Thursday, June 25, 2009

Just Another Day--Banantarific!

Tonight was a slow Friday night at the Wood house. We started out with a gig that our band, "The Oneders" played.


I had to take this picture of Mason in his Hawkeye sweatshirt before it magically disappears. He's worn it nearly every day for an entire year and it shows--the cuffs are frayed, the yellow is perma-dirty, two bleached streaks run over the pocket; between that and his patched jeans and holey socks (where do all the holes come from?), he is looking like the poster child for some sort of relief organization. Look how tall he is getting. He looks alot like his Grandpa Bohman, to me. We're so excited that they are going to come visit us for Mason's baptism in less than one month! Can we fast forward up to then? This is Joe with his characteristic photo"smile". He is sporting his monkey jammies which he wears day or night. If he finds out we're going to be home for a few hours, he considers it worth his time to put on his monkey jammies or Superman jammies, complete with cape.

Jacob made dessert for us tonight, his own creation entitled "Bananta." If, by some unforeseen miracle, others out there acquire a taste for Bananta, Jacob made it first and we'll sue you for the rights. The recipe is:
6 or 7 cups of vanilla icecream
1 1/2 cups orange Fanta soda
1 chocolate bar, diced in small pieces
1 banana
*secret ingredient

blend above ingredients and eat. I haven't "acquired" a taste for bananta yet, but I don't like mushrooms either. Periodically I try mushrooms because they seem like such a fancy, distinguished food, but, alas, they taste nasty. The secret ingredient for this batch of bananta was 2 very, very old once hard but now soft with age, butterscotch candies. Jacob loves adding secret ingredients. I really have to be careful if I'm not watching when I'm cooking because Jacob will climb up into my spice cupboard and start adding whatever strikes his fancy with some disastrous results. Jacob is my experimental cook. Mason is my little chef--he loves to cook with me and does really well.

The other day I was walking Joseph to school and we saw a European Marten. It casually walked across the street and up into the forest behind our house. Joe and I both thought about Gwin in "Inkheart".









If you look closely at the picture of Sam, he is using a fork attachment on his pocketknife to eat his eggs. These days this newly acquired pocketknife with spoon and fork attachments accompanies Sam to every meal--I can't complain since he washes it everytime.
















A few nights ago Jacob got out of bed to discuss a pressing question he couldn't get off his mind: "If dad was twice the size he is now, would it be far if he threw a boulder, like Fezzik in the Princess Bride, an eighth of a football field?" Who can sleep with important thoughts like that buzzing around in your head? I think Jacob should write story problems for math books when he grows up.

Whenever we get a chance we eat outside--fancy meals, like koolaid and hot dogs.

I just re-read what I wrote. What a bunch of random thoughts, one banantarific day.


Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day!

Yesterday, Garrett returned from his one week "patient safety" conference in Virginia and we're so glad! Jacob said "I forgot how funny dad was until he got back. He's really funny." Apparently it had been a long humorless week with mom. Yesterday Sam asked what language they speak in Virginia--it made perfect sense when you live here in Stuttgart and are a few hours away from a completely different language in nearly every direction. We played Monopoly today, which truly showed Garrett's love for his kids. He hates Monopoly with a passion and he bought the game as well as some other fun American toys for the kids while he was in Virginia and actually played the game with them--to the very end--4 hours later. Of course, he won. I had the kids answer some questions all about dad that I thought the grandmas would love, so if you're not a grandma, you might get bored with this next part.
You make a great dad because:

Sam--because you earn money for the family and you take us mountain climbing so we can take pictures.

Jacob--because you take us camping, you take us to take pictures, you take us to the movies, and you give us chocolate cake (i.e. Bill Cosby)

Mason--because you buy us cool rocks and knights on vacation and you let us stay up until midnight when we go camping sometimes.

Joseph--because you tickle me

My favorite thing to do with dad is...

Sam--go camping

Jacob--go to the movies

Mason--go camping and to the movies

Joseph--play Candyland

Dad's favorite food is...

Sam--chocolate fondue

Jacob--tacos

Mason--supreme pizza, no anchovies

Joseph--hamburgers

If dad could go anywhere in the world it would be...

Sam--Switzerland

Jacob--England

Mason--hiking

Joseph--taco bell

Dad's favorite movie to watch with me is...

Sam, Jacob, Mason--Lord of the Rings

Joseph--Star Wars

Dad's favorite color is...

Sam and Jacob--red

Mason--green

Joseph--black

Dad says I'm really good at:

Sam--building with legos

Jacob--being creative

Mason--playing basketball and drawing

Joseph--watching Star Wars

Dad's favorite time of the year is...

Sam and Jacob--his birthday, because at Christmas he has to buy stuff for other people, but on his birthday he just gets stuff and on Father's day he doesn't get as much stuff.

Mason--Christmas, because it's a time of the year where everyone gets along

Joseph--Father's day because we give him presents and stuff like that

Dad's favorite vacation was:

Sam--going to Italy with just mom

Jacob--going to France and taking pictures of "that" bridge (when we asked Jacob which bridge it was he said, "You know, the one with water running under it." We asked him to give some more details because we were still confused and he said "It was also the one with cars driving over the top of it."--clear as mud!)

Mason--Six Flags (he really digs Wonder Woman)

Joseph--Germany

When I grow up I want to beat dad at...

Sam--chess

Jacob--community service (yes, he really said that!) and lifting weights

Mason--bowling

Joseph--Guitar Hero

I love dad because...

Sam--he helps us with our German and takes us hiking and he decided to go to the Father and Son campout instead of camping in Switzerland

Jacob--he tells us good jokes, he cares for us, he takes us to the movies and takes us hiking

Mason--he takes us to places to take pictures and he does what's best for us

Joseph--he's a good Candyland player and he took us to France