5.2

I jumped out of bed when I felt it rattling. My first thought was that someone was trying to get into the house. I could hear the windows shaking. I jumped out of bed and looked outside. Everything seemed perfectly normal. The best I could think of--in my half asleep state--was that it was huge wind. It woke up my wife and daughter as well. My two year old was calling us, so I went in to check on her. She thought she'd heard some thunder and was scared. "No, it's just the wind I told her." But then, going back to bed, I realized there hadn't been any signs of wind. When I had looked outside, everything was perfectly still. Then it hit me: St. Louis is close to a fault line and I definitely felt the bed shaking and heard the windows rattling. "We just had an earthquake!", I told my wife.

At the center it was a 5.2 magnitude! Happened @ 4:36AM. Centered 127 miles from here in Illinois. 3 miles below the surface.

Stall tactics

Maia has found many new ways to stall going to sleep at night. She utilizes many variations on a theme in order to get us back into her room after we have said goodnight. Just a few nights ago she came up with a new one. She called me into her room to give me a kiss. Then she asked to go out into the living room to give mommy a kiss. How do you say no to a request like that? After she had given mommy her (2nd) kiss goodnight, I put her back in bed. 10 minutes later she was calling me in again.

Me: "What is it Maia?"
Maia: "Give mommy a kiss on the cheek..."
Me: "Maia, sweetie, you already gave Mommy a kiss on the cheek. You need to go to sleep."
Maia (PAUSE): "Give Mommy a kiss on the forehead!"

feel better

Maia (to Kelli): You feel yucky?
Kelli: Yes, I do sweetheart.
Maia: Don't worry Mommy, you'll feel better when you feel better...
Kelli: Thank you Maia...

The Cache

For the birds...

Maia loves to watch the birds through the back window as they feast at our patio feeder. Male Cardinals are "daddies" and female cardinals "mommies". However, she has had some trouble naming the materials involved in feeding these little birdies. Birdseed = "seedbird" and the bird feeder itself? Her latest name for that is: "bead-fird".

Our favorite is when she takes it upon herself to rid the feeder of the pesky squirrels that sneak on it. Whenever she catches one perched on the roof of the bird-feeder, she'll run to the sliding glass door, and--while flinging her hand out in strict discipline-- will shout, "Shoo-off!!"

Windows in the Sky (2nd cut)

I've posted this U2 video before, but it deserves a revisit. It's truly one of the best music videos ever made. I don't know that I can adequately explain it, but I know that I taste a little more of heaven with every watching. If you haven't seen it before, watch it now. If you've seen it before, watch it again. The original version is also pretty cool and is posted below this one.