Week 4 Trivia - Grammys/music

So sorry for the missing trivia posts of late! We will come back with full force! :) Today's trivia, in light of last night's Grammy Awards we are doing grammys/ music topic!! :) ok here goes (Answers in Red):

1) Last night Adele (who Kala loves by the way) won 6 Grammys, this tied the record for most Grammys won by a female on a single night, who was the first woman to reach this record and what year was it?(Beyonce)

2) Bon Iver won best new artist last night, the frontman Justin Vernon is from what town? The purposefully misspelled name Bon Iver is french for what? (Eau Claire, WI) (Good Winter)

3) This female artist who won two Grammys last night also holds the record for being the youngest artist to win Album of the Year in 2010 and she was 20 years old. Hint: Country pop singer (Taylor Swift).

4) "The Cave", which was nominated for 4 Grammy awards, is a song and album by this band? (did not win, sad! :( Also one of Kala's new musical favorites) (Mumford and Sons).

5) What English indie pop band (another of Kala's favorites at the moment) had albums titled 'Lungs' and the new one this year 'Ceremonials'. They sing the popular song 'Dog Days are Over' and one of Kala's newer favorites 'Shake it out'. Hint: Nominated for Best New Artist Grammy for last year. (Florence and the Machine)

6) Who was given the first Grammy for a Rap Performance in 1989? (Fresh Prince aka -Will Smith and  DJ Jazzy Jeff)

7) Who holds the record for winning the most Grammys in one year? (Michael Jackson or Santana with 8)

8) Who was the first American Idol contestant to win a Grammy? (Kelly Clarkson)  

9) Which artist won 7 Grammys and an Oscar in 2002? Also name the movie which the artist won the Oscar for. (Eminem and 8-Mile)

10) Bon Jovi (one of Kala's all time favorites) has won  how many Grammys? Bonus: For what? (One for Who Says You Can't Go Home with Jennifer Nettles)

What we have been up to...

So I promise to get some pictures soon, I know it is pretty terrible to only have words to read and no pictures SORRY! But we have been busy, being sick (upset tummy/flu/chills), I had a presentation of my most recent set of thesis work (the presentation went really well, and the chair of my department spoke to me after and said I did a really great job and explained everything very well!) so all that hard work for that kept me busy, and now I am taking a biostats class online this semester (gggrrr) I am not the biggest fan, but that has been taking a bit of time in the evening so that causes me to not be able to get new fun posts up with pictures. Sorry! And I might not get to it tonight, cause I want to snuggle with my hubby and catch up on some TV shows! :) However I do have pictures to share from some of our family and friends.

Here are some pictures from 2 Sundays ago. These were taken by Mike's cousin Katie. We went by Mike's uncle Ray and aunt Nadine's to brew some of the Italian side of the family's FAMOUS Italian Liquor! We bottled our 8 batches(?) up for Evelyn's Wedding, yep we are going to let it sit and get delicious for 20+ years!! Uncle Pat, Mike's great uncle from Naples Italy, says you really need to make the liquor right when the child is born so it is the best for their wedding! I love this tradition and we had this liquor at our wedding thanks to Uncle Ray and now it is famous and I am sure many people are going to be very excited for Evelyn's wedding! :)



Evelyn is loving her "cousin" Nina playing in the puppy's toy basket! P.S. she is wearing her miss piggy shirt, I love this outfit! :)



Silly Evelyn and mommy are playing in the tupperware container we need to transport all the booze! :)



Grandma Chris probably won't like that I added this, but I think it is cute loveing her great neice and granddaughter! p.s. this is the hoddie that goes witht he shirt, got to love the muppets! :) we found it at Target and cousin Milli has a matching one! :)




Also, my good friend Kim that I go to school with (yes I listen to my previous post, that there is always time for a few beers with friends) had us over, and Kim recently had a baby boy in November, well I think the pictures will explain for themselves, but Evelyn LOVES other kids (I guess we should work on giving her a sibling! :)) So these photos are from Kim (and her very nice camera). Evelyn is getting ready for bed, it was around 9:30 last Friday, and that is pretty late for Evelyn these days, she usually goes to sleep around 7:30-8. She is also really funny when she gets tired, my sister and I have tagged this time for kids as their "sleepy drunk" time cause they just start acting goofy like they are drunk!




Here Evelyn is loving her future (~11 month younger) boyfriend Ean! Look at those beautiful eyes she has!




Ean looks like he is enjoying all the additional attention from his buddy!




She was just laying her head on him and cuddling like he was her little dolly or something!




Ean even started to play with her hair in the back that is starting to grow in! This one makes me laugh because of his cute happy little face... such a "boy" look on his face! :)



Lesson to keep in mind!

First sorry for lack of posts, we have been busy (I know, preaching to the choir) anyway I have a presentation of some of my thesis work coming up and well we have been sick, or making Italian liquor for Evelyn's wedding (yeah that is right it will age for like 20+ years, I am sure you are all hoping you are invited to her wedding!), or we have been dealing with jerk-y cable guys! But I saw this and wanted to post it right away, that is how much I love it! I am going to print it out and put it by my desk! :)

LosersBracket.com is a website run by my cousin Andy's friends and in which he is also a guest columnist, anyway, it is truly a man's-kind-of-site (including guess the boobs trivia) in which Mike is probably their biggest fan. Anyway Mike came across this article and shared it with me and I loved it so much I wanted to share it on here with everyone else! It is really the truth. Here is the link (2-beers) and here is just the text below:

Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers…

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full..
The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed..

‘Now,’ said the professor as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things—your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car..
The sand is everything else—the small stuff.
‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Spend time with your children.
Spend time with your parents.
Visit with grandparents.
Take your spouse out to dinner.
Play another 18.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter.
Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.
The professor smiled and said, ‘I’m glad you asked.’
The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

Evelyn's AWESOMENESS

So I just wanted to share a bit on how AWESOME our daughter Evelyn is.


Things she has recently started to do that makes her AWESOME:

- She can give high fives... yep come over and ask for one, she will give you one! :)

- Her favorite word is not "NO", she actually likes to say yes a lot, well she doesn't say it yet, she nods her head.

- She can say 'Hi' and 'Bye' and wave to you... she likes to do this a lot.

- She says 'mom-mom' and 'da-da' and knows who we are, and is still working on saying the right one to the right parent consistently, but she is getting really good at this.

- She is really really good at communicating with us now... pretty much she signals something and we can ask her what she wants and she will nod or shake her head... pretty awesome!

- She will give us kisses (or tease us) when we ask for them.

- She loves her dog and loves to play with him, and always needs to know where he is, as well as give him hugs and kisses regularly (more than her mom and dad *jealous*).


OK that is what I have at the moment, I had a 'wow our daughter is amazing and awesome and the best thing in the world moment' this morning and I wanted to share! :) And I miss her and can't wait to see her when I get home! :)  are you feeling the love? Come on over for a visit, she loves visitors who play with her! :) Yeah I need some pictures up... I will work on some pictures soon! :)

Week 3 Trivia - Science

Hello all, sorry for the delay in the trivia this week... sick baby and trying to catch up on sleep puts the trivia on the back burner. We chose a science theme this week. These questions, as all our trivia questions, are designed to be a little challenging... we want to work your brain! :)  But these are also designed to be more general knowledge. Mike even came up with a few and I made sure he could answer or at least have a good guess at the ones I came up with (he also made me take out a couple that he "didn't like"). So here goes. Good luck, and try to answer on your own, but hey we don't grade you so whatever! :)


1) What lies within (almost) every cell in your body and determines (mostly) who you are? DNA

2) Proteins are important molecules in your body that perform specific functions, what are they made up of? Amino Acids

3) The heart is the first functional organ during development, how soon after conception does a human heart beat? 21 days

4) What do vaccines stimulate the production of (these help to fight off the infection of the disease)? Antibodies

5) A "cold" is what kind of infection? Bonus: What is the scientific name of most common form of cold? Colds are caused by viruses and the most common cold virus is called the rhinovirus

6) A genetic trait can be dominant, meaning shows up in the offspring if at least one parent has the trait, what is the term for the opposite of dominant (meaning you have to have two copies of the trait for the trait to be seen)? Hint: starts with "R" recessive is what I was looking for. Rare genetic disorders are usually recessive meaning the mom and dad both pass on a variant (mutaion) that causes the disease.


7) How many chromosomes do humans have? Bonus: What combination makes a female and what combo makes a male? Humans have 46 chromosomes 23 pairs. 22 pairs are autosomes and 1 pair is the sex chromosomes if you are a female you have XX chromosome pair and males have XY chromosome pair. And gender is ALWAYS determined by the father... they pass either X or Y to the child determining the gender (it is sad there are cultures out there still that will kill a woman cause she did not provide the man with a son!).

8) These structures attach muscle to bone? tendons

9) The largest artery in the body is the? aorta

10) What is the positively charged particle in the nucleus of an atom called? proton

Parenting Woes

I have decided that the most difficult part of parenting, for me, and probably for most people, is when your child is sick. Evelyn has had her fair share of sicknesses, and this is increased most likely by the fact that she goes to a daycare with other children and they are really good incubators that love to share germs! :)  I know that this is good in the long run because she is building up a really good, strong immune system, but this doesn't help make the baby, or the mommy and daddy feel any better when the baby feels so crummy.

The last few days have been some of the hardest for me as mommy (daddy is better at this, he has better patience and is not as much of a perfectionist). What really bothers me in particular is my feeling of helplessness, most of the time there is not much you can do but hold them and cuddle them, don't get me wrong, I love this, but when they have a stuffy nose and can't breathe, or want to only drink milk which will cause them to throw up, this just breaks the mommy's heart.

The last few days, Evelyn has been throwing up at night, no other real symptoms, she would be sleeping and wake up crying (not completely unusual for her, but we can usually get her back to sleep in a minute or two) but the past few nights it was a really upset cry and we could calm her but she would cry again in like 10-15 minutes and then the third time crying hard she would cough and then empty her tummy! :(  I think what bothered me most here is that I am a pretty logical thinking, there is a cause to an effect, and I could not find out the cause to this effect, and when I cannot determine that, that is when my temper and frustration escalates! Dealing with a baby that throws up on everything is quite the process. To get them back to sleep, striping the whole bed and trying to wash out things all while cleaning, comforting, and changing the baby... and on top of it you all lose sleep! I have decided that vomiting in the middle of the night is the worst thing for a sick baby... that and probably when they won't sleep cause that is just bad news for everyone too!

So in these times of desperation, parents must do what they can to keep everyone safe, sane, and happy. For us this meant letting Evelyn get comfy cozy in bed with us! Boy, Mike and I are really happy we decided to get a king size bed. All three off us in there can get a bit crowded (and add Indy who is a bed hog), but somehow still I seem to be the one with the least amount of space (but I get the most cuddle time! :) ) Then my mommy worries kick in (and I hope I am not the only one that does this) and I am thinking oh darn we are creating a monster that will only sleep in mommy and daddy's bed... Sometimes I feel like I have to make myself a switch to turn off those nagging mommy worries and say, you have to make choices in life and when a choice creates a different problem, you deal with it when you get there. Right now I need to love the choice we have made and love the extra cuddle time I have gained! :)

Thoughts of a Dad

Being a dad is great. Evelyn's first year has flown by, along with my first year of being a dad. It is interesting to think back, before Evelyn, at how I thought I would be as a dad; and how it really is now that I am a dad.

At first, I thought I would be really hands on and helping out as much as possible, so Kala would be able to count on me and rely on me whenever she needed me. I thought I would be able to comfort Evelyn when no one else could. Or make her stop crying just by holding her close. Changing her diaper would be a breeze (I had only ever changed one diaper before Evie and I put that one on backwards). I had all of these ideas on how I should be or what I should be doing. And I think Kala had some ideas on how she thought I would be too. So I didn't want to let her down.

When Evelyn came into the world I was right there by Kala's side (well actually her head because she had a C-section) and I was a little nervous that I couldn't handle being a dad. Was I ready? Were we ready? Can we do this? Can I do this? All of this went through my mind as I was standing there, but then I saw Evelyn for the first time and I was instantly hers, forever. She had stolen my heart with her beautiful blue eyes and I wasn't getting it back.

In the hospital I did as much as I could to try and give Kala time to recover. Evelyn was so alert and aware of what was going on that it seemed like we had a two week old, instead of a 2 day old. I stayed home with Kala the first two days we were at home. It was wonderful. Evelyn was sleeping good and eating pretty well. We had decided that breast feeding would be the route we would go, so Kala was handling all of the feedings. This is the first thing that really didn't go as I thought it would. I really thought I would be able to help out more with night feedings and pretty much do it whenever I could. But that was not how things went. In order for Kala to keep up her production, and so everyone got the most sleep, she feed Evelyn at night. Along with the feedings, Kala was the one that got that precious bonding time with Evelyn. So I missed out on it. But it was something we couldn't really avoid when you are breastfeeding.

When Kala went back to work the first week in March and Evelyn started going by her sitter; the days, weeks and months started to fly by. Evelyn was slowly becoming her own little person, with her own personality. She was a big mama’s girl during these months. I would play with her as much as I could, help with baths and bed time. But when push came to shove she wanted to go by her mom. Another thing that didn’t go as I thought it would. I took it a little personal at first. Why was Kala getting all the attention? What did I do wrong? But Kala kept telling me that it was just a phase and she would be a daddy’s girl soon enough.

As the summer months past in a blur, Evelyn began crawling, pulling up on things (in early August), walking (Labor day weekend) and eating solid foods. Another change that we started seeing was Evelyn would want to come by me a little more than in the past. I took over meal time when we started doing more solid foods (I have a little more patience then my lovely wife does) and was also able to help out more at bedtime. I think these changes really gave me more of a connection with Evelyn that I was missing in the early months.

This change continued into the holiday season and you could say that the tables have turn in the past year. Evelyn is a pretty big daddy’s girl right now. She will come to me when she is hungry, sleepy, wants me to read her a book or just wants to hang out for a few minutes. Mommy can still get hugs and bath time is still their special time but Evelyn now comes to me when she needs to be rescued. I remind Kala that it is just a phase and she will again be a mommy’s girl soon enough but secretly I am hoping that she stays a daddy’s girl forever.

Week 2 Trivia - Food and Drink

This week's theme/category for our trivia questions is food and drink. Some questions have multiple parts to them so please pay attention to that. A few of the questions we would not expect you to know off the top of your head so feel free to try and find them online.

We have posted the answers to last week's trivia question. They are included, in red, in the previous post. We hope you enjoyed the movie theme because it will probably be making a comeback in a few weeks.

Hopefully you enjoy week two of trivia, now on to the questions. Good luck!

1.) Where was the first pizza made (city and country) and what three ingredients are on a traditional Pizza Marghertia?  Naples, Italy (where uncle Pat is from). On the pizza Margherita there are tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil. These ingredients were chosen to represent the colors of the Italian flag and this was the first pizza to add cheese. (Wikipedia)

2.) What is the term for a popped kernel of popcorn and what is the term for the kernels that did not pop? Popped corn is called a "flake" and unpopped kernels are called "old maids". (Wikipedia)

3.) What was the Snickers candy bar named after? (This is one you will probably have to look up) named after the favorite horse of the Mars family. (Wikipedia)

4.) What animal’s milk is used to make authentic Italian mozzarella cheese? water buffalo

5.) What is the literal meaning of the Italian word linguine? "little tongues"

6.) How may Coca-Colas will be consumed worldwide during the next hour: (a) 17 million; (b) 27 million; or (c) 37 million? The answer is B

7.) What is the oldest know written recipe for? Beer

8.) What brew is known as "The Champagne of Bottled Beers'"? High Life!!

9.) What product was touted as "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous"? Schlitz

10.) Name the drink whose original recipe consist of the following ingredients/directions?  'Old Fashioned' This name came around after the prohibition ended, when the German immegrants would want their whiskey the 'old fashioned' way, meaning they wanted it doctored up with the ingredients below, which they made it like this during prohibition because the illegal booze was so terrible.

• Place sugar cube in a glass and saturate with bitter, add a dash of soda water. Muddle until dissolved. Fill the glass with ice cubes and add whiskey. Garnish with orange slice, lemon twist and two maraschino cherries.

Ode to our Pup

Before Evelyn came along we had our little fur baby Indy.... he ruled the roost since we got him in September of 2009. Indy named after Indiana Jones (not racing) is a shih tzu. He is a spunky fun loving little guy who is a lover! Indy is a snuggler and is always a sweetheart, (sometimes too much of a lover, he gets really excited about visitors, sorry frequent visitors). Sometime he is a little stinker, but hey, aren't we all! :) The day we brought Evelyn home they were instant buddies, I was worried about how he would handle it but he was really good! He wanted to play with baby toys at first but we broke that from him pretty quick. Their friendship progressed so much to the point where Evelyn can now play fetch with him, they play tug-of-war, and I think Indy might get the most hugs out of anyone in the family (yeah I am jealous!) Mike and I often talk about how we could not imagine what it would be like without him, and I am pretty sure Evelyn would not have near as much fun at home if he were not here to give her puppy kisses everyday. Oh and his new favorite spot is right next to the high chair at any eating time (we are happy to have a live vacuum)!

This is Indy's first year in a nutshell, top left, Sept '09; top middle, Oct '09; bottom left, Nov '09; bottom middle Dec '09; and big picture to the right is July '10, his first birthday!



First meeting and first few sweat moments where their friendship blossomed!




I find this series funny when put in order, Indy came up to smell Evelyn, and well she farted and he heard it obviously, and then he had to go and sniff it... nothing like solidifying a friendship over poo.




They who cry (and/or yawn) together stay together! :)




In these he assumed the role of puppy protector.




Indy's love of attention did not go down, if anything it got stronger!




Baby kisses, foot tugs, or smacks in the face never deterred Indy.



Indy is always by her side as a partner in crime, there to give kisses, and always available for hugs! :)




Indy lets Evelyn walk him/follow the string, play tug of war, and help get into anything she is getting into! :) Best of Friends!



Week 1 Trivia - Movie Quotes - With Answers In Red

This is our first weekly trivia post. Once a week we will be posting 5-10 trivia questions for your enjoyment. If you would like to participate please leave your answers in the comment section and check back later in the week for the "official" answers. 

A quick note: Google is an amazing tool, but because this is for fun and not a competition try and answer the question with your own knowledge first. Then if you want to look up the answers later feel free.

Each week Kala and I will try to have a theme/category to our questions. This week; Movie quotes. We will give you the movie quote and the year of the movie (a few quotes have bonus questions) and you try and come up with what movie it is from. We will start out with a few easy ones but they will get harder. Good luck! On to the questions....

1.) In which 2003 movie, does the main character refer to himself as a "cotton-headed ninny-muggins"? Who plays the title character? The movie is Elf and Will Ferrel plays Buddy.

2.) Which 1991 movie (which Kala is seeing this weekend in theaters in 3D) had a fun-loving character say while giving a tour "If it's not Baroque, don't fix it!"? What is that characters name? The movie is Beauty and the Beast and the character who said this is Cogsworth.

3.) "And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!" is from what 1995 movie? Braveheart!

4.) In which 1992 movie does the character Joseph Donnelly say "You're a corker, Shannon. What a corker you are." and which actor plays Joseph and which actress plays Shannon? Far and Away is the the movie. Tom Cruise plays Joesph, while Nicole Kidman plays Shannon.

5.) "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends" comes from what 2001 film which was the beginning of this huge franchise? Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone.

6.) "I shall call him Squishy. And he shall be mine. And he shall be MY Squishy" is from what 2003 animated film? Finding Nemo.

7.) In which 1987 film does the main character say "I'm scared of everything. I'm scared of what I saw. I'm scared of what I did, of who I am. And most of all... I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life, the way I feel when I'm with you." What is the main characters nickname? The movie is one of Kala's favorites, Dirty Dancing and the main character is Frances "Baby" Houseman.

8.) "He is the cheese to my macaroni." is from what 2007 comedy? Juno.

9.) "I'm gonna punch you in the ovary, that's what I'm gonna do. A straight shot, right to the babymaker." is from what 2004 comedy/cult hit? One of Mike's favorite movies to quote; Anchorman.

10.) And probably the hardest quote and I feel the most true comes from this brilliant 1994 movie "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." The great movie and an all time favorite of ours is Shawshank Redemption!