iTunes

I love iTunes.

My nice honey got me an iTunes gift card for Christmas and I had so much fun last week looking up new music and artists. Junior Mint got his own gift card (for his shiny new ipod shuffle) and together we made some fun discoveries. Below is a list of some of my favorites. Look 'em up or listen to the ones on my playlist. Tell me what you think! Then maybe you can tell me the last few things you've downloaded. I love music recommendations even more than I love new books.

1. M79 by Vampire Weekend (punk with a harpsichord. awesome.)

2. Stefano Barone (Look this guy up on youtube. The way he plays guitar is beautiful to see and hear.)

3. You Don't Know Me At All by the Weepies (All of their songs so far, really. Pop folk. Some are on the playlist below.)

4. Saint Behind the Glass by Los Lobos (You'll recognize this if you liked Nach Libre.)

5. G. Love (He's not new to me, but he's got a cool new album. Seriously--look this guy up. He helped get Jack Johnson going.)

6. Jai Ho from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. (It's got a lot of artists and is also on the playlist below. Great dance music. Nice Indian flair.)

7. Alicia Keys. (Not new...she's my music idol. Listen to some of my fav's below. Karmastition is made for dancing. Love her.)

8. There are so many free podcasts, but one I like is Dan Carlin's Extreme History. Episode # 18, an interview with James Burke is my favorite so far. He's no historian, but is very accessible.

In an unrelated aside, you should click on the Seriously So Blessed link in the Blogs I Dig section on the left. We're voting for the winner of her awesome makeover contest. Unfortunately the girl I nominated didn't make it, but some other really great girls did. It's a good time to be in Utah for them.

Did I say that?

Do you ever find yourself saying things as a parent that you never expected to hear come out of your mouth? I remember first having this discussion with my older sister when she was forced to instruct her young daughter, "Don't eat the poo!" and "Don't flush the bunny down the toilet!"

Today, I had to tell Curly Fry "No cars in the guitar!" while I struggled to get the little matchbox car out through the soundhole of my guitar. (That's what I get for leaving it out, I guess.)

What kinds of things have you been surprised to tell your children?

Book Club

We finally started a book club! We met for the first time today and didn't even decide what we would read next month for sure, but we had a lot of fun. Our blog will be www.bookgerm.blogspot.com Awesome. Any suggestions for a fun romance for us to read in the hearty month of February?

Getting the new blog ready made me reevaluate my old one. Jennie Mathews likes to change things up constantly and I haven't changed mine since I started...so here it is...the new blog. I don't think I could put the time in to change it all the time. Lots of work!

Update and Funny Stories

A lot of lovely people have been asking for an update on Squeaky Bean. I'm sorry I was negligent on that account. She is doing beautifully and seems to be fully recovered from her pneumonia. We were in the hospital for 6 days and we are so glad it wasn't any longer. It is much nicer to be home together. The other boys are all on the mend as well except my cute honey, but I think his cold will be gone soon.

Funny Story #1: About 6 days ago, Curly Fry came and took my Book of Mormon, put a toy horse on it and carried it from the room like it was a silver platter. A minute later, he came back all proud smiles and gave me a high five. I haven't found my Book of Mormon yet....

Funny Story #2: We watched 'A Night at the Museum' a few times this week. It's lots of fun and we're looking forward to the sequel this May. (We'll make homeschooling trips to the Smithsonian before it comes out!) Anyway, Junior Mint has latched onto a couple of lines from the movie. He got one of them wrong, though. He was acting snarky and said to me, "I'm forever and you're dead!" (a la-I'm rubber and you're glue...) I laughed so hard he got angry with me and left the room. "What did he mean" you may be asking? The movie line was, "I'm forever in your debt." Such a subtle difference...