Look-alikes

Sachi, Shirley MacLaine's daughter

Sophia Belle

My Mom told me she thinks Sophia reminds her of Shirley MacLaine's daughter, Sachi. They took some fun photos together for Life magazine years ago. While they don't exactly look alike, I see similarities too; they both make little pixie faces.
My Mom has also told me I resemble Julia Roberts, but I don't see it. I'm more of a Catherine Zeta-Jones (yeah, right). Dan has told me some girls in college thought he looked like Tom Cruise. Hmmm . . . maybe that explains his interest in Scientology. When Nathan has a short haircut, he reminds me of Curious George. Nathan's more handsome though. I think we all just look like ourselves, which is a good thing.

Sophia Says "Okey-dokey," Nathan conquers "L&S"

Sophia says new words every week. She added "apple" and "grape" this week along with a few others. She's now 17 months old, and she has said Mama and Papa or Daddy for a while, but she hasn't attempted Nathan yet. That's a hard one.
#1 cutie pie moment: Our favorite new word of the week is "okey-dokey," but it sounds more like "gawky-gawky." It's just another way to charm us. You can hear her version of the word in this video.



Nathan has had a fun-filled week. He cannot keep away from his latest favorite video game: Lego Star Wars. He calls it "L&S." The characters look really cute, and they put things together as if they're building Legos -- plus, you get to be Luke, Leiah or R2-D2! How cool is that? Dan has played the game with him, and they conquered the game on Saturday. I tried to high-five Nathan, but he just seemed a bit bummed the saga was over; he won, so he'd have to turn it off. Well, he wanted to play it again today too. When we say bedtime prayers, Nathan interrupts with this request, "Bless Nathan and Papa so they can play L&S so many times." I'll say it and then add, "And bless Nathan that he won't get mad when we turn the game off."

This past week we played hide-and-go-seek with the kids for family night. Nathan really got into it, and Sophie just liked running around. Nathan had a hard time keeping quiet while he hid, so it was pretty easy to find him. Dan found the best hiding places; Nathan liked how he hid under the covers of his car bed, and he stumped me by hiding very well in two different closets. It's fun to have kids because it gives you an excuse to play like one again.
#1 cutie pie moment: Nathan asked me on Tuesday, "Is tonight family night?" He wanted to play hide-and-go-seek again. We played a few rounds before it was time to hit the hay.

My little valentines

Nathan put candy and cards in this heart at the county preschool.
The college preschool decorated empty milk jugs to store their goods.
Our kids' favorite part of Valentine's day was eating some candy (that's Dan's favorite part too). Here's a video of Nathan singing "Book of Mormon Stories," and Sophia seems to enjoy it.

Hugses and Kisses

We enjoyed a low-key Valentine's Day on Thursday. I made a nice meal of lemon chicken, zucchini and mashed potatoes, and Nathan and I made sugar cookies. Since I couldn't find my heart cookie cutter in my box of cookie cutters (where is it when I need it?), Nathan and I picked out an odd assortment of dinosaur, train, arrow, octagon, rectangle, teddy bear, star and musical note. I made pink frosting, and Nathan insisted we needed green too. He liked shaking the sprinkles on and placing the red hots too. He asked for a train cookie, but he just licked off the frosting. Sophia watched us making them from her high chair, but she was in bed before they were out of the oven. She really liked them, though, and ate pink stars and teddy bears the next few days.

Nathan had a blast at his two Valentine's Day parties. He wrote his name on all the cards going to his two preschool classes on Feb. 13. He picked out Spider-Man cards that came with temporary tattoos. I told him they were stickers, and he wanted to put a black Spider-Man face on his hand. After I did that, he told me, "Cool, Mommy!" Nathan liked gathering all his loot and putting it in a bucket. I asked him to put some in Sophia's bucket, and he did -- giving her the candy he didn't want. Hey, it's still sharing.
#1 cutie pie moment: After I picked up Nathan from the college preschool on Monday, Nathan showed me some Valentine crafts and told me "X's are for hugses, and O's are for kisses." Later he changed it and told me O's are for hugs and X's are for kisses. "Hugses" is my new favorite word; they should add it to the dictionary.

Sophia is our little love bug -- according to the Valentine's Day outfit I bought for her. She looked way cute in it, and she had fun eating some candy and hugging her V-day present: A big pink heart pillow that says "Princess." She now says "welcome" for you're welcome; she'll sometimes say "welcome" in place of thank you when someone gives her something. She had her first go at a playground as a walker on Friday. While Nathan ran up the steps and went down twisty slides, Sophia just explored walking on the bark on the ground. They both had fun on the swings; Sophia would call out "wheee" while Nathan said, "Mommy, come push me higher!" I told Nathan how to pump his legs to go higher, and he tried it out. Our kids love their blankets. On the way to church this morning, I looked behind me and saw a pink blanket and blue blanket draped over their heads. We took Sophie's blankie into church, and Dan asked her on the way to the door, "Is that your pink blanket?" She replied, "Yes, it is." What a little talker!
#1 cutie pie moment: Sophia played a game with her pink pillow and Papa; he would bop it on her head and it would fall to the floor, and then she would laugh and bring it back to him for more. She wanted him to do it again and again. Dan attacked me with it too, and I told him I didn't like it as much as she does. He laughed and said, "I hope not!"

Chinese New Year & Evening of Finer Things

Parties help dispel the winter blues. We had some big reasons to party recently -- my brother, David, was visiting from Taiwan during the Chinese New Year. He is working towards a master's in philosophy there. Rachel threw a Chinese New Year party, and it was a lot of fun. She made chicken cashew, and there was some spicy shrimp dish (unsure of the name) and fried rice and, of course, fortune cookies. I liked my fortune because it involved fortune: "As the sky is blue, the sea waves are true, good fortune is coming to you." OK, so it may sound a bit corny, but I want to believe it means we're moving into a home this year (our condo's cute, but I'd like to move on). Rachel made these cute Green Tea Shortbread Cookies for dessert, along with some vanilla and green tea ice cream (caffeine free). Delish! After the food, we played Dance Revolution. Dan's pretty good at it, and I need some practice (I'd rather dance for real). I'm glad we celebrated Chinese New Year. We all had a great time.

Speaking of Chinese New Year ... did you know 2008 is the year of the rat? That sounds bad, but when I read that the rat is a charmer, it seems all right. Dan and I were born in the year of the dragon, which means we are confident, strong and have powerful spirits. Is that so? Nathan was born in the year of the ram, which means he's gentle, docile and a pacifist (yeah, right!). He's really a dragon at heart. Sophia was born in the year of the dog, and while she probably will be loyal and true, it says she is incompatible with dragons -- I hope not! I don't take these too seriously, but Chinese astrology is fun.


Evening of Finer Things

I wanted to have an evening of sharing poetry and passages of literature while David and Adam and Kendra were in town. A television show inspired me, believe it or not. A few people from "The Office" formed a Finer Things Club, and they meet in the break room for discussions on books and art. I thought an event like this would be a good way to pass the evening. So I made an invitation to family who live in the area, and we met on February 10 to enjoy some of the finer things in life. Here's a rundown of the program:

Angela: I opened with two poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (sonnets XIV and XLIII -- the one that starts out "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."). I also read a recent favorite of mine by e. e. cummings called "i carry your heart with me."
David: He read an excellent excerpt from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Good stuff. He said Whitman's probably his favorite poet. I like his "Song of Myself" poem too.
Lucy, aka Mom: She read passages from My Antonia by Willa Cather. I think I read it years ago, but I want to read it again. Great imagery.
Deanne: She read a poem by my uncle, Dennis Drake, about the former LDS prophet David O. McKay. It's a great tribute.
Adam: He read excerpts (off of his Magic cards!) from "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Coleridge and a passage from Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. Excellent choices.
Kendra: She read a passage about miracles from Leif Enger's Peace Like a River, which is a beautifully written book.
Dan: He read a favorite of mine, "Miniver Cheevy" by Edwin Arlington Robinson, and then he had the audacity to read the lyrics from the song "Kung Fu Fighting!"
Lyle, aka Dad: He read passages from a novel called These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman by Pamela Aidan. This is the third book in the trilogy about the story of Pride and Prejudice told from Darcy's point of view. I want to read them for sure.
Rachel: She read an excerpt from Martha Stewart, her idol. j/k. Then she read a poem by Longfellow.
After the readings, I served Truffle Brownie Cups to the guests (a Pampered Chef recipe).

I can relate to Miniver because I was born too late also. However, I don't wish for medieval days when men wore armor as knights. I wish I could have been around the literary circles in New England; it would have been wonderful to discuss books, poetry, and politics at the hearth with the Alcotts, Hawthorne, Emerson and even that interesting Thoreau guy. I would rather spend my evenings in friendly discussion than in front of the television. I think I'm in the minority. I intend to have more evenings of finer things, although I realize I may sometimes only enjoy the company of one.

Beauty all around

Blue and pink "ghosties"

We've had quite a week. My brother, David, flew in from Taiwan to spend his Chinese New Year break in St. George. My other brother, Adam, and his family came down from Provo since David is here. Rachel threw a fantastic Chinese New Year party on Thursday, and I arranged an Evening of Finer Things tonight with the fam in which everyone shared a work of poetry or passage of prose. The kids have had fun at the parties and get-togethers.

Nathan has taken some of Mom's words to heart these last two weeks, and I'm thrilled about it. For many days I would tell him how we don't want Sophia to be sad and that Sophia needs to be happy -- that we want everyone in our family to be happy. Lately he has been SO GOOD to her, sharing his water bottle with her or giving her a pink blanket if she's sad. Then he'll announce, "I'm making Sophia happy, Mommy!" He gives her hugs and kisses, and he's even sweet to her in the car! It's nice to know that what I repeat in a calm way sinks in and makes a difference.
Nathan has a huge competitive streak. I think he comes from a long line of competitive people. Once he starts Lego Star Wars, he does not want to give up playing it until he's done everything, and when he plays Mario Kart, he lets David or anyone playing with him know that he's #1. He'll get upset if you pass him, and when I've played with him, he'll ask me to not throw anything at him -- only at the other guys. He is SO focused and intense as he plays, and I like his determination, but I just need to teach him how to be a good sport when other people win. He's still pretty young, though, so I think it'll come with time.
#1 cutie pie moment: Nathan joined Sophia and their cousin, Braden, who looked like baby ghosts walking around with blankets over their heads by putting his blue blanket over his head also and chasing them around the room.

Sophia is learning new words every day. She says ball, but it sounds like "bowl," and she said "appy" for happy on the day of Chinese New Year. She gets into messes when I'm not around -- peanut butter all over herself and the furniture, graham cracker crumbs on the floor, or dishwashing soap on her clothes -- she keeps herself busy. She likes to play in Grandma and Grampa Drake's pantry; she has a party rearranging cans and pulling some on the floor. She even tried to roll balls with her cousin, but he's not ready for a playmate quite yet (Braden's just a month older, and Nathan didn't care for shared play till he was close to 3 years old). She is such a sweet thing, even on Sundays when our church time deprives her of a regular nap.
#1 cutie pie moment: When we went to my parents' tonight for dinner, Sophia played with her great-grandpa Edgar Drake (who's over 80), rolling balls toward him; she even said ball a few times. It was cute to see them have fun together.

Snow in St. George on Super Bowl Sunday

Uncle David and Nathan at Red Cliffs

It snowed today! After we enjoyed a dinner at my parents' home, Dan had to clear a slushy sidewalk for us so we could get to the car without drenching our feet. The snow on the streets reminded me of our Boston winter months. It's been a while since we had driven in snow! Nathan liked to point out the snow on the trees and the mountains. Sophia didn't really care much; she konked out on the way home (she only got a brief nap since we have church from 1-4 p.m. this year). When we got to our house, I asked Nathan if he liked the snow, and he asked, "Can I eat it?" (Why does he only want to eat non-nutritious foods?) He scooped up some snow and tasted it as he climbed up the stairs. I'm so excited to take the kids out in the snow tomorrow to take pictures! I kind of hope Nathan gets a snow day from preschool so we can just play at home instead. Here's a fun snow activity for young kids: Take a piece of black construction paper and put a little snow on it so the child can see snowflake formations. We'll do that tomorrow too.

Nathan isn't doing much better in our food program. He just wants to taste everything with his tongue, but he's not willing to take bites of anything except for MINUSCULE bites of sliced cheese. I'm planning to get him evaluated by an occupational therapist who works with kids who have sensory/texture issues with food. Unfortunately, this kind of thing isn't covered by insurance. I want to get the cost info before I get the evaluation so I'm not slammed with a huge bill. We'll see what happens. Nathan had fun hiking with me, my brother David (who's visiting from Taiwan during the Chinese New Year break) and Sophia at Red Cliffs on Friday afternoon. He had a hard time waiting for us; he wanted to take charge and be in the lead the whole time. He says, "I'm the leader," and I guess he really is one. I hope I can help teach him and raise him to be a great one.
#1 cutie pie moment: I was telling Dan that we probably really didn't need a life insurance policy for me since I'm not the main provider, and I don't see myself dying young (my Grandma Drake is over 80 and still going strong). Then Nathan jumped up from playing his beloved video game, Lego Star Wars, and pointed at me with squinted eyes and said, "Yes, Mommy, you can die!!!" I'm not sure if this is more scary or cute, but I have to record it for posterity nonetheless. :)

Sophia had a lot of fun walking around the library earlier this week. I haven't taken her there in a while, and I didn't let her on the floor when she was a crawler -- she stayed in the stroller then. She wanted to go up and down the aisles of books. Sophie always gets lots of admirers when we shop at the grocery store. While I get produce, she returns smiles and charms the young and old alike. I've had several people ask me how old she is and her name, and while I wait in line, some people tell me how lucky I am. I think to myself, I am, and I need to remember that -- especially on those days when she has taken everything out of dresser drawers, spilled Nathan's juice or milk on the floor and bent my glasses. Sophia really is a treasure. She's so much fun as she dances around the room and sweet as she gives hugs liberally. Nathan said this past week that his name is Sophia and Sophia is Nathan; I guess he thinks she's pretty great too! I wrote in a planner of sorts statements of gratitude, including that I am lucky to be a stay-at-home Mom. I wanted to remind myself of this when I plan my days so I don't take this privilege for granted. Many women don't have this option. I want to enjoy the present -- it's a gift (get it? present, gift? not original, I know, but it's still a nice little gem). We're blessed to have each other.
#1 cutie pie moment: Sophie didn't seem too happy at church when I was with the young women. I took her out in the hall, and I asked, "Do you want to see Papa?" She said, "Papa. Yes. Papa, Papa." She even headed toward the clerk's office to find him. She's a Daddy's girl for sure.

Jane Austen heroines

Take the Quiz here!

This is a fun quiz to determine which Austen heroine you resemble. I must admit I was disappointed at first that I did not come up as Elizabeth Bennett. She is probably my favorite Austen heroine because she is a composite of such wonderful qualities -- wit, intelligence, good sense and kindness. I even took the quiz again and answered a few questions differently (some were a toss-up), and I came out as Marianne AGAIN, and I decided to accept my Austen character. I do like Marianne Dashwood, and I can definitely relate to her passionate feelings, impatience with others and impulsive decisions. I really liked how Kate Winslet portrayed her in Sense and Sensibility, and I've decided I must read the book. I have read Pride and Prejudice a couple of times and Emma once. I would rather be Marianne than Elinor; she's a bit too serious to suit my lifestyle, but I admire and like her character very much (and Emma Thompson who plays her -- she even adapted the screenplay!). Austen's Emma is a fun-spirited, accomplished woman, yet she is nosy and quite opinionated as well. I really like Anne Elliot from Persuasion; she is so sweet and feels so deeply, yet it is difficult for her to express herself and she is too easily influenced by others. I think I used to be that way when I was younger, but I've outgrown it. I think it would have been great to include some of the minor characters as well and not just the leading ladies. But I suppose no one would be thrilled to see they resemble Mrs. Bennett or Lydia from P&P or Charlotte or Fanny from S&S. I suppose many women have envisioned themselves as one of Austen's leading ladies when they watched the films or read the books.

Now I'm off to the English countryside to roam about on the grassy hills in the rain. I shall barely utter the name "Willoughby" until I collapse, whereupon a gallant man riding a horse will rescue me in my plight. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, don't you think?