Then your face will surely show it

As Amanda mentioned, we're in the process of finding a new Laughing Place.  This is where we'll be spending our next few Zippadee-doo-dah days.

It's not exactly a briar patch. It has some down sides and we're going to miss our Austin friends, but we're excited for something new.

Above is our new building and below is our back-yard.

A short walk from there takes us across this bridge.

There, we find this really neat playground. I wanted to climb in the rocket-ship, but since I don't have the kids with me, I knew I'd get strange looks and restrained myself.

The apartments are close to campus.  It's really nice to be somewhere with real grass again.  Oh, and mountains.  I've sure missed those guys.  It's a bit odd though.  The mountains are to the West and water flows to the East.  It throws my sense of direction out-of-whack.

Just past campus is the main public library.  They have trees growing inside.  It's a neat place.  It's built over the creek and has all sorts of artwork and other neat things.

Here's the library from the outside. 

After visiting the library, I wandered up to Pearl Street: the city-center of sorts.  Part of the street is pedestrian only.  This little boy was doing magic and seemed to be doing well-enough for himself while the ladies behind played music.

This guy played piano quite impressively.  I enjoyed listening while I waited for the lights to turn green.

There were a lot neat shops and things to see.  I really wished my family were there with me to enjoy them.  Then everything would be satisfactual.

We'll miss Austin, but I think we'll also like it here.

Rebellious Streak

Jacob, we put that in the garbage for a reason.  It's old and gross.  You need to stop fishing things out of the trash.  Now go put that back right now, mister.

Hey! I see that rebellion in your eye.  Don't you dare... No, don't!  Sigh... I told you, Jacob, old and gross.

Our big news and our little stories.

So, it's been a little while, and this blog is in need of some attention! I did just add a little sidebar picture for Jacob today, which I am so proud of! Don't worry that it is a year late... and that he looks older than Elinor. It's progress. And that's what I'm all about today. You'll see.

So, here's the big news first: We've moved! We are no longer the TexasCoopers and I am surprised by how sad I am about that! You might not have known it by all my complaining and my restlessness, but I had come to love Austin. I've been hinting to Joseph that I would love to move back there after all this postdoc nonsense is taken care of.
So where are we headed? Boulder, CO! I am so excited about this new location! Basically, what I have in my head is another Austin, but with a nicer climate. We'll see how that works out for me. :) Our apartment there is not ready yet, so all our stuff is packed up in storage and right now I am camped out at the Coopers' house until it is time for me to venture out there to our new home.

Now that that is taken care of, here are some little insignificant stories for your entertainment.

A while back, Caleb was taking a few classes at the Austin Nature and Science Center. One was about fish, and as they were handing out pellets to throw into the pond for the fish, Elinor stuck out her little hand and took her share... and promptly deposited them into her mouth. The poor instructor was just appalled and called out, "Uh, who's kid is this? Can someone come help?!" Elinor spat all (most?) of it out and went on her merry way.
Today we took a little family trip to Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. They've built a little dam there and put in a bunch of fish and some little quarter machines for fish food. I happened to have some change, so the kids enjoyed throwing fistfulls of food at those very well fed fish.
Later on, this afternoon, she got on the phone with Joseph and proudly reported, "Today we went to the waterfall and I threw breakfast at the fish and I didn't eat any today!"
Baby steps, people!

On the way to the falls. Isn't the trail beautiful?

Investigating the water.

You can't tell, but her dress was totally soaked by this point. I think she was holding it up because she felt a little bit like a princess. And who wouldn't, in a purple corduroy dress covered in horses?!

And this is sort of on-topic, but a couple of weeks ago we went to Butler Park in Austin, where they have fountains that shoot up out of the ground. The kids were having a blast and I was Jacob-less, so I was relaxing in the shade, feeling a little proud of myself for having such well-behaved kids. I remember there was one kid there who kept pulling his swim trunks down so he could get the bidet treatment from the fountains and I was thinking, oh so smugly to myself, "I sure am glad I'm not his parent! Why isn't anyone doing anything?"
Meanwhile, Elinor was lying prostrate on the ground in the very middle of all the fountains, just being her weird self. She was doing this for like 30 minutes, but she's a really weird kid, so it was okay.
It came time to go home, and El had to go to the bathroom, so I took her. While we were in there she was telling me about how she was playing that she was a kitty cat and it was so much fun and did you know that kitty cats can drink water off the ground and not get sick? Yeah. That's right. I had her repeat it three or four times to make sure, but she was LICKING water off the ground at Butler Park. For 30 minutes. This is where homeless people come for a quick shower when the day is hot and they are feeling grimy. And then the water goes down the drain and is recycled into the next fountain that shoots out. Yay for awesome parenting!!

And then today Joseph double checked with me on the phone that Elinor had not licked any of the bridges or fish that we had encountered. I was able to proudly report that she only drank the water once, but I nipped that right in the bud! Joseph told me he was proud of how my parenting skills have progressed.
But seriously, "Don't drink the water!" is a very common refrain in our home. Especially at bath time. And it is only sometimes followed by "There's blood in the water." Just because my sisters were obsessed with Dave Matthews when I was in high school. And to give my kids a little scare.

We took a few pictures outside the other night because it was perfect weather.

Jacob was super cute.

Elinor was super... Elinor.

bits and pieces

I while ago Emily got it into her head that she wanted to organize a play of the Star-bellied Sneetches. I don't know how she talks me into these things, but we did invite some friends over to do sort of a crazy rendition of the story.
This picture is of the day before, as the kids were hard at work painting the set.

 

Meanwhile, I was working on dinner between requests for more paint and entreaties for help with this problem or that.

This little guy (who you can glimpse under that painters' table) likes to keep me company while I cook. He has claimed ownership of all of the glass mixing bowls.

He likes to pull them out, pass them around, stack and re-stack.

Believe it or not, Jacob is not always so helpful in the kitchen. He loves to climb onto Elinor's chair and wreak whatever havoc he can manage. 

Yeah, I did let him play in that milk for a while because he was just so darn happy!

Caleb also helps out in the kitchen. I just had to snap this picture of his flour-covered, little boy hands working so hard to knead that dough.

So, back to the Sneetches...
 Joseph was narrator. Here the play is in full swing. It was somewhat chaotic. I'm not sure it quite scratched Emily's itch for a full-scale dramatic production.
I thought it was fun though.

The sharp looking dude in the bow-tie is playing Dr. Sylvester McMonkey McBean. He did a fine job.

 Taking their final bow:

Cast picture:

And here are all of those crazy kids chilling in front of a movie. It is so much fun to have a family nearby with kids so close in age to ours! We love these guys!

And this is Elinor. She is completely insane. And she can also do the splits for some reason.

Happy Birthday, Emily!

Whew! It's been a long break from blogging, but I am back in the game!
Today was Miss Emily's birthday. I can't even believe that Joseph and I are now the proud parents of a six-year-old! Where did the time go?
We had a relatively low-key day. Emily is such a sweetheart and really enjoyed the simple pleasures of being the girl of the day.

Caleb might have been more interested in Emily's presents than she was.

Posing with her new nightgown.

Putting together her new Lego set (while wearing the new nightgown). Caleb seems somewhat aghast about something.

Emily has been such a great kid to have in our family. She works hard to keep things running the way she knows they should at home. She looks out for Jacob. She reads to her younger siblings. She absorbs information like a sponge. She is such a good example to all of us. I'm so proud of this little (growing!) girl.

The other side of things

Amanda drove to Utah with the rest of the family, but then left immediately for Japan.  She was sorely missed.  This is sort of how it went.

Your mother might give you soda, Jacob, but things are going to change when I'm in charge.

Now sit still and listen.  I put together a powerpoint presentation about Daddy's rules.

Jacob!  Pay attention!
Emily, this is serious.  
Elinor, come back here right now!

The weather in Utah is drier than we're accustomed to.  Your skin will dry out a bit.  And when we go out hiking, if you get lost, just hug a tree and stay there.

 Dad!  I think I'm lost.

 I got lost too.

 I just like to hug things!

 You kids think you're funny, huh.  I want you to sit on this rock and think about showing some respect!

 I can show you respect from this rock too, Daddy.  I'll show you respect by climbing All the rocks!

 Obviously we need to do some serious psychological re-training to get you kids where you need to be.  I've heard that high blood-sugar levels can make you more susceptible to suggestion.  These neon cupcakes we made should do the trick.  I'm pretty sure they're made with all-natural ingredients.

 ...

...
 Hmm... maybe we'll try going up into the canyon again.

Here's some fish food.  Throw a little bit into the pond at a time.

No! A little bit.  A LITTLE bit.

You guys can climb around a little bit.  Caleb, I want you to be...

...um... careful.

I guess I should have seen that coming.  Jacob wasn't surprised either.

 Okay kids.  Mama's coming home soon.  I want you to look nice so that she thinks, knows I've taken good care of you.

You were a little rough at first, Dad, but we all got into the swing of things.

When Mama gets home, I'll put my best foot forward.