Seis Puerqueños

I am keeping Project Foxfish at the top for a while. New blogs below.

We have been hard at work around these parts. Some of us have been working on rolling over. But most of us already knew how, so we have been working on this:

http://foxfish.org/

It is essentially something I came up with to help out OSSO (Orphanage Support Services Organization), something you have probably heard me blabber on about a lot. If you haven’t, it’s the organization I went to Ecuador with in 2004 & 2007/2008 that sends volunteers and helps with orphanage funds.

Here is the bottom line of the project I am doing:

1. I make crafts/things like blankets, tutus, crayon rolls, etc and donate my time and the material
2. Kind people go to my shop and buy something, knowing that 100% is going to orphans
3. Extra kind people tell their friends, so they buy something too
4. Exponential growth, lots of money for orphans
5. Everyone rejoices

Two places to buy. For now: http://foxfish.etsy.com/ In the future my brilliant husband will work out all the bugs in the editing program and you will be able to buy things directly from http://foxfish.org/ (which he so kindly built for me), cutting out the posting and selling fees I have to pay on Etsy. That of course just equals more dollars for the kids. Stay tuned to the main website to keep updated on that.

So, if you need a baby gift, or a blanket, or a party decoration, or something, do check it out. It’s a pretty easy way to donate, and easy to get your friends to do the same.

Thanks in advance!!!

PS If you are amazingly talented and make some sort of handmade item you would be willing to donate to be sold, please email me or comment on here.

PPS I just realized that I left for Ecuador the first time 5 years ago yesterday. And then I got all teary.

This one gets a lot of exclamation marks because seriously, why go and mess up something totally perfect?

Take Cadbury eggs. You were thinking I was going to complain about their smaller size, but I was actually going to talk about how horrible the newer (last 10 years? I’m old and don’t know when it switched) cream inside is. Anyone remember the gooey gooey centers of olden days, like a real egg? Ok not that runny, but not paste like now. Sheesh.

And what about whoppers taking over the “Robin’s Eggs” brand? Again, I like whoppers, but bring back Robin’s Eggs! Although I noticed this year that they brought back the capability of licking the egg and putting it on like pretty colored pastel lipsticks.

And why is it so hard to find a bag of normal flavored jelly beans? Sure, I like Jolly Rancher jelly beans a bit and Starburst aren’t so bad either, but I want a back full of delicious black licorice and red flavor jelly beans. Except I hate the reds, but at least they haven’t gone a-changin’.

I just asked Aaron which changes he hated and after Robin’s Eggs he said how Peeps now dissolve in the sun. He much preferred the days of non-biodegradable Peeps.

Aaron’s baby sister Lois had a baby tonight. A baby girl! (It was a surprise, and I was wrong.) Lois did amazing and Robert did the best play-by-play blogging ever. We are all supremely excited, even if Harmon wanted a boy cousin. Photos and name to be shown proudly soon.

I think that I should have a weekly post dedicated to “Things I Don’t Love” (a nice euphemism lifted from Nate & Chica). I do love Fridays, so that seems like a good day to write.

Things I Don’t Love: Oval Country Stickers

They probably started out ok. After being used in Europe for an actual purpose, probably a few Europeans brought their cars here and kept their stickers. That’s fine. Then some others proud of their heritage thought it would be a good idea too. Ok, I’m still sort of with you. But then everyone went traveling. And suddenly they were from the countries they traveled to. And then they slapped a sticker on their car back at home. At this point, I’m not loving it, as I am not a fan of bumper stickers in general, but it is almost tolerable. Then came the other stickers, styled the same but saying things like “Woof” and other “cute” things. Then a couple of weeks ago came the clincher pushing me over the edge in my hatred: the white ovals that said “Alki*” in the middle. The driver was probably happy, driving around, showing his or her Alki pride, but I hated it. It just seemed so ridiculous to me. You aren’t any cooler because you happen to live in Alki.

But then I got an idea. What about selling stickers that said “Medina**”? That’s right people. I just figured out how to make my first million dollars.

*Alki is a community in Seattle with a long beach that people hang out on and walk/rollerblade/skate on the sidewalk. It’s “cool” to live in Alki
**Medina being a community in the Seattle area in which Bill Gates and lots of other rich people live

Guess who joined Twitter? Not me. Aaron. Hahahahaha. It’s for work to be able to connect with some of his business partners. But still. Hahahahaha.

Happy Birthday Giant Long Bean!

Here are your giant stats:

Weight: 17lbs even! (75-90%)
Length: 27 1/4 inches (above 97%)
Head: 44 1/4 cm (90-95%)

To celebrate Harmon is getting his own blog. It will mostly be ramblings about how amazing and smart he is, mostly for my benefit, but if you want to read it too, you are more than welcome.

http://www.adventuresoflongbean.blogspot.com/

Aaron just pointed out: “what will happen if he’s not tall one day?” “Then I will change the blog. Or you will just have to remember that he was long.”

You will still get your monthly photo fix on this blog though.

This is Harmon and his betrothed Adri’s engagement photo

P.S. More photos as always on our photo site.

I got tired of your celebrity couple names. Not that they weren’t good. I just kept forgetting who half of them were, or having a hard time finding the blogs that I wanted to read. So you went back to your regular names. Most of you anyway.

Last night laying in bed listening to the peaceful sounds of the upstairs neighbor yelling and his ultra -loud techno russian music mixed with my dear husband snoring, I had a while to ponder. My thoughts wandered as they always do (but please notice they all fit together in a nice chain):

When was the last time I checked the PO Box?
I wonder who still has my Dad’s address as ours, and how we can change that.
Remember that time in Ecuador when Jama sent us some of our mail that came to their house, including my mini diploma from BYU?
Mini diplomas are funny.
Remember how I don’t have my high school diploma?
I wonder if I really graduated.
Oh well.

And thus I was left to ponder on something that I have thought of hundreds of times since 2000 and never done a single thing about (except asking Justin to ask at school, hah!). At graduation they handed us diploma covers, and told us (I thought) that we would receive the diplomas in the mail. Although I am sure I passed all my classes senior year, I also remember in the late winter being threatened by one of the principals about getting suspended (I did not, mom and dad had my back!) and that she would personally call BYU and let them know about my misdeeds. (Which of course is a story for another blogpost) Could this be the reason for no diploma? Surely not. At graduation we walked to the field in two lines to our seats, shaking hands with either of the principals at the head of the line. On my turn I refused to shake, still holding a grudge from my mistreatment a month or two before. Could THAT be the reason for no diploma? Maybe. Did I have an unreturned library book, or some unknown fine? Could it have gotten lost in the mail? I suppose I will never know. And I’m pretty sure I’ll be just fine. I mean, I managed to go to college, graduate, get jobs, etc. all without it. What could I want it for now, other than to make a paper airplane?

Does it bother anyone else when they get accused of treating their child a certain way because they are “the first child”? For example if you don’t want dogs licking all over your newborn child, you are clearly exhibiting “first child” behavior. Of if you don’t want your child at two and a half months old to chew on red licorice (black would be fine of course) you have obviously come down with a case of “first child”.

I recognize that there are many things that I probably do which could appropriately be categorized as “first child syndrome”. Maybe co-sleeping, maybe excessive blankets and hats for outings, and maybe even Aaron’s request for hand sanitizer for our house (what? the sink is like two feet away) fit this description. But there are many things I insist upon which do not.

I mean, I can only imagine that with successive children many things happen. First, you have less time, so you can’t stop dogs from licking or licorice from being shoved in the mouth. This of course doesn’t mean that you want these things to happen, but as you produce more and more offspring, it becomes inevitable because you don’t have 100 hands. Or the willpower. You many children parents have your wills broken because you just can’t keep your child from eating the cheerio covered in hair and dirt which has been hiding under the stove because you are too busy trying to take care of the others. Or even one child parents, you probably aren’t as fast as your kid, and can’t stop it either. But that does not mean you like it, and I would venture that you would stop it had you the option.

The good news is, this is my child. I grew him for 9 1/2 long months. I pushed him out, and I reserve the right to screw him up as I see fit. For now I will luxuriate in the amount of time I have to dedicate to saving him from all the horrible dangers like the rain and dogs and unwashed hands. To all my future children: I hope you survive. Especially when the rain turns to acid and the dogs rabid and the hands to monster claws.