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Kristin's Birthday List

Why we love Kristin:

1. First of all, do we even need a reason? I mean, who doesn't love her?

2. Her lists of potential, past, and current menus we see whenever we're there, along with recipe books full of markers showing recipes she has either made or wants to make.

3. She is an extraordinary hostess.

4. She is incredibly generous.

5. Her ability to bring people into her life and make them family.

6. She's gorgeous. We'd love her even if she wasn't, but we might as well add it to the list.

7. Just watching how she has embraced motherhood has been so fun.

8. Her ability to find purpose in the simple things in life (her blog, watching Max on the playground, etc.)

9. She is able to maintain sanity in spite of having a high-powered lawyer as a husband.

10. Her basketball skillz. In fact, during the kids basketball class today, this came up. Clearly I have not been a great role model for Katie since she wasn't sure if girls really played basketball (there was only one other girl in her class). I told her that of course they did, and used Kristin as my example. I then said, with great confidence, "In fact, I think she could even beat your dad in basketball." Ryan just rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever." All I know is that I hope Kristin's game is on the next time we're in town, because I sense a challenge here. Katie needs to see some girl-power.

So happy late birthday Kristin!

Taking it to the Next Level

Have I mentioned before that Pokemon has taken over our family? What started out as a little something Mason brought home from school has continued to evolve. At first it was just watching the shows on television, then they got a book with all of the characters, and we gave in and got Mason Pokemon cards for his birthday. So it's only been about a month and a half of playing the game, but it shown no signs of stopping.

They are lucky to have a father who will do it with them, because anytime I hear the words "hit points" it brings back memories of playing Dungeons and Dragons with my brothers (by "playing" I really mean "aimlessly rolling a bunch of freaky dice"). So Pokemon joins the crowd of Dungeons and Dragons and comic books as being things that I seem to have a peculiar aversion to.

Ryan, on the other hand, figures that if he can't beat them, he'll join them. While I am positive it's not something he'd do if he didn't have kids (those people do exist), he figures that if he's going to do it, he might as do it well. As in making excel spreadsheets to chart the various powers and limitations of the many characters (can I get a witness, Garrett?), and encouraging Mason's aspirations of doing Pokemon tournaments.

While researching how the tournaments worked, he found out about "league play", which goes on every Friday evening at a local game store from 5-7 pm. The game store that hosts it gets a bunch of free cards from the Pokemon company to hand out, and kids get together to play the game. It is actually a pretty convenient time, as it ensures that Mason and Katie get all of their chores done for the weekend before they can go play. So there is a part of me that loves Pokemon, even though it drives most of me crazy.

Here are a few highlights from the night. I didn't go, so this is second hand--but I feel like I can see it all happening. There were about 12 kids, with Katie being the youngest one playing and most of them being in the 6-10 year old age range. A couple of teenagers and one parent played as well. Katie isn't so great at strategizing, so it was nice of kids to be willing to play with her.

Katie has pretty much one volume level: loud--especially when she's excited. I don't know where she got it from. So imagine being the kid that is playing with her, and throughout the entire game she has no idea what she's doing with the cards, but talks endlessly (and loudly) about all the things she knows and loves regarding her cards, and all other things Pokemon. It's a pretty safe bet that the kid she's playing has already amassed the knowledge she's dispelling, but that doesn't phase her. One kid finally let her know "You don't have to shout!", but that never works--trust me.

One of the kids they played against had long, kind of bushy hair, and was overweight. I don't want to use the words "man-boobs", but it does help to paint the picture and explain the confusion when Mason and Katie kept referring to him as "her" and "she". After he told them "I'm a BOY!", Mason got it. Katie, on the other hand, just couldn't make the switch no matter how many times he reminded her. I can just imagine her saying something like, "That's so funny that she played Charmander, right Mason?" This is classic Katie, since it uses the phrase "that's so funny" and then adds the "right Mason?"--which is key, since that's how Katie finishes every sentence.

Mason, as opposed to Katie, did fine in the game. His only rocky spot came when a small contingent of Pokemon purists decided that since some of Mason's cards looked worn out on the back, they were clearly "phonies". What the freak? Is there some scandalous black-market Pokemon underworld we weren't aware of? The problem was that when the first kid accused Mason of having a phony card, Mason had no idea what "phony" was, so he had no idea what to do other than just stare at them, very confused. Eventually, they rephrased it as "fake", which he understood. Ryan went over and explained that Mason's cards weren't "phonies"(jerk!), but had to continue to back Mason up the whole night as the original accuser kept letting others know that Mason had phony cards. If Mason ever takes the game this seriously, I'll know it's time for him to quit.

Do Not Try This at Home

Ryan was at Young Mens tonight, so it was just my three jet-lagged crazy kids and me for dinner. Andrew was done eating, but Mason and Katie were taking forever, so I left the kitchen to go get something in a different room.

All of a sudden, I heard Mason shouting about a fire in the microwave. I came running into the kitchen, and sure enough there were flames and a serious electrical burning smell coming from the microwave. I opened it to find our poor smoke detector, which Andrew had decided to cook.

In case your wondering, the smoke detector didn't detect it's own smoke and start beeping. I think the battery was out, though, so who knows if it would have. Maybe that's what Andrew was trying to find out through this little experiment. All I know is that the microwave is going to stay unplugged from now on, and our smoke detector will stay on the ceiling (I had taken it down to replace the batteries).