Today Myra and Emily were hounding me about shooting videos of them playing so it got me interested in trying out Kino which is a free video editor for Linux.  After playing with it for a couple of hours, I've decided that Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro have NOTHING to worry about.  Even Windows Movie Maker works better.  But it's always fun to try out new things and I love it even more when that new thing is Open Source.  So here is the first in what I hope will be a long running series on the Davis Blog:  Funny Jokes With Myra!

Something happened to this entry and it never got posted.  I just now happened across it so I thought I'd toss it up on the net.  These are some pics from Myra's Field Day a couple of weeks ago.

More pics here.

WARNING: Toilet humor ahead:

Driving down the road the other day, we got behind this "environmental services" truck.  That's a nice way of saying it's a porta-potty sucker-outer.  I got a kick out of the words painted on the back of it.

As you can see, it has hand painted warnings telling you which pipes are for sucking poo and which pipes are for blowing it out. Obviously, the only reason to paint these warnings on there is because some goober has hooked them up backwards at some time or another. I can only imagine that fateful day at work when Bubba, or whatever his name was, accidentally hooked up the hose to the blower and forced 1000 psi of air pressure into a full porta-potty. Needless to say, we didn't follow this guy too close.

We've come up with a new rule this summer ... "Do NOT ask us repeatedly if we can go swimming."  Myra's gotten into the habit already of asking first thing in the morning if we can go swimming.  Sometimes we tell her "not today", sometimes it's "we'll have to see", and other times it's "we'll go after [whatever]".  That doesn't stop her from asking (or reminding us) about it later.  "Remember how you said we could go swimming after ..."  It's getting old.  Back to the rule.

If Myra asks after we've already answered whether we can go swimming or not, we stay home one day for every time she asks or reminds us.  In other words, once we've answered, there's NO MORE talk about going swimming.  We started the new rule this morning after telling her we would go swimming this afternoon.  Apparently, we underestimated her intelligence ...

NOAH (this afternoon when coming out of our room where he and Myra were watching cartoons): "Mommy, are we going to go swimming?"
MOMMY (knowing Noah's not one to ask): "Did Myra send you out here?"
NOAH (in his best girl voice):  "She said go ask Mommy when we get to go swimming."

I guess we're going to have to twique the rule a bit.

While driving past 24 Hour Fitness today, Noah says excitedly ...

"I see Kids' Club!  Look!  There's the sign!  It says 'Kids' Club!' "

THIS is the sign he saw ...

Today we had our 1st annual Faculty/Student Tennis tournament.  The kids on the tennis team all got to choose teachers to play doubles with them.  Apparently, I was highly sought after in the geek crowd.  My partner was an 8th Grader named Zach who is the number 3 player on the team.  I had played a couple of times in the last week in order to get back in the groove.  I forgot how much RUNNING there is in tennis!  Our strategy was to get me up at the net as fast and as much as possible.  It turns out, I'm kinda good at playing the net.  I really like slamming the ball on them. 

We played a team of 7th graders first round and we had a really hard time putting them away.  We were definitely better, but it took us 16 games to finally beat them.  Everyone else's matches were decided in 9-10 games.  Our win meant we were pitted against the School Police Officer and his partner, the number 2 man on the 8th grade team.  Officer Andy has a wicked 1st serve that I just could NOT return.  Luckily, he didn't land it in very often.  This was a really even match.  we kept going back and forth.  By the time we were finishing up, everyone else was done with their matches and we had a little crowd watching ours.  They kept hitting it cross court on us in an effort to run us into the ground.  I thought I was gonna throw up twice.  I think I strained a glute chasing down a ball, but I didn't want to let the Zach-man down.  I jumped up close to the net and punished them with hard shots directly at them.  It was really cool having everyone cheering us on.  This match went 14 games and we finally went down 6-8.  I know I'm gonna be sore tomorrow.  I think I'm gonna have to hit the court some this summer.  I can't believe how much fun it was!

This afternoon, I was watching TV and surfing the web.  Noah was playing with his trains on the floor in front of me.  Suddenly, he shoves something in my face and says, "Here, Daddy, eat this!  It's for you!"  It was a chewy so I opened up and he popped it in. 

"That is so nice sharing your chewies with me!"  I said.

"I don't have any chewies," replied Noah.  "I found that one down here," he said, pointing under the couch.

I have NO IDEA how long that thing was under the couch before I ate it.  It tasted OK, though.  I guess its true.  I WILL eat anything.

Last night, we went to good ol' Jack In The Box for dinner.  Myra being the adventurous eater she's been lately wanted to try their tacos.  She ate a whole one even though I don't think she really cared for it.  Noah actually ate his entire meal ... chicken BEFORE curly fries!  We decided to reward our big kids with a large Oreo shake for all to share.  As we're passing the cup around the table (Noah's suggestion on how to share), Noah says "Mmm ... I like the chocolate rocks in this ice cream!"  

(Taste of Home April & May 2008 - submitted by Pat Coffee of Kingston Washington)

Prep Time: 30min ... Bake Time: 35min

Ingredients:

1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
5 cups diced cooked chicken
20 flour tortillas (6 inches), room temperature
2 cans (10-3/4oz each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 cups (16oz) sour cream
1 cup milk
2 cans (4oz each) chopped green chilies
2 cups (8oz) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, water, onion powder, cumin, salt and pepper until smooth.  Stir in chicken.  Place 1/4 cup of mixture down the center of each tortilla.  Roll up and place seam side down in two greased 13in x 9in x 2in baking dishes.  In a bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, milk and chilies; pour over enchiladas.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until heated through.  Sprinkle with cheddar cheese; bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Yield: 10 servings

NOTE: Not knowing how the kids would react to this new dish, I only made a "half recipe".  The whole family loved it.  Myra had seconds and Noah had THIRDS and then leftovers later!  I'll probably continue to do half recipes unless we have guests to help eat it.

Today is wedding anniversary number EIGHT!  Trying to come up with something somewhat romantic to post while kids scream in the background is not an easy task.  I decided to search for some inspiration.  I finally found the perfect words ... by someone else.  (It's the thought that counts right?)

"The most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a growing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing; it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of divine accident, and the most wonderful of all things in life."  ~Hugh Walpole, Sr.

Here's to eight wonderful years.  I wouldn't change a single day of it.

It's time to bring everyone's favorite category back!  The family has been trying to eat better lately and, as a result, has tried many new recipes*.  The ones we end up liking, we'll happily share with you.  Now don't you feel special?  Hopefully, you'll try them and like them as much as we did.

*No, not all the recipes will be "healthy" but they won't be that bad for you either.  You can always make your own adjustments like we do ... sometimes.  Low fat whatever here ... low sodium whatever there.

After seeing a post on the Gode Blog (Hannah Said It), I've decided I need to get Josh to put up a link to our "They Said It" page.  Noah gave me a great one to add tonight.

Driving by a field with a Long Horn in it ....  "Look!  That cow looks like a reindeer's friend."