You were a good camera.

I'm downloading the accumulated pictures on our camera. BECAUSE because because! - My parents gave us a new one for Matthew's birthday! I'm a bit sad to part with this old Coolpix 3200, as it was my first digital camera, a good-bye gift from my beloved co-workers in the HR department at Biola. But it's time. The Coolpix was a workhorse for 4 1/2 years. Behold its last stand on this blog.

So here's a random assortment of what's been sitting on the camera for the past month.

Below, the boys with their stockings on Christmas morning:

Bethany and Peter have been here about a week now and we have them until Saturday (as well as Mama & Daddy). Peter's been quite the chef with steaks, salmon, his famous spaghetti. . . Here he's sporting my apron:

And retreating in time, Harry and his buddy Naomi being partners in crime, as usual, trying to hide in the fridge:

And this requires no explanation:

And finally, here's a video that totally cracks me up from beginning to end. Typical neighborhood interactions here. Notice little Gracie (red shirt) as she first notices the camera and then works her way to stardom: (video missing)

a better effort

Due to the flood of requests for yet more photos, mainly of me, I have actually spent some time figuring out how to upload them.




If you don't recognize someone in the picture, refer to the Hot Springs phonebook.

If you think I have already posted some of these, further proof that the whispers about me are true, send money.






This one was hard to get: Karen talking and Pat just sitting silently.

I just figured out the limit to how many pics I can post at one time: my brain. Send money. BB

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAFFWA!!!

Since I'm not sleeping, I might as well beat everyone else to the punch. Happy Birthday, Joshua! 32 -- Wow, a difficult year, but worth it en route to the maturity and insight you enjoy at 34. When you get a chance, ask me a tough question. I'm thinking of you today, birthday buddy.

Christmas in AR

We had the usual suspects for Christmas: J&E&B&W are here, plus John, Karen, Suz, and ME as well as Mom and Pat Parker (son of Mom's friend Mary Ruth Evry), with Chuck and Paula Schwartzman the neighborhood waives. The names must be memorized for reference as The Amazing BB is about to attempt posting pictures!

There may be more forthcoming after I see what I just did. BB

We didn't forget you, Dave!

While perusing the blog just now, I realized that no one posted on Dave's actual birthday! Travesty! Not that anyone forgot that you were born on the 20th, Dave. I'm sure you got lots of calls, and cards, and large cash gifts, but I just wanted to make it official for the generations yet to come who will certainly be carefully examining our archives, and I don't want to leave any of them wondering what happened to our recognition of Dave's birthday this year. So, here it is: Happy Birthday, Dave! We all love you! And Cody, Sophie and I can't wait to see you and Lynn in a few days and get to celebrate you in person!

Merry Christmas!

To our wonderful family spread across the country! We have had a marvelous day celebrating with my family, opening presents with snow softly falling all day long. We had apple pie for breakfast, See's candy next, then a delicious egg, grits, and orange cinnamon roll brunch. Cody made an adorable snow Mommy and took Sophie for a ride on her sled. Soon we'll eat our leftover prime rib supper from last night and finish with coconut birthday cake for Jesus, then spend the evening relaxing. It's been a wonderful time, but we love and miss you all. Hope you're having a great celebration of Jesus' birthday. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and goodwill to men! Alleluia, Jesus is born!

Happy 30th to my parents!

We celebrated my parents' 30th wedding anniversary over Thanksgiving weekend, but I thought I would honor them on their actual anniversary with this post.  I love you, Mom and Dad!

Table-biter

Will got his first opportunity to sit in a high chair at a restaurant (okay, it was Chick-fil-a, but Benjamin needed some play gym time!).  He promptly leaned forward and chomped down happily on the edge of the table.  I did attempt to wipe it with baby wipe to sanitize it, as I've read restaurant tables are supposed to be one of the most germ-laden surfaces, but we were laughing too hard to do too much.

Advent in Flagstaff

I was just talking with Sarah about how we're celebrating Advent this year, and she thought I should post, so here I am! It's been such a special time this year, probably more than any other I can remember. Some of that has to do with Sophie's age and comprehension, but it also has to do with how intentional we've been as a family. We're using the Family Worship book Josh and Emily gave me for my birthday this year to focus a very simple worship service each night. We start by lighting our advent wreath:

Then we sing, "Joy to the World!" (Sophie's rendition of it on the phone today made Essie cry!), and read from the Advent book Cody had when he was Sophie's age. She loves finding the right number and opening the window to see the picture. Then we read a scripture (I found a list of readings for children online), and each pray, then say the Lord's prayer together. We close with the Doxology and a scriptural benediction from our worship book. Sophie blows the candles out, and we're done! It's been so simple and so meaningful. Also, every night, as I put Sophie to bed, we light a tea light in her room and recite John 8:12 "Jesus said, 'I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.'" She knows it verbatim now, and I love hearing her focused on the true meaning of Christmas! Merry Christmas to all of you! We love you!

An Advent Poem by Sophie

We want it to be nice.
I love You, God.
Thank You for this Christmas.
Happy Birthday, Jesus!

BB Hall of Fame

To my family: I have just read the HoF again and it is really fun. I want to thank everyone who made it necessary.
Sarah and I have been reading and remembering and laughing. It is so fun. I am surprized y'all remember some of the things, but lately I'm more amazed the I remember them. Over Christmas JP (wright) was telling stories at the table that Jack (Baldwin W.) had told him enough that he knew the names. One had a Bill in it and Jack explained that I was the Bill, which, judging from the wide eyes and stare, was news to him. The story involved the whole back yard being set on fire, the fire department, etc. I don't remember a thing, even after the telling.
It's tempting to add to each event, but I will add some info about the divinity that most of you didn't know. I didn't know not to make it in low humidity (the first time), and I wasn't sure how the color change went with the mixing. We figured out the the divinity was ready when the portable mixer broke ie divinity stiffer than battery. We would finish the batch, exchange the mixer, and make another batch. The third time the lady at Sears started asking pointed questions and we changed to snickerdoodles or some such.
AND the von Mises bookset. I'm sure you realize he is one of my heroes (with Churchill, Mandela and Reagan).
Thank you all, and to Keri for picture posting, This has been great. bb

Happy 60th Big Bill!

We wish we could have celebrated with you! In honor of the Big Birthday, I'm posting my five latest favorite photos of Big Bill. (And you all need to recognize the massive significance of ME, Keri Wright, actually posting a PHOTO on our family blog! This is a momentous occasion, folks! Doesn't happen every day, er....month...or is it, year?....)

I seem to recall the particular skill documented here mentioned in a "Gallery of Greatness" I viewed recently. For the uninitiated...here's visual proof! Sadly, you can't taste the amazing results of this feat of culinary genius, but let me tell you, they're remarkable!

Will at 6 months

At William's 6 month check-up, our suspicions were confirmed.  This boy is huge!  Will now weighs 20 lbs.  Due to this and his laid-back disposition, Will is lagging slightly behind on his gross motor development.  We think he's rolled over once, but no one actually saw it.  He does hold his massive cranium up well, but he doesn't like to fully extend his arms to reach for things.  His pediatrician was not concerned because he's doing well in all other areas, but she did put Will on a strict tummy-time regimen.  Unfortunately, this plan often fails as Will usually does this:

But, with increasing frequency, he's begun to do this:

And, finally, he's recently been doing this:

Other big accomplishments are babbling, razzing, sampling solid foods, and bouncing in the exer-saucer.  We are loving our sweet boy.  He can't wait to meet his new cousin/playmates this spring and summer!

The 22nd floor of Chicago

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought an abbreviated catch-up is in order (notice the clever segue from past to present). I did a hurry up trip to Chicago, as everyone knows. The second week was mostly wasted in a class doing tech stuff with techies. Between typong misstakes, never having seen the program before (some of the class actually work for the company whose software we are learning), and looking at the back end material from a front end user perspective, I spent the whole week behind and bewildered.
The highlights were few and dim: the company CEO dropped in with a CEO rah rah, but left us four tickets to the Bulls (basketball) game. Only three (out of 19) in the class wanted to go, so I decided to go. That's when I saw the $135 price on the ticket. The seats were good, but not spectacular--none of the Bulls know I was there. $135, one game, one seat, $135. What does it cost to be a pro sports "fan" for the season? $135!
On Saturday I walked three blocks (Chicago, dead of winter, one of those blizzards you can't actually see that Dad always was talking about) to a pizza joint a friend recommended. I took most of it back to the room and ate it all weekend. For the person in America that doesn't talk to my mother regularly, you can heat a one inch thick Chicago pizza in your hotel room by placing a sheet of newspaper (veeerry important) on the hotel's iron (on medium heat) held downside up and a piece of pizza on top. Flip for the thicker slices. It crisps up the crust nicely.
When I got home we started using the fireplace. I don't know where the grate is. I took it out to chase the skunk out of the air inlet. Rocks don't work well, so Friday afternoon 4pm we decided to go to Benton to get one. I called and they were open till 6pm but right then I got a call from the ER--med on call diabetic coma. Sarah picked me up at the hospital a little after 5pm and (she) started to Benton at a gas saving rate. In fact, we were making gas. At 5:45 pm she realized a) the tank couldn't hold much more and 2) we weren't anywhere near Benton. I tried to call them to say we are on our way but my battery died the death at that very moment, maybe from the whiplash of Sarah adjusting to gas-be-damned speed.
Then we got lost (yes, on the interstate). Actually, we took the Congo Road exit to get to the Congo Road Stove Works, which ended up being only an approximate name--it wasn't on Congo Road and is really Congo Stove Works, only near Congo Road. Soon (5:55) the residential part of Benton appeared. Sarah speeded up. We came back to the access road of the interstate downstream from the CRSW, but we could see the store. 5:48, DOWNSTREAM. Sarah said "Such is Life!", approximately, and gunned it down the one way street into oncoming traffic. I think she had it figured that it was Friday afternoon after a long week and all the traffic that would be on the access road was coming off the interstate at 70 MPH, tired from the week, and wouldn't be paying attention. She swerved into a parking lot and stopped just before creating a new drive through in the strip mall.
I crawled out of the car and was about to kiss mother asphalt. When I looked up we were at CRSW approx. We bought a good grate and were back on the interstate before the police arrived, if in fact they were called (my phone had died the death or I might have tried for the reward money to help pay for the grate). We got back home with a new grate and a little more gas than we started with.
Better than Chicago. BB

Happy Thanksgiving!

We just got back from a feast with some of our grad student friends (for 4 adults, 2 kids, we had an appetizer soup, a turkey, a duck, homemade noodles, creamed spinach, corn pudding, mashed potatoes, strawberry gelatin salad, stuffing, rolls, various sauces, and 2 pies with ice cream) and Harry said his first sentence! Matthew was wresting him, saying, "Harry, you're crazy" to which H responded, "No, I'm not." Go Harry. This is great to us b/c the pediatrician was concerned with his lack of speech, and referred us to a speech pathologist to have him evaluated. That appointment is Monday.

Anyway, last week we had a regular school day (9-12) along with a First Thanksgiving Feast with our homeschool co-op (called Pods), and I took the opportunity to document a little what we've been doing this semester. Here's the main classroom at the Barsotti's home (next semester it'll be at a different home):

I thought this shot captured a typical day - 2 moms whispering (Marisa Ridings and Amy Smith) behind a class going on in the dining room. . .

This is Harry's "class" the PeaPods. They spend an hour or so in this bedroom playing, play in the backyard for awhile, do crafts, puppets, sing songs. Janet Shuffield is their teacher, and her youngest (8, I think) is in the older class. Notice Harry's overalls that need Matthew's rubberband invention:

Jackson has 4 20-minute classes, Human Body (shown here with teacher Emily Plummer), Spanish, American History, & Calendar Time (during this time the oldest of his little class have Drawing with me, but J and another boy his age are pulled out for this with the other boy's mom); the rest of his time is spent in Recitation (hymns, scripture memory), 2 breaks and a review time:

Jackson's class, the Indians. Left to Right, Jackson, Roan, Greta, Mariah, Owen, Micah, and William in back:

The Upper Pod, dressed as Pilgrims:

Micah and Jackson at the Thanksgiving Feast. Unfortunately that feather boa and his costume coming off one shoulder give him a definite showgirl flair:

Harry as Squanto (the PeaPodders could be Indians or Pilgrims):

These are out of order, but now back to the school day. This is my Drawing Class, with the addition of Jackson and Owen, who normally have calendar time:
The Lower Pod, Greta, Owen, Mariah, Micah, Jackson - I had them saying "Indians!" hence the open mouths:

Jackson as Squanto (though I thought I made them look more like monks, except for the frilly feathers):

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Overalls keep falling down? Matthew'll fix it!

Another of Matthew's creative solutions. Please excuse my very dirty child and instead notice the rubberband on his back.

Happy Birthday Emily!!!

It's November 25th (well actually it's still the 24th but I needed to get this put together ahead of time) and that means it's Emily's birthday and nothing says "Happy Birthday!" like presents wrapped a-la-Big-Bill. Actually there are two presents wrapped in as close as I can get to authentic Big Bill style. If you're wondering what this style looks like...

Wait for it...

There it is! That ever allusive wrapping job of champions.

Happy Birthday, Em. I love you. J

On the way ... to bed

Tonight was a particularly fine example of the machinations Jackson has adopted in order to delay bedtime. On a night like tonight, when I'm tired and trying to remote control him to bed with verbal commands from the computer chair, he can be pretty effective. First, he was particularly attentive to detail in executing his one household chore that somehow got interpolated into our bedtime routine. While I did email, he made sure that every piece of silverware was in place and precisely aligned in its drawer. Ten minutes later he'd only placed half the utensils, but they were lovely. After I intervened as his utensil assistant, he finally scampered off to bed, but ran right back to show me the new way of running on his toes he'd just discovered. Wow! Like a sprinter! Amazing! Okay, back to bed. This time he ran right back to tell us he was uninterested in his room. You're uninterested in it? Yes, uninterested. Well, you still have to go to bed in it. After a short stint reading books in bed he had another idea. His leg hurts; it's a terrible pain, not on the surface; no one can even see it with a microscope! Fortunately, it was time for his medications (cold), and I assured him that their healing power extended to ailments invisible even to a microscope. So he's back in bed, for now. - Matthew

(John) Homer is 58 years young today!

Though he doesn't read the blog (I don't think so, anyway -- do they have access, Ruthie?), I wanted to semi-publicly wish my father a wonderful birthday on this 13th day of November. Hip hip hurray! (Hmm...perhaps I shouldn't use the word "hip" when referring to a 58th birthday, as I would hate to remind one of the likelihood of a hip fracture at such an advanced age. Hahaha! I jest, of course. Seriously, Dad, I'm kidding...sort of.)

Breakfast at Jackson and Harry's

Josh and Emily, Cody and Keri, here is the kind of morning discussion between siblings that you have to look forward to:

JRW: (mainly to himself) Harry, you're so, you're so...liquidy. Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes...
SHW: No.
JRW: Yes.
SHW: NO!
JRW: YES!
SHW: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Daily Austin: Folk Hero Comes to Town

Well, Peter Yarrow decided to pay us a visit (he used the bookstore around the corner as his venue for a meet-up).

I forgot my camera, hence the bad cell phone pics. Jackson on stage, singing Puff the Magic Dragon:


Here Peter told all the kids to take a bow, and for some reason Jackson was the only one to do so or he was really early with it. . .

Peter did indulge in a political rant, as we suspected he would (Matthew had him pegged; before we arrived he predicted he'd place gay marriage among the most pressing civil rights issues of our day, and he did). He gave all the families w/ kids a copy of his book Puff the Magic Dragon (and yes, it is about drugs), and signed it to Jackson and Harry. And Matthew got one of his Peter, Paul, & Mary albums signed. A fun afternoon.

My Serious Sillyman

Dear Baby Boy,

You are 4. Oh no - starting to cry again. But before this week flies by I want to say a few things about who you are so that I don't forget. I'm not going to be able to capture you fully right now, as you are beautifully complex (I really do love that about you), but a few things on my mind right now. . .

You are conscientious and have a melancholy temperament, just like your Daddy and me. I just went to check on you, and saw that you had fallen asleep biting your nails. You and Daddy have an agreement that you can catch and reprimand each other for your nervous habits - his is pulling on the skin around his thumb. I often hear you saying under your breath to yourself, "Nope! Don't do it! Don't bite your nails!" Before bed you asked for something else to eat, and suspecting you weren't really hungry, I offered you a salad (you've recently declared, "I love salad!" and you did indeed eat a whole bowl), and while munching on that you asked, "How many years until we die?". Oh, Jackson, how serious you have always been. We, your parents, are serious folks ourselves, so I understand, & I pray that you will not be ruled by fear but be single-minded in the pursuit of God and the good of His Kingdom. I think He's going to answer that prayer.

You are not all seriousness, mind you. How you can be so contemplative and yet so silly is beyond me. Tonight Matthew had a class, and as the thought of dinner without him was unappealing, I decided to leave for SuperWalmart at 5 with my very, very long list. I knew I might hit traffic, I knew y'all might be cranky, and I knew it would be more expensive to let you eat deli chicken nuggets for dinner while I shopped, but I did it anyway. And it was fine, though you with your sensitive stomach said you needed to throw up twice (thankfully you never did. I think the cause was the chocolate milk I had 2 $1/off coupons for, which is why you each got a full 16 oz. of chocolate milk when you could really only handle maybe 6. But hey! Only 16 cents each!). When we got home it was 7 and completely dark, so I plopped y'all in front of Sesame Street.org while I unloaded the car of groceries (yeah, I was a really good parent tonight, wasn't I?). When I came back in after the first round (now I'm getting to my point, I promise), you were full-on giggling hysterically at the Martians discovering a radio. And the thing is, at the end of that video clip, I understood! Because that's you! Those silly martians making silly sounds are acting just like you do when you're being silly (which is a lot). They get you! And it helped me get you a little better myself. Boing Boing Boing Boing. . .

JaJackson, I love who you are and who you're becoming. I love how sensitive you are to us and your brother. I love taking naps with you and reading with you. I love just being your mother. Thank you for that privilege.

Happy Birthday, Sister!

Today we celebrated Laurel's 30th birthday! She and Clint treated us and many others to boat rides - a first for the boys. I was kicking myself that I forgot the camera. For Jackson especially, it was total delight. She and Harry have the same actual birthday (and her anniversary is Jackson's birthday). Happy Birthday, Laurel!
p.s. Yes, it is warm enough here that we can still enjoy the lake! But by 5:30 we were pretty chilly.

Speedball Tucker

Today is Harry's 2nd Birthday. Happy Birthday little boy. I'm starting to tear up just thinking what a joy you are.

You're not talking much, maybe only 30 words. Your communication is still mainly the grunts of baby boyhood, but your intonation is perfect. My favorite is "yes, m'am!", a sing-songy, "Hmm, Hmmm!" It seems you've decided to channel your energies into learning what you can do with your body. You amaze us with your ability to zoom down the sidewalk on the plasma car, not unaware that you're too young to do what the big boys in the neighborhood do. Jim Croce's Speedball Tucker always comes to mind. That mastered, lately you've been experimenting with bikes w/training wheels, hopping on and doing your best, as if it's nothing. Big boy.

Your Aunt Keri was saying today how much you look like the quintessential Victorian cherub baby, and it's true. That curly blonde hair, clear blue eyes, rosy cheeks, baby chub. You're adorable. You being both angel baby and Speedball Tucker is a little odd, but there it is.

Actually, the more I think of it, that combination is perfectly you. You are an angel baby - you're snuggly and sweet, freely doling out the hugs and kisses, but you are in no way a pushover. Older kids think they can grab your toy because you're "just a baby", but as soon as they do, they know they're in trouble. You'll push, bite, hit, yell, whatever you need to do until they give it back. And then you go back to sucking your thumb, looking like the angel you are.

And they call me Speedball. . .Speedball Tucker
Terror of the highways
And all them other truckers
Will tell you that the boy is mad
To be drivin' a rig like that. . .

(video missing)

Happy Birthday, Harry!