They're no American Idols...

Asher twinkling

Luke popping

You know you're a serious blogger when...

...you've been tagged! (thanks for the validation, Emma!)

1. What was the best thing you cooked last week?
buttermilk cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting (but, clearly, I've eaten too many because just typing those words makes my stomach a little upset)

2. If money, time and babysitting were no object, where would you go and with who?
Actually, I'd be ok with just getting to sleep through the night in my own bed; it's been a rough week of ferberizing with Luke.

3. When was the last time you cried?
when I listened to a story about rape as an act of war

4. Five things you were doing 10 years ago?
-hmm...dating the last boy I would date before Nate
-picking graduate schools to apply to
-working as a writing consultant
-missing my dogs
-having the most profound conversations with college friends (which in retrospect, weren't all that profound)

5. Five things you were doing 5 years ago?
-entering the home stretch as a counselor for troubled girls (thank heavens!)
-comforting myself with food every night after working with girls ("oh, I had to do three restraints; I need to have some ice cream to feel better")
-working with some of the best Young Women ever
-thinking we *might* have fertility issues after trying to have a baby for about a year
-playing Everquest with Nate

6. Five things you were doing 1 year ago?
-being pregnant--big and pregnant
-trying to help Asher learn to sleep in his big boy bed
-teaching piano lessons
-telling everyone the new baby's name would not be, "Thor"
-missing a friend who moved (Asher and I would walk by her house and start to cry because we couldn't go there anymore)

7. Seven of your favorite hobbies:
-cooking
-piano
-blogging
-teaching
-sleeping
-reading books
-reading trashy magazines (do I have to admit I've read more trashy magazines this year than books?)

8. Five favorite foods:
-oranges
-Burdick's hot chocolate
-Carolina's potato and bean burrito
-Granda's rolls
-chicken curry

9. Five places you've been: (my favorite places to take trips)
-Phoenix
-Boston
-New York City
-Kuai'i
-London

10. Five favorite memories (in no particular order):
-rock climbing with Nate (when we were in good enough shape to do that)
-holding my babies after they were born
-Exponent II retreats (I can't pick just one)
-commencement ceremonies for my graduate degree, knowing I would never put myself through something like that again!
-harvesting produce from our garden

I'll tag Rachel and Matisse. They're family, doesn't that mean they have to forgive me even if they don't want to be tagged? :)

Let those who have ears, hear (and remember)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18821021

Did you get the Biblical illusion in this post's title?

Helping the World by Clicking My Mouse

I always feel guilty that I'm not doing more to make the world better. Really, what have I done about Darfur? What have I done about global warming? Not much, I'm afraid...

So, every day, I go to this site that I've bookmarked:
http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1

And, click to give 1.1 cup of food to the hungry. Then, I go to the tabs at the top of the screen and click on Child Health, Rainforest, Animal Rescue, Literacy, and Breast Cancer. That gives donations to these causes, too.

Not much, but it's better than nothing.

In the Back of Our Car

Asher: Mom, I need go D.E.D stowr (having seen Blockbuster)

Mom: No, kiddo, we’re not going to Blockbuster today. You can get a DVD another time.

Asher: Ok (because now, we're driving past McDonalds)…Mom, I wahnt fen fyes.

Mom: Here, you can have some bunny graham crackers, but we’re not getting French fries today.

Asher: Moooom, I wahnt tum fen fyes. (begins to cry)

Luke: Uh, uh, uh, uh (gets increasingly louder)

Mom: Asher, can you give Brother Luke some bunnies?

Asher: Ok. Heh you go, Brudder Yuke.

Asher: (suddenly, with great urgency) Mom, I wahnt dyet coke.

Mom: Asher, we’re just here to get gas.

Asher: No, I wahnt dyet coke! Dad dyet coke!

Mom: I know, Dad gets Diet Coke here all the time, but we just need to get gas. Do you want to go to the store?

Asher: Ummm, ok. I wahnt go to stow. Get foot snacks.

Mom: Ok, we’ll go to the store and get fruit snacks, but only if you promise to go pee in the potty when we get home.

Asher: No, Mom, I go pee in my pahnts. No go in potty.

Our Christmas, New Year's, MLK day card...

Ok, I got a little overwhelmed by our Christmas list this year—that’s what you get for living in 5 different places in 7 years of marriage, so if you didn’t get one and want one (because really, who doesn’t?), please send me an email.

Sung to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas”

In two-thousand and seven, the Curtises received
Twelve piano students
-This year, I’m teaching twelve very talented piano students. I really love doing this, even though I’m pretty sure my piano teacher, dear Mrs. Harvey, will have little rest in the afterlife as she continues to roll over in her grave.

Eleven recipes
-I’ve gotten lots of good recipes from my church’s cooking group, probably more than 11, but we needed something in the #11 spot. It’s been fun to be in this group with women of all ages and stages of life.

Ten Tom-Trains
-Asher loves Thomas the Tank Engine. Right now, we only have 5 “Tom-Trains,” but if you add the bubble bath and pajamas and underwear, we do indeed, have Ten Tom-Train items. And, my guess is with our attempts at potty training, we will have 10 actual trains very soon.

Nine am pickup
-Nate’s mom and dad pick-up Asher and Luke every Tuesday morning, so I can work on my classwork. They have them from 9 to noon. When those boys come home, they are happy, worn out, and take extra-long naps.

Eight Xbox games
-Nate continues to expand his Xbox 360 game collection. (He has an “in” with some bigwig in the company.) He can’t wait until Asher is old enough to join him.

Seven am wake-ups
-Asher and Luke now sleep in until 7 am. For a while, Asher would wake up at 4:30 am. Then, Luke thought 5:30 was a good time. Nothing had makes me much happier than having those boys sleep in until 7.

Six kinds of lettuce
-This year, we planted a garden with the help of Nate’s mom (a Master Gardener, literally). We had lots of delicious lettuce until the Arizona sun fried it in late May.

Five nights of sleep
-Yep, I think that’s how many nights Nate and I got to sleep through the night this year.

Four wheel drive
-Nate got himself a four-door Wrangler Jeep. He and Asher think they look pretty cool driving around in it. Luke and I think it’s too windy.

Three college courses
-Who says you can’t get a job with a theology degree? Thanks to my mom, I started teaching Old and New Testament courses at Grand Canyon University online. I love it; I just wish I could arrange it so that I’m not working from 8 pm to 11 pm every week night.

Two weeks in Peru
-Nate got to go with his dad to Peru. I got to stay home and have full access to his mom’s help since Luke was about 6 weeks old at the time.

And…
A baby boy named Lukey!
-Luke Thoreau Clyde Curtis was born in March. He’s so easy going, healthy, and enjoys getting down to disco music (we don’t know why, but he loves it!).

We’re so thankful for the gifts we got this year. Our relationships with family and friends are our most treasured!
Love,
Emily, Nathaniel, Asher, and Luke

This is why we won't be sending out a Christmas card this year...

Here I've had the cards (which require a picture), the stamps, and the mailing list for about a month, but I can't get a decent picture.

Hmmm...I wonder how long I could qualify the cards as Happy New Year's before I send them out as Happy MLK day cards.