Behold Travis's New Obsession

Yes.

Kurt Goble is my son's newest obsession.

Not the man himself, but rather what to get him for his birthday. (Which is in August by the way, in case you didn't know.)

Every time he sees a commercial for a Barbie or Bratz product he comes shouting to me exclaiming that he wants to get Kurt one of those for his birthday. This pattern has been going on for the last 24 hours.

Perhaps this is retribution for all of the princess birthday cards Kurt's given my boys over the years?

Hmmm...I wonder.

--Laurel

Where We've Been...

Nope..contrary to reports the Baker family hasn't dropped off the face of the earth--it just seems like it! To date this is what we've been up to:

--Getting old...so old that now we use a pill box to keep track of all our supplements. Yikes!

--Playing hookey from work and watching baseball on a Sunday morning.

--Watching a rocket launch from Vanderburg while standing on the bridge at Bolsa Chica...hoping the serial killers weren't out yet (after all, it was only 7:30 at night).

--Clearing out the wildlands in our back patio.

--Going to the pumpkin patch for the 3rd time.

--Work, work and more work.

--Enjoying the fact that Austin got to work in the JV/Varsity Bullpen as a Freshman. :)

--Learning that our daughter is tenacious and will stand up for herself as needed. Very cool!

--Hearing that Billy's sister had finally received her referral for the adoption of a 21 month old boy from Ethiopia.

--Last but not least, the most time consuming of them all...keeping up with Travis.

It's not an awesome blog post full of great theories and thoughts about life, but merely and update. Enjoy it for what it is!

Laurel

Slacker

Hello...My name is Laurel and I'm a blog slacker.

I apologize.

I will post something absolutely enthralling and utterly world changing--

Just not today.

Until then!

--Laurel

Reminiscing...

I miss Fall in Oregon!

Things I miss:

-The crunch of the grass under your feet as you walk to school after the first frost.
-Beautiful fall leaves and the smokey smell of them being burnt. (A country thing.)
-Football games where you were actually cold enough to bundle up for them. Cold enough that you could watch the frozen spider webs float eerily like ghosts over the field.
-Apple orchards and fresh cider.
-The anticipation of the coming winter...staring out my window every night at the streetlight willing my eyes to see the first flakes of snow.
-Occasionally trick-or-treating in that said snow. Or at least traipsing about town collecting candy with 2 layers of clothes underneath your costume to keep warm.
-The smell of freshly baked cookies. (It's way too hot to bake right now.)
-Ditto for the warm comforting soups and fresh bread.
-Using the wood stove for the first time of the season.

Yeah. I know I sound like I'm whining. I do love living here down in Socal by the beach. It has it's marvelous blessings...but every Fall I find myself pining for the change that the season brings. Trees are supposed to change colors and the weather is supposed to become brist. Oak Glen can substitute once in a while, as well as trips to Big Bear...but they're not the same.

So for those of you who still live there...enjoy a day for me!

--Laurel

Counting Change...

Yesterday I was in a rush at the grocery store. Since I was at Albertson's I knew I was already doomed the second I walked in the door. (Their reputation around here is this: sllloooowwwww.) I grabbed my two bottles of soda and surveyed my check out options. Shock! There were minimal lines at three checkstands. Quickly I chose the quickest and most competent looking cashier.

I should've known better.

The elderly lady checking out in the front of the line was mulling over whether $2.21 was a fair price for a bag of tomatoes. She had the cashier weigh the bag and give her the price (with and without the Albertson's club card.) Granny pondered the price and sighed...eventually giving in. She dramatically pulled out her change purse and started dropping random change on the counter leaving the checker to count it out for her. When there wasn't enough she slowly pulled out her purse again and threw more change on the counter.

I'm usually a pretty patient person at the grocery store. Checker's have to deal with alot of bad behavior, but unfortunately I was getting irritated by this point. I was willing to stick it out though because there was only one other person in front of me who only had a case of beer.

Oops!

The girl in front of me fumbled through her wallet for her ID for the beer. After she retrieved it the checker scanned her beer and asked her if she had her Albertson's card.

The girl gave a look of utter confusion..."Ah, What?"

"Your Albertson's Card."

"Oh...hold on."

She pulls out her cell phone and calls her friend using her best dumb OC accent.

"Um...yeah...I'm at Albertson's. What's your Albertson's Card number? Yeah...they need your card number. I don't know...what is it?" Repeat.

Internally I scream. I grabbed my bottles and the checker graciously pointed to checkstand #5...no waiting there.

I was in and out of checkstand #5 in less than 1 minute. As I exited the store the girl was still on her cell phone trying to get her friends card number. (For those of you who don't know....you just put in your phone number. That's it.)

Kudos to the checker for not losing it: I would have. But seriously people? What happened to the art of counting out your own change? Or the miraculous art of having the information before you approach the counter? Or even common sense?

Yikes.

--Laurel

Baker Oddities

Both Billy and I've been down with Strep throat this week...it's been alot of fun. Being sequestered to my bed, I was forced to view my family from a distance and discovered some oddities about our family.

Here are some Baker originals:

--Our three youngest children will only eat applesauce with a straw. Yes, you heard me right...a straw. Travis will cry if you try to give him a spoon. We can all thank Tamila for that one.

--Aaron and Travis prefer their milk with crushed ice...they will not touch it otherwise. (And to think my mom was perturbed about that when I was younger! Ha! Who's winning now Mom? :)

--All four of our kids will sit through endless reruns of The Brady Bunch and Home Improvement. Funny thing is...Billy and I rarely watched Home Improvement when it was on. I have no idea how they got addicted to that one.

--We don't eat dinner on Sunday nights...we eat popcorn with cheese and apples. That's balanced, right?

--We live a mile from the beach, drive the coast several times a day, but only set foot on it once or twice a year.

--One of our kids is a nudist (I'll let you guess!)who loves to sing Motley Crue lyrics and the Brady Bunch theme as he runs around the house stark naked. (Yes, I am worried about his precious soul!) Another throws up immediately at the thought of a vegetable (no joke) and is a germ freak. Our second child is our canary in the mine: Broken bone? First to break it. Bug bites? first to get bitten. Stitches? Yep, she wins. Maybe she'll be a doctor someday. Our oldest is not quite as entertaining...but if you need someone to consult with about the current political situation in Ghana he's your man.

Those are just a few of our oddities...what are some of yours?

--Laurel

Here you go...

Finally, the picture everyone has been waiting for. Travis Baker in his cowboy boots. Note the mask...this is a new accessory added for the fall. (In reality its a stretchy book cover that Tamila converted into a mask.)

--Laurel

The Return

You all can rest easy now...Travis has returned to his favorite shoe of choice: cowboy boots. For awhile there, I know many of you were concerned that he had shed his tradmark footwear in favor of flip-flops. Not so. With the advent of the school year he has rediscovered his first love. He trotted off to his meet and greet at the preschool this morning wearing his trademark uniform of cowboy boots and shorts.

Life has returned to normal and I couldn't be happier!

--Laurel

3 Down 1 to go...

Well...the inevitable happened. Summer has ended and school is back in session. At this precise moment Travis and I are pretty much staring at each other wondering what to do. Okay, fine the reality is this: Travis is entertaining himself quietly on the couch while I prepare to reacquaint myself with something called "housework".

I could wax nostalgic about how sad I am that the house is quiet, but that would be a partial lie. I won't miss the bickering, the TV blaring Nick in the background and the constant whining. I'll be able to go the grocery store without spending my time denying outrageous food requests with every turn of the cart. Rides in the car will find me with my music cranked up and no interruptions. The computer will be mine without a fight between the hours of 9 am-12 pm. My house will stay clean for three hours longer than it does in the summertime (I say three because Travis will only be in preschool for three hours a day.)

What makes me sad? The fact that my kid's don't need me to hold their hand anymore. Austin bailed out of the car this morning with a wave. Tamila did about the same. Aaron skipped all the way to school singing about how excited he was to go. When it comes to Travis's turn on Monday, I'm sure he'll shoot through the door of his preschool and never look back. Their independence makes me proud and a bit sad. It does make me wonder though, are they really that excited to be back in school or were they ready for summer to be over too? Hmm...

--Laurel

Recording vs. Live

99% of the time that I am behind a soundboard it is for the purpose of mixing something live and in real time. I love the pressure of having to "get it right" the first time. There is an immediate sense of satisfaction that goes along with hitting all of the right cues and making something sound good during the course of our services.

From time to time I do get to record some projects. When I say record, I mean lay down some vocals or maybe some acoustic guitar tracks. Jeff, our student life worship leader is laying down some demo tracks as I write. Acoustic Guitar (AGT) Vocals (VOX) and right now I am listening to a sweet snare drum that he is playing while I record it. It is about the fifth time we have laid it down. Sometimes we have to do it again because my gain settings weren't right, or his rhythm was off, or he wanted to lay a safe version down. I even move the mic around until I get it to sound just like I want it to. I like not having the pressure of having to get it right the first time. There is a creative aspect to recording his demos that doesn't always happen when mixing live.

Here's to more demo projects, good vocals and better microphone technique.

Billy

Here we go again...

Today is officially the last day of summer vacation in our house. Austin is the first kid to head back to the daily grind tomorrow with his first day of highschool. Being the jock/brain that he is he has a zero period that starts at 7 and a heavy load of honor classes. I'm getting tired just thinking about the late nights that I know are coming and I'm not even the one who'll be doing all the studying!

Tamila and Aaron start back next Wednesday. Travis follows the Monday after. We will have all four kids in four different schools...all with different start and end times. ACK! I have a feeling I'll be wishing for the good ol' days of summer when all I did was shuttle two kids around town for summer classes instead of four.

So, in honor of this last day of summer I'm going to do nothing. Nothing spectacular at least. The last day of summer will go out with a whimper: grocery errands, haircuts and a trip to the dentist. Vacation is officially over and I'm already missing the lazy days that went with it.

--Laurel

Hmmm...Is this Justification?

I've had a debate raging through my head for years. It was brought upon me by my mother and her family traditions. The debate? Pie. Not the debate over which flavor is best or whether it is an appropriate replacement for a cake, but whether or not it can be considered a breakfast food. Yes...you heard me right. Breakfast and dessert all rolled into one.

I suppose it started eons ago on a morning after Thanksgiving. My mom's Mom (otherwise known as my grandmother) probably let her eat pie for breakfast because she was too lazy to make a healthy one. Let's see: Fruit? Check. Pastry? Check. If the pie is pumpkin you get bonus protein points for the eggs and milk.

See where I'm confused? Okay...maybe not. I do know that it's bad for you, but when a freshly baked sweet smelling pie is just sitting there on the counter enticing you to partake of its goodness in the name of breakfast...it's really hard to resist. Justifications start rolling around in the brain mulling over the nutritional positives and discounting the bad.

Really, I thought I had this issue beat years ago...until this morning. I made a pie last night for dessert later today. The boys sensed it's presence the second it came out of the box and have been hounding me ever since. (A frozen pie at that...they must be desperate!) They've come forward together as a group named: CUBS (Combined United Brothers) petitioning that pie is a breakfast food and forever will be.

Let's see who wins: I have a feeling that it'll be the pie.

--Laurel

Fish Killer

Ah, my dear friends and faithful readers. Let me spin you a tail of a dark night filled with blood and horror. It started out innocently enough when six children, ages 4 to 15 decided to fish off the dock at Big Bear Lake. The full moon was shining brightly as they cast their lines out in hopes of catching a beautiful trout or even a bass. They wiled away their time with lively chit- chat and childhood games. Their excitement reached new levels when Annie's line began to move. Annie had caught a fish. Being the daughter of a fisherman she dutifully set the hook and fought the fish. 15 minutes later she reeled it in close enough to the dock where Austin caught it with the net.

That's when the children called the fish killer in.

Me.

Annie was excited about her trophy fish. Nobody wanted to touch it...so I did. I got messy and removed the hook due to the citified nature of everyone else there. After the small operation, I stuck my finger through it's cheek and gill so Annie could take pictures with it. (I was holding on to it of course...everyone else was too squeamish.) She beamed with excitement when we measured her fish at 3 lbs and 21 inches. She couldn't wait to call home and tell her parents all about it.

You ask, what type of fish was it? Annie's beautiful trophy fish?

A carp.

A nasty stinky carp.

She wanted to keep it. Being a good friend I obliged her. The following video will show you what happened to the carp that night and terrible end it came to. (Note: after the brutality we froze the fish to show her mom the next day. Two days post mortem it became lovely crawfish bait. That's another story on another day.)

Enjoy.

Checking In

Yes...we're still alive.  The Baker clan is holed up in Big Bear.  Our internet has been spotty at best.  (That's what happens when you pirate your neighbor's Wi-Fi...but then again, if they didn't want to share they would've put a password on it!)  We also had glorious plans to post pictures of our vacation every once in a while; however, we left the card reader for our camera at home.  Therefore, I have once again pirated something-- someone else's Big Bear pic off the net.  I apologize to those of you who are offended by my devious ways...you'll get over it someday!  (Love to you all.)

Highlights to come:

• Video of me clubbing a fish.
• Pictures of various and assorted children swimming in the lake.
• Stories about Austin and his Joker impression.
• Stories about crazy nights and neighbors.
• Pictures of Austin night fishing.
• And incessant whining about our traumatic 36 hours without the internet and presently 6 days without Tivo.  We're hoping that we can make it to day 10 without any major emotional damages from the lack of Tivo.  :)  Life is rough out here!

We'll be back in town Thursday.  Until then...Take Care!

--Laurel 

In Case You Ever Wondered...

What happens to your sand castle after you leave the beach:


A family of moochers comes along and pretends that they built it. To continue this farce they even take pictures with it...claiming it as their own.



As soon as the pictures are taken, along with the credit for building it...their desconstruction team kicks into action. They take painstaking efforts to destroy your castle grain by grain.

As the afternoon fades so does your sand castle. It dies an excruciating death of being raked by little fingers and longs for you--it's original creator. Alas, you never return to bring it back to it's former glory.

Now, don't you feel guilty about leaving it in the first place?

-Laurel