Here are the questions I was asked on Thursday:
The House of Representatives has how many voting members?
We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years?
In what month do we vote for president?
Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now?
Who is the "Father of Our Country"?
Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900's.
I was given a booklet that contained 100 questions that they would pull my questions from. I had to answer six out of ten questions to pass this part of the test. I was lucky the guy asked me easy ones (though I was prepared to answer any of the 100).
My oath ceremony will be in December and I will start the new year as a citizen of the United States!
Answers:
435 in the House
elected for 2 years
vote for president in Nov.
Chief Justice John Roberts
Father of Country: George Washington
WWI, WWII, Korean, Vietnam, Persian
Test questions found here.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Groundbreaking Street Fair
Today Joseph's department held a party celebrating the groundbreaking of their new building. It was a fun little fair featuring a bunch of carnival-type games, free barbecue, popcorn, and cotton candy, and a giant blow up castle for the kids. Emily and Caleb had a great time. Elinor slept the whole time.
Kids are kind of a novelty on campus here (so different from BYU!) so we had all kinds of people stopping to comment on the kids' costumes.
When we were stopped here eating some popcorn, I had three UT students taking pictures of the kids on their phones and one yearbook photographer next to them. It was pretty funny.
Here Emily was taking it easy while Caleb, Elinor, and I were in line for cotton candy. One of the Yahoo people asked to take Emily's picture for some promotional thing... I didn't really listen to her whole explanation. Emily and Caleb liked the idea of cotton candy and I think they liked carrying it around, but they wouldn't eat it. I guess it was too much like cotton and not enough like candy.
Kids are kind of a novelty on campus here (so different from BYU!) so we had all kinds of people stopping to comment on the kids' costumes.
When we were stopped here eating some popcorn, I had three UT students taking pictures of the kids on their phones and one yearbook photographer next to them. It was pretty funny.
Here Emily was taking it easy while Caleb, Elinor, and I were in line for cotton candy. One of the Yahoo people asked to take Emily's picture for some promotional thing... I didn't really listen to her whole explanation. Emily and Caleb liked the idea of cotton candy and I think they liked carrying it around, but they wouldn't eat it. I guess it was too much like cotton and not enough like candy.
A Family Outing
Yesterday we went to San Antonio for my citizenship interview. They asked me a few questions about America's history, evaluated my English speaking and writing skills, and sent us on our way. Things went smoothly - we were only there for a total of about 30 minutes and then we had the rest of the day to spend in San Antonio.
It is amazing the entertainment a few big concrete slabs and some soft grass can provide for a couple of toddlers. This was just outside the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building.
To infinity and beyond!
Our reckless little boy. He has no fear.
We headed to the temple next and were lucky to run into some friends from the ward who took some pictures for us.
A picture with the whole family is a rare treat.
On the way to the temple Emily made us all sing "I Love to See the Temple" over and over again until I told her we were done. Emily and Caleb have never been to the temple before, so it was fun to walk around with them. I got separated from the family for a minute and when I found them Emily came up to me and said, "Momma, I love the temple. It makes me so happy to come here. It is Heavenly Father's house." She's a sweetie. I'm so glad she is the big sister Caleb and Elinor will have to look up to and emulate.
It is amazing the entertainment a few big concrete slabs and some soft grass can provide for a couple of toddlers. This was just outside the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building.
To infinity and beyond!
Our reckless little boy. He has no fear.
While Elinor and I were inside Joseph took Emily and Caleb to the skating rink next door.
It was Emily's first time on skates and Joseph and I were both amazed at how quickly she caught on, how fearless and perseverant she was, and how she just never got frustrated. She's a good kid.
Caleb entertained himself the whole time at this drinking fountain. We were lucky it wasn't a very crowded place.
It was Emily's first time on skates and Joseph and I were both amazed at how quickly she caught on, how fearless and perseverant she was, and how she just never got frustrated. She's a good kid.
Caleb entertained himself the whole time at this drinking fountain. We were lucky it wasn't a very crowded place.
A picture with the whole family is a rare treat.
On the way to the temple Emily made us all sing "I Love to See the Temple" over and over again until I told her we were done. Emily and Caleb have never been to the temple before, so it was fun to walk around with them. I got separated from the family for a minute and when I found them Emily came up to me and said, "Momma, I love the temple. It makes me so happy to come here. It is Heavenly Father's house." She's a sweetie. I'm so glad she is the big sister Caleb and Elinor will have to look up to and emulate.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Trunk or Treat
Our ward held its trunk or treat yesterday, since Halloween is on a Sunday this year. It was a good turn out and the kids had lots of fun. Joseph was good enough to take them around while Elinor and I sat around handing out candy. They went as Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach. Emily looks super grumpy, but really she was so excited to finally get to "go to Halloween" and wear her costume. She was very gracious about wearing a home-made, kind of thrown together dress. I love that she's young enough to not worry if something isn't perfect (like the wand and the wings).
Pictures were kind of hard to take while we were there - I'm pretty sure I had three trick-or-treaters waiting for candy and a family about to cross in front of the camera here.
Here's the group at home. Caleb did have eyebrows and a mustache at one time, but pretty much mangled his makeup on the car ride to church.
Pictures were kind of hard to take while we were there - I'm pretty sure I had three trick-or-treaters waiting for candy and a family about to cross in front of the camera here.
Here's the group at home. Caleb did have eyebrows and a mustache at one time, but pretty much mangled his makeup on the car ride to church.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Sniffles and spooks
Caleb and Elinor had a couple rough nights this week. They both picked up some coughs and congestion (not Pertussis, we checked). Infants, who need their mouth to nurse, have a rough time when they can't breathe through their nose. Caleb... well he seems to be more short on attention rather than short on breath. But he hasn't been sleeping well.
He'd sleep better if he would stay in bed during nap time and night time. We held a family council to try to figure things out.
We're still not sure how to get Caleb to stay in bed. We took the rungs off the bunk-bed ladder. That has helped out. At least he doesn't climb up and wake Emily too. We did decide, however, to start reading scriptures as a family every morning.
We only read a few verses as suggested by the General Primary President. It has worked out surprisingly well for us. Afterward, we usually read a chapter or two from the "picture scriptures". Emily now knows all about Laman, Lemuel, Nephi, and Sam getting the metal scriptures while their dad is out camping.
Elinor doesn't read along with us yet, but Caleb and Emily do really well.
We've been gearing up for the holidays. Our neighbors invited us to decorate cookies and carve pumpkins on Saturday. That was great! Although, I think I had much more fun with the pumpkin than the kids did.
We found a light that consists of little more than 15 LEDs with 3 AAA batteries and a little bit of plastic to hold it together. The manufacturing is cheap, but we got it on sale (around a dollar) and shipping was free. It makes a great pumpkin light. Combolations, Belinda! We're offering a two-fer-some special on... uh... pumpkin-pea soup.
We've put out a few more decorations to get into the holiday spirit. I have great memories of how exciting it was to put up decorations for the holidays when I was little. I don't know if the kids enjoy it like I once did. But I think I may still enjoy it as much now as I did then.
Of course, I'm a little nervous about the rapidly approaching Christmas time. I'm working on getting the choir program worked out. It's coming along, but we still need some practice. We're ambitiously working on "For Unto Us a Child is Born" from the Messiah. I love it, but it's tricky.
He'd sleep better if he would stay in bed during nap time and night time. We held a family council to try to figure things out.
We're still not sure how to get Caleb to stay in bed. We took the rungs off the bunk-bed ladder. That has helped out. At least he doesn't climb up and wake Emily too. We did decide, however, to start reading scriptures as a family every morning.
We only read a few verses as suggested by the General Primary President. It has worked out surprisingly well for us. Afterward, we usually read a chapter or two from the "picture scriptures". Emily now knows all about Laman, Lemuel, Nephi, and Sam getting the metal scriptures while their dad is out camping.
Elinor doesn't read along with us yet, but Caleb and Emily do really well.
We've been gearing up for the holidays. Our neighbors invited us to decorate cookies and carve pumpkins on Saturday. That was great! Although, I think I had much more fun with the pumpkin than the kids did.
We found a light that consists of little more than 15 LEDs with 3 AAA batteries and a little bit of plastic to hold it together. The manufacturing is cheap, but we got it on sale (around a dollar) and shipping was free. It makes a great pumpkin light. Combolations, Belinda! We're offering a two-fer-some special on... uh... pumpkin-pea soup.
We've put out a few more decorations to get into the holiday spirit. I have great memories of how exciting it was to put up decorations for the holidays when I was little. I don't know if the kids enjoy it like I once did. But I think I may still enjoy it as much now as I did then.
Of course, I'm a little nervous about the rapidly approaching Christmas time. I'm working on getting the choir program worked out. It's coming along, but we still need some practice. We're ambitiously working on "For Unto Us a Child is Born" from the Messiah. I love it, but it's tricky.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Figuring things out
Well, it's been a while... and we haven't really been doing anything besides adjusting to life with a new little one. Emily is taking a ballet class and loves it. She is also part of a little school group that meets once a week for a couple of hours and loves that too. I am so glad she has a few activities that get her out of the house and keep her occupied. If only Caleb were old enough for that sort of thing too! He is really struggling with the presence of a new baby that takes attention away from him. This is most manifest in nap times and bed times. Joseph is stern enough to keep bedtime relatively under control, but I have had to sing Caleb to sleep for every nap the last half of last week. This is after trying to force him to stay in bed for over an hour, and it is the only thing that calms him down. It's nice to have a solution, but I don't have time to do that every single time and he is definitely not old enough to give up napping altogether. I sure hope he grows out of this.
Here are some pictures of the new little one.
She is cute, but has a raging case of baby acne right now. No close ups for a while!
She's kind of serious in this picture; it might be because I am reading instead of paying attention to her. Do you like the large-type book? I do. I've got to go easy on these old eyes of mine!
Here I am trying to hold in that extra chin. She's definitely filling out! She's not too happy about my trying to make her more photogenic though. I think the face she is pulling is such an Emily face.
When he's not yelling at me to put the baby down, Caleb is showering her with loving big-brotherly attention. He loves to give her kisses and always wants to hold her hand or pet her head.
Here is Emily in the new princess dress we found for $3. I kept telling her to smile like a princess and she kept insisting that she was. Maybe I need to teach her what "smile" means.
Aah, the life of a toddler. Caleb knows how to take advantage of having a full-time maid and caregiver. Whenever I yawn or say I'm tired Emily says, "Why don't you go to bed?" like it's such an obvious solution. Simple right? Well, let me tell you - that does not work with three kids three and under. Trust me, I've tried it.
So maybe now that I have a spare moment I should be heading to bed instead of blogging... hmm.
I think I'm done now.
Good night.
Here are some pictures of the new little one.
She is cute, but has a raging case of baby acne right now. No close ups for a while!
She's kind of serious in this picture; it might be because I am reading instead of paying attention to her. Do you like the large-type book? I do. I've got to go easy on these old eyes of mine!
Here I am trying to hold in that extra chin. She's definitely filling out! She's not too happy about my trying to make her more photogenic though. I think the face she is pulling is such an Emily face.
When he's not yelling at me to put the baby down, Caleb is showering her with loving big-brotherly attention. He loves to give her kisses and always wants to hold her hand or pet her head.
Here is Emily in the new princess dress we found for $3. I kept telling her to smile like a princess and she kept insisting that she was. Maybe I need to teach her what "smile" means.
Aah, the life of a toddler. Caleb knows how to take advantage of having a full-time maid and caregiver. Whenever I yawn or say I'm tired Emily says, "Why don't you go to bed?" like it's such an obvious solution. Simple right? Well, let me tell you - that does not work with three kids three and under. Trust me, I've tried it.
So maybe now that I have a spare moment I should be heading to bed instead of blogging... hmm.I think I'm done now.
Good night.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Working Very Late Tonight
We don't usually celebrate holidays in the lab. Maybe it's time for that to change with some seasonal decorations.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Nothing Exciting
Today I was sitting outside Emily's ballet studio holding Elinor while Caleb worked with my keys trying to unlock the door of the dance supply store next door. A lady from Korea came up and started talking to me, mostly about Elinor. One of the first things she said was, "She must look like her dad!" I have to say, that is the first time that's ever been an early reaction to Elinor. Joseph and I agree that it's the coloring that throws people off. Since this lady was Korean, coloring probably wasn't the first thing she noticed so she probably looked more at specific facial features for similarities than most people do. She was surprised by Caleb's complexion and wide blue eyes though!
Here is a picture of the baby. With Emily somersaulting up there in the corner. Honestly, I don't think Elinor really looks like either of us..
I also went grocery shopping with all three kids today. It really wasn't bad at all! We only knocked over one display - too bad it was the cherry tomatoes. Why couldn't it have been something bigger and less rolly and smushable? The kids were great and very patient while I scrabbled around on the floor trying to set things right.
Here is why I crashed: I was pushing this monstrosity with zero visibility because of that carseat. I'm lucky I didn't hurt anyone.
Surprisingly, Emily was the most troublesome on this trip. She was crying because her tummy hurt, poor thing. I suggested that maybe she had to go to the bathroom and she immediately decided that that was the cause of all her woes and she had to go right then. I wished I hadn't spoken. After a couple of minutes of her explaining to me that she absolutely had to go, I decided she probably wouldn't forget about it and ended up in a dirty grocery store bathroom with a newborn, an 18-month-old, and a 3-year-old. Too bad she was still in her ballet stuff, complete with tights, leotard, and tutu. As if it wasn't enough of an ordeal already! And then her tummy still hurt afterward. Rats. We got through it though. Turns out she was hungry. She'd only had a couple of bites of dry cereal for breakfast before announcing she was done. Maybe this will be a good learning experience for her and she'll finally understand when we explain to her why we need her to eat her food.
After an afternoon involving zero napping, we all headed outside into Austin's newly beautiful weather for a couple of hours. I am so grateful for the lower temperatures and humidity! It is so nice during the fall and spring that dinnertime is inevitably pushed back an hour or so so that we can stay outside for as long as possible to enjoy the weather.
And that's about all I got done today. Oh, besides making dinner for my family for the first time since Elinor was born! We have great neighbors who took care of the first week or so and Joseph has been cooking since then.
Random picture section:
Our family o' chefs.
Sister bonding moment.
(Doesn't Emily look thrilled?
Okay, I admit that this is very much a set up pose just for the cute picture potential.)
So much of my life right now. Is it possible to potty-train an 18-month-old boy?
Aw, he's a cutie even if he does wear diapers.
Here he's working on Halloween decorations with Daddy.
Here is a picture of the baby. With Emily somersaulting up there in the corner. Honestly, I don't think Elinor really looks like either of us..
I also went grocery shopping with all three kids today. It really wasn't bad at all! We only knocked over one display - too bad it was the cherry tomatoes. Why couldn't it have been something bigger and less rolly and smushable? The kids were great and very patient while I scrabbled around on the floor trying to set things right.
Here is why I crashed: I was pushing this monstrosity with zero visibility because of that carseat. I'm lucky I didn't hurt anyone.
Surprisingly, Emily was the most troublesome on this trip. She was crying because her tummy hurt, poor thing. I suggested that maybe she had to go to the bathroom and she immediately decided that that was the cause of all her woes and she had to go right then. I wished I hadn't spoken. After a couple of minutes of her explaining to me that she absolutely had to go, I decided she probably wouldn't forget about it and ended up in a dirty grocery store bathroom with a newborn, an 18-month-old, and a 3-year-old. Too bad she was still in her ballet stuff, complete with tights, leotard, and tutu. As if it wasn't enough of an ordeal already! And then her tummy still hurt afterward. Rats. We got through it though. Turns out she was hungry. She'd only had a couple of bites of dry cereal for breakfast before announcing she was done. Maybe this will be a good learning experience for her and she'll finally understand when we explain to her why we need her to eat her food.After an afternoon involving zero napping, we all headed outside into Austin's newly beautiful weather for a couple of hours. I am so grateful for the lower temperatures and humidity! It is so nice during the fall and spring that dinnertime is inevitably pushed back an hour or so so that we can stay outside for as long as possible to enjoy the weather.
And that's about all I got done today. Oh, besides making dinner for my family for the first time since Elinor was born! We have great neighbors who took care of the first week or so and Joseph has been cooking since then.
Random picture section:
Our family o' chefs.
Sister bonding moment.(Doesn't Emily look thrilled?
Okay, I admit that this is very much a set up pose just for the cute picture potential.)
So much of my life right now. Is it possible to potty-train an 18-month-old boy?
Aw, he's a cutie even if he does wear diapers.Here he's working on Halloween decorations with Daddy.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Fighting
The other day Emily faced a predicament while my hands were chicken-y. She's learning to deal with these kinds of problems on her own:
Emily: "Mommy, Caleb took my toy!"
Me: "Emily, can you see that my hands are full? I can't help you right now."
Emily: "Oh. That's okay. I'll go FIGHT him."
Then she ran off happily to tackle Caleb. Maybe I should have stopped her... but she got her toy back and I was able to continue making dinner.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Two Visits
We had a fun quick visit from my dad this week. He was in town for some meetings and managed to come spend a few hours with us. The first night he came right as the kids were getting in bed. Poor Emily was devastated that she had to go to bed while Grandpa was still here and kept saying, almost in tears, "but I don't want Grandpa to leave!"
He came back two days later and played with the kids for a while outside, then took us to lunch at Rudy's barbecue. He had to hurry to the airport and I forgot to take a picture until after he left. Oops. We had fun though! Thanks, Dad!
The second visit was Elinor's to the doctor's office. She had her two-week appointment today. She is doing fine but seems to be shrinking (I think those medical assistants just need to learn to measure better). She was supposedly 21 inches at birth, 20-1/4 inches at one week, and 20 inches at two weeks. Still gaining weight though. Actually, according to our measurements today, she is the exact same length and weight that Caleb was at birth. Yikes! He was a big baby! I am glad I survived that. Anyway, hopefully Elinor will start gaining length soon as well or she could end up a very chubby baby!
I got that last picture off my phone and as I was looking through the others I found these too and thought they were too cute to not post.
I love this Daddy-son catch picture. Caleb of course has no reflexes for catching since he's just 18 months old. Joseph worked with him though and he was pretty proud when he could end up with the ball in his hands, even if Joseph had pretty much handed it straight to him.
We love our little Texas boy.
He came back two days later and played with the kids for a while outside, then took us to lunch at Rudy's barbecue. He had to hurry to the airport and I forgot to take a picture until after he left. Oops. We had fun though! Thanks, Dad!
The second visit was Elinor's to the doctor's office. She had her two-week appointment today. She is doing fine but seems to be shrinking (I think those medical assistants just need to learn to measure better). She was supposedly 21 inches at birth, 20-1/4 inches at one week, and 20 inches at two weeks. Still gaining weight though. Actually, according to our measurements today, she is the exact same length and weight that Caleb was at birth. Yikes! He was a big baby! I am glad I survived that. Anyway, hopefully Elinor will start gaining length soon as well or she could end up a very chubby baby!
I got that last picture off my phone and as I was looking through the others I found these too and thought they were too cute to not post.
I love this Daddy-son catch picture. Caleb of course has no reflexes for catching since he's just 18 months old. Joseph worked with him though and he was pretty proud when he could end up with the ball in his hands, even if Joseph had pretty much handed it straight to him.
We love our little Texas boy.
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