Cantique de Noel

I can never get enough beautiful Christmas music. Each year as I listen or as I pull out my favorites I'm always amazed at the deep lyrics of a lot of the Christmas hymns. (I say hymns because Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer while funny, isn't very spiritual. Unless there is some underlying symbolism I'm not aware of.)

It's hard to say if I have a favorite Christmas song. The First Noel, Jesu Bambino, I Wonder as I Wander, and Angles We Have Heard on High are all high on my list. (And many others I haven't mentioned.) But one song year after year I'm anxious to pull out and sing again and again. It is known under various names: Cantique de Noel, Christmas Song, or O Holy Night.

When was the last time you read all the lyrics on this song? Well, you get the opportunity to now.

O Holy Night

O holy night! the stars are brightly shinning,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth;
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine! O night when Christ was born!
O night divine! O night divine!

Led by the light of a Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts, by His cradle we stand;
So, led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men from the Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our friend;
He knows our need, to our weakness no stranger;
Behold your King! before the Lowly bend!
Behold your King! before Him bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord, then ever, ever praise we,
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim,
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!

I always struggle to get through the second verse (and it isn't because of the notes!). "Behold your King! before the Lowly bend!" I'm grateful for these beautiful songs to help remind me what we are really celebrating this year.

Merry Christmas!!

What do Santa Claus and The Economist have to do with each other?

This Christmas is kind of exciting for us around here since Jaron is aware of all the things that go along with the season: Christmas trees, music, and treats (which I always love to make and Kim loves to eat). Although we haven't made a big deal about Santa Claus, he does seem to know about Santa. Jaron has read books and seen pictures of Santa, but this weekend we realized there are still some misunderstandings we might need to clear up.

You see, around here we've begun receiving The Economist, a weekly news magazine that a friend introduced us to. (I'd highly recommend it to anyone. It is of much higher quality than other news sources.) The latest issue came and Kim started reading it. When Jaron saw the cover of the latest issue, he said to Kim, "Santa Claus."

In response Kim said, "No Jaron, that's an evil North Korean dictator!" That's as far as you can get from a North-Pole-residing elf who delivers presents and good cheer once a year. Maybe if he grew a white beard and mustache . . .

Exciting eBay Experience

If you have never heard of eBay, I seriously question what you have been doing or where you have been for the past 10 years or so. I have ventured on to eBay on numerous occasion searching out various items and even risking bidding on a few items here and there. (Some successfully and some not.)

Clark and I, for the first time, actually sold something on eBay. And boy, did we sell something! This requires a little history. I mean come on, it wouldn't be blog worthy if it didn't! It all started about the time that Shane Strate was so faithfully home teaching us. (The outcome of his home teaching included things such as the completion of the painting in our basement, holding the mice at bay, and inspiration on a name for our son. His home teaching service plays an important role in this story too.)

It must have been around Christmastime several years back. Shane was dutifully home teaching us. I'm sure that at some point during his visit he remarked on our wonderfully decorated Christmas tree. We do have some pretty cool ornaments. Clark has acquired over the years some great Hallmark Keepsake ornaments (which Jaron really loves!). However, there has been some discussion concerning a particular ornament I didn't really care to have hanging on our tree. I believe I brought this up with Shane and I'm sure that he sided with Clark in agreeing that it was cool. I've won this argument for years so this "cool" ornament has stayed in the box and not on the tree.

Anyway, this year, Clark made the mistake of suggesting that we go through our Christmas decorations and decide what we want to keep. We set aside most things in a garage sale box but this ornament we decided it might be worth selling on eBay.

How little did we know how coveted this item would be! It was sheer entertainment for us to get on to eBay everyday and watch the numbers go up. Or even to know that we had people "watching" the bidding. The thrill of selling it was more than the money we got. In the end, we sold the ornament for $92! Can you believe we were a bit disappointed? Only because we had seen others that had gone for $120. Maybe we can blame it on the fact that Shane hasn't been over recently to see us.

Oh and in case you are curious, I doubt that will ever sell anything again an eBay. You just can't top that experience.

Crafty

I, by nature, am not really that crafty. My craftiness comes and goes in small increments of time. Usually an hour binge every few months is good enough for me. I'm notorious for starting a project and then letting it drag on for months or a year or so. I don't scrapbook, crochet, knit (would like to learn), quilt, or making my own decorations. I love looking at craft books and admire women who are instinctively crafty and creative. Periodically, I'll get the bug to do something that we really need.

For example, in our first year of marriage I decided we needed a warm quilt. I decided to make it myself. What a joke! First off I couldn't even figure out how to use the sewing machine - my husband had to show me. Not only that, he had to read the quilting pattern and explain them to me just so I could do it. I had no sense for matching colors. This quilt was accomplished in a short amount of time due to Clark insistence. We had to paint our bedroom yellow to tone-down the blinding nature of the quilt. To this day I'm still having to take a needle and thread to the seams that have come apart.

So that being said, I find it humorous that I got the itching to make Christmas stockings. Even more surprising that Clark supports me in these random crafty-ambitions. And so like my mother before me (and probably lots of other crafty-women) I made the traditional felt Christmas stockings.

A finished product.

It's been a bit of a process with lots of consulting with Clark. (He's so patient.) Of course, I need to show off my handiwork for all to admire - or chuckle at - if the case may be.

Each stocking has an individually crafted Christmas tree. Clark insisted he wanted Christmas lights. A bit crazy looking but I doubt I'll ever get around to making him a new tree.

I have to admit, I've only officially completed two stockings. I'm sure I'll get the others done by Christmas. Of course, I didn't say which year!

Jaron & Russell:
Two little boys who are blissfully unaware of their mother's lack of craftiness.

Overheard

Kim and I once gave a ride to someone. We chatted a bit about the usual stuff--how life was going and the weather-- and then the conversation turned to employment. I said that I was in graduate school studying chemical engineering. Kim quickly added (with a small laugh) that she does all my homework. To which this person replied:

"Wow! Your kids must have some pretty unique DNA."

My mind started thinking on the subject and I began to form an intelligent response describing how we all do have unique DNA, (unless we are identical twins) but how recent research of the human genome has revealed that we have a great deal of DNA (perhaps > 90%) in common with other life on the Earth. But then I stopped that line of thinking and simply responded, "Yep. I think you're right on that one."

Snow Day

Like a lot of church members in the Madison area - we somewhat reluctantly confess - we were ecstatic when our Stake Conference was canceled and therefore had no church responsibilities on Saturday and Sunday. So after putting up our Christmas tree for the second time, we hunkered down and enjoyed a blissfully, obligation-free weekend.

Jaron playing with the Christmas tree.

Of course, that also entailed caring for two sick children, who for some unknown reason, have yet to shake their cold/croup bug. Russell has been going for over a week and Jaron now pushing 5 days. Russell's sickness is quite delightsome in that he can frequently get himself coughing hard enough that he looses everything his tummy. This typically takes place while sitting in bed with me. This habv s resulted in changes of clothing for Russell, Kim and the bed. I'm averaging two loads of laundry a day. I never before have felt so grateful for my washing machine. On the upside, Clark and I have a freshly made bed every day. It's almost like living in a hotel . . . almost!

It really was great to have Clark home the whole weekend, without distractions. I have to admit, I haven't enjoyed a "snow day" probably since I was in elementary school. (And then I was just glad for an excuse to stay home and play in the snow all day.) Why can't we have snow days more often? Well, back to the grindstone. I have about 4 laundry baskets full of clothes to fold. (And more on the way!)

"Look Mom, no hands!"
Russell demonstrating his sky-diving pose.

All I Want For Christmas

As some of you may recall from a previous post, I described finding a mouse in our house. Well, I need to retract the statement I made that we weren't invested with mice. In truth - we are invested! (Not as bad as Ratatouille - yet!) I think the mice in our neighborhood have been spreading the word that we are now cat-less.

Mice are coming out of the woodwork on a nightly basis. And they are getting into everything. They've been exploring our kitchen and tasting such things as Jaron's plastic bibs and my pastry brush. They even chewed into a package of my chocolate chips. How dare they! Their worst offense yet was taking up residence in my rags. Seriously! I found mouse droppings and little seeds buried away in my rags. Are they trying to tell me something? That I'm not cleaning my house enough? Or it is is subtle scare tatic to keep me from cleaning? These things will keep me awake at night as I ponder what else they may be getting into.

So this leads to the title of my post. What do you think I really want for Christmas? A CAT!! Clark suggested maybe Cooper could come for a visit but I think we need another permanent resident.

And for kicks and giggles I'm going to add a tally of how many mice we've caught. Clark things this is gross. I need to find the humorous side of this somehow.

Outsourcing the recipe box

This Thanksgiving holiday I was in kind of a bind. I had promised the Halverson clan that I would make my family's favorite chocolate cookies, but forgot to bring the recipe. Luckily, the cookie recipe was in Farnsworth Family Favorites (Volume 2) and everyone in my family has at least 2 copies. I quickly phoned my mom and sister, but no one answered.

Having struck out with my usually reliable sources, and under considerable time pressure, I suddenly remembered that some family members might be on Gmail and available for a chat. I quickly logged in but no one from my contact list was on. Within a few minutes, my brother Creed came online: my offshore recipe guru in Indonesia. A quick chat later, I walked into the kitchen with my chocolate chip cookie recipe in hand and made the cookies. Perhaps it is needless to say, but the cookies quickly disappeared.


In case you were wondering, here is the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3/4 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

3 tsp vanilla

3 1/4 cups flour

2 1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp soda

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (to your liking)

Bake at 325 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes

Pass Your Cold Please

We just got back from our Halverson Family Reunion. It was about a week of games, food, talking, playing, and congestion (as in colds). Maybe it was because we were in Minnesota, but mostly I think it was due to the fact that it's winter and when you cram 28 people (plus 2 on the way - yeah!) you are bound to spread a few germs. I think by the end of the reunion we all had a few colds - although I think there were a few hold outs. We were popping Zicam like crazy. I'm not even sure if it really works.

I am thankful that I had this chance to spend time with my family. They are all crazy, opinionated, and extremely fun to be with. It feels so lonely and quiet now to be at home. I think Jaron misses cousins to fight over toys with. Good thing I've got this lingering cold to remind me of our reunion. (Thankfully it wasn't the Roto virus!) Until next time . . .

A Postive Experience

I am a consumer. Far too often I, as most consumers, have negative experiences with companies and their products. And it seems that seriously loathing a company gets me no where. No matter how many complaint phone calls I make to AT&T they still don't care - but that's a whole other blog. I want to instead, focus on a positive experience I had.

Jaron has this bucket full of plastic cars, planes, boats and trains given to him as a gift a while ago. He's seemed to enjoy playing with it - especially the trains. Unfortunately, his beloved engine broke. The plastic hook area got twisted one to many times and hence, his train cannot function as a real train. Quite a distressing situation for Jaron.

In my naive consumer mind I wondered if there was a way I could get the vehicle replaced. A quick Google search and I found the website for International Playthings which distributes and makes his toys called "Viking Toys".

Amazingly enough, I easily located a 1-800 number and within 30 seconds I was talking to someone. An actual costumer service representative that was friendly and helpful. No waiting on hold, no going through tireless rounds with an automated voice service and no pushing zero until I got a clueless operator. Clark later said to me, "Wow, you actually talked to someone."

This woman not only listened politely to my problem but was also willing to find a replacement vehicle for Jaron. She first searched amidst the products in her office and when that didn't work took my name, phone number and address. She gave me the option of returning everything to a store for an exchange which really wasn't a desirable alternative. She would continue trying to locate a replacement vehicle and get back to me if anything else came up.

Within 10 minutes of hanging up the phone it was ringing and it was the rep again. She had found a train. She would ship me the train and in addition to that, would send me a shipping label to return the broken train. Talk about hassle free.

I can't even begin to describe how pleasant this whole experience has been. It makes me question why I waste my time and money purchasing products from companies that typically treat me, as the consumer, as unimportant, uninformed, and unworthy of their attention. I felt like the only way I could "repay" this company is to share with you (whoever may be reading this) my great experience. So happy consuming!

Sitting . . .

and Falling.

At almost 5 months, Russell is attempting the fine art of sitting. He's pretty proud of himself. And he even enjoys falling over. I think sometimes he falls on purpose just for the thrill of it. It's pretty amusing to watch him take a tumble. As my sister, Kirsten, was saying recently "It's funny to watch babies learning to sit because they fall over without trying to stop themselves." It's a good thing that Russell enjoys it because it provides entertainment for us.

Payback with Paydays

Our little green frog, Jaron, almost missed out on his opportunity to trick-or-treat this year. He was a being a little royal. I told Clark later I wasn't sure if not letting him go would punish him or us more. More likely us, because we would then have to deal with his bad mood and secondly, miss out on all the candy!! So we made him work hard to pay us back for his bad behavior yesterday. He trick-or-treated for over 1 1/2 hours.



Originally we all went out, with Russell batting his baby blue cow eyes to sucker a few extra treats out of people. Eventually Russell and I tired out (around 7:00 pm). Clark and Jaron determined they would hit a few more houses. They didn't come dragging back in until nearly 7:45 pm. Jaron's candy bucket literally "runneth o'er". I'm sure people thought Clark was crazy to have a 2-year-old out that late. I relived my old Halloween days by staying up late, eating too much candy, and feeling sick. What a truly crazy holiday!

The cow says "Moo" the frog says "Trick-or-Treat"

The World is Glorious

This picture just makes me think of the primary song, "I think the world is glorious and lovely as can be." The sun was streaming through our window one day and Russell was captivated by the light coming through his blanket. This picture is a little fuzzy and we were trying hard to capture his whole expression. It made me realize how often I overlook the little and beautiful things in the world. I'm so grateful for children and their daily reminder of how wonderful, interesting, and glorious the world is!

Where's the cat when you need him?

The other night as I was in the kitchen cleaning up after my midnight snack, I sensed that there was another creature in the kitchen scavenging for a midnight snack. I seem to possess this ability to sense creatures (typically spiders) in a room, even when it's dark. This always seems to amaze Clark. Anyway, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. As I stepped closer to the light switch to determine if I really did see something out of the corner of my eye, the little creature - a mouse - scurried into a hiding place.

I did two things simultaneously and instinctively - called for Clark and crept onto a chair making sure that my feet were no where near the ground. I have no idea why having my feet touching the floor seemed scary to me, but it did. Clark confirmed the mouse and then lamented that Cooper wasn't around.

Cooper, is a cat. He was our cat for four years. Until about two months ago, for reasons we won't get into on this blog, he was given his traveling papers. He now resides with a sweet couple in our ward that tolerate his transgressions and baby him. But if Cooper was one thing, he was a good mouser.

In a similar situation last year, I again discovered a mouse in our house. (We aren't infested - seriously!) And a chase ensued amongst Clark, the mouse, and Cooper in which the mouse disappeared. So I promptly barricaded all the doors with towels to prevent the mouse from climbing into bed with us or entering the other rooms. Little did I know, the mouse had sought refuge in our room. He scaled a plant by the window and was frantically trying to figure out how to jump out of the closed window. All the while, I was thinking we were safe from the mouse (towel shoved under door) only to have him inches from my head!

Luckily, we had Clark and Cooper on the case. Cooper was recruited to do his great cat duty. It was quite humorous to witness the whole thing. I am, of course, huddled on the bed with all the sheets pulled up (nothing hanging on the floor here!) Clark is shouting from the sidelines, "Get the mouse Cooper!" "Drop the mouse." "No, get the mouse Cooper." "Drop him, drop him." Eventually, the mouse was captured and disposed of outside (more in the direction of our neighbors).

Alas, this mouse wasn't privileged the same fate. We are no longer in the possession of a great mouser. We've resorted to mouse traps and cheese - which, by the way, Clark insisted I was too generous in giving. The trap was set and I again huddled in bed hoping to not have a furry creature explore my room in the middle of the night. A 4 AM wake up call from baby Russell allowed Clark to check his trap. He was a successful hunter. Yuck!

I do have to say though: Clark finally acknowledged after several months that he did miss Cooper. Clark appreciates animals after all.

Stop, Drop, & Roll

Last week was National Fire Prevention Week. Or maybe it was National Fire Preparedness Week. Or . . . well, whatever. For us it meant, go check out the cool huge fire trucks. Being parents of an enthusiastically I'm-in-love-with-trucks-buses-trains-or-anything-that-goes child, we figured that this would be a great opportunity to indulge Jaron in his obsession. (And to keep us from being ambulance chasers.)

Our local fire station had an open house this past Saturday. Not surprisingly enough, we weren't the only parents with young boys with the same great idea. However, what did surprise us was Jaron's reaction to the whole thing. I think he would have been content to sit in the car and look at the fire engines from there.


I think the only time he cracked a smile was when I got him to pose for this picture with Clark. Somewhere, Jaron has learned that he must say "Cheese" when a camera is pointed in his direction so I think he was happy to try out his new found knowledge.

Did Jaron want to go in the fire truck? Nope! Did he want to try on real fire fighter gear? Nope! Face painted? Nope! Go near the fire truck? Nope! Put out an actual fire? Well, we didn't give him that option. Clark actually wanted to try but I talked him out of it. I wasn't sure I could hold both of the boys because this would have terrified Jaron.


Russell on the other hand was happy to be out of the house and to have something new to look at it. He drooled a few ounces of drool and was then promoted to Junior Fire Fighter status.


After spending about 20 - 30 minutes at the station we left with Jaron anxiously climbing back into the safety of the car. A few blocks away from the fire station, Jaron pipes up from the back seat: "See more fire trucks!"

Wrestle Mania

This is a pretty frequent scene in our home. If Russell is in an accessible laying position, Jaron is sure to take advantage of it.


It can turn in to some full fledge wrestling - toddler/baby style.

I think the winning move was employed by Russell. Being that he doesn't have the ability to jump on top of Jaron, he resorted to eating Jaron's arm instead.

Can you locate the U.S. on a map?

To give credit, where credit is due, I read this on my friend Rena's blog. I thought it was great!

"I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and The Iraq everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the US should help the US or should help South Africa and should help The Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for our children."

--Miss Teen South Carolina when asked why 1/5 of American teens cannot locate the U.S. on a map

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

Russy Baby

Russell is 3 1/2 months old. We can't get enough of him. He is the calm counter-part to the wild 2 year old brother that sleeps in the room next door. But he has wide eyes that are always taking everything in. He's learning lots of things from Jaron!



It seems that Russell enjoys his fist and fingers. No paciy for him. (Ok, occasionally he'll take it. But not the same major addiction Jaron had/has to his.) Periodically, he'll cry out in the night and then I'll hear this really loud sucking noise. Sure enough, fingers are in and he's "pacifying" himself.

He typically seems pretty content. And if he can catch your eye, you're sure to get a huge grin from him. I think he loves having his diaper changed because he is assured some attention. That's when he pulls out all the stops: smiling, cooing, laughing (and periodically, peeing).


Russell's major form of entertainment is, obviously, Jaron. I think the most thrilling thing for both of them is when I sit on the floor, holding Russell, and Jaron runs circles around us. Russell is always surprised when Jaron disappears on one side and then re-appears on the other. This can go on for quite a while. Russell attempts to make his head turn around completely, but unfortunately, he wasn't designed that way. And me, I sit there and contemplate how I am going to discover the next "original idea". Ok, really, I think about how long this could possibly go on, how long has it been since the floor has been vacuumed, or if I could manage to read my book without Jaron noticing.

His latest accomplishment is learning to roll from his back to his tummy. Unfortunately, he hasn't yet mastered rolling from his tummy to his back which can lead to some precarious situations. A few days ago, Clark heard Russell crying in the crib one morning and "rescued" him. He had managed to get onto his tummy and I guess after some time realized that he was uncomfortable.

That's Elmo's World

Maybe I should have entitled this "The Commercialization of Jaron". Despite my best efforts to keep Jaron from getting attached to cartoon characters he's fallen in love with Elmo. Well, at least his theme song. Frequently Jaron breaks into his version "that's elmo's woooorld". It probably doesn't help that I encourage him along and laugh every time he sings it.

You would think that Sesame Street is on 24/7 at our home for Jaron to pick up on this song. It truly is a rare occasion it gets turned on, when I can't drag myself out of bed and Clark is trying to get ready in the morning. However, I must confess that "rare occasion" is not as much of a novelty as it use to be. Clark and I keep asking ourselves: "What is it about Elmo that kids love?" Now all we have to do is run out and spend lots of money on Elmo paraphernalia only to have it recalled in 3 months due to some sort of lead paint or design issue.

(Jaron sporting his "Thomas the Train" themed sunglasses)

New Blog Created Despite Protests

Amidst pleas and protest (we do live in Madison - national capital for protesting) we have determined that we would start a "blog". There does seem to be a small crowd gathered outside our house right now. However, they may be gawking at the state of our landscaping. So we have created a blog mostly because we know that everyone currently reading this really wants to keep up with the current ins and outs of our lives. And, we are thoroughly crazy and instead of using this precious time to sleep, clean the house, read a book, or do something else productive with our lives, we want to keep you informed.

So welcome to our blog. We can't promise that it will be anything fabulous, or even exciting to read on a regular basis. Hopefully you'll enjoy seeing our "little people" as they grow and change. And you'll get an inside peek into how crazy we - the Chemical Engineer and the Sociologist - really are.


And now a note from our legal department (don't ask how much that's costing us, because you don't want to know): Dad, the contents of these posts are all copyrighted and cannot be used against us in the form of your Christmas letter.

Our Legal Watch-cat