so, it’s Christmas and i have to say that i’m just a little bummed. the day started off great. the kids had a good time (they were crazy, but what can you expect), they got to open presents, ate candy and even found time to take a little nap. things were great. then came dinner.
jana prepared this great meat for french dips and went out and got some great french dip rolls and everything. it smelled gooooood. she made some yams for the side as well. here’s where our story really starts. i’m not a yam or sweet potato guy (they’re pretty much the same thing, right?). i’ve never even had them. i’m not sure what is is. it may be the texture, the color… i don’t know. well, jana worked hard on this meal and the kids already told her that they weren’t going to be eating anything as they had stomach aches (that’s their code for, “we don’t feel like eating as we’re trying to scam candy wherever we can”). i didn’t want the yams to go uneaten so, being the nice husband that i am i thought i would try some just to be nice. i sniffed around them a bit and decided that they didn’t smell too bad. here we go…
CRAP. these things are awesome. as soon as the first bite hit my stomach, i was also hit by the realization that i’ve had 32 years of a yam-less life. i could have been eating these things for 32 years. that’s 32 Christmases and thanksgivings and whatever holiday that someone decides to make them. i’ve seen them with melted marshmallows on top. that’s got to be awesome, right? i can’t wait to try those. on one hand, i get to have these experiences for the first time, on the other, i’ve lived my whole life without them. would i have been better off never to have tried them and gone to the grave ignorant? i’ll never know. but i’ll tell you what i do know. i’m going to get some more yams.
p.s. – it serves to note that jana used my mom’s recipe. this is significant because, 1. my mom deserves some credit and 2. this isn’t some new recipe that i just had the opportunity to eat. i could have been having this same recipe my whole life. crap.
so, i came across a site listing out the worst band names of 2008. i’m not sure where they found these names, though i’m guessing myspace was a big help. i’ll give you a few:
under the “METAL (OR METAL-SOUNDING)” category My Son My Executioner
Circle Of Dead Children
Distorted Impalement
under the “EMO” category The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Blessed By A Broken Heart
Heart-Set Self-Destruct
under the “HEY, WE SMOKE POT!” category Cannibis Corpse
Rosetta Stoned
Post Mortem Bong Hit
these are just a few in a VERY long list. you’d be amazed at how many horrible band names there are out there. then again, maybe you wouldn’t. for your enjoyment: 2008: The Year In Band Names.
ok, so last saturday we had a mini christmas with my mom because they were going to be out of town on christmas. the kids got to open their presents(from them), we ate pizza, had cake and a real good time (i realize this might sound sarcastic but it really isn’t.) also, i gave steven his present because it was a new lens for our camera that i knew he would want to figure out before the actual day.
asher waiting patiently for me to untie a smurf. don’t you hate how they package some of those things? i mean my hands were all but bleeding by the time i finished undoing the 100 twist ties holding it to the packaging.
here he is finally getting it out. this was actually lily’s toy but this kid LOVES stuffed animals.
me helping to get things organized. it is amazing what a mess christmas can cause.
jackson got a spiderman costume and beanie and has worn them everyday since.
steven and his beard. i know some people hate beards but i don’t actually mind it. i just don’t want him to become a beard guy, you know, the guy that no one can recognize without it.
lily posing in her leotard and tutu. i will have to take a picture of the whole thing, she loves it!
so, seattle has been hit with some pretty crazy storms the past couple of days. so much so, that i’ve had to miss work twice this past week because we’ve closed our office. this is pretty unusual for our company. anyway, we’re pretty close to having a foot of snow on the ground so we let the kids play around in it this afternoon. jana got me a new lens for our camera (an early Christmas present) so i was testing it out today. a lot of the pictures are pretty washed out. i know what i was doing wrong so we shouldn’t be seeing that again, but with all the white snow, the washed out effect looks pretty cool on some of them. here are a bunch of the pictures. there’s a lot more of lily as she was being a little more cooperative. by the time that i pulled the camera out, asher had had enough and was already inside.
well, not that weird really. more than anything, it’s just weird for me to have a beard. this is the first time i’ve ever grown one and i don’t really even know what prompted it. i think i just didn’t shave one weekend and come monday (a great jimmy buffet song) i still didn’t feel like shaving, so, here i am. it’s a little itchy, but overall i’m getting used to it. the problem is, since i’ve never had one before, i don’t know when to quit. also, i’ve attached a fu manchu song that kind of speaks to my current situation. if you’ve never listened to fu manchu, you really should start.
so let me start off by saying that potty training is not an easy task in the heller household. when lily was three her favorite thing to say was, “mom, i am going wear diapers forever!” now that jack is three i realize that i should be trying to potty training him but i really don’t want to deal with it. is there someone who likes to do it that can come over and do it for me? i have tried a couple of times to have him wear underware and try it out andme was successful, thus the picture above, but the other time he cried for an hour asking for his diaper. i was so excited that he actually went pee pee on the potty that i had to document it. does anyone have any advice?
this is how i found him the other day. i thought it was so funny that he kept his boots (sorry the picture doesn’t show the shoes) and tie on but took everything else off. i tried to get him to atleast put a shirt on but he refused. i am sure that he knew that he couldn’t have looked cuter!
you probably can’t see the box they are in but they had such a great time in it this morning. jackson slept in today so lily and ash were able to play together and the box was where they decided to play. i can’t tell you how many boxes have been worn out in this house by my children. it was kind of dark so the pictures were a little washed out but i really liked them anyways. it made seemed to make their eyes stand out more than normal.
last night i decided to take dinner to steven at work because he has been coming home late this week and he has not seen the kids. well i went to burger king to pick up some chicken tenders for the kids and some food for steven and i. well we had a good time eating dinner at his office and then came home read some books and got ready for bed. the kids went to bed great and then steven came home. at about 11 we heard jackson screaming like crazy. i ran up there and found throw up all over (and i mean ALL OVER) his bed. we gave him a bath and threw his bedding in the wash and put him back to bed feeling fine. about twenty minute later we heard asher crying and sure enough, he had thown up all over his bed. after getting him all cleaned up he was feeling better and we quickly put him back to bed.
well this morning everyone feels fine. i have to think that the food they ate some bad food. all night i kept waiting for lily to wake up and throw up as well. needless to say it was a sleepless night. fortunately lily never got sick. do you think it was food poisoning? everything was so sudden and they feel fine now. i mean what are the odds that they both throw up 20 minutes from eachother without any warning? how bazaar!
have you ever seen such a face someone not even 2? he was jumping around on the couch and along with his laughing and having a grand old time, steven caught this face with the camera. steven thought he looked like a little vampire, of course we had just finished watching interview with a vampire. i love this crazy man!!!
