my favorite guys

i was finally able to get some pics of the guys on the day of porter's blessing. i totally missed all the fun as i was feeding the baby. these pics are great. i love you guys and again i am so happy that you were all there with us on port's special day!

the debut

this past evening, argyll's revenge made its debut at kelsey's birthday extravaganza! so much fun! happy birthday kelsey!!! the boys totally rocked. they did 3 original songs as well as some covers. i have been trying to download a video of one of their songs, "mimi's coming," but am having technical difficulties (and much frustration)!!! instead here is a slide show of the fun. these guys are awesome! of course, i may be biased, but they really are good. argyll's revenge will be playing a private party this coming weekend at a pre-superbowl celebration. be sure to keep posted for local public events!

argyll's revenge

one word-AWESOME!

gryffie's b-day part deux

i realize i had not posted any pictures from gryffie's birthday extravaganza. we celebrated quietly this year with a trip to red robin with the rest of the keller clan (sadie, sorry you had to work). gryff's b-day presents consisted of a soccer ball, tent, and sleeping bag. the tent lasted 3 weeks before being destroyed, but was well enjoyed. here is a slide show of our fun. again, happy third birthday my sweet gryffie.

if you want to destroy my sweater...

as you know, we are big weezer fans, as witnessed by the name of our firstborn. anyway, carrie and i had a girl's day last saturday- it was a wonderful time. we went to the mall, had pedicures, ate lunch, and did some shopping. i bought both jonas and gryffie some cute sweaters at the children's place (there were some mad sales) and couldn't resist taking some pics of them.

here we go

here we go, steelers, here we go. pittsburgh's going to the super bowl! what a game we had on sunday. i was beginning to get worried and then troy polamalu intercepted and ran that touchdown! woohoo! how exciting! we were at the kellers for a small steelers party. numerous friends and family were there. the boys enjoyed hanging out with gma and making their ginger bread houses (we are a bit late on many of our christmas celebrations this year, which i why i just sent christmas cards out this past week!!). we enjoyed the food and friendship. of course, gryff and jonas were able to pick 2 things out of "grandma's special box." jonas picked this sour candy, and the pics at the end are of sadie, chris, sara, and colin trying the sour liquidy goo.

the boys did really well despite being up so late. porter did not like the yelling, but was able to fall asleep upstairs at 8:00 pm and did not wake up until the end of the game. at one point, we were a little worried about the floor caving in as everyone was jumping so crazily.

did i mention, here we go steelers! how exciting!

like father, like sons

the boys love to sing and now that we are enjoying guitar hero (thank you chris) and rock band (thank you gma and gpa kelly) in our home, the boys have instruments to "play" along with their singing. the boys definitely take after their daddy. they love playing with the drums and the guitar. here are some videos of our awesome little boys singing and playing. notice that again, weezer is a common theme. the first is a video of gryffie playing the guitar and singing beverly hills.



the second is a video of both boys singing and playing my name is jonas. you can see what a sensitive little guy jonas can be when gryffie "steals the show" and sings the wrong words.

a man's business with a little ben on the side

saturday night we went to finnegan's wake to see "a man's business" play. this is the band in which chris keller (ben's brother) and our beloved colin pinto-martin play. can i tell you i am meant to be a groupie??? i love that all places in pittsburgh are now smokeless. it is a lot easier to enjoy being out. so anyway, the boys in the band did well. ben played 2 songs with them and also sang and played a couple songs on his own. ben's dad also got some stage time playing the harmonica. here are some pics and videos of the boys saturday night.







on a side note, there is now a new band forming (chris, colin, and ben) and their first gig is a party on saturday night! how fun! ben just got a new guitar and a freakin' huge amp. i have always told ben he should be in a band. the name will be revealed in the near future... rachel (colin's fiance) and i were trying to get them to name the band "lovers of rachel." chris wasn't for it. what will the name be? i know you can't wait!

portie put put

i can't believe my little baby is 3 mos old. or that i am now officially back at work full time. it has been a difficult couple weeks. i have really been struggling with balancing work, family, and church. when i am home, i just want to hold the boys. despite the frustrations, i have really enjoyed my 3 mos home and it is hard to go back to work. here are a couple pictures of portie poo. he is such a smiley happy boy, except when in his car seat. he is a joy, and an amazing addition to our little family.

gryffin-ism #1 and #2

so, i realize gryff says some funny things too. the other day i told him his hair was getting darker and he said "that's because i'm turning into a girl." hmm??? what else can i say there.

that same night, after dinner, ben and the boys were wrestling (a common pastime in our home which often ends up with one of the boys crying). gryff was up in the air on ben's legs, and stated: "i'm a fish, i have no legs, i'm a fish." so, we are saying he is full of non sequiturs, rather than acknowledging what a very strange child he is.

i've been tagged...

my friend bobbie tagged me. And here are the rules:

1-share 6 non-(though not necessarily un-) important things about yourself on your blog.
2-tag 6 blogging friends to then do the same.
3-let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
4-let your tagger know when your entry is up.

so here goes:

1-my secret ambition in life is to be like clarice starling from silence of the lambs. i would love to be an fbi agent and work with the criminally insane. i would love to be a profiler or a forensics specialist (think of dr. george huang on law and order svu which is also one of my favorte shows). in college, i took my first abnormal psychology class and volunteered at the utah state hospital in the forensics unit (the lock down unit for people that have committed crimes but are found not guilty by reason of insanity). i loved it. i have very fond memories of playing bingo and volleyball with some very wacky men and women. and i went on to work at western psych here in pittsburgh for 5 years. i love crazy people, it is true. especially schizophrenics. it amazes me how the human mind works.

2-i have serious stage fright. i consider myself an outgoing, friendly person. i am not shy, but if you get me up on stage to sing a song, play my flute, give a talk or lecture, i basically "freak out." i start shaking intensely. when i used to have solos in band, i would have people comment that i did well but ask how i was able to play when i was shaking so badly. during my 2nd field placement for school, i was able to get over some of my anxiety when i had to interview patients in front of my supervisor, the doctor, resident, and nursing students. but that was 4 years ago, and some of that comfortability has worn off. it's quite annoying and something i need to work on.

3-i started off as a chemical engineering major in college. i loved chemistry in high school and learning how things work together, so decided to major in chemical engineering. what was i thinking? not for me. i then changed to humanities with an emphasis in music. also not for me. i always thought i could play the flute well, but at byu, i realized that there were a lot more talented flutists than myself. i struggled with even basic piano and sight singing classes (probably also related to my performance anxiety). anyway, i finally decided on marriage, family, and human development and did well after that point. in grad school, i got all a's except for one b+ in psychodynamic theory- i don't have much to say about that class. i did not like my teacher, she had man hands.

4-i come across as sort of a prude, but i love crass and crude humor. i love going to comedy clubs regardless of how offensive the humor may be at times. sometimes i admit i am astonished at what people say, but i find the experience to be invigorating. it is so good to laugh! we went to the improv last night and the 2 comedians were quite amusing but i could never repeat most of the things that they said. there was one joke about an itchy sweater, but it's just not the same if i tell it. i blame my husband. what an a-hole.

5-i am an unapologetic chocoholic- probably something that most people know about me already. i have to eat chocolate everyday. and when i am pregnant, i basically eat 1 candy bar per day. full size, of course. sometimes, i eat just chocolate for breakfast. i know it is not a good thing to do, but my point of view is basically eat what i am craving. if i want chocolate, i should eat it. if i eat something else, i am still going to want that chocolate, so why bother with the middle man?

6-i am secretly happy that i have all boys. most people ask me if i am going to have another child to "go for that girl" but truthfully, part of me is relieved to have my boys. maybe it is because i am a social worker and have seen how girls are more likely to be victimized. i am not saying that boys have it "easier" but that they have different struggles. i feel i have the ability to be a better mother to boys than girls.

and now, my friends, you are tagged:

1-johanna b
2-emily m
3-jessie h
4-amy s
5-rachel m
6-marie m

jonas-ism #7

jonas has been saying some funny things lately. today we were watching the steelers' game. ben said something about san diego and jonas said "san diego, oh no, not san diego! what is that even about?" he then continued to repeat this throughout the game. it was amusing. did i mention, go STEELERS!!!

venting

so i am writing on our blog at 2:45 am. why? why am i awake at such an hour? i know you are wondering. as i was getting ready for bed, my pager went off for work. apparently there was a suicidal lady with long hx of depression and bipolar disorder that was in the emergency room. she wanted to go to heaven to be with her mom and could not contract for safety outside of a hospital setting. so, at 12:30am, i get dressed and drive through the snow to work. hey, i get paid, so no big deal, right? i meet with this nice lady who tells me she is not suicidal, she just doesn't have a ride home! what??? i ask her more questions. yes, she is safe. she has a therapist, she takes her medications, she has a case manager, she has a safe place to live, she misses her mom...different from what the doctor told me on the phone. and the doctor is now at home. lucky. i write my assessment and my note, update the doctor and nurse following the patient, give her suicide and crisis numbers, and call her a cab. then i go home, through the snow, and sit here at 2:45 am, because i can't go to sleep... hmm... i hope my pager doesn't go off again.

jonas-ism #6- primary program

for those of you who are not lds, the children at church (primary) put on a program each fall. the kids sing songs and have speaking parts. this was jonas' first year in the program. he had 2 important lines and did well. the first was about how much heavenly father loves his children. the second was regarding the importance of our bodies and how they are sacred. jonas didn't really get the word "sacred" so instead he said, "our bodies are secret temples." there were many giggles. and i have to say, he is telling the truth.

jonas-ism #5- adventures in the english language

so the boys love the movie kung fu panda, and have watched it numerous times as ben loves it too. there is a scene in the movie where po the panda is training with master shifu and gets hit in his "tenders." well, now when the boys wrestle, anytime they get hit (anywhere) they say "oh, my tenders." well, jonas knows it really means in the privates. so today i said "oh, my tenders" and jonas said, "you don't have tenders, you have ba-tenders" and i said, "ba-tenders? why ba-tenders?" and jonas said "because you don't have a penis, you have a bagina." oh, that silly boy! (we did correct him, so now i have va-tenders.)