Dunkorama

Newton was baptized last weekend. He wanted as little of a fuss made about it as possible, so I won't make one. My parents were in town, and of course J&J and their family were there.


Yes, Newton has had a haircut. He really only wanted it because he thinks it will be easier to slick back for his Halloween costume: Draco Malfoy.



Don't you just love Miss Pea's special occasion "makeup"?

Dancing with My Cousin

Set your DVRs! My cousin is appearing on the Dancing with the Stars results show next Tuesday, October 7, with the Rockettes. She'll be in the second group to come onto the floor, but with all the makeup I'm not sure anyone will recognize her.

Update: I'm almost certain she was in the middle of the back line, the right one of the two tallest dancers. She's not on very long, and there aren't any closeups of her line, so it took lots of pausing and rewinding to find her. Cool!

Keep an eye on this one.

I know I've talked to at least a couple of you who are interested in buying a cast iron pot. The Martha Stewart ones like I have from Macy's (I have the robin's-egg-blue 7-qt round one) are on sale. They may eventually get marked down a little further (I think mine was $60), so it's worth at least keeping an eye on. Love the green and red ones, too!

In All My Glory

Via my old, old (circa fall 1985) friendly acquaintance Bill Shunn: Take a picture of yourself right now. Don’t change your clothes. Don’t fix your hair. Just take a picture. Post that picture with no editing. (Except maybe to get the image size down to something reasonable. Don’t go posting an eight megapixel image.) Include these instructions.

This is killing two birds with one stone, because it shows my new t-shirt, purchased at Adriana's urging.


And here's a gratuitous kid pic, which I snapped the other day to send off for an alumni newsletter:

Eleven Months Old

Sweet Cindy Lou is now eleven months old. Just in the last 10 days or so, she's become a vertical baby--pulling herself up to standing, coming up from her belly to a seated position. She's always been certain about what she wants, but now she's even more able to get it. She has a further-expanding repertoire of tricks (she now gives kisses and hugs on request), has started communicating some yes/no responses (with grunts and facial expressions), and just today was much more cooperative for her eye ointment (a near-perennial thing for us, as she is the queen of eye goo) after I explained that I needed to do it, that it would be brief, and that it would be easier for both of us if she held still and didn't wiggle. Amazing what a difference that made. She's not supposed to be understanding me this well yet!

Here she is just waking up from a long nap, and squinting at the bright red-eye-reducing light on the camera:



Hangin' with the Wiz:




I think she was actually stuck in this position, leaning over with one knee kind of hyperextended. She'll get the hang of it!


She loves to peer through the gate at the top of the stairs (and she loved even more that the Wizard was looking through it, too):



It's nigh-impossible to get a picture of her if we're on the same side of that gate. As soon as I kneel to get a good camera angle, she breaststrokes right over and climbs up.


The Wizard almost, almost fell asleep here the other day waiting for me to come read him a book:


The Wizard started preschool, and LOVES it. He cries when it's time to come home. I was there helping out on his first day (it's a co-op), and during story time he corrected the teacher when she deviated from the printed text! Not in an obnoxious way, fortunately. The teacher had Newton for two years of preschool, so she wasn't in the slightest offended or taken aback.

Links

Two completely unrelated websites you should check out:

the blog I created to post recipes for dishes served at church functions

Factcheck.org, run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Before you believe anything in a political ad by any candidate or in any political e-mail forward you receive, you should check here. They're nonpartisan, careful, and thorough.

I'm a Carny, You're a Carny . . .

My book group met today to discuss one of the strangest books I've ever read: Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. Not geek as in Mavis, geek as in carnival performer who bites off the heads of small animals. The story (written by a Portland author, and partly set in Portland) revolves around a family of homemade carnival freaks. Trust me--it's even weirder than it sounds. The book is beautifully written (it was a finalist for the National Book Award), but not for the faint of heart.

So, for brunch today we had (in part) carnival-inspired fare. The parts that were carnival-inspired and the parts that weren't should be immediately apparent. Once again, in the bustle of getting everything ready and on the table I forgot to take pictures--you book group attendees need to follow Newton's example and remind me!

Peaches topped with Nancy's Honey Whole Milk Yogurt and brown sugar

Gourmet Corn Dogs made with chicken-apple sausage
Creamy Mustard-Dill Sauce
Corn Relish

Mesclun Salad with balsamic vinaigrette, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts and chèvre

Umpqua Ice Cream Cones (with either Tin Roof Sundae or Beaver Tracks--an OSU promotional flavor with caramel-filled chocolate footballs and a fudge swirl in peanut butter ice cream)
Kettle Corn drizzled with dark chocolate

We ate on the back patio to enjoy our beautiful weather (seriously, it's been near-perfect lately!), and enjoyed a lively discussion of the book, the presidential race, and the more annoying aspects of Mormon culture. You shoulda been there!