Fancy Nancy

Fancy Nancy is not just a book, it's a way of life. Just ask Dorothy. I would say we read it at least ten times every day. Dorothy recently got a Fancy Nancy sticker book from Grandma Cathy, and she has been snuggling with it at night. Her wardrobe has followed suit.

She styled this ensemble entirely independently.


This happened while I took a shower. Mascara and hair pomade. Niiiiiiice.


Going grocery shopping. My only involvement was insisting to wear tights and a jacket. She wasn't so keen on that, but agreed in the end.

This week

Here's the happenings of the week.

-It was a winter zoo day this week! We went over to our friend's, the Mellos, house for a yummy lunch then off to the zoo. Lots of animals were in where it's warm, and it was about 30 degrees out, but the kids were so excited to be outside that we stayed happily walking around for over an hour. It makes me REALLY excited for summer. I miss being outside, and I know that Dorothy does too. I think we'll get a zoo membership this summer-- it's bikeable distance and they have a petting zoo, so I think Dorothy and I could go often in the summer and love it.

-My family (Mom, Scott, Katie, and Lachelle, Nick and kids) was here last weekend. My Mom got to stay an extra day longer than everybody else and we loved every minute of it. We ate great food, and they were good to put up with our burnt pizza and spacious(?) living room. They all came to watch my step sister Katie's track race at Notre Dame. She did really well and it was so fun to watch! She PRed in the 1300 meter (correction- the 3000 meter) race at 9 minutes 49 seconds. As much as I appreciate how cool that is, it seemed like some cruel torture-endurance game. Things are much less exciting now that they've gone.

-I fell down some icy stairs while holding Dorothy on Friday. I have some pretty, colorful bruises to show for it, and Dorothy wasn't hurt at all, but it scared me half to death. I very nearly dropped her.

-Dallin went on a camp out with the scouts Friday night. He had fun. So much fun that he decided to bring home a souvenir: food poisoning. We thought he was all better this morning and well enough to teach his lesson to the YM at church, but apparently not. So, our Valentines festivities will include snuggling up on the couch with a bucket between us, eating saltines, drinking tea, and watching the new romance flick "Bright Star" about the English poet John Keats (which, actually, I am super excited to see because it looks good and Dallin's excited because it's about an English poet). Love is in the air, folks.

Happy Valentine's day, dear family and friends!



The whole crowd after Katie's race. Dorothy and I are both clearly having trouble with where we're supposed to look. Dorothy and Lola both dutifully and responsibly held these signs during the race.


Keyton beating Katie with her coach waiting to give him five. Give Katie a break Keyton, you're fast and she's tired from beating her PR.


After the race we took the fam on a mini tour of campus. Here's Dorothy and Lola with noses to the window on one of the top floors in the library looking out over Notre Dame. I can't take credit, this shot was all Lachelle's idea.


This is the face we get lately when we ask Dorothy to smile. I don't think I want to train her out of it.


Tired family. What a nice Grandpa.



"Gramma Caffy" just got elevated to the status of super-cool. She made cookies, let Dorothy snitch the dough, played dress-ups and read Fancy Nancy.

...and I wore my wedding dress.

Notre Dame has an annual married-student formal dance. They really went all out too. Instead of the usual bus that makes rounds from our married apartments to campus, they rented limos. LIMOS!!!! It was glamorous. I think about as glamorous as you can get in South Bend, Indiana. I am seriously lacking in the fancy formal department, so I wore my wedding dress. Keep in mind that it was not one of those poofy monstrosities. It was slimmer, and you probably wouldn't know it was a wedding dress if it wasn't white.

Aren't you all glad that I never pursued a career in modeling?


It took some serious work to get zipped, but Ta DA! We did it! Can you see the pure joy and excitement written across my face? Can you tell, huh? Huh?


Applying lipstick by the TV's reflection. Nice.


Dallin looked pretty snazzy, obviously. He intentionally didn't shave so that he was just a little bit scruffy. That's my favorite.


Here, we are very snobbishly drinking {sprite} in the limo. How classy of us.


Kisses to the camera on the dance floor.
We danced A LOT. Here's the thing. Dallin has no inhibitions when it comes to dancing. None. He's a dancing maniac. It's not that he's a really great dancer, but he loves doing it and he doesn't get embarrassed at all. Not even if he's the only one out there.
I, on the other hand, do have inhibitions. Lots of them. I had fun at dances with my roommates in college, but that's because the lights were all out and there were so many sweaty people that you couldn't tell who was who. More and more though, and I definitely have to credit this to Dallin, I just don't care and I have fun. This night, I truly didn't care and I went crazy too. I SWEAT. A lot. That's how crazy we were.
The funny thing is that we had SO much fun during the evening. but I think we created a bit of a name for ourselves. When I see other parents out and about, I keep getting comments like, "Janelle, I didn't see that coming!" or "Wow, you guys REALLY like to dance..." and people still haven't forgotten about it. It was so much fun, but I feel like I was drunk or something, and now I'm looking back and thinking, what did I do?!! We really were nearly the only ones on the dance floor sometimes. And it was well lit. But I didn't care right then if people were watching. I was just dancing with my crazy, silly, fun husband. And I know I lucked out. There are so many women that I talk to whose husbands won't dance with them. That's sad. I chose well, I guess. : )

Though I think next year, I'll wear something that lets me move my arms more. Maybe something like the dress on the left in the picture below.

picture via sayyestohoboken.com
Picture it with a side bun, red lipstick, and bright yellow heels. Fun, huh? Plus, if I had the top (and I bet I can find one like that on ebay for cheap), I could probably make that skirt with about $5 and 2 hours of work. I love tulle.

On my soap box

I'm turning over a new leaf and posting about ME-- things I like, things I'm reading, and things I'm interested in. Here goes.

My biggest interest over the past two years has been Food.
I think it was about the time that Dorothy was born that I started getting really interested in healthy food. I started reading books on how to eat more sustainably, how to do it inexpensively, and how to be healthy. The more I read and learn, the more passionate I become about it. My favorites on the subject are definitely In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma was equally as good, but I think this one is a better read for people trying to make changes) and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (it's more of a memoir than an informative book, but I think it's inspiring).

I think that sometimes people look at people like me with such a strong interest in food and think that I'm paranoid. That isn't so much the case. My biggest concerns are-
1. Health. You are what you eat. I'm concerned about my health and that of my family, but also the health of the farmers and workers. Many chicken CAFO farmers are now resistant to antibiotics because of their constant contact with the chickens and their antibiotic-laden feed. What does this say about those of us who eat those chickens regularly and the future of medicine?
And 2. Sustainability. Current practices burn through farm land while depending on petroleum-based fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides while animal sludge piles up with no place to go, contaminating our water. Think of the possibilities in our future: contaminated water, no farmable land, strains of bacteria resistant to antibiotics, and an oil crisis so we can't manufacture the fertilizers and pesticides we depend on or transport that food across the country. Terrifying.

We're leaving an unstable, unsustainable, cruel, and unhealthy food system to our children and it makes me angry to think about it.

I think the solution to both of these problems is to buy local, in season produce and animal products. They taste better, smaller farmers are going to be more concerned with the sustainability of their farming practices, it doesn't use up so much fuel for transport, it doesn't fill up landfills with packaging, it's fresher, it supports local economy and did I mention that it just plain tastes better? A big part of that solution is to actually cook things from scratch. You know exactly what's gone into it, and it's yummy and healthier.

The funny thing is, I feel like writing this means I have to be perfect. I am SO far from perfect that it's laughable. But I do try. I buy local milk, eggs, chicken and honey all year, we make our own bread and I shop at the farmer's market. But there are some thing that I definitely cut corners on. I could never be a hard-core "locavore". I couldn't toss out fresh salads in the winter or bananas year round. I've been making recipes lately with a lot of kombu and nori, and you can't exactly find that stuff in Indiana. I'm going to try very hard this summer to preserve a lot of food, but I don't think that I can preserve enough produce to last us all winter. I love ice cream and take-out on occasion. Yesterday I went grocery shopping and had to run some other errands. Dorothy was cranky so I bought her cheese puffs to keep her happy. Cheese. Puffs. Send the mother of the year award to me, please.

I could keep berating myself for lots of things. But I guess my point is that I try. This is something I'm passionate about and I think it's very important for both our health and our future. I know many people are well-educated about this already, but if you haven't read up on it, pick up either of Michael Pollan's books. It'll change the way you think about food.

Peace out. I'm stepping down from my soap box now.

Buh-bye cell phone bill

We have canceled our cell phones.

If you would like our home number, please email us at dallinandjanelle@gmail.com and we'll send it on to you.

Thanks!

The conversation this morning

Dorothy pushes Simon so that he won't maul her bowl of snacks. It's definitely a provoked response and not terribly violent, so I let it slide a little bit by not sending her to time-out.

Me: No, we do not hit Simon. You need to say you're sorry and be soft.
Dorothy: No Mommy, have to go to time-out. Have to be SOFT with Simon.

She walks to time-out.

Me: You don't have to go to time-out. You can just say sorry and not do it again.
Dorothy (from her time-out spot): No Mommy, time-out.

She stayed in there for about 5 minutes.

Well, okay. At least I've been consistent so far.