Happy Bird-day Hayden!

Hayden's birthday was November 20th, but we had his party Saturday the 24th. He still loves Angry Birds, so that's what we chose for a theme. I made Angry Bird cupcakes: Red Birds and Green Pigs. They weren't my best work ever, but the birthday boy liked them and that's all that matters.

The Red Birds were chocolate cupcakes with red frosting and red sugar crystals. The belly was a third of a marshmallow and the nose was a third of an "orange slice" gummy candy. The eyes were a mini marshmallow cut in half with a dot of black frosting. I used black frosting for the eye brows too.

The Piggies were funfetti cupcakes with green frosting. A half of a marshmallow made the snout and the nostrils were mini chocolate chips. The eyes were the same as the birds. I just used black frosting to make the mouth and eye brows. I should have gone to the trouble to track down some green jelly beans for the ears, but I was too lazy. I thought about frosting mini marshmallows instead, but I had so much trouble frosting the big ones I gave up on that idea!

We used one of Hayden's favorite gifts from last year's birthday for table decorations! Cardboard bricks and Angry Bird plush toys. For dinner we had a Taco/Nacho bar with all the fixings. We splurged on a big can of the real snack-bar-style nacho cheese from Costco. Everyone enjoyed the food!

Hayden loved his gifts... Angry Birds (of course!) attire and games... and Legos!

Annabeth seemed to take an interest in the gifts, or at least the wrappings, this time. She also showed off her new walking skills and found time to sit down and play a little bit with her cousins.

Hayden loved his new Angry Bird pajamas and wore them to bed that very night. They spent one day in the laundry and they were back on! I thought he looked so cute (and colorful) the next morning during breakfast that I had to take this picture.

Happy 7th Bird-day Hayden!

Off She Goes

Annabeth finally figured out that walking is better than crawling! This video is from last weekend and she is already more confident than she was last week. Way to go Boo Boo!

Game Day

Since the Packers were playing the Cardinals this past Sunday we let the boys wear their Packer jerseys to church. Unfortunately, we didn't have a little Packer jersey for Annabeth so she just wore regular clothes. Wesley wasn't particularly fond of the idea (he wanted to wear a polo as usual), but he was a good sport and went along with it anyway.

We get plenty of stares on a regular week, but dressing everyone in Packer attire really gets you noticed! We thought about Cousin Carter wearing his Cardinal gear at Lambeau while we were wearing our Packer gear here in Arizona! Go Pack Go!

Seasonal Decor

Way back when, I used to decorate a lot more for each season/holiday. But through the years we lived in Wisconsin I seemed to do it less and less. I always thought it was because I was so much busier than I used to be. I have discovered it wasn't that at all!

In Wisconsin, the season's change and the "decor" automatically changes with it. I didn't need a million little snowmen in my house when my whole yard was covered in 18 inches of snow. I didn't need fake fall leaves when we had piles of them.

Now that we are back in Arizona, I find myself wanting to decorate again. Why? Well, the calendar says it's fall, but it doesn't feel like fall and it sure doesn't look like fall. So let's pretend!

I dug out my fall box and pulled out some fake leaves. Please ignore the palm trees to the right of the front door. They don't really help with the fall look I'm going for here!

Outside: Cornstalk garland, fake leaves, and floral picks by the front door.

Inside: More fake leaves and a pretty fall wreath my mom made for me!

It's not quite the same, but it made me feel a little bit better. Now if only I could make some chili and not have to eat it wearing shorts!

Election Q&A with Jerry

I thought it might be a fun blog post to ask my in-house political expert a few questions about the election. In case you didn't know, Jerry is very into politics (when we lived in Wisconsin he wrote a political blog). He reads and researches and doesn't let emotions get in the way. (I think he's part Vulcan!)

Q: Are you upset by the election results? Why or why not? 

No. The result was not at all surprising at the presidential level. Gains by Democrats in the Senate were more surprising (especially in places like ND and MT).

Q: You have said repeatedly that if someone went into a coma this year and woke up in 2015 they wouldn't be able to tell if a Democrat or Republican was president. Are they really that much alike? 

Yes, but no one believes me when I say this. If you watched the debates you may have come away thinking there are sharp differences between the two major parties. This is impression is due entirely to the way the debates are formatted and presented. Consider the fact that it was a GOP Congress and President George W. Bush (gasp!) who expanded Medicare to include a prescription drug benefit. And who, exactly, do you think gave us TARP and the auto industry bailout? (Hint: NOT President Obama.)

Q: Did third party voters lose the election for Romney? 

No, this simply wasn't a factor. Even in the most famous example of this in recent history (1992) Perot did not cost GHW Bush the election.

 Q: Is a vote for a third party candidate a wasted vote?

At the level of the individual every vote is a waste. When millions of votes are cast no single vote matters, third party or otherwise. An individual may be wasting their time voting but they are not wasting their vote by casting a ballot for the Left Handed Vegans with ADHD Party. ("But what if everyone thought that way, then no one would vote" you object. Allow me to retort: They don't, so it doesn't matter.)

Q: What can/should Christians do (politically speaking) to help this country? 

Pray. Generally be subject to the authority of our government (1 Peter). Be informed on policies AND personalities. This is harder than it sounds. You have to seek out this information. It does not come in 20 second soundbites on any cable news channel. You may "know" Obama was born in Kenya, but do you know who the Secretary of State is or anything about US policy in Africa?

Q: Is there too much money in politics? 

No. The antidote to money in politics is informed citizens. It is not new/more/better rules about money in politics. I'm for unlimited personal spending on political campaigns combined with full disclosure of donations.

Q: Is our country too polarized/partisan?

No. See above on differences between the parties. We need a greater diversity of ideas among (and within) the major parties AND we need to articulate those differences in a way that is respectful. Simply put, we need polite partisans.

Q: If you believe we need a smaller federal government does that mean you hate Big Bird/the interstate highway system/victims of super storm Sandy?

No. The federal government does too many things and too many of them not well enough. Even if we ultimately disagree, we should be able to have a discussion about what are the appropriate roles of the federal government, state and local governments, and individuals. We should be guided by the principle of assigning roles to the lowest level of authority that makes sense (for example, the city shouldn't be in charge of interstate highways and the FBI shouldn't do animal control). The fancy name for this is subsidiarity, but it's really just common sense. There is no credible spokesman for this approach on the national stage today.

If you have a question for Jer, leave it in the comments!!

What's Cookin'

Annabeth is underfoot every second I'm in the kitchen. Hopefully someday she'll be a great kitchen helper! She loves it when I turn on the oven light so she can see what's inside.

This time she was happy to see it was one of her favorite things... cookies!!