My little one is one!

The day has almost come and gone already, but Justin is officially one now. He's a walking, talking (well, jabbering), mischief-making little monster, but I love him anyway. It's amazing to think that just 1 year ago, he was this itty bitty, completely helpless thing. I love watching his personality emerge, and I have a feeling he is going to be quite the character.


He loves to dance to Loren's truck that plays Cotton-Eyed Joe. One of these days I'm so going to have to get a video of it. He also likes "helping" me with the dishwasher by climbing on top of the open dishwasher door and pulling all the dishes out (clean or dirty). He adores his big brother but doesn't always appreciate Loren's method of "helping discipline" him.


Happy Birthday, Justin!! I love you!!

A baby is an angel whose wings decrease as his legs increase. ~Author Unknown

What??

Those people that are closest to me, and know me well, have probably noticed, or know, that I have a mild hearing loss. It is hereditary. From the time I was diagnosed just before kindergarten, all through high school, my charts barely changed. I have never worn hearing aids. My parents were discouraged from it when I was diagnosed because it wasn't too severe. The doctor thought I would cope well without as long as I made appropriate accommodations (ie. sitting at the front of the class). I did quite well, IMO. I learned how to play the violin, taught myself how to play the piano, and for the most part got good grades in school (bad grades were never because of my hearing!).

Fast forward 7 years out of high school. It's been probably at least 8 years since I was last tested. I noticed about a year ago that I was starting to have more difficulty hearing. I can't clearly hear my 4-year-old talking to me from the back seat of the car. I can't hear exactly what is going on on the tv from another room 6 feet away. I have a hard time holding a normal conversation on the phone and with my husband. I got a phone call on Monday from one of the local hearing centers here in town and they were offering a free hearing test. I figured I would go ahead and do it just to find out if I really was starting to get worse.

Not only has my right ear changed and gotten worse (it was always the "bad" one), my left ear has started to catch up. I'm going to need hearing aids soon. It doesn't bother me that I need hearing aids at 25-years-old, what bothers me is that when I'm 70, will I be completely deaf? I am a musician (although I don't play much), and I do love music. I love hearing children's laughter... will I be able to hear my great-grandkids laughing? Will I be able to hear the rain falling, or a thunderstorm, or a horse whinnying? I realize that I probably don't hear things with very much clarity now, but I do enjoy listening to those things that I can hear. Wow, I wasn't expecting to kind of rant and feel a little sorry for myself, but I guess I have to go through a little bit of the grieving process in order to cope with this reality. I know many people that have far more difficulties in life than just a minor hearing loss. I should be grateful for what I do have. And I am. It will just take some getting used to- especially once I actually have to start explaining to people why I'm all of a sudden wearing hearing aids.

If you have health, you probably will be happy, and if you have health and happiness, you have all the wealth you need, even if it is not all you want. ~Elbert Hubbard

A time when one head is really better than three...

I really wanted to make roasted garlic mashed potatoes the other night. My intention was to make the mashed potatoes into potato soup for dinner. The recipe I'd found had called for roasting 3 heads of garlic in the oven for 30 minutes, and adding them to like 4 cups of mashed potatoes.

I don't think the 30 minutes was long enough, because only like 2 of the cloves out of 3 whole heads of garlic came out smooshy like oven roasted garlic is "supposed to." I made the mashed potatoes with all 3 heads of not-quite-cooked garlic anyway (because I was in a hurry), and the garlic was VERY strong. Luckily someone brought dinner for us to judo that night and I didn't have to finish making the potato soup then.

I'm running out of stuff to make for dinner, so finishing the potato soup was all I could come up with in a pinch. I ended up making more potatoes and adding those to the mashed potatoes from the other night, fishing out a bunch of pieces of still-whole garlic cloves, adding a bunch of cheese, milk, bacon bits, and chives to help mask the garlic flavor. It turned out okay, but it's been nearly 4 hours since dinner, I've eaten some cookies and drank a bunch of water, and I'm still tasting the garlic! Hopefully brushing my teeth will help, 'cause this is going to be a nasty taste in my mouth in the morning!

A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat. ~Old New York Proverb

It is autumn, and autumn means...

fair time!

Monday was the start of the annual Eastern New Mexico State Fair. After a frantic scramble to the finish, I had 13 photos and 2 cakes entered. I also helped little Loren enter 3 of his photos that I thought were good. I managed to get the two cakes in with literally minutes to spare after an exhausting night trying to get the wedding cake to look how I wanted it to.Monday morning the boys and I met their grandma at the parade route to watch the parade. Loren (hubby) was supposed to be riding his motorcycle in the parade with his job, but called me about halfway through and said his motorcycle was overheating and he wouldn't be in the parade. Little Loren was upset at first that Daddy wouldn't be in the parade, but he enjoyed the rest of it, and I think he got over it pretty quickly. Justin enjoyed the fire trucks going by at the beginning, and then fell asleep. When he woke up (with like 5 floats to go to the end), he thought the parade was pretty cool and was pretty enthralled with the floats.
We didn't make it out to the fairgrounds until Tuesday night. I was pretty anxious to see what little Loren and I had won, especially for my cakes since I'm still what you would call a novice at them. I was very excited to see that I had won blue ribbons for both of my cakes, and I also won ribbons for 12 out of 13 of my photos. I won 2 blue ribbons (1st place), 6 red ribbons (2nd place), 3 white ribbons (3rd place), and one honorable mention for my photos. I was pretty excited, even though I still can't quite figure out their judging criteria.

BUT... I was even more excited for little Loren. He got 1 blue ribbon and 2 red ribbons for his photo entries. A clean sweep! He seemed excited, but I'm still not quite sure if he completely understands the whole thing. We'll pick our entries up on Monday, and hopefully he'll figure it out a little more by then. I am so proud of him!

After we checked out our entries, and got yummy (NOT!) fair food, we decided to go ahead and let the boys ride a couple of the carnival rides. Little Loren rode the motorcycle one (he did last year too), and then we figured out that Justin was tall enough to go on the construction tractor ride with Loren. Justin thought it was hysterical, and I wish I had had a video camera. The video recorder on my camera just wouldn't have cut it. After we got them off of that ride, Justin was still very excited. Then little Loren and his daddy went on the big airplane ride (that little Loren went on with his Gamma Gamma last year) and Justin thought it was funny watching them. We tried to find another ride that Justin was big enough for without an adult with them, but he was only big enough for the construction one, so we let them go on that one again. He loved it just as much the second time, and I think he wanted to go back on it. Those dang carnival rides are expensive though!
We are supposed to go again on Sunday with my parents if they are able to come down. I can't wait to take the boys again! If not Sunday, then next year! And next year, you can bet we'll have more entries, and hoping for more ribbons as well!

"The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly
changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools."
- Henry Beston, Northern Farm

Four years ago today...

I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.

(Well, as I write this, it's already past midnight, so yesterday was his birthday.)


Loren Blanton Bentley IV was born on September 24, 2004 at 7:31 in the morning. He weighed 7 lbs, 7.6 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long.


I can't believe he's already four. Loren is learning how to read, can count to 10 in English, to 5 in Spanish, and to 3 in Japanese. He loves Transformers and insists that he is Bumblebee (one of the good guys, of course). He's fascinated with dinosaurs, his pet snails, and is a very loving big brother. He can hold a very polite conversation with pretty much anyone now, usually about Transformers. He's my little tough guy and he insists that he is going to go to the Olympics to compete in Judo some day. I am so proud of all that he has become thus far in his little life.

Happy Birthday, Loren!! Mommy and Daddy love you!!

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
-Robert Munsch

What are little boys made of?

A while back we went for a walk one evening after it had rained. We found a yard down the street that had a bunch of snails in it, so I was trying to show Loren what they looked like, but they kept hiding in their shells. I kind of felt guilty for thinking it would be cool to take some home, because I didn't know much about them, so we didn't bring any home. We came home and looked up snails on the internet and saw some videos on You Tube. Turns out they're more or less garden pests in some areas, so I didn't feel as guilty about considering bringing a couple home. Loren learned that they are gastropods and learned about their four tentacles. Two on top for their eyes and two on bottom for tasting and feeling. I also read that they're relatively low maintenance for keeping them, at least on a temporary "study" basis.

A couple days ago, it rained one of those nice, all day sprinkly, drizzly rains. Even though we were tired after playgroup, I told Loren we'd go for a rainy day walk and see if we could find a couple snails to bring home for a little while to study. We found several right in that same area out enjoying the nice rain, so we picked up a couple to bring home.
When Loren first picked them up, they would retreat back into their shells and hide, but they actually got pretty comfortable with him holding them gently on our way home and they ended up crawling all over his hands and arms (and mine too- that was fun... holding a snail, Justin, the umbrella, and my camera...). I had to find something to put them in, so right now they're in a giant "tupperware" thingy with wax paper taped over them because I don't have any plastic wrap. Apparently they like to sleep upside-down attached to the underside of the wax paper.LL has had a blast with them and loves to get them out and have them crawl all over him, and all over my keyboard. They're pretty "friendly" although one of them seems to be a little shyer than the other one and takes a while to come out of it's shell (pun intended).Yesterday Hurricane Ike hit landfall in Galveston/Houston, Texas, so I've been following the coverage on that on the tv. Obviously hurricanes make a swirl pattern, but the newscasters were comparing it to a donut (with the eye being the donut hole and the main/major part of the storm being the donut). Loren and I were looking at the snails later in the day and he told me "Mommy, the snail shell looks like a hurricane." Wow, I was stunned! Of course I had to tell him he was exactly right.

I'm not sure how long we'll keep them, but even I'm enjoying them while we have them. Loren knows if they aren't happy in their home here, then they will have to return to the wild. I told Loren if he wanted to keep them longer he could ask someone to buy him a tank for his snails for his birthday so we can make sure they like their home better than "tupperware and wax paper."

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails,
That's what little boys are made of.

Watching paint dry...

We were watching the Olympics the other day, and one of the events they were showing was the women's marathon. I don't remember what distance it was, but I know the time was something like 3.5 hours or something ridiculous like that. Anyway, while we were channel surfing to find something else, Loren commented that watching the marathon was like watching paint dry. Although I watched the end of the marathon later, I will admit he had a good point.

Fast-forward to today, and I found something even more (insert sarcasm here) fascinating to watch than a marathon. Apparently now speed-walking is now an Olympic sport under the guise of track and field. Who knew? Those girls walk faster than I can run, and it looked really goofy, but it was even more like watching paint dry than a marathon. I thought they would never finish. I kept watching in the hopes that NBC would air something more exciting, but nothing else came on. *YAWN* I would have gladly watched all the judo competitions if it meant I wouldn't have to watch speed-walking. Too bad NBC only aired judo online.

It may be that all games are silly. But then, so are humans. ~Robert Lynd

Camping, Olympics, etc.

Well, I haven't written in a while. The boys and I went camping with my mom and dad and brother. We went 4-wheeling and Loren spent the whole time singing "Sube, sube, sube" (Spanish for climbing) when we went up, and "Baja, baja, baja," (Spanish for down) when we went down (he learned that from Dora):Sightseeing:

And my dad and brother took Loren fishing. Dad and Gabe said he was more worried about killing the grasshoppers they were using for bait than he was about the fish themselves. He caught his first fish ever, plus 3 more. I'm so proud of him! (And I don't really blame him for not wanting to eat them... I'm really picky about fish myself.):I had planned on writing a blog for every day that we were gone, and even started a notebook with a "journal" of the first day, but we were so busy and I was so tired at the end of every day that I just crashed. It was so much fun though, and I can't wait to go back again. I promised Loren (son) that we'd save my cake money and ride the train next year. Hopefully Loren (hubby) will be able to go with us next year. I really missed having him there and I think he'd enjoy it (despite what he says otherwise).

At least some part of me will always be in the San Juan Mountains of the Colorado Rockies:

The mountains are calling and I must go.~John Muir

____________________________________________________
As for the Olympics, I've been watching almost all of the swimming events, some of the equestrian if it's on, and gymnastics. I've even watched a little bit of beach volleyball. But being that I live in a household where judo holds a prominent spot, I did watch the US Judo players with Loren (hubby) on the computer. Ronda brought home a bronze! Yay, Ronda!

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well. ~Pierre de Coubertin

I need a pedicure...

Some people probably would think this is pretty gross, but I'd do it if I had the extra money and there was a salon here in town that did this. The baby fish at Bottomless Lakes (Lea Lake in particular) have been known to nibble on my toes. It tickles a little, but I think it's funny and cute too. And I don't think it's harming the fish- besides, lots of fish are "cleaner fish" that eat the yucky stuff off of other organisms, why not let them clean people's feet?



I'm off to take the boys camping with my parents for the week!

Make your feet your friend. ~J.M. Barrie

Future Olympians... Maybe?

My nephew, Chase, is in town visiting for 2 weeks and decided that he wanted to go with Uncle Loren to judo while he was here. He borrowed Loren IV's judo-gi (which really made L4 mad!) since it fit him perfectly. I went to class with Chase and Loren on Monday and we did some basic stuff (mostly review for me) just to show Chase what it is all about. Today I didn't participate and took Justin and Loren IV with me when we took Chase since his mom wanted pictures of him doing judo. All three of them were having a grand ole time, although Justin was just having more fun with all the free room to chase his crazy brother and cousin around.


Chase and Loren IV are both very good at judo, I must say, and I hope I'm not saying this just because I'm biased. Loren IV still thinks it's mostly a game, but he can put up a pretty darn good fight against his older cousin. That's Chase on top holding Loren IV down:

He's one tough little booger, and Justin seems like he's headed that way too. Loren and I have discussed this before and we think Loren IV will be our competitor and Justin will be the tactitian. Loren IV just jumps right in and does things, and Justin sits and watches. Contemplating his next move, I'm sure...


I suppose every parent has high ambitions for their children. And I know most parents would say "I just want them to be happy with whatever they choose." I know my parents told me that. I don't ever want my kids to feel like I pushed them to be an Olympian, a Navy fighter pilot, a paleontologist, or an undersea explorer, but I always want them to know those options are out there for the taking. The WORLD is for the taking.

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking
part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.
~Pierre de Coubertin

Dog Pack Attacks Gator in Florida

My cousin sent me this in an e-mail. I can't take credit for it, but I thought it was a very good example of nature at it's most awesome.

At times, nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty.

The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the "apex predator," can still fall victim to implemented "teamwork" strategy, made possible due to the tight-knit social structure and "survival of the pack" mentality bred into the canines.

See the remarkable photograph below courtesy of Nature Magazine.

Note that the alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the alligator preventing it from breathing, while another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing. The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the gator.


Not for the squeamish...






Haha, made you look! Reminded me of my mom and dad's dog, Aubrey, who did this:

The kind man feeds his beast before sitting down to dinner. ~Hebrew Proverb

Sick

I hate being sick, and I hate when my babies are sick. It started with Loren, and then me, and now Justin. Our noses are all stuffed up and runny, and I've got a sore throat. I probably should have taken it easy today but I have a million things to do and spent all day in the kitchen, so now I'm really feeling icky. Justin won't go to sleep (you can tell he feels bad), Loren is playing in his bedroom (just doesn't want to go to bed yet), and I know I'm going to sleep like crap tonight. I don't even have any meds for Justin or myself, so we're both going to have to suffer, I guess.

Friends

Lately I've been finding and catching up with some friends from the past on Facebook and MySpace. It's kind of cool and weird at the same time. Weird to see how people have changed (and how they haven't!), but cool to see that despite the years (7 since high school graduation, more for a few others), these people are still so happy to "see" me and find out about my life.

I've struggled the last few years with being a friend to others and yet feeling like my friendships are a one-way street. I don't expect anything in return, but I hate that sometimes I am the only one who calls, or makes plans, or sends an e-mail or message. I don't really feel used, just sometimes neglected, like I don't matter as much to that person. I don't want to be part of the "cool kids' club," I just want someone to say "hey, I have time for you, let's hang out today."

There are a few people though, that have stuck by me. I consider my husband to be my best friend... then again I think it should be that way in all successful marriages. But when it comes to my girlfriends, I can count 2 that I would consider my best girl friends. Neither of them live close by, but I take comfort in knowing that they are just a phone call away and they love me and support me no matter what. One is my flesh-and-blood sister, and in the past few years, I've come to really, truly understand the bonds of sisterhood and the lifelong friendship we have been blessed with. The other is my friend Crystal. We started out as friends and despite having never met each other in person, we have become like sisters.

I realize now that I have been blessed. Blessed with a few very strong friendships as well as many friends and close acquaintances. Even if I can't have a girl's night out or go meet up at Starbucks, I can always find at least one friend to talk to when I need to.

Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other, gold.

Cute Kids and Survival of the Fittest

So after reading this article, I had a thought. And of course, I had to have just watched a show about Australopithecus so I was already in the "theory of evolution" frame of mind.

Not everybody's kids are cute, but we all think our own kids are cute, regardless. And usually we think our kids are the cutest, no matter what. I've never really thought about it before, but I have a theory. Someone has probably already studied this, and proved it, but I'll claim it as mine anyway.

We must be inherently programmed to think our own kids are the cutest in order to help them succeed in life. Because if we, as parents, think our kid is the smartest/cutest/strongest kid in the world, then we're going to bring them up as such and give them a better chance at survival. Survival of the fittest at its finest, I'm sure.

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. ~Chinese Proverb

Brotherly Love and a Child's Laughter

There is no better sound in the world than that of a child's laughter. To me, it's even better to hear my baby laugh because his brother is doing something silly. This was what my boys were doing when they should have been going to bed tonight...



I decided I couldn't discipline Loren too much for having fun with his brother. I pray that they always remain the best of friends and have many wonderful memories of each other.

Dinosaurs and Teeth

I decided to start Loren IV's "preschool" with dinosaurs. We went to the library and checked out a bunch of dinosaur books and a dinosaur movie. Loren is upset about having to take the movie back, but I'm sure we'll rent it again when he can understand it a little bit more. Mostly we're naming them and trying to figure out what they eat. Nothing too elaborate, there's time for that further on. He's become a Tyrannosaurus Rex and took a "bite" out of my back this afternoon. I asked him what kind of dinosaur Justin was and he said "Apatosaurus." If you had asked me a year ago who Apatosaur was, I wouldn't have a clue. Apparently Apatosaur is the same dinosaur as what used to be called Brontosaurus. Hmm, I guess I'll have to re-write my children's book, Benito's Dinosaur, if I ever find it. I believe Benito's dinosaur was a brontosaurus.

Speaking of "Apatosaurus-Justin," I'd like to change his dinosaur status to a meat-eater (apatosaurus is a plant eater). He's got another chomper which puts us up to 4. Man those baby teeth are sharp! I guess they have to be, to cut through those gums, and no wonder they hurt the poor babies. He didn't want to take a nap today, and only took 2 10-minute naps before his toofies started hurting him. I hope he sleeps better tonight. I'll dose him with tylenol in a little bit.

My new blog, cakes, and more...

I decided to get a new blog since my Yahoo blog is a pain in the butt to use and since I'm not sure how to add it to my Facebook.

I've made some more cakes the past week or two, and I signed up for Course 3 of the Wilton cake decorating classes at Hobby Lobby. I'm really enjoying it, and I'm going to contact a friend from high school who is going to give me some advice on maybe doing cake decorating as a business. I don't really expect to "get rich" off of it, but it's something I enjoy doing, and I can make a little extra money.