Toy heaven

We went exploring yesterday in Guilford--a coastal town about 20 minutes north of New Haven. Like most typical coastal New England towns it is centered around the town green with a church and a few shops. Very quaint and picturesque. We found a toy store along the green and this girl was in heaven. She couldn't decide whether to play with the balls, babies or birds. She would run back and forth between all three and say over and over "ball, ball, ball" or "baby, baby, baby". In the end, she made out with a child sized broom, dustpan and duster. We are starting those chores early. :)

Memorial Day in Manhattan

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather we had on Memorial Day and drove into the city to see friends and visit the park.
Kate had fun climbing stairs, chasing balls, picking flowers and looking at all the dogs, horses, bikers and runners in Central Park. You are guaranteed to see all different types of people, including crazy ones, in Central Park on a holiday.

We ate Patsy's pizza and hung out with our friends, the Kings. Paul and I both agree that even though New Haven claims to have "invented" the pizza--we both prefer New York pizza.

Summer is here!

Beardsley Zoo

We took Kate to the zoo this afternoon. She is really into animal noises and it was fun to see her look at the animals and realize those were the cows and snakes we had been showing her in books. She didn't seem scared by the big "kitties" aka tigers and if she could I think she would have tried to pet them!

Best Buds

These guys have a great time playing together.

Peter goes in for the kill.

But Kate says "my dad's watching!"

rejection hurts. maybe next time Peter.

Family Photo Session

For Mother's Day Paul gave me a family photo shoot. This is something I've wanted to do ever since Kate was born, but since Paul ranks picture taking on the same level as going to the dentist, we haven't had them taken. When we found out our friend and amazing photographer, Liz, was moving to Utah next month we had to get them done before she left.

To check out the proofs go to her website http://etfphotography.com/index2.php and once you enter the site click "clients" in the bottom right corner and the password is TANNER.

She does amazing work. While you're there you'll have to take a look around her website. It's really impressive. If only I knew her when we were getting married...

{And for the record, Paul didn't think it was that bad afterall.}

What we've been up to...

Paul finished his first year at Yale School of Management. It went by so quickly, it’s hard to believe it’s over. At breakfast this morning I asked Paul what he thought about his first year of business school. He mentioned that it was 100 times better than his job at KPMG and he learned a lot more than he expected to. In addition to learning a lot, we’ve also had a lot of fun. It’s no secret that I was very hesitant about our move to New Haven. I loved living in Manhattan and was sad to leave our life there. I have been pleasantly surprised and so happy here. We’ve made great friends both through school and church and love our lifestyle here. Everything seems much easier and it’s great to have a little more space. One thing that we’ve both learned this past year is that we would like a lifestyle were we can spend a lot of time together. Life demands that one work to earn a living, but we’re learning that our time together is definitely a priority.

With Paul being done with school and able to help out with Kate a little more, I’ve had time to try some new things out in the kitchen. I’ve been cooking a lot from “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian” by Mark Bittman—it’s a great cookbook with lots of variations in the recipes. Our favorites have been quiche with leeks, spinach and gruyere cheese, dinner crepes with mushrooms and asparagus, vegetable stir fry made with whatever veggies are left in the fridge and our Friday night homemade pizza. Oh and ebleskivers. Never heard of an ebleskiver? Neither had I until my mom gave me an ebleskiver pan. They are so good! A cross between a pancake and a scone, it's a Danish pancake that is dense in the middle and can be filled with fruit or jam. And they are so easy to make. Between that cookbook and my new pan, I’ve been having fun.
Baby Kate is, well, not much of a baby anymore. A sentence in the book “Your One Year Old” says it best: There is nobody in the world more lovable, more unmovable, more implacable, more challenging, more difficult to live with than your “typical” Fifteen- to Twenty-one-month old child. And that about sums Kate up right now. She is so much fun and we love her so much but lately she seems to be more of an individual than ever before. I suppose it’s frustrating when she knows exactly what she wants to do and can’t yet communicate it entirely. And yes, she knows exactly what she wants. Gone are the days of long walks in her stroller and sitting in her highchair while I unload the dishwasher. Now she needs to be the one pushing the stroller and unloading the dishwasher. She loves to “help” around the house and has gotten quite good at pushing the Swiffer around. Her newest word is “Paul”, although she can’t quite get the “L” sound so it sounds more like “paw”. She is running faster and faster and likes to play “chase” around the house. All that playing does tire her out and we are happy to once again enjoy sleeping uninterrupted from night until morning.

We are looking forward to our temporary move for the summer and being close to family for a while. Until then, we’re enjoying having so much time to spend together.

Sunny Florida

Kate and I were fortunate enough to leave Paul at home to finish out his finals and visit my cousin, Emily, in St. Cloud, Florida just outside of Orlando. It was a great time of year to visit, we had beautiful, warm weather. Emily and Daniel were extremely gracious hosts and spoiled us while we were there.
Emily and I grew up in Long Beach together with all brothers. She is the sister I never had. It was so much fun seeing her again--I wish we lived closer!
Daniel's parents have an amazing house. Kate especially loved the fish and would constantly put her arms out to Daniel to hold her so she could get a better look at the "ish".

We went off roading on a little "safari" to check out all the animals on Daniel's parent's property. Yes those are zebra and water buffalo. We also saw emu, a steer, geese, donkeys and Daniel's beloved hogs and hunting dogs. Kate loved looking at all the animals.
The weather was gorgeous the entire weekend. We spent a lot of time outdoors enjoying the beach and pool. The water was so warm!

Emily and Daniel have 3 dogs and 1 of them just had a litter of puppies. Kate loved looking at the dogs but didn't want to get too close.

Quite the little traveler--her summer travels have just begun!

Happy Mothers' Day

Isn't she beautiful? After watching Jill, I have to say that being a mother has got to be hardest job out there. I know I would fail miserably if I had to try to take Jill's place. This mothers day Jill is in Florida visiting her cousin Emily, but we have a pseudo mother's day scheduled for next Sunday. To all the moms out there, much love, much love...

My mom had me when she was very young (I'm the oldest) and I'm beginning to see the sacrifice that she made for us. It seems like I can't remember life pre-kid, being able to go out after 7:30pm without a babysitter, eating without highchairs, and riding in the car without annoying kids tunes blaring (Barney CD = memorized). To think my mom gave up most of her 20's to take care of the five of us, I now see what she gave up to do that.

Finally, I've been really fortunate to have a mother-in-law that has been so kind, generous and understanding of me taking her only daughter 2500 miles away. Mom-in-laws get such a bad rap, but I must have gotten lucky because mine is so easy to talk to and fun to be around (she plays a mean game of Skip-Bo also).

Anyway, for moms day we sent our moms (now grandmoms) a folding 5 wallet picture frame with pics of kate with block letters that spelled out "mumsi" and "mimi", their respective kid-friendly names.



Happy mothers day!

We're back to regular scheduled programming...

chasing cats and climbing in the bushes

An Analysis of Tupperware Parties

So I realize the audience for this blog consists primarily of mormon moms bouncing aimlessly from blog to blog looking at pictures of friends and family, and, while that's really awesome when little Timmy learns to roll his tongue, I sometimes wish people would post more commentary about what they're thinking about and interested in. So, at the risk of killing your cute buzz, I'll take a shot.

I'm reading this book which bears the subtitle "Finding financial wisdom in unconventional places." Aside from being an awesome read, there's a chapter in there about the psychology of tupperware parties and how it relates to behavioral investing. I've never been to one of these parties, but I've heard stories that seem to backup the author's points. Over $1B in tupperware is sold each year through "consultants" that sell to their friends/family/neighbors. He mentions the reason these parties are so successful has everything to do with human nature and four tendencies that are basic tenets of human psychology. They are:

1. Reciprocation - If someone gives you something, you feel obligated to give something back. Early in the party, there is a quiz game that allows participants to win play money to spend on giveaway items. Ever wonder why the salesperson spends SO much time with you? How about the free gifts from charities in the mail? They're hoping you'll reciprocate in a much larger $ amount than they did.
   
2. Social Validation - One of the main ways we make decisions is by observing the decisions of others. Once the tupperware buying starts each transaction demonstrates that others want the product, providing validation.
3. Commitment and consistency - Once we make a decision, and especially if we've socially validated that decision, we are highly unlikely to change our views (even when the evidence is crystal clear). Each participant in the party is also encouraged to share with the group the uses of products she has already purchased showing evidence of commitment.
   
4. Liking - We all prefer to say yes to people we like. This is possibly the most powerful sellers of this high priced plastic. It's certainly tough to turn down a friend who is offering you a product that is backed by a room of friends buying and talking about how you just can't live without this excellent plastic box.

He talks about a couple other tendencies such as scarcity and authority, but what I thought was really interesting about this was how our decision making is so influenced by our environment and factors that have no rational basis. This book extrapolates this psychology to investing, but you could think about this in relation to any major decision you make. Another way to look at it is how do I get what I want? These are some interesting behavioral tips that might influence how we persuade people and also how we avoid being persuaded. Anyway, just some food for thought. Hope you enjoyed, please resume regularly scheduled my-kid-is-cuter-than-yours blogging.