Dream of Space, Part 4 - Party Time

So Lisa persuaded me to break my usually solitary stargazing, and go ahead and attend a star party with the local astronomy club here in Abilene. Last night's party was actually sponsored by civic group in town, so in addition to the dozen or so club members, about 100 boy scouts, families and campers (it was at a state park ) filtered through to look through our telescopes.


It was fun to share my limited knowledge of the cosmos with people who had never seen a planet or galaxy through a telescope and it was pretty cool to mill about after the crowds had dispersed (see above) and look through other amateur astronomers scopes. I even met someone who's trying to sell a telescope I've been eyeballing for a little while - Lisa may regret sending me to mingle with bunch of other guys who are well-practiced in talking their wives into letting them spend thousands on a silly hobby.

Anyway here are a few more pictures I snapped.

Celestial triplet. From top to bottom, Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon:


The crescent moon. The earth-shine (that you can see in the above pic) showed up a lot better through the scope:


EDIT: Here's a better picture of the Earth-shine. It's from sunlight reflecting off the Earth, to the Moon.



The constellation Cygnus or the "Summer Cross". The five bright stars in the shape of a cross that is leaning a little to the right at the bottom-center of the photo. Right smack-dab in the middle of the Milky Way:


A shot straight up. The Andromeda Galaxy is the fuzzy spot in the middle:


A sweeping shot of the Milky Way. We had pretty nice dark skies, except for some light from Abilene in the bottom right:

Santa's Little Helpers

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I have not finished Christmas shopping. Nothing is wrapped. No cards are prepared yet. Nothing has been shipped. No tree is set up, and not a single light or decoration is on the house. But c'mon, first things first! Make a pointlessly amusing video to entertain your family and friends. Merry Christmas!

Bye-bye, Black Friday

For the second year in a row, I missed out on Black Friday shopping because of sick/injured children. Last year, I had planned for weeks to go to OK City with Hillarie, spend the night away, get up in the middle of the night and shop!! But literally 10 minutes before I left, Brian was horsing around in the living room, fell face first into the coffee table and split his lip open. I called Hillarie and cancelled, ran Clayton over to Kelly's house, and we took Brian to the ER. He was fine, just needed some 'super glue' to close the wound.
Then this year, I planned to go to a couple of stores with Megan- nothing too much. But Thanksgiving night Clayton got really sick- he was crying and miserable just about all night. I took him to urgent care Friday morning. Turns out he has an ear infection (his first) AND strep throat. He is doing better at the moment- still not feeling great, but better than yesterday. He slept all night last night, which was good for both of us.

Since Clayton was doing better, I ventured out to a few garage sales this morning. And I got better deals than any Black Friday sale!! No horrible mobs or long lines either. My best find was a Little Tikes wooden desk for Brian:It retails for $149! And I got it for $5. It had a bunch of crayon/marker mess on top, but Magic Eraser got it all off. What a deal.

So, I hereby give up on Black Friday. Not worth it. I will stick to garage sales. And who knows- maybe this new resolve will break my 'curse' and my kids will stay healthy over Thanksgiving weekend!

Simply Wonderful

This Thanksgiving was a little different than last year. Last year we had a huge get-together with all our friends on base at Vance:It was so much fun- here are my friends Stephanie, Leah, Krista and Hillarie with me, wearing the aprons we made!This year was completely different- it ended up being just Andrew and I for Thanksgiving dinner! At first I was a little bummed, but I have to say it turned out awesome. Andrew and I spent all day cooking together and having fun with the boys. Then we put the boys down for a nap and had a wonderful dinner for two.
It was cool! We got to cook exactly what we wanted, when we wanted. I did not stress about getting the house clean, or transporting food to another location. We have enough leftovers to feed us for weeks. Oh, and did you notice our high-class Pyrex cup 'gravy boat'? Yep. And we still got to see our friends the Thorup's, who were kind enough to bring dessert to our house to share!

What a nice day. I am blessed beyond what I deserve. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Because our house was not quite messy enough.

I bought these for the boys at Walmart. They LOVE them, especially Clayton. His speech therapist says coloring is a really good activity for him, since it is self-directed and there are no 'wrong answers'. Also, we can talk a lot about colors and the things we draw together. So I thought these bath crayons would be good. A bit messy, but fun. They are not too hard to clean- maybe it'll motivate me to clean the bathroom more often?Here is Clayton's back- and front. No, his bottom tooth is not chipped- he just tried to eat the red crayon. Luckily he did not like the taste and hopefully will not do that again.
And below is our other son, Beelzebub.
My friend Harmony pointed out on her blog that there is a terrible lack of pictures of Mom on nearly every blog we've ever seen. So true. I'm usually the one taking pictures, and I hate to be in them! But I'm trying to at least get a few pictures with me- so 50 years from now it will not look like my kids were motherless. Here is one of me and the boys chillin' and watching a movie together.

All's Well that Ends Well

This has been one crazy week! As you might recall from a few posts ago, my awesome friend Kelly and her three gals came for a visit. She has an almost-two-year-old named Ava and 4-month-old twins Ella and Thalia. Here are the twins- Thalia in front, Ella in back:
Anyway, our visit started out perfect- we had a great time at the Abilene Zoo as I wrote before. But that night, Ava got so sick! She had very labored breathing and was vomiting. It was awful. Kelly and I ended up taking her to the ER where they did x-rays and other tests- turns out she had pneumonia! So Kelly's husband Jeremy drove down from Altus (about 3 hours away) and Ava had to stay in the hospital until Monday evening. Oh, I just hate when little ones are sick!! Not only is it horrible to see your child suffering, but it is so hard to not know exactly where/how they are in pain.

The good news is, Ava is doing fine now and Kelly made it back home to Enid safe and sound. Kell, I love you!! I am so terribly sorry about Ava being sick- but even with all the craziness, I'm so glad I got to see you all. Also, Happy Birthday Ava!!

Anyway. Things are getting back to normal around here. On Wednesday I went to Brian's preschool for their 'Thanksgiving Feast'- it was so cute. I forgot to bring the camera, but here's a picture of the placemat he made. School has been an adjustment for Bri, but I'm so proud of how well he's doing!
Yesterday we went to the B-1 store at Andrew's squadron building- it is just a little booth that is open once every few weeks, and they sell awesome B-1 items. We bought T-shirts for each of the kids, including this onesie for Dory (that's the name we've picked, FYI). Is this the cutest thing ever? I think it might just be.
Today Laura, Lily and I went to some sweet garage sales- I bought some great girl clothes for so cheap! Also a bulletin board for Brian's million school art projects for $0.50. I also bought us a new stroller/infant seat combo. The one we used with the boys is pretty worn out, and this one is so nice! It is an Eddie Bauer, and it is priced online for $279.99. I got it for $50- not bad! I already put it away in the garage so I'm being lazy and using the stock photo:
Anyway, quite the week. But everything has turned out good!

Dream of Space, Part 3 - Another Wager, Another Telescope

For those who don't know us well, and many who do, it may come as a surprise that Lisa and I have a problem - a gambling problem. For almost as long as we've been married, it's been a compulsion of ours to bet on anything and everything. From big things like an unborn child's gender to little trivialities like what time the mailman will come - a common refrain in the Monks household is "wadaya' wanna bet on it?".

Many of you recall our LAST WAGER, and how it ended. Well, it came to be several weeks ago that while awaiting the delivery of our long-overdue new couches, Lisa and I made a bet on what time they would arrive - the only information given from the delivery men being "in the next hour or so". My bet was before a certain time, while Lisa bet after that time. Much to my delight, the truck finally came (after my cursing every other truck that rumbled by) and they rung the doorbell not more than 10 seconds before the cutoff time! So, I won a nice used Craigslist telescope.


It's about the same performance as the one I already have, but with a couple big differences. It's a bit lighter and easier to transport, and it's easily adaptable for photography. It's still not perfect, since it doesn't have motorized tracking for long exposure photography, but it's a step up. Here are a few pics:

This is the double star cluster in Perseus. It shows how "colorful" stars actually are - and how nice it would be to have a scope that automatically tracks a target:


Speaking of color, here's a shot of the double star Alberio:


A "close-up shot" of Polaris:


Another shot of the moon. Meh:


An attempt at the Andromeda galaxy. Just too dim to capture without a long, guided exposure:


And finally, the Nebula in Orion. Not quite as crisp and bright as it appears to the eye, and not nearly as spectacular as it appears in long exposure astrophotographs - in it's true blue, red and purple:


I can get some pretty good snapshots, but with a nicer telescope rig I could get those magazine-quality shots. I guess Christmas is coming up. Just in case that falls through, anyone got any inside picks or hot leads? Doesn't matter what - horses, babies, politics, furniture deliveries, the price of milk - we'll bet on anything.

Baking With Brian

Directions for Blueberry Buckle by Brian:

1. Run to the kitchen when Mommy suggests baking a treat. Baking with Mom is my favorite thing to do.

2. Yell out the name of each ingredient as Mommy pulls them out of the cupboard/fridge.

3. Help Mommy dump the dry ingredients into the mixer.

4. Turn on the mixer full-speed while Mommy isn't looking.
5. Act surprised when Mommy yelps. Point out to Mommy that the kitchen is "A Mess!".

6. Under increased supervision, add milk, eggs, then blueberries.

7. Help Mommy grease the pan.

8. Sneeze into greased pan. Wait for Mommy to clean it out.

9. Spread the batter in the pan. Rejoice when Mommy finally lets me lick the spoon.10. Mix the crumbly topping and help spread it on the cake.
11. Remind Mommy multiple times that the oven is "HOT!" when she puts the cake in.

12. Read two books about airplanes. Whine for a while. Help Mommy clean up the kitchen. Open the fridge 37 times.

13. Help eat the yummy cake!

Blueberry Buckle from: Laura Ward

This is a delicious blueberry coffee cake. Great for a breakfast or dessert or anytime!

In large bowl or standing mixer:
3 c. flour
1 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. shortening

Add:
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs

Beat vigorously 1/2 minute.

Fold in 2-2 1/2 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen). Spread into greased 9x13 pan.

Topping: Mix until crumbly.
2/3 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. flour
1/2 c. margarine (softened only slightly)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Sprinkle topping over batter. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes, or 45-50 minutes if you used frozen blueberries.

Faulty Towers

Tonight Clayton was having fun building the tallest towers he could on the pegboard. He was very focused and very particular about which peg to use next. They would usually fall after about ten blocks.


I took a couple of great pictures of Clayton when he made a tower with ALL 25 blocks (Daddy helped) . . . but I'm an idiot and did not have a card in the camera. Oh well!

Hat Day

Today was Hat Day at Brian's preschool, which he was pretty happy about as you can see. What a cheese-ball.

Abilene Zoo

Our friend Kelly and her daughters Ava, Ella and Thalia arrived yesterday! We are so excited to see them. Ava is just a few weeks apart from Clayton, and the twins are almost 5 months. We decided to go to the zoo today. Between us we have 5 kids- all in carseats- and only one who is (mostly) potty-trained. Brian had preschool today, and we took the twins to a babysitter. Arranging all the driving/dropping off/picking up this morning took only slightly more planning than a NATO conference.

Anyway. We met Lily, Merritt, Laura and Kaylee at the zoo and had a blast! We took our trusty choo-choo wagon, and got to feed a peacock first thing (they sell special animal food-crackers at the ticket counter):Then we went to the 'Creepy Crawly Center'- Kaylee was a big fan of the snakes!
Here are Kaylee, Clayton and Ava watching the birds.The coolest thing had to be the giraffes. We got to walk up on the bridge and feed them!That is some serious tongue action. Anyway, after spending a couple of hours of feeding crackers to every animal and toddler in sight (not the same crackers, don't worry) we were ready to go. It was a fun day!

Bling-bling

Andrew bought me a new ring!! Isn't it beautiful??
We bought it at this fancy little boutique here in Abilene called Walmart. For $8.88. My hands are too swollen for my regular ring, and I'm tired of looking like an unwed mother.

Anyway, we went to Walmart to buy Brian new underwear, buy me a ring, and just for something to do. Andrew even suggested on the way there that he could buy the biggest, tackiest fake ring available and propose to me in the middle of Walmart . . . just to freak people out and solidify our white-trash evening. We didn't do it, but man, that would have made for a killer blog post!

Thrills and Spills

It's official- we will be moving to South Dakota next year! Andrew will be stationed at Ellsworth AFB. It is right by Mt. Rushmore (Mom, start planning your visit. Everyone else, my Mom's lifelong dream is to visit Mt. Rushmore) and everyone we've talked to loved living there. It is located by Rapid City, and is only about 10 hours from Salt Lake. Now, I wouldn't have minded staying here in Abilene because I LOVE it here, but I think Ellsworth will be great too!

More good news- our friends the Fryer's are here! And . . . they got a house on base . . . and it's on our street!!! I can hardly believe my good luck. I'm so excited. I mean, at Vance there were about 5 streets on base housing, so chances were fair that you'd live close to your friends. The base here is so humongous- there are at least 30 streets- it is a definite blessing that they are on our street.

Anyway. The boys are doing fine- Brian keeps getting my hopes up with the potty-training, and then dashing them. We are persisting with it though. And Clayton is doing great- he has learned the sign for 'car' and it is so cute. He also teaches Mommy a thing or two, such as the value of good cleaning products. I broke out my new Swiffer WetJet earlier than I'd planned, because yesterday Clayton managed to grab a glass (with chocolate milk no less) from the counter and shatter it on the kitchen floor. Let's just say I am a big fan of the Swiffer. And Clorox Wipes. I think if you look really close at the fine print on Clorox Wipes it says "Designed for Lisa Monks and her Sons".

For MorMor and Grandma!

This post is for my Mom (the boys' MorMor, which is Swedish for 'mother's mother') and my mother-in-law (Grandma). Since Brian is a total IMP and will not talk to his grandparents on the phone, I taped this video yesterday. Just FYI, this video was taken not five minutes after I got off the phone with my mom- where he refused to say one stinkin' word. TWERP.



And here is a picture of Clayton in his cute birthday outfit from MorMor and MorFar! He is breaking it in just fine, as you can see.

First Day of School (again)

I guess part of the joy of being a military family is having more than one 'first day of school' a year! Today Brian started his new preschool- he has been SO excited all weekend. They have blue shirts they wear every day, and he goes 3 mornings a week. Clayton is not going to preschool- they had a huge waiting list for his age, plus I think 3 days a week is too much for him. So we'll wait til next year.
Anyway, Brian had a pretty good first day! It always takes him a little time to learn what to expect in a new situation- but once he knows, he is good to go. And I think this second picture is my new favorite picture of him.

Dream of Flight, Part 7 - A Flying Apostle?

No, not me. Elder Uchtdorf.


Maybe the "coolest" thing to happen to the Quorum of the Twelve since Joseph Fielding Smith.


Or President Packer. Or Elder Hales. Alright, now I might be bordering on sacrilegious. They're all equally "cool" regardless of prior aviation credentials.

Anyway, I ran across this NEWS REPORT about him visiting my alma mater to speak to aviation students and then fly for the first time since he retired. Pretty cool I thought . And check this out, he does the same thing with his foot that I do when I speak:


So, speaking of speaking, Lisa and I were asked to speak in church next week - and wouldn't you know it - the topic happens to be possibly the ONLY conference address Elder Uchtdorf has given in which he doesn't talk about flying.

What luck.

Errr, I mean what a blessing.

(I'm not sure the laptop's surge protector is rated for the kind of voltage this post might attract.)

Trick or Treat

Okay, this is just a funny sequence of photos. Clayton was trying to grab Brian's costume, and Brian was ducking away. But they are taken so quickly together that it looks like Clayton is punching his brother out! Here are the boys finally ready to go to a block party before trick-or-treating! Below is Clayton kicking back and Brian balancing his treat basket on his head . . .Our awesome new friends Becca & Mike had a get-together with everyone on our street. We got to meet lots of people. And since they also have two little boys, Becca brilliantly got out lots of cool cars and toys for the kids! It worked like a charm, for Clayton especially.


Um, this photo (above) of Brian creeps me out. We had just returned from trick-or-treating, which he loved. But he was getting pretty tired . . . as you can see: