Weirdos From Another Planet

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

2010-03-10T20:49:00.014-06:00

As the title of this blog says, time sure flies when you're having fun! I cannot believe it's been over two months since our last update. Phew! Where to begin? Well, for starters, we are still enjoying our time here in Cape Girardeau...even more so now that spring has arrived and we can go outside to play. Just in time too, Calvin and I were beginning to go a little stir crazy. Jake has been very busy with rotations which sadly keeps him away from home more than we'd like. In January he did his Pediatrics rotation and February was the infamous surgery rotation. What a month! After a couple of days with Dr. Horrible himself (no, not Doogie Howser's likeable character) he finally got put with a good doctor. The downside being he had to drive an hour one way to get to work. With two hours of driving each day, Jake took the chance to listen to the Ender's Game books 1 and 2. We are now actually looking forward to our drive out to Utah in May so that he can continue the saga. That may be the only bright spot in a 25+ hour drive with a 14 month old. I cringe at the thought of tears that will be shed from one very bored and cramped little boy. And no, I don't mean Jake...although he might shed a few tears himself after listening to Calvin's complaints for so long. If anyone has good ideas how to entertain a 14 month old for long periods of time, please share!! :)

As for Calvin and I here at home, life is just one adventure after another! Every cupboard holds new treasures to be looted...and eaten if possible!

We make toys out of all sorts of new and exciting objects...remotes, pool cues, toilet paper, and salad dressing out of the fridge. Pretty much anything except for his actual toys. :) Calvin has a strange preference for the Swiffer duster. If ever I open the doors to our laundry room, where it is kept with all the other cleaning supplies, he makes a mad dash to grab it before I can close him out again. That or the broom, can't get enough of either! I guess he thinks if Mommy thinks they're fun enough to play with, there must be something there to enjoy.

One of Calvin's favorite things is to have one of us read to him. He's not actually in it so much for the story, but loves to help turn the pages.

Calvin always loves having a bath, even if it's in the sink! This was an accident! I had just finished feeding him and was cleaning him off. I filled up the sink to let him kick his feet in a little, he scooted further and further forward until he just slipped in, diaper and all! He had a blast and made a huge mess! But doesn't he make one cute Cupie baby!

All tuckered out from a long day and hardly any naps, he dozed off...in the bathtub! We felt so heartless waking him up, even if it was to put him in bed.

This last week has been beautiful spring weather! We've taken the chance to be outdoors. We've walked to the park and even went hiking out on a new trail behind the conservation center.

Oh, warm weather, how we have missed you!

This last Sunday, we were over at a friend's house for dinner and Calvin discovered the joy of slides! We've tried to put him on them before and he was never happy about it. Now he loves them! I even took him to the park and would set him at the top of the slide and with a huge grin he'd push off and go flying into my arms.

Our little helper boy! He did this last night while I was making dinner and Jake was studying. At one point, he even climbed into the cupboard and his little bum was barely sticking out! All the while just jabbering away to himself. Too cute!

Here are a few videos from our adventures this past couple months. The first one is an earlier one of him walking (at about 10 months old). The second is of him playing in the sink. And the last two are some fun ones we took this last week. He is growing up too fast! In only two short weeks, he'll turn one! Wow, what a year it has been!

Week of Firsts

2010-01-05T11:08:00.005-06:00

Calvin looking good after his new haircut.

When you have a baby, it seems that everything is always a first. This week, we have been having our share of them! Calvin got his first haircut on January 2, just in time to look good for the new year. He no longer resembles an orphan child without a mother or father. :) The other first for him this week is a brand new little white thing poking through his bottom gums. You guessed it, his first tooth!! I took him in on Monday for his 9 month checkup. As I was telling the pediatrician about all of his developments, I mentioned to her that he hadn't cut any teeth yet. But then while she was doing his check up she was feeling around in his mouth and walah! "Mom, there's a tooth here," she said. I couldn't believe it! Sure enough, there it was and a second one already starting to poke through as well. Calvin's been keeping them a secret! Which is good, I'd rather that than to have his howling cries alert me to what it going on. Hopefully the rest of them are this easy! We are yet to get a picture of his new little tooth, the little boy is stubborn about showing it to us. :)

As for Jake and I, we've had a few firsts of our own. Jake just started his pediatrics rotation yesterday. So far, it hasn't been the best experience, the doctor he is working with is not too sure what to do with a student. She is brand new to this area and is trying to get used to everything herself. He spends alot of time trying to keep out of the way. Last night, they had to admit a 2 month old baby into the hospital for RSV. The poor mother and grandma were there looking terrified as nurses and doctors scurried around hooking the baby up to tubes. So Jake, being the compassionate soul he is, took it upon himself to calm their fears. He explained to them that the baby was actually doing pretty good and everything would be fine. They seemed much more at ease after he talked with them. So, at least he found some way to be of use to somebody. But you better believe that as soon as Jake got home, he was stripping down to shower and wash his clothes. There is no way we want Calvin going through that!

For myself, this past Sunday was my first Sunday in my new calling in the Primary presidency. I haven't had to do too much yet, mainly help keep the kids in check. We only ended up having one hour of primary, because the Bishop dismissed church an hour early so the Relief Society room could get air conditioning. (In January?!) So, I'm getting my feet wet a little at a time for now.

Here's a short video of Daddy giving Calvin his first haircut.

Family Time is the Best Time

2010-01-05T09:23:00.008-06:00

We had such a great time visiting family in Utah. Here are some more fun pictures from our time together. Love you all! Christmas morning

Getting all bundled up to see the lights on Temple Square.

Aunt Kimmy and Calvin (what a perfect picture!)

Eric, Miles, Ethan and Aimee. Cute family!!

Mommy and Daddy to be!

Krys, John and Oakley (must be about bedtime)

Calvin petting the puppy.

Calvin (modeling Owen's new Bumbo chair) with Kim, Oakley and Krystal.

Kim and Kandace with Ethan, Miles and Calvin. (Ethan's showing Calvin that a rocking horse is nothing to be afraid of.)

Calvin giving Oakley kisses. xoxo

Four Steffen girls all together again!

Grandma Powell and Calvin having way too much fun at bathtime! :)

Daddy and Calvin warming up by the fire after sledding.

Uncle Vince and Calvin playing.

Vince, Megan and Calvin hanging out together

All together! Families are the best!

Calvin's First Christmas

2010-01-04T15:05:00.008-06:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!

Powell Family Christmas

We just returned from a beautiful snowy Christmas holiday in Utah. It was so fun to visit family and celebrate Calvin's 1st Christmas together! The day before Christmas Eve, Mom Powell took Megan and I up to Salt Lake to have a girl's outing. We watched the Nutcracker Ballet, which was stunning! Afterwards, the boys met up with us for dinner and a little outing to see the lights on Temple Square. Even though it was cold, the snow falling and all the lights glowing made it a beautiful evening!

On Christmas Eve day, Grandma and Grandpa got to enjoy some little one-on-one time with Calvin so Jake and I could go on a movie date with Vince, Megan and Mitchel. We watched Avatar in 3-D. It was such a great movie, definitely a must-see! Later that evening, we gathered together for the Annual Powell Family Christmas Eve dinner. (No oyster stew unfortunately :)And after eating till we could eat no more, we played a challenging game of Christmas jeopardy. The Jordan Powell family won!! Woo-hoo! (Way to go, Dad, pulling out that '1965' answer!) Then before we tucked Calvin into his bed to wait for Santa to come, we had him open his first Christmas present...Christmas Eve jammies. Just the start of our new little family tradition! But Calvin wasn't the only one to open pajamas on Christmas Eve, Mom Powell got some for the whole family!

Hooray for Christmas Eve pajamas! (Calvin is taking the picture. Heehee, just kidding! He was in bed.)

Christmas morning was a little more special for us this year, it being Calvin's 1st. I think we were more excited on his behalf than he was! We ended up accidentally waking him up while talking outside his bedroom door trying to decide if we should wake him up. Problem solved. :) So we took him upstairs to see what Santa had left in his stocking. And what a surprise he had waiting for him! A rocking horse! This horse even made noises and moved his head and tail. It might have been a little too realistic for Calvin, who was very hesitant to ride it much less go near it! He had the same reaction to T-Bone when we first arrived, but by the time we left, it was difficult to keep Calvin away from him! T-Bone ended up trying to avoid Calvin instead. :)
After opening gifts and a waffle breakfast courtesy of Vincent and Megan, we all bundled up and headed outside to go sledding. Another first for Calvin, life is just more fun with a baby around!

Sledding on Christmas Day

Daddy teaching Calvin how to drive

Cowboy Calvin atop his trusty steed

Calvin checking out what Santa left for him in his stocking

Christmas Eve

Chilly winter evening on Temple Square

Santa Calvin

"Go, Grandpa, go!"

All in all, we had a great time being together with family. We would eat lots of yummy food, do some P90X and then eat some more! :) Jake continues to hold his title as "Emperor of Catan" after beating the rest of us soundly...not once, but twice...at Settlers of Catan. But we were able to get back at him playing 'Ticket to Ride' and 'Yahtzee'. Vacations are the best, especially when you're with family!

Powell Happenings

2009-12-13T19:31:00.012-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This has been an exciting week for our little family! Calvin took his first steps without holding onto mommy or daddy's hands. On Thursday, December 10, after Jake got home from work, we were sitting on our bedroom floor facing each other and letting Calvin practice walking back and forth. I was trying to show Jake how Calvin can stand on his own and Jake thought if he can do that, maybe he can walk too. And after a little practice, he did! He took three steps at the most and then would collapse into waiting arms. We are so proud of our little guy! And he is too! He couldn't stop smiling the whole time.

Last weekend was our Ward Christmas Social that I was in charge of. We did a ham dinner with a Talent Show following. Everything went fantastic! We had plenty of food (we're actually still eating ham and potatoes here at home!) and quite a few people signed up to share their talents! Jake and I performed a flute/guitar duet and played "Good King Wencelas" and "We Three Kings". Jake also did a guitar duet with our friend, Adam, and they played "The First Noel". And to kick off the talent show, Jake and three other guys from the ward performed an interpretive dance. It was classic!! (I've tried to post the video, but it's not working. Sad!)

On that note, a change happened this week. I was released from my calling as Activities Chair, that only lasted 3 months, and was a called to be the 2nd counselor in the Primary. I'm pretty nervous about what that entails, but I'm excited to work with the new President. Thankfully, the 1st counselor is a returning member of the last presidency, so she'll know what's going on. One good thing is that I won't have to attend Ward Council now, which is especially nice since we're moving to the 9:00 a.m. schedule with the New Year.

Jake had an interesting/scary experience this week in the clinic. He had a crazy patient he saw who has bipolar schizoaffective disorder. She was having a severe manic episode due to over-medication and couldn't fathom that her mental problems were a more immediate issue than the back aches she had originally come in for. She ran out screaming "Make him stop, mama! Make him stop!" An interesting phrase coming from a forty something year old! After an hour long interview with the patient and her screaming the entire time, the nurses finally took pity on Jake and came to his rescue telling him he had a phone call, which in fact he didn't. Just another day in the family practice clinic....

Other happenings this week, hmmm. We've started getting together with friends for FHE to play Nerts and have pizza. So fun! We have also taken the chance to drive around and enjoy Christmas lights. In Cape County Park north of town, there is a collection of light displays where anyone in town can set up their own display. So nearly every church, business and everyone else has one. It takes about 15 minutes to drive through and see them all. We did that last Sunday before watching the Christmas Devotional. All in all, it's been a fun week! We are really enjoying the Christmas time of year. We hope you are all too!

Calvin goes Mobile

2009-12-02T21:15:00.005-06:00

Calvin has really started becoming mobile this week! He army crawls all over the place, and I'm quickly realizing that this is going to require even more of our attention. It is actually quite humorous, because if he is really upset that I set him down somewhere, he cries and crawls all the way over to me. I was doing dishes the other morning and had set him down on the kitchen floor to play, which he wasn't very happy about! So he got on his tummy and proceeded to express his anger and frustration all the way over to my feet where he attempted to pull himself up on my legs! I thought he would enjoy his new found freedom to explore and go where he likes, but intead he uses it to get back to me. "I'm free, I'm free...I'm alone." Along with his ability to crawl, he is also getting more coordinated and confident in his walking abilities. He can now slowly walk along the couch while holding on to it and also is getting brave enough to try and stand only holding on with one hand! He will also move back and forth between chairs and tables while trying to balance himself. He loves it all! If you let him stand or walk he is the happiest baby I've ever seen! It is fun to see him grow and develop these new abilities, but it's hard too. I'm realizing that he is quickly leaving babyhood and becoming a toddler. I'm really nervous to think of what that entails. But so far, we've enjoyed every stage more and more, so I imagine it continues to hold joy beyond what I can imagine! Here are a couple videos of Calvin's new abilities.

Thanksgiving with the Powells

2009-12-02T20:37:00.005-06:00

We had a very fun Thanksgiving together with Mom, Dad and Mitchel here! Not only did we have a delicious and naturally fat-free Thanksgiving meal...I wish...but we also created many fun memories! Early morning walks, late night Yahtzee, pool games, puzzles, Wii tournaments and a fun time at the driving range! And of course, many cute moments of Calvin's first Thanksgiving. Here are some fun photos from our weekend!

Calvin wants to grow up to be train conductor...maybe on the Polar Express!

Grandpa and Calvin playing at the park.

Calvin's new favorite place to be, atop Grandpa's shoulders!

"Push me higher, Grandpa!!"

Calvin's first olive!

Even Calvin joined in eating the good food...a little mashed potatoes, turkey, yams and cranberry salad. Can you guess which was his favorite? One clue: it was red!

Three Years and Counting

2009-11-18T16:02:00.005-06:00

Today, Jake and I are celebrating being married for three wonderful years! We got too excited to exchange gifts and actually ended up doing that 2 days in advance...so we're making it a three day long celebration! We're really looking forward to our 50 year Anniversary when we get to celebrate for 50 days! :) It's been a great day so far. Jake brought me flowers and a card on his way home from work and then we received an amazing fruit bouquet from Mom Powell. Chocolate dipped pineapples and strawberries, yum yum! Tonight we plan to go out to dinner (probably Red Lobster so Jake can try the coconut shrimp which I've been raving about!), and then afterwards we're going to hit the mall (Jake gave me a Bath and Body Works gift card). So far it's looking to be a pretty memorable day. Here are some pictures from our celebrations so far.

The super yummy and pretty fruit bouquet from Mom Powell

Woo hoo...I can't wait to dive in!!

Jake's gift to me was a bag...for carrying Calvin!

He loves it!!!

Family Night brought to you by the letter 'P'

2009-10-27T22:03:00.007-05:00

On Monday night, we had a fun night centered around the letter P. (Coincidentally, I'm not that organized to plan ahead!) For dinner we had a Pineapple Pepperoni Pizza Picnic and for the activity we carved Pumpkins and watched "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". Here are some fun pictures from our night.

Our pumpkins (Left-Tiff's, Right-Jake's)

Carving the pumpkins
(Calvin had fun jumping and watching us make a mess!)

Our family tradition, watching "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"

Our Pineapple Pepperoni Pizza Picnic

The Yummy Pizza, I think one of the best I've ever made!

Meet me in St. Louis

2009-10-26T11:43:00.000-05:00

Calvin and Hobbes enjoying a day at the zoo.

A couple weeks ago, we went to St. Louis to go to the temple and the zoo. It was so nice to get to the temple finally, although it ended up being a short visit. We took turns doing initiatories, while the other stayed out with Calvin. It was all supposed to work out that Calvin would stay awake on the drive to St. Louis and then sleep while we were at the temple, so when we went to the zoo later he'd be well-rested. But of coursde, babies never do what you plan. The first part went fine he stayed awake all the way to St. Louis (a 2 hour drive) and was just falling asleep when we pulled into the temple. But as soon as that car stopped...BAM! wide awak! So I spent the first hour there trying to get him to fall asleep, while he was having too much fun being in the car not strapped into a carseat. So much to explore! Finally, he ended up crying himself to sleep just as Jake was getting out of the temple. So I thought, "Good, he can sleep for an hour while I'm inside." But just as I started initiatories, they decided to close it for the next half hour. I hadn't been in the temple maybe 15-20 minutes when I was all of a sudden done! Needless to say when we went to the zoo, we had one very sleepy boy. But who can sleep while at the zoo? :)

The zoo in St. Louis was amazing and best of all FREE! We met up with our friends, Jared and Suzy and their little boy, Van, who is only 3 months older than Calvin. They had driven over from Rolla, MO. At the zoo, we saw grizzly bears, rhinos, hippos, elephants, giraffes and so much more! One of the best 'exhibits' was the penguins! You seriously are right next to them! It's worth to go to the zoo if only for the penguins. It was such a beautiful day too! Since it was a cooler time of year, all the animals were very active. The tigers were chasing each other around and playing, the camels were up walking around, and even the bears were up playing with a ball. Such a great day! Afterwards, we went out for pizza with Jared and Suzy and then headed for the long drive home. Thank goodness, Calvin was so exhausted from the day, he slept the entire way home and then all through the night.

I was impressed with my cool picture of the elephant.

The Malaysian sun bear, he totally knew how to please a crowd!

A native to Missouri, the rhinocerous beetle.

Daddys and their boys.

Family picture in front of the seals, they were so talkative!

In the penguin exhibit at the zoo.

The grizzly bears were so active...and smelly.

Halloween fun

2009-10-26T11:25:00.015-05:00

Halloween has come and gone this year. But we sure had alot of fun creating memories as a family. To kick off the season, we went to our friends, Joe and Alyson's, Halloween party in West Plains. It was an Old-time Academy Awards themed party. Jake dressed up as Howard Hughes and I dressed up as his date, basically dressed in formal attire. (Pictures to come later.) It was so much fun. At the party, we played a murder mystery game throughout the night. There were two murderers who were supposed to wink at others and "kill" them off throughout the evening. Those who died then were supposed to shout out a clue about who killed them as they dramatically died. I was actually the first one of the evening to die. We were playing a boys vs. girls movie quotes game and I looked over at Jake and there it was, a sly wink. We had three minutes to plan out our death and we were supposed to die by a certain way (given to us on cards at the beginning of the game). I was supposed to die by rapidly talking myself to death. So at a point in the game, I started cheering on one of my teammates "you can do it, you can do it, you can do it" until I was standing up talking so rapidly then I collapsed shouting out "blonde hair." My death was so well-played that I won the best actress award!! If that all wasn't funny enough, talking to Jake later, he had forgotten that winking was how the killers were supposed to "kill" and he had actually innocently been winking at me to say hello from across the room!! So, I died in vain, but thankfully both of the killers had blonde hair. :)

We also attended our Ward Halloween Party, well, actually we planned and attended the Halloween party. After that experience, all I can say is, there will be one big advantage to moving out of this ward in a year and a half...being released as the activities chair!! :) All playing aside, it did go rather well. Calvin wore his adorable pumpkin costume and was so good for mommy and daddy all night. Jake wore his old standby costume, Jack Bauer from CTU. (It is definitely time we ventured out a bit!) For the activity we had a dutch oven dinner/cobbler, little games for the kids to play and a pumpkin patch and trunk or treating outside. And barely a breather after that activity is over and now I'm on to planning Christmas's already! But that wasn't our last party for Halloween, we made it a month long celebration this year. We also went to surprise birthday party a few days before Halloween, the invitation said we could dress up, so we did. But we were the only ones to dress up other than the kids. But thankfully our costumes weren't so elaborate that we felt too awkward. We both wore all blue and wore name tags saying "Hi, my name is Gene" and "Hi, my name is Jean." Yep, you guessed it, we went as a pair of blue jeans!! haha! But funny thing was, half the people at the party didn't know our real names so they kept thanking us for wearing nametags and kept calling us Gene/Jean. :) Calvin went dressed up as Samurai Jack and was a huge hit! Up until halfway through the party, he decided he would rather be a screaming banshee and proceeded to act out that role instead. So we left the party, and as soon as we were outside, he again became the little angel we sometimes know and always love. We're guessing he had been overwhelmed by all the noise and commotion.

And finally, Halloween day came!! From a month's warm up of parties, costumes and treats, we were ready to really live up the day. We made pumpkin pancakes with buttermilk syrup for breakfast, and if that doesn't sound sweet enough already, Jake added chocolate chips to the pancakes! Yumm! Definitely a new family tradition on Halloween. Following breakfast, we went for a walk. It had been raining all week long and finally we had a beautiful sunny morning. It could not have been more perfect. Then in the afternoon, we went to a volleyball game at the university. We are friends here with a couple and he works as an assistant coach for the volleyball team here. He actually used to play for BYU and was on the team the year they won Nationals. Anyhow, we went to the game and hung out with his wife and their little boy, Brock, who was dressed up as Bam-Bam. So cute! Calvin loved being at the volleyball game and was charming all the girls he could! :) In the evening, we went to a family's house for a taco soup dinner before trick-or-treating. They had about six families over, most of us being the new ones to the ward, so it was fun to get to know everyone a little better. While all the moms took their kids out trick-or-treating, we put Calvin down for a nap and played games with the dads back at the house. We played "Ticket to Ride", which is a new game we've been introduced to out here. It is alot of fun! Finally, we headed home to tuck our little pumpkin prince into bed and say good-bye to all Hallow's Eve for one more year.

Having fun at the volleyball game.

Our noble hero, Samurai 'Calvin' Jack

The Pumpkin Prince holding session with his pumpkin court.

Calvin finally succumbing to sleep on our morning walk, he put up a good fight.

Having lots of fun being outside and all bundled up against the cool weather.

Mom and Calvin stopping for a picture during the walk.

Daddy and Calvin on our Halloween morning walk.

Daddy making our yummy pumpkin pancake breakfast.

Meet the Powells

2009-10-23T22:03:00.000-05:00

One day, a young boy walked a young girl home from a church social. A tad bit shy and slightly soaking wet, the young boy feared utter rejection from the young girl if were to ask permission to court her. In turn, the young girl felt that he did not seem to reciprocate her affection. With the support of her bosom friend, the young girl’s courage was buoyed up and she asked him for a dance. A Dance, Dance Revolution! It was while dancing in socks and laughing over delicious Frostys and Jr. Bacon goodness that their future began. After five weeks of courting bliss, the young couple decided they were hooked. Next to a flowing mountain river with the wind whistling through the pines, the boy knelt down, the girl cried and a ring was placed upon her finger.

That first year of marriage was a dream come true. Living in an apartment in exotic Orem, Utah, the young couple grew together experiencing some of life’s unique happenings. An impromptu visit to the emergency room to remove a staple from his finger, teaching a hundred year old man how to shoot a basketball from a wheelchair, mountain biking Slick Rock trail in Moab, Utah, kissing under the Eiffel Tower and consuming many Little Caesar’s 5 buck pizzas. It was during this time, the young boy decided it was time to become a man. The requirements being to join the U.S. Air Force and attend medical school in Kirksville, Missouri. So, the young couple packed their few belongings into a trailer and drove cross-country to see what the wild, wild mid-west held in store for them.

As the couple soon found out, medical school is a tough battlefield, scattered with many dead corpses, literally. The couple rose to the challenge to find the best way to survive the demanding expectations placed upon them by the esteemed professors. Midnight study sessions, dinners on campus, and many lonely nights was all that it required. In the precious moments they had together, the couple created many fond memories, such as cooking dutch oven cobbler, playing Nerts with close friends, canoeing across a lake and cuddling in front of a roaring…cinema feature! It was not long before the couple decided they were receiving too much rest and relaxation and were ready to venture into the challenging world of parenthood!

Not long after, the young couple received all that they had hoped for...and more! Baby Calvin was a joy to all who beheld him! His insistent cries for food, sleep and immediate attention soon filled the home. A night’s rest had become a luxury fondly remembered from life’s past. But the joy that came with every coo and smile held no bounds. It was at this time, the young man decided he had received all the education he could from the good establishment in Kirksville. It was time to move his young family to beautiful Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

In Cape Girardeau, the young man would spend a month’s time observing and learning all he could from a doctor’s expertise, hoping to gain some insight into what destiny had in store for him. The young woman would spend her days teaching baby Calvin to play with toys, hold a spoon, roll over, and sit up. Until one day, to his parents expressed joy, Calvin decided to try his hand, or should we say foot, at walking. Holding onto his parents fingers, his determination and pleasure show with each hesitant, wobbly step that each foot makes. And this is where we find our young family at the moment. Looking together with excitement and anticipation for what surprises tomorrow holds.