The Strangest Compilation of Music Ever

If you've spent any time at all in a car with my three-year-old son then you know that he is VERY particular about his music. There are a select few songs that he likes to listen to OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER... and you get the idea... again.

I've gotten into way too many near-accidents fumbling through my various CD's trying to keep him happy, so I finally compiled one single CD with all his favorite songs. For his future embarrassment, I present to you the strangest compilation of music ever- Booker's All-time Favorites, 2008-2009 Edition:

1. Wake Up- Arcade Fire

2. Africa- Toto (yes, that Africa song)

3. Kids- MGMT

4. She's Like a Rainbow- The Rolling Stones

5. Time to Pretend- MGMT

6. On the Radio- Regina Spektor

7. Lucky Today- Cloud Cult

8. Forever- Chris Brown (thanks to this video)

9. Come on Eileen- Dexy's Midnight Runners

10. Sure Shot- Beastie Boys

11. The Fixer- Pearl Jam

12. The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song- The Flaming Lips

13. Girls Just Want to Have Fun- Cyndi Lauper

14. Baby Beluga- Raffi

15. Share My Sillies Out- Raffi

I'm not sure if I should be proud or ashamed of my son who can sing along to both the Flaming Lips and Chris Brown. Eh, at least he loves music.

Puppies...

grow into dogs.

And think they rule your couch.

Egypt Race for the Cure

I thought I'd share some of the photos my dad took at the Egypt Race for the Cure. It took a lot of self restraint to not photoshop myself in. Man, I wish I was there. What a neat experience.

Pink pyramids.

Cheer up, Chris! It's not like your mom has cancer or something. Oh wait...

Best photo ever. An Egyptian lady with her race t-shirt pinned to her abaya. Waiting to start a race for the cure while her husband puffs away on a cigarette.

Whirling for the cure! These whirling dervishes had their own band of musicians following them.

Spinning and twirling across the finish line. Did I mention that I REALLY wish I had been there?

At the finish line. I like how the Sphinx is in between their heads.

Way to represent, Dad and Chris!

Pink Pyramids

I just spoke with my dad and he was on his way to the Giza Pyramids to flip the switch to light them PINK. That's right, Egypt has joined the fight and is having its first ever Race for the Cure tomorrow.

So best of luck to my dad and brother as they "race" around the pyramids. The rest of us will be with you in spirit.

بالتوفيق إن شاء الله

P.S. Take lots of photos!

In Balance Ranch

I'm not quite sure how to describe In Balance Ranch Academy. It's like heaven for 3- year-old boys (horses, dogs, foosball, A DRUM SET!?!) and hell for 17-year-old boys (rules, chores, therapy, NO GIRLS!?!)

In fact, Booker pitched a fit when we told him it was time to go. Full on screaming, crying and snotting of the nose. Not pretty. Baba assured him that there is one sure way to get back to In Balance Ranch, but he doesn't recommend it. Other than a few tantrums, we had a really nice visit with my brother Danny on Sunday. Rather than try to describe the ranch with words, I'll leave you with some photos.

Danny with his horse, Snickers.

My favorite shot of the day.

I found the only two trees in all of Arizona that are experiencing fall! The one of the right seems unhappy with his partner.

Fun with the self-timer.

Even the junkyard was beautiful.

Some more photos here.

We're Jammin'

I mentioned before that my dad was in town this last weekend and we had a fun and rather busy time together. We spent Sunday out at In Balance Ranch with my brother Danny (pictures to follow) and I caught this little jam session on video. This is the music room (that the boys obviously decorated). Danny has gotten much better at the guitar. I guess he's had a lot of time to practice.

Desert Museum

My sister has been on my case about neglecting the blogs and she's right. I've been lazy. Also, do you ever get sick of the sound of your own voice? I do. But I need to catch up, so here's what we've been up to...

A few weekends ago we went to the Desert Museum with our future neighbors and best buds, the Matsons. If you live in Tucson and haven't been, shame on you. Even if you live up in Phoenix, it's totally worth the trip. I know what you're thinking, desert museum? BORE-ING. But you're wrong. It's a fabulous museum/zoo. My favorite parts are the prairie dogs and the javelinas.

A few more photos here.

Bullet Blog

- Goodbye to Boobs! And ovaries too. Today my mom is having a double mastectomy and an oophorectomy. I'll be thinking of you, mom/mother-in-law. I wish I could be there with you. I'll make it up with a...

- Trip to Utah! In November to hang out with my mom and watch her get the crap zapped out of her chest area. (Side note- a man in an England is petitioning to have male breast cancer called chest cancer instead. I like it.) And while I'm in Utah, I'm going to find out whether or not I'm...

- BRCA Postive! Will it be a life changing journey like it was for this young woman or just another trip to Utah? I haven't decided how I feel about the whole thing. Mostly, I'm just really excited that this $3000 test is free to me thanks to the Huntsman Institute of Cancer. Good news for our genetic screening budget. Even greater news for our budget in general because we're...

- Buying a house! I think so. Probably. Yeah, we are. Maybe. Are we? You'll have to ask Clark. He knows. I'm in denial. Here's what I currently like: our neighborhood, our ward, my calling in that ward. Here's what I currently hate and have not started: packing and moving. Here's what I'm going to do instead of packing next weekend...

- Hang out with my dad! He's back in the states for my mom's surgery and he's coming to Tucson for the weekend. He has no choice really. Three of his five children now live in Arizona- take that Utah and Egypt. WE WIN. Maybe while he's here he'll witness some...

- Bookerisms! "Hey mom. L is for Lion. You know, b-b-b-ba-lion" or "Hey mom. I think I wish I was a cowboy." Or some less interesting...

- Teichertisms! "Uh-oh" "Boo" and his very favorite "DAAAAAAAAAAD-EEEEEEEEE" while crawling hopelessly around the house looking for Clark who's at work. He's kind of a daddy's boy (he doesn't say mama and he doesn't even bother trying.) And why not, his dad is fabulous and has a new hobby...

- He cooks! He's the next Rick Bayless. Last weekend we enjoyed delicious filet mignon (thanks to 1/2 off meat at AJ's) with wild mushroom and chipotle cream sauce and for desert we had a coconut cream pie. So yummy. Wednesday night is now our favorite TV night thanks to Top Chef on Bravo. We also...

- Waste lots of time! Watching other shows like this new one and this new one. And when the house is a disaster and my To-Do list is growing longer and longer, I like to hop on the computer and waste even more time here, here and here. Don't do it, don't click on it unless you don't care whether or not your children look like...

- This!

(He looks like he belongs on that people of walmart site, www.babiesofwalmart.com perhaps?)

- Disclaimer! They don't always sit around the house in their mismatched clothes eating cherry tomatoes and cheetoes with a screwdriver. We do occasionally leave the house for things like the park/library/museum/playgroup/gymnastics. I promise! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to document it because of some...

(Insert photo of us having fun at Old Tucson Studios yesterday HERE)

- Bad news! I broke my camera (again). I think so. Maybe I did, maybe I sort of dropped it. Maybe I didn't and it's not even broken. I can't bring myself to look inside my case because it's too painful. Hopefully, it's just my lens mount (again). Maybe. Maybe nothing is wrong and it's all in my head- there's that denial again. I can't bear to think of it so I'm just going to drive it on down to Tucson Camera Repair and have them nurse me and my camera back to health. And after I'm done there I might just swing by Tucson's one and only, brand new...

- Super Target! Nothing like some retail therapy after you've been forced to spend hundreds of dollars in repairing a camera that you may have (maybe not) clumsily dropped (for the second time in 4 weeks). Dangit.