Papa John, Grandma Mary, and Cousin Eric

After the picnic at the farm, John, Mary, and Eric Linhart came up to Seattle to visit with the Johnsons and us. We all love them like crazy, but Noah had an especially great time bonding with them. He really attached himself to Eric and it was so fun to see them playing with trucks, trains, and baby dolls (yes, baby dolls...but they belonged to Lili so...). After big day of playing with the Linharts (including a trip to the toy store!) Noah said this bedtime prayer:

Dear Jesus, wank you Eric pwaying my airplane. Wank you Papa John, Grandma Mary. Wank you much my new trains. I love Eric my buddy. Um. Wank you Lili. Wank you hugs. Amen.

Beauty Parlor

Last weekend we went the farm in Newberg, OR. We had a great time visiting relatives, playing softball, and throwing rocks in the creek. One of the highlights for me was playing Beauty Parlor with my three year old niece, Analia. Imagine me with large black sunglasses, all my hair piled on my head in a floofy pink scrunchie, and big, pink, plastic earrings with Sleeping Beauty on them. Analia's comment: You don't look wierd enough...but you're getting there!

Chad's Easy Cobbler

Okay, I'm not a great cook. And I'm for sure not a great baker. And it seems wierd, even to me, that I'm using this blog to share a recipe. But seriously, this is the easiest recipe in the world. It should be called Faking a Cobbler instead of Baking a Cobbler. Anybody can do this and it tastes so good.

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen berries
1 box of white or yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter

Directions:
Empty the bag of frozen berries into a baking pan. (I like to use a 9x13 pyrex but any will work). Pour the cake mix over the berries. Melt the stick of butter in the microwave and pour the melted butter over the cake mix. Follow the baking directions on the cake box. It's usually something like bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Serve plain or with icecream.

Noah Lashes Out

This morning Noah was goofing off and Geary was trying to corral him into behaving. Noah got increasingly frustrated until he glared at Geary and shouted, "You're naked!!!"

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I just finished reading the 6th Harry Potter book. I'm in awe and I'm saddened. I know that just like any good plot things have to get worse before they get better, but did Ms. Rowling have to make them get this bad?? However, I am pleased that my guesses were correct on a) Which beloved character dies, b) which characters become involved in romantic relationships, and c) who is the half-blood prince. But even having my guesses confirmed, there were many many surprises and shocks in the story line for me. Hmm...my brain is processing the story. No doubt I'll be thinking about this for a while. Beware of spoilers. I'm going to leave the answers to my guesses in the comments section.

Flipping Off the Children

Noah: Gimme five!
Jeana slaps palms with Noah.
Noah: Gimme the rock!
Jeana bumps her fist against Noah's.
Noah: Gimme the bird!
Jeana's draw drops.
Jeana: The bird?
Noah: Yeah...tweet, tweet?
Turned out he just wanted to play Animal Sounds...

Tech Baby

Yesterday we were trying to teach Noah to count in Spanish. When he got to four he paused and scratched his head and then said, "Yucko?" In the midst of our cracking up Noah said, "Put that on the 'puter, Mom!"

The Yellow Monster

Noah has been kind of obsessed with monsters lately. I think it started with all the Fireworks Booths and their inflatable Godzillas. It seems like we've been talking about monsters nonstop. Anyway, today Geary grilled hotdogs for lunch and Noah kept asking for a yellow monster. He refused to touch his hotdog until it had a yellow monster. We were all pretty frustrated and Noah was nearly to the point of tears before I finally got it. Yes, all hotdogs taste better with some yellow monster...

Noah's First Razzing

When we picked Noah's name we knew the day would come when someone would tease him about his ark. It happened earlier than we thought, but Noah handled it brilliantly. We were at the park when two kids started playing with Noah on the playground.

Girl: Spin it fast like this, little buddy!
Boy: His name isn't "little buddy" it's Boy Something
Noah: I'm Noah.
Girl: His name is Noah! Okay, Noah's turn!
Boy: Well, if you're Noah where's your ark and how come you aren't 627 years old?
Noah: I'm Noah Linhart.

Quote of the Day

Jeana: See ya later, alligator!
Noah: After awhile, crocodile!
Jeana: See ya soon, big baboon!
Noah: Um...bye... horse!