Texas Trip!

Uncle Andy's team was playing in East Texas and the NU football team played for the Big 12 Championship in Dallas so we made a whirlwind trip to Texas. We were also able to see Eric's mom and stepdad and our friends, Rick and Kaye, and have a Christmas celebration with them.





All last week EJ kept telling me that "Anneeee" was taking him swimming. He couldn't wait to see him and even endured two days of driving to see him. As you can see it was a great reunion. They didn't go swimming but they sure had fun playing "launch EJ to the hotel bed." It's so fun to see EJ light up when Andy is around.


We met Grandpa Michael and Grandma Carol at Andy's game that night and then had a fun dinner out where Grandpa ordered chocolate cake and cheesecake for dessert. EJ had a Texas toast grilled cheese for dinner but still had plenty of room for the huge cheesecake!




After dinner we opened presents and EJ loved his "Shake and Go" Lightening McQueen racecar. Grandpa had fun playing with it too, but it was grandma who figured out the more you shake it, the farther it will go!





On Saturday we headed to Dallas and met up with Kaye and Rick for the big game. They were so sweet to give EJ a "CARS" workbench. It's adorable and EJ is having a blast "fixing" his cars. We are so fortunate to have such loving friends and family!


The workbench even came with goggles!



Our next stop was the new Cowboys Stadium and it was a sight! From the outside it looked like an enormous UFO ready to take flight. The most impressive thing on the inside is the centerpiece--a seven-story TV screen with amazing clarity and color.





Grandpa Michael was so happy when we finally got inside. He's a fan of the cowboys so it was fun to get to see "Jerry's World" with him. That's the nickname of the stadium--for owner Jerry Jones.



I found myself watching the screen more than the action on the field. You could see into the quarterback's eyes and you could see the blood dripping down the arms of the defensive line because of the picture quality and size. It was amazing. More amazing than that, however, was Ndamukong Suh's performance. He was spectacular...made Colt McCoy look like a rag doll on more than one occasion. Perhaps that's why he is a finalist for the Heisman! We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for him this weekend.

After the game we headed to Norman, Oklahoma for the night so we could get back to Lincoln. Since we were the last guests to arrive that night (or should I say morning since it was 3 am) they didn't have any cribs left so Eric and I put EJ between us in the hotel bed. I had no idea how much EJ moves, kicks and talks in his sleep. Let's just say I won't be sharing a bed with him again any time soon!

Thanksgiving

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! We were happy to get to see the Sorensons over break. Ryan and Dana were so sweet to EJ and he loved them. On the way to their house we told EJ that we would get to play with "the kids." He proceeded to call Ryan by his name and he called Dana, "kids." Ah, the mind of a two-year-old.

Here are Danni's triplets. They are six months old now and doing great. Mom and I loved hugging and feeding them.





I also got some good time with my friends, Carri and Trish, and Eric got some good time hunting with Paul, Mark and Craig and then with Knaby and Craig at the CU-Nebraska game. He also got to shoot an assault rifle with Craig at his shooting range or whatever the gun place is called. Eric's become quite the hunter since moving to Nebraska!

On Saturday, we had dinner with Eric's aunt, uncle and cousins. It was great to see them and EJ LOVED playing with his cousins--first cousins once removed, maybe? Not sure how that works but they were super cute!

Hairstylist

We may have a budding hairstylist on our hands. EJ blew his own hair dry after bath tonight. As you can see, he concentrated really hard. The final product was hilarious! He was very proud!

World Series Champ!

Joba Chamberlain got home from his World Series win just in time to see the Huskers beat the Sooners on Saturday! We ran into him on the field before the football game and he was sweet enough to take a picture with my guys. He said he was proud of his team and so happy to finally be home.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from Curious George,the Man in the Yellow Hat and the Woman in the Yellow Hat! We realize that Curious George author H.E. Rey didn't include a yellow-hatted woman in his writing but someone had to help with the crazy little monkey!



EJ loved our hats! Thanks to my mom for making them!



We took EJ to our church before Trick or Treating. They had all sorts of carnival games, bouncy houses with slides and tractor-train rides. EJ loved it and Eric was a big the hit as all the little kids were pointing at him and telling their parents, "There's the man in the yellow hat!"





Yes, that's right...not only did Eric wear his costume to church, he stuffed himself into this itty bitty train. What a great sport!



Here George is playing golf with my friend, Diana. He almost whacked with the club a couple times but luckily she got out of the way!



After church it was candy time! EJ liked trick-or-treating but didn't like the "scary" houses.


His favorite stop was to see Crocodile Dundee and alligator (AKA Andi & Cluney) next door.




We had a very fun day and the little monkey is sound asleep now despite his sugar high!

Fall Fun!

Fall is beautiful in Lincoln! The leaves are so beautiful and we've had some really nice Indian summer days. This tree is our neighbor's and it's amazing how one half is totally green and one half is totally red. I gaze upon it everyday when we drive by it.



EJ and I stopped at Home Depot for a new door knob and we loved looking at the pumpkins.


With all the beautiful trees come lots of leaves to rake. Today, Eric and I set out to rake the leaves and our little helper was awesome! He did a great job raking and then he took handfuls of leaves and put them in the bags. His attention span was amazing for a 2-year old. He worked really hard!

Pumpkin Patch!

Today, EJ and I went to the Pumpkin Patch at Roca Berry Farms in Roca, Nebraska, a tiny town south of Lincoln. Our friends, Andrea and Erin joined us for the festivities. As you can see from the pictures there were many wonderful areas to play. They were all based on nursery rhymes or fairy tales.

Here's Erin and EJ behind the "Boo" sign. EJ would follow Erin and do what she did. She was a great friend to him today.



Here they are in Candy Land. They liked going inside the big cupcake.



The kids got a kick out of seeing the pigs. We weren't there for an actual pig race, but we did get to see the pigs eating lunch which made the kids plenty happy.



As you can imagine, one of EJ's favorites was the train. The trackless train circled the farm and brought great joy to all the little kids at the farm. We also went for a hayride through the pumpkin patch. We've had a lot of rain this week so the trailer got stuck in the mud a few times but luckily the tractor driver was able to work out of the situation so we didn't have to walk all the way back from the pumpkin patch.





Here's EJ going down the castle slide. They also had those blow-up castles that kids can jump in but they were too wet for the kids today.


More pumpkin fun.





Here's a happy EJ looking at the bunnies at the "Hopsville" Bunny Farm. There were six big bunnies and the farm had a golden retriever who had a lot of fun chasing them around (on the outside of the fence). EJ took a liking to the dog and even got him to lay down so he could rub his belly.



At the end of our time at the farm we let the kids pick out a pumpkin to take home. The farm also had pumpkin butter and kettle corn. EJ wanted the kettle corn so bad that he laid on the ground in front of the kettle corn popper fussing for some. While it could've been a big tantrum the lady was sweet to give him a little sample so I could get him to the car without a major meltdown. A big thanks to the kettle corn popping lady for that kindness!



EJ and I by the pretty flowers and pumpkins.



A very fun day at the Pumpkin Patch with our friends! This was one of the neatest "kid" events I've been to with EJ. See ya next year Mr. Pumpkin!

Cars!

EJ’s newest love is Cars!

Lighting McQueen, or Light MaPheen as EJ calls him, has replaced Thomas as the central figure in our household right now. I’ve seen the movie a handful of times in the past week and I don’t have any problems with it but I do feel a great concern with EJ’s media consumption.

The last class in my doctoral program was on children and the media. I was pregnant then and I remember making a commitment to carefully guide EJ in how he consumes media and now the time has come to make good on my commitment. EJ loves TV and wants to watch it constantly. He will melt down and cry when I tell him no more TV so it’s really hard to set those boundaries for him. I know we are at the national average for daily TV watching, but I am particularly fond of the "Auto-B-Good," the Emmy award winning series by Wet Cement Productions. They are cars who teach Godly principles and values. One of the main cars is named, "EJ" so that is special too.




Originally, TV was thought to be a great teacher for kids. Sesame Street was developed by Harvard professors to help disadvantaged preschool children prepare for school. It was a groundbreaking experiment, proving that the power of television could be harnessed to educate our nation’s children. Since then, the landscape has changed and not necessarily for the better as children are highly mediated at a young age and there is a lot of "crap" on TV.

Unlike previous generations, the computer screen isn’t any different from television screens so we have to be cognizant of all “screen” media in the lives of our kids. On average, children from 6 months to 6 years use 2 hours of screen media on a typical day. The usage number grows even larger with older children, tweens and teens with TV, movies, Internet, video games, etc.

There’s been much research on the impact of violent television content. A study by Joanne Cantor revealed that 75% of kids said they had been frightened by something they had seen on television or in a movie. I’m not worried about violence yet but I am concerned about the long-term socializing effects of media use.

The Children’s TV Act of 1990 tried to serve the educational and informational needs of kids but it only requires three hours per week of educational programming and the little “E/I” symbol on shows that meet the requirements. The same researcher I listed above, Cantor, also found that even though there are products like the v-chip, there are trends suggesting that the problem of children’s emotional lives being disrupted by TV programming may be worsening. This should be concerning to parents.

Another set of researchers poignantly describe our current situation. “Our society’s ambivalence about declaring what is good and healthy for children’s development is so unsettled that we have no mandate for what our young people need from TV is so steeped in commercialism that we have never resolved the parallel issue of what children deserve.”



I believe that children must be guarded from “electronic” teachers and trained on how to interpret the media, even at a young age. I want to remain EJ's parent and not hand my responsibilities over to the TV. While I believe it is unrealistic to prohibit him from watching TV,I am embarking on a media literacy plan for EJ to help him understand the media and protect his little eyes, heart and mind. Afterall, movies and apps on my iPhone have saved me numerous times on airplanes, at Super Target and at baseball events.

I welcome any ideas and feedback you may have or come upon. Let me know if you want to share information and ideas as we go along. My first recommendation is to visit the Common Sense Media Web site at http://www.commonsensemedia.org/. I like their site because they know families need trustworthy information to help manage their kids' media lives and they tailor their information to your kid's age group. Simply put, we can't do this on our own, we need a collaborative effort.

Fall Update

Our world has been hectic this fall! My biggest accomplishment was taking and passing the comprehensive exams in my doctoral program. While I loaded up some photos I didn't include any of the dark circles that took up residence under my eyes after all the study and stress! We'll just skip those and show you the fun pictures!



Earlier in the fall, EJ and I went to Denver for Katy's wedding and while I was enjoying the festivities, EJ and my parents went to see the lifesize Thomas the Train at the Colorado Railroad Museum. It was a dream come true for a toddler who loves Thomas!





It was fun seeing Katy get married and visiting with my friends. Here's the bride with me, the Sorensons and Trish at the reception.



We also got to celebrate Tricia's 40th birthday! We had a fabulous time at the Rio with her friends and family. We ended up shutting the place down...something I haven't done in a very long time! Here's the birthday girl with my parents and EJ at the beginning of the night.



With fall comes Husker Football! EJ and I made it to our first game this past weekend. Kaye and Grandma Carol were in town from Texas and got to come along. We were able to take them down on the field before the game. It's really neat to see the "tunnel walk" and watch the players run out on the field.







Eric and EJ got to enjoy some yummy ice cream at the game. Kaye and Carol had their first Runza, which is a German bread pocket with meat and cabbage. It's really popular in these parts, like In-n-Out in the West and Chick-fil-a in the South. I don't understand the midwestern affinity for them...I'd trade the Runza for either one in a heartbeat!


Check out the guy smiling over Eric's shoulder. We don't know him but he knew he was in the picture!