Research

Sometimes I miss school. I actually like to do research. But don't tell.

I've decided that I still do a ton of research. See? That college degree paid off, right? I mean...I don't mean to brag, but I think I am one of the top researchers in the world. At least in quantity. Not in quality.

I have so much scientific research going on each and every day. The whole process--beginning to end. Hundreds of times per week. It's exhausting really. But fun all the same.

Ask a Question
Here are some examples of my past research questions:
Why didn't Caleb take a nap today, but not yesterday? Why did Carson sleep through the night last night, but not the night before? Why was Caleb such a good eater tonight at dinner, but not last night? Why did Carson laugh so hard when I did that yesterday, but not today? Yeah, and why does Carson think Caleb is so funny, and not me? (Yeah, yeah, I know. None of those research questions are phrased in a way to make them good research questions...blah blah blah. You get the idea though.)


Do Background Research
I search the internet, read all the books, ask all the people who will give me the time of day. You know. Stuff like that.


Construct a Hypothesis
Construct a hypothesis? About a thousand hypotheses for each research question. This is really my strong suit. Let me give you some examples:

Perhaps the reason Carson slept through the night last night is because he wore his lucky blue shirt and snazzy yellow socks that day. Perhaps the reason Caleb was a good eater tonight was because he did three somersaults and played with the green train instead of the blue. I know. Genius, huh?


Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
Meet my guinea pigs.

Caleb (testing another hypothesis of mine about how he will be in charge of his own bag for church if it is a bag he is excited about...so far it is a working hypothesis...)

My other guinea pig, Carson

(seen here sporting the gansta pajama look)

They’re the best kind of guinea pigs really. Although I used to really like the guinea pig my friend four doors down would walk to my house on a leash. Anyway. My poor guys are tested on hundreds of times per day. I wonder what the animal rights activists would think of my experiments on my poor boys? I expect a line of picketers outside my door any day now.


Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Yup. It was definitely the lucky blue shirt and the green train. Carson better wear that blue shirt every day and Caleb better keep up on his somersaults and play with that green train. No blue trains. Sorry.


Communicate Your Results
Yup. I communicate them all the time. Poor Chris.

Then, a couple days later, I realize my hypothesis was incorrect and no longer holds true. Back to the next hypothesis. Don't worry, that too is communicated to Chris. Poor Chris.

My latest conclusion? Kids will do what they want/need despite my trying to analyze everything and figure them out. I can make all the adjustments I want...but I've decided that the kid is going to decide ultimately how things are done. And I've decided I need to just sit back and enjoy the ride more--analyze less. At least I decided two things, right?

It’s kind of like in that movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, where the girls convince the dad it was his idea for her to go to school. Same principle. Sometimes my kids let me think it was my idea when things work out.

Research for school was so much easier. It was usually a bit more clear-cut. Not quite as fun though. And at least I still use my brain every day, right? In fact, my brain usually hurts from thinking so much by the end of every day. Which leads me to my next hypothesis....

The Three Amigos

Here are some random pictures of the three amigos.

These are some random bedtime pics.






Poor Chris...he's a great place on which to stand...and sit:

What?!? I was not laughing to encourage such things!





Chris also makes a great tunnel to crawl under:


And a nice jungle gym to climb on:


What up.




The Cheneys bought a motorcycle and asked Chris to go pick it up. You guys know you're in trouble, right?!? I've heard about motorcycles every day since. :) You see, Chris had one that he sold before we moved down here thinking he would buy a new one once we were here. But once we moved here, well, his wife wasn't so excited about him riding one around all the crazy drivers and traffic here on a regular basis. So he has yet to replace it. But of course, Chris had to come by and give Caleb a little ride and take some pics before parting ways with the bike. Thanks for the fun, Cheneys!



And do you see all that fun stuff in the background? I thought about calling that paving company and thanking them for all the big trucks, tractors, etc. It provided HOURS of window and porch watching entertainment that week. Good times.



Hangin' on the couch:



Not sure...gang signs?



Caleb loves to hold Carson:



Love his little smirk:



Lovin' life with the three amigos.

Happy Easter!

Is it really already Wednesday night? I've been meaning to do this since Sunday night. My how time flies.

Lots of Easter festivities this year. Of course we dyed eggs.



Not sure who had more fun...Caleb, me or Chris. Or maybe Carson:



Nice sarcastic pose by Chris:



Our finished products:

Notice how there are no pink or purple ones? It's not because there are lots of boys in the house. It's because someone didn't read the instructions all the way through to see not to put vinegar in the red one. Ok it was me. So we did without the pink this time.

We have been swapping babysitting on Friday nights and it has been pretty much, well, AWESOME! This was our Friday to watch the kids. We had fun and had some friends in and out as well for treats. We baked a ton this weekend for all the different events. We made two of these:

And a bunch of bread, queso, and Easter sugar cookies. Lots of fun. But few pictures. That picture is just for you Dip (a.k.a. Kip D). Not a fancy picture like the ones you guys have, just the leftovers from one of the yummy cakes. :)


Saturday we went to some friends' property for some more fun. And fun it was! They had
tractors:



Go-karts



A big trampoline



and an awesome Easter egg hunt



Caleb also got to smash his first cascarones (eggs filled with confetti). He wouldn't smash it on my head...only dad's. Good boy. :) Here is Chris showing us the remains.

If you look close, you can see it all in his hair and on his shirt.

And don't forget the dogs that Caleb chased around for a lot of the time. We had so much fun!!

Then Saturday night we had some friends come teach us a game. Good times again.

Sunday was the best. Here is a little video of my favorite parts of Sunday morning.



Chris didn't have meetings this Sunday. I forgot how nice it was to have him around all Sunday morning. We got to go to church all together. Except I forgot my lesson manual so we dropped Chris off and zoomed home to pick it up. :)
Here are the three amigos ready for church:



And last but not least, we got to spend Sunday evening with our good friends. Great Easter dinner and great company. Thanks, guys!!

I LOVE holidays with the kids. I'm not sure who is more giddy--Caleb or me.

Confession Sessions

Let's just say...Chris was a bit to hard to handle in his growing up years. His poor mom and anyone from Preston would probably laugh and say that's a major understatement. Anyway. After we were married, Chris would tell me these hilarious stories. Except they are only funny now. Looking back. So every once in awhile...we have these things call confession sessions with Chris's mom where Chris tells her some of the crazy stuff he did that she never knew about. Don't worry...they both are laughing. Now.

For example, once Chris was grounded but his mom asked him to go to the store. So what did he do? He took the car, picked up some of his friends who were at a dance he wanted to be at and went to "flip cookies" (as they say in Preston--I've always heard it as donuts...but that's not the point.) Then they decided to hit a snow bank (Huh? What? Yeah. I know.). It was a big snow bank, so they knew they needed plenty speed. They got back as far as they could in the parking lot, floored (the 318, so I'm told) the '72 Dodge Dart and went no where because that fierce power gave no forward momentum on a sheet of ice. Finally the wheels caught and they were off. At about 45 miles per hour, they hit the snow bank and went airborn. The car flew over the road and finally skidded out of control over the far curb and just about went through the front of some poor old lady's home. With their adrenaline pumping and nerves wracked, their only intention was to get out of there. They sprayed snow all over that poor old lady's house. As they were driving away, the car seemed to effortlessly shift to the right...then to the left...and then just as suddenly back to the right again. They pulled over to see if the road was especially slippery. Road conditions hadn't changed. But for some reason, the car would not drive straight. Chris took the friends back to the dance and headed home. He walked through the door and his mom remembered that she needed one more thing from the store and decided to run get it herself this time. Chris went to bed hoping she wouldn't realize that the car effortlessly shifted from left to right. To left. The next time they chatted, his mom commented on how slippery the roads were...how the car kept shifting from left to right. To left. When the snow melted and the roads were no longer slick...the car still shifted effortlessly from left to right. To left. His mom had someone come look at the car and they told her that both the ball joints were broken on the axle (which apparently causes a car to not be able to drive straight.) His mom questioned the mechanic about how they would break and was told it would take a tremendous force to break the ball joints. Chris just whistled and walked away.

It was just a couple short years ago that his mom finally found out how those ball joints were broken in one of our fun confession sessions.

Wow. This turned into a long post. A novel, really. You still here?

Now what does that have to do with my post? Actually nothing. I just remembered that confession session when I put that as the title of this post and thought it was a really funny story and got carried away documenting it for our posterity and all of you. For more confession sessions...you'll have to ask Chris. Unless I feel a need to post another one soon. They are pretty funny.


So here is my confession session:

I love to sneak in and watch my boys sleeping.


I look at them and wonder how on earth I could EVER be frustrated by them. They are so sweet and innocent. Quite awhile ago, Rachelle posted this awesome article about raising kids. THANK YOU, Rachelle! I think about this article all the time. And have decided that I need to read it every morning. And maybe a few more times on some days.

That's it. Kind of boring compared to the confession session above, huh? But since I am posting this blog post...I can get away with it, right?

Carson Update

(Just for the record...Chris and I called a truce for April Fool's Day this year for the first time ever.... We usually enjoy pranking each other pretty good. This year, we decided too much is going on and don't want to do anything to cause each other to worry more than we need to. :) But that is a post for another day.

Last week Carson turned two months old! I can't believe it! We took him in for his two month check up and got the dreaded shots. At least...I dread it. Carson is now 10 pounds, 12 ounces and 23 inches long. Pretty good for two months of growing (up from 6lbs 8 ounces and 19.75 inches long at birth).

A couple days later, we took Carson for an ultrasound checkup on his kidneys. He didn't like it AT ALL. And I'm still confused about it. I thought that when we were in the hospital when he was born, they made it sound like his kidneys were doing better. But when we were at his 2 month check up and the doctor read the report to us from the ultrasound they did within 24 hours of his birth...it didn't sound like things were better. So we finally got the results back from last week's ultrasound and they are not any better. His kidneys are still enlarged from urine flowing back into his kidneys. So they referred us to a pediatric kidney specialist. We finally got a hold of them and their next opening isn't until MAY! I was pretty bummed about that. I'd rather know what's going on and the implications of it um, well...now. I guess I'm impatient like that. So I guess nothing is too urgent and we will see what they have to say in May. We do feel better after talking with our good friends the Chattertons, whose cute boy had something similar. Thanks for chatting with us guys! You're the best and we miss you tons!

This Sunday we got to bless Carson at church. THANK YOU to all the friends and family who came and made the day so special for us! Here is Carson in his little blessing outfit.

I was in a hurry and thought I'd take some pictures later with Chris and stuff...which never happened. Oh well.

So other than all that exciting stuff...we've been having lots of fun together.

Caleb is so cute with Carson. He just LOVES his brother and I love to watch Caleb talking with him. Have I mentioned that I also LOVE that Chris is done with school? He has SO much more time at home now. Time to do fun things like fly kites with us:

Life is good.