Hog Head Anyone

Yesterday at breakfast I was doing what I usually do - drinking a cup of coffee, eating my oatmeal, and reading the newspaper while listening to the boys play nicely and calmly. (Morning, after breakfast, is about the only time those words can be applied to my boys' play.) I was glancing through the grocery store sale ad when I almost lost my oatmeal.

I realize it may be somewhat culturally insensitive, and really, if you are going to kill animals for food, then doesn't it make sense to use as much of the animal as possible? But at the same time, couldn't they have hidden the WHOLE HOG HEAD (only $ .49 a pound!) on the back of the ad, you know, right next to the "quartered pork feet (previously frozen, $ .99/pound) or the Fresh Beef Tongue ($2.69/pound)? And further, does anyone know, exactly, precisely, what you are supposed to do with a whole hog head? Other than scare the crap out of your children and cause weaklings like me to nearly lose their oatmeal and immediately feed whatever pork products might be in the house (does this picture make YOU want salami?) to the cat?

I haven't disappeared

I've just been a very bad, bad blogger lately.

Why? Oh, largely due to my newfound Facebook addiction. I waited to sign up, but finally got around to it, and I'm not sure that's a good thing. Because I didn't already have enough ways to waste time around the internet. (Hello, LOLcats and all things related.)

So I thought (after being reminded by a few people that when you come over here, you are still greeted by pics from Halloween) that I could at least put up a few new pictures, give a little update.

We are headed to Missouri in about a week. YEA!!! It's been a year and a half since our last visit, so I am very excited. I'm not sure how we're going to do with the weather though. We had to turn our a/c back on today (really, it was HOT when we woke up), and I'm seeing that in MO it's a whole 8 degrees!!! We are going to freeze. Poor little Turner has never really even seen weather under freezing. We are hoping for snow, though, and maybe to build a snowman. Turner is totally in love with Frosty right now.

Eric was in Paris a week ago. The translation of his book came out, and he was brought over for a festival. Apparently, they LOVE him in France. And I was mentioned in a French newspaper, when they did an interview with him. Ah, how sweet.

The boys are growing like crazy. Turner, who hardly talked at all even a few months ago, has exploded with language lately. He says the funniest things and cracks me up. Guthrie has been going through some crazy growth spurt and outgrowing shoes faster than we can buy them. And Samantha turned 13. How that happened, I don't know, and it must stop, NOW, because that means in just 3 years she can drive. And in 5 she can vote. And then ... I can't even think about it.

Here are the boys with some of their handiwork. They had so much fun decorating this Christmas train, and then eating it. And yes, Turner is a mess, but that's what happens when you let kids play with icing and candy.