Noah wanted to post this story on our blog. He told it to me and I transcribed it.

Without further ado, here is Noah's story:

Firetrucks had a fire and the police came, too. Fire Department and one day the alarm set off and then they were speeding down the road. And then fire and they were speeding super fast. And then they had their siren on. And then the police, they think the house fire was started on purpose.

They came to see. And then the firemen shoot their water out. The house got put out.

-The End

Noah also wanted this picture to go with it:

The other night in the car Noah said, "Can you tell me how the world works?" The kid is a hoot. He started preschool on Monday and loved it. The teacher reported that he repeatedly reminded her when she told him it was time for lessons, "I only came here to play." We had a good talk afterwards, mostly about how preschool was for work and play. Madeline is adjusting to having alone time with me. So far I think she likes it too but I can tell she wishes she could stay at preschool with Noah. Luke is staying afloat, barely, this week amidst deadlines and not enough time. And I, I am...trying to keep busy to pass the time. Wedding pictures are coming, I promise.

Don't look now, but I'm pretty sure life is just as chaotic post wedding glory. The school year for Luke has begun with a bang! Full time student, full time accounts payable clerk, fully time dad and new husband with a T.A. position on the side. I am back in the saddle as full time Danimum. Sure my title seems a lot simpler, but don't count me out of the madness and mayhem. Noah is attempting to grow up with out growing up and Madeline is enjoying the terror of being two. More to come at a later date...

Its true! We're married. And the wedding week was a sensational recipe for exhaustion. We had so many friends and family in town to visit with; there was never a dull moment! Brittany, a mutual best friend of both Luke and I, and also the officiant at our wedding, flew in from Massachusetts especially for us. While here she waited for her luggage to arrive, made several late night trips to the store for essentials, got her "crook nook" rook pierced and did a fantabulous job making sure our special day was spectacular and smooth. We are forever grateful for her calming presence! Also in the line up of helpers was Ann, Crystal, and my sister, Alexis. We couldn't have done it with out you. Another special Eastern guest was Julie Z and her boyfriend Matt! They turned every party into a PAR-TAAAAAY!

There aren't any pictures with this post. If you haven't had your fill already, check out any of my friends' facebook albums. I promise to put the official ones on here once I have them in my own sweaty palms.

I know we've neglected our readers, please don't judge us too harshly. We've been too awfully busy to post regularly. Rest assured, yet again, that when we get a chance we will post like crazy, pictures and all. We have a trip to the zoo, a 4th Birthday, and a wedding to share. Woo hoo. Whewww. Wiping of the brow.

Just the like the Wizard of Oz, our trip was a journey full of ups and downs, including but not limited to our run in with the TSA, wake boarding attempts, trampoline time and a drum session, a bridal shower, (tiara included) ping pong, colder than cold Spokane nights in a camper, and a loss of all running water for a night and half a day. Woot! Three cheers for vacations from vacations! Hopefully down this yellow brick road there will be pictures to post from other sources because we forgot our memory card. :(

So this is it. Luke is about to meet the entire Staeb family at a reunion in Spokane. I've been looking forward to this for months and uber glad Luke has what it takes to come with me. Wish us luck. We'll have lots to share when we return, if we return that is.

I wanted something spectacular to report here. I wanted some event that would shake all my reader's boots. So I waited and waited for that spectacular boot shaking...and then I waited some more. Instead I have mildly amusing and informative report to give about the last month or so of the Faeb household.

1) Luke finished designing the invitations and we got a real steal when we had them printed at Kinko's. Here's a shout out to Tarrah's manager! She's great. Promptly following that escapade that really wasn't much of an escapade because they made it so easy for us, we celebrated at one of our habitual eateries, Raydean's. Shout out to the Turkey Melt and the Monte Cristo with the strawberry sauce! You never let us down.

2) I signed up for a six week ballet class for beginners on Monday evenings in July and August! Great work out and me time as the wedding approaches.

3) My girls, Ann and Caitlin, made a visit to Idaho and it was an extremely rejuvenating weekend full of butt gusting laughter, sharing time in our bathing suits basking pool side, and great food.

4) I realized I'm not ready to spend $70 on two cosmetic items. Buyer's remorse for sure. So I took them back and found the less expensive versions and I'm so happy with them.

5) Noah is showing signs of severe boredom. I can't wait for him to experience preschool this fall.

6) I'm growing more and more excited for the Staeb Family Reunion in Spokane. Less than 9 days!!!

7) The fun stuff of the wedding planning for me is definitely the DIY and getting things done and checked off my list. Current projects lined up are bouquets, bridal jewelry, table decorations, music equipment, and food reservations. Yay!

Well thats pretty much it. If I remember anything else exciting I'll be sure to post. Keep your eyes open for boots that wiggle with spectacular force.

Testing...testing...is this thing on?

Turns out we haven't posted in a couple months (whose counting?). Here's a brief update from the eyes of Luke:

1. The wedding is in two months. Eeek. We'll have invitations out by this Saturday (Thanks for the help Kylie!)
2. Lack of school is starting to get to me. I feel antsy to be doing something.
3. Dani is going in for her dress fitting soon!
4. I still need a groomsman.
5. I entered a short story in the Mid-American Review's Fineline Competition. It's called "The New Place in Port Harbor." If you want to read it, look for an issue of the MAR in October or so. It'll be the winner :) (Or I'll get another rejection letter to add to my binder!)
6. I've been trying to record songs in Garageband. I love my Mac.
7. My ankle is healing well. I'd say I'm at about 95% range of motion.
8. Dani's ankles look spectacular in her purple flats. But they were never injured.

That's all for now. I'm the strong silent type. Perhaps I can get Dani to fill you in on the rest.

Its like we didn't know what a treasure we had in our neighborhood until the the snow melted. The Boise Greenbelt, we sing your praises. It was on this beautiful and friendly path, that we now try to walk at least once a day, that Madeline discovered the lipstick shade for her, Dandelion!! Tonight Noah declared "No goose poop in this town," which is the farthest from the truth that he could get. In our "pretty good adventures" as Noah likes to call them, we have also seen a fisherman, a man being pulled on a skateboard by two dogs, a drunken wanderer, two cats which could have also been the same cat twice, and a firetruck complete with firemen. This was a huge highlight! One of the men noticed our curiosity and came over and offered us three official fire fighter stickers. Noah gave one to Daddy as soon as he got home, and Luke wore it to class that night. Stay tuned for pictures and potty updates. That's right, Madeline wore her first pullup today and has gone on the potty four times in the last week. We're uber ecstatic!!

Roll back the cruel curtain of winter, ladies and gents, and kindly make room for Noah the Great and Madeline the Marvelous. Here is a true account of their feats to date. First up are Chickens Daringly Defying Gravity!

Next up, Dashing Disguises. You may recognize the Hottie from TopGun and also Blue/White Collar Confusion Boy/Man.

Hot on their trail is Bunny Bellie!! (Special thanks to Gram Gram and Pop Pop, who made this trick possible.)

Please hold on to your hats for the fantastic finale, Puppets Galore!!!

That's All Folks!

Some of you may know that I've had a lull in my sewing projects because of a non-functioning machine, but those days are finally over. Grandma B. was kind enough to lend me a machine she picked up at a garage sale a while back, and once I figured out through an online diagram how to load the front loading bobbin, (which took a sizable amount of tries) I was all set. So here are some photos of the finished projects. I've been focusing on grocery totes and bags so that I can reduce the amount of plastic that our household uses. PS. I still have tons of ideas in my head and material to reuse in my closet for more.




Front.


Back.

Check out this awesome video of Noah and Madeline!

Noah, while usually very camera shy, was eager to sport his MC Hammer dance. Madeline, too, was eager to show off her pipes.

It felt like 70 degrees outside today. If you are one like me who had forgotten what that means, it means; it is warm enough to go outside without a jacket, or gloves or scarves, or boots. It is warm enough to go out in a skirt or shorts. It is warm enough to turn off the heat in the car and manually roll down all the windows. That also means its atmospherically pleasant enough to try and cross the monkey bars in order to impress certain toddleheads I know. Of course, my bones didn't get the memo so they're creaking now, particularly around the pulled section of my neck. Always warm up first. You'd think I would have thought of that.

I'm sick yet again. That's four times in the past 5 weeks.



The title pretty much covers the basis for this blog post, but in case any of you go searching for the perfect sore throat remedy, you won't find Get Better Bears. Not in stores. Not online.

Its been almost five years since I had my first grape flavored sore throat sucker that worked miracles for my laryngitis, but I have never forgotten. I will never forget. Come back Get Better Bears. Come back.

1. Sew. Sew an apron, sew a bag, sew placemats, sew homemade underwear from well loved t-shirts. Sew. Sew. Sew.

2. Not spend another penny on myself, or maybe I should limit that to anything that might add to my recently lavishly updated wardrobe. Yes that is specific enough.

3. Eat healthy balanced meals with a fruit and/or veggie in all of them. Banana chips count.

4. Play more with Noah and Madeline. More Lego house building. More dancing and puzzle doing.

5. Finish and or continue reading one of four books I've started in the past eight months.

So to all of you who eat fresh produce; Wash! Wash! Wash! before eating. I more than urge you to do this simply because today I found a dead fly on my lettuce after removing it from its plastic packaging.

Also, how many of you knew that Caesar salad was my favorite salad dressing until just a few days ago? Oh yes, it was, (ok so it still mostly is,) but I certainly got the shock of my life when a former culinary art student informed me that the black specks in the dressing are not pepper, but are in fact, ground up anchovies. At first I believed he was simply trying to trick or disgust me, but no, I checked my personal stash at home and sure enough, the 8th ingredient is anchovies. This is another example of how it proves wise to Read before eating as well.

Well, its been a while since I've updated on the wedding plans, so I thought I would share what we've got so far. We have reserved a place and a date! We're planning an outdoor wedding at Woodriver Cellars in Eagle on the evening of August 20th. I have also bought the dress, which I will not reveal here on the blog, but rest assured its fabulous!
Oh and I thought I'd also post about how my ring finally arrived. For those of you who don't know, I've never wanted a diamond and so I told Luke to look for a sapphire. He sure did. Months of research lead him to GreenKarat.com. I am so pleased to have bought from a company that is eco-friendly and environmentally responsible. I encourage all of you to check out their site through this link (http://www.greenkarat.com/mykarat/mykarat.asp)

And here is the jewel!

This year, I got to be in charge of Valentines Day. I decided to go the non traditional route. I spent the day with my friend Crystal, deceiving, driving, waiting, and watching. The two of us conspired against, or rather for, the love's of our lives in giving them a day of adventure and fun. Here are some pictures and samples from their scavenger hunt.

"Hooray, your V-day has begun.

V, of course, is for scaVenger fun.

Each place holds a clue to the next

All you have to do is read the text.

Today you'll have to use your smarts

Work together and follow these hearts."



They found their first clues and rules on the seats of the Neon. They managed to lose them from there too!



Apparently the clues were TOO EASY. They found them in no time.



They were lucky we didn't make them go swimming for this one.



These gentlemen helped our men by reading aloud.

A toy to help the frustrated parent in the modern age. Sure, we can potty train, teach please and thank you, but how are we supposed to teach our children how to peacefully succumb to unwarranted, unnecessary, and unconstitutional searches by the TSA?

Answer: The Playmobil Security Checkpoint!
My favorite part is this review:

I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger's shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger's scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said "that's the worst security ever!". But it turned out to be okay, because when the passenger got on the Playmobil B757 and tried to hijack it, she was mobbed by a couple of other heroic passengers, who only sustained minor injuries in the scuffle, which were treated at the Playmobil Hospital.
The best thing about this product is that it teaches kids about the realities of living in a high-surveillence society. My son said he wants the Playmobil Neighborhood Surveillence System set for Christmas. I've heard that the CC TV cameras on that thing are pretty worthless in terms of quality and motion detection, so I think I'll get him the Playmobil Abu-Gharib Interogation Set instead (it comes with a cute little memo from George Bush).

Sunday was Madeline's birthday. We had a small get together in her honor over at Grandma's house on Monday night, here are just a few pictures:

Cake by Grandma



Maddoh preparing to think about blowing out her two candles.


Frog Maddoh loves presents!


Noah acting interested.


Madeline likes this novel okay, but really prefers the Russian translation.

So yesterday it was Madeline's birthday!!! Yay, we get to celebrate it tonight at Grandma Beaver's house with Aunt Sheryl and Jennifer!Don't worry, we'll take pictures and post them too, but this post is really about, you guessed it, the things those cutie patuties say.

Luke: Lewy, how old are you?
Lewy: (She held up her fingers and said,) Two old.

So today we were all enjoying playdoh time when Noah asked what lions do. I replied that they Rrroarrr and they chase animals.
"Do they bite?" he asked.
"Yes, they do."
A few moments later...
"Sometimes they don't bite," he declared.
"Like when, Noah?"
"On Tuesdays."

The Fiction 101 results for the 2009 contest have been published. The judges had exceptionally poor choice this year and did not pick either Dani's story or Luke's for 1st or 2nd place. Or even 3rd.

In fact, the only story that we submitted that did get published was titled In Tongues, and was written by Luke. It snagged one of the two honorable mention prizes as well as $75 bucks.

It is reprinted here:

In Tongues

Inside Foursquare Pentecostal, our mother paces aisles, swallows hot coffee, and waits her turn to be knocked down by Jesus.

My kid brother spins this yarn about his birth: says the nurse on duty swears on a stack of bibles she's never seen a baby flail so much. Says she nearly fumbled the catch. He signs this story with whipping, exaggerated arm motions. He's mute, see? That's part of the joke.

Soon, we'll line up between pews with Mom. She'll stand, singing, raising her arms toward God. My brother will mouth silent hymns, praying, waiting his turn to be born again.

**
ARTICLE LINK.

Surely, you readers out there, know I won't be out done, not even by my hubby to be. So this is my recap of 2008 and my predictions of 2009.

2008
1. I fell in love for the second time with my first love.
2. We couldn't stand being apart so we found an apartment in Nampa and moved in.
3. I became a Danimum.
4. I bought my first sewing machine.
5. I wrote in a blog for the first time.
6. Out of desperation for adult interaction, I started watching Dr. Phil and Oprah.
7. We said "No More" to the smell and the commute. We found an apartment in Boise and moved in.
8. I found myself on Youtube. Singing lessons were suggested.
9. I discovered the fun in cheering for Bronco football.
10. The man I've wanted to be with since I was 16 asked me to marry him!!!!

2009
1. I'll finally exhibit my craftiness on Etsy.
2. Someone will pay me great sums of money for a pair of unique homemade earrings.
3. I'll get addicted to exercising instead of carbs.
4. I'll stay stress free while planning the most beautiful and creative wedding the world has ever seen.
5. Madeline and I will work together to get her potty trained.
6. I'll forgive myself for my shortcomings.
7. I'll enjoy more, fret less.
8. I'll bake more.
9. I'll become an official wife and Danimum.
10. I'll solve for world peace. Instead of war, how about a game of checkers? Anyone?

After winning the Boise Weekly's Fiction 101 contest in early January of 2008, I boldly proclaimed 2008 as the year of Luke. How could it be anything else? Momentum was on my side; I was free from a bad marriage, I had just won the most prestigious literary contest in the state (just follow me here), and I had a whole new year in front of me. The world, as they say, was my oyster. I would be famous, I was sure, in just 12 months. I would meet the woman of my dreams, publish the great American novel, and settle into my vacation home in Maui to drink virgin margaritas for the rest of my stress-free days. Well, one of these things worked out for me, and I have yet to try a margarita.

In the year 2008, here is what I actually accomplished:

1. Finalized my divorce.
2. Re-met and proposed to my first love.
3. Moved back to Boise.
4. Got much better at Pictionary.
5. Met two, count em', two new friends.
6. Started a writing blog that is sparsely populated and infrequently visited by anyone.

An array of accomplishments, sure, but hardly enough to justify the renaming of an entire year.

However, this morning, while sulking in my own gloom, I came across a reassuring sign:



I was mistaken! 2009 is the year of Luke! NOT 2008! How could I have been more wrong?!

So this year, it is officially my new year's resolution to get published in a major literary outlet. This means Tin House. It means Ploughshares. It means Zoetrope. It does NOT mean the Boise Weekly. I know, I know, watch your step, you don't want to slip and fall in all that overflowing ambition.

Non-literarily, but just as (and probably more) importantly, these are my goals for 2009:

1. Meet my goal weight (yeah, right, me and the rest of the country).
2. Become a better father to two amazing toddlers.
3. Plan and execute the most beautiful and unique wedding the world has ever seen.
4. Learn to be an amazing husband and provider to my new wife, Dani.
5. Write a more entertaining end of year blog post for 2010.

Happy New Year, readers!

I will try to encourage Dani to write one of these annual recaps for you as well.