A Proper Manthroom

By popular request, Nathaniel has been asked to blog about the concept that has been popularized around the apartment as "the Manthroom." What is a Manthroom, ask ye?

A Manthroom is a testosterone inducing cornucopia of manliness whereby all who enter can be free from emasculation. It is a place for both men and women, although it is only generally approved of and solely sponsored by the former. In short, a Manthroom is a glorified Man Cave, designed specifically for the apartment setting where space is a premium and wives are less lenient.

The leftmost wall is adorned with what should be considered first when designing an area intended for male habitation: self-defense. Where any occupant ever attacked whilst taking a shower or a shave, he or she could immediately defend oneself with the authentic Spartan spear tactically placed behind the door. Drawing from the power of the greatest college basketball team ever on the Earth or even the Milky Way galaxy (the Kentucky Wildcats, for the uninformed), one would never worry about defeat in this room. Indeed, even the "Footprints" poem hanging in the black frame on the wall allows the room to have a spiritual strength few in history have ever been privy to.

Nothing says "Class Act Manthroom" like storing a bathrobe and laundry bags that some one have thrown away years ago. And yet again -- this is the power the room bears: freedom from tyranny.

All of those frayed bits of fabric are really just extra layer of moisture wicking. Elementary, my dear Watson."

Troy Elijah Moreira, future man, was named after an ancient city of warriors. This flag represents his contribution to this Palace of Splendor.

Need a place to dry your gloriously-smelling clothes after some great cardio- or other endurance activity? Look no further than the Man - Throom.

Need a place to store your extra hats that celebrate your awesome achievements, accolades, or favorite (read: the best) sports team? BAM. Use that vertical space son.

We should all be proud of our heritage, and here is Nathaniel's little tribute to his Puerto Rican ancestry. Ever met a Mormon Puerto Rican Martial Artist Gunslinger? BAM. He lives here.

Utilitarian utilization of space. Enough said.

Ever get really hungry in the bathroom? Neither have we! But if a Manthroom guest ever were to become hungry, he or she would have a giant totem spoon from which to eat. Does your Toddler have to use the potty at the same time you do? Solved.

Does your toddler like wash his or her own hands and then break all your stuff on your countertop? Solved.

Also, Manthroom. Can't be said enough.

Need artillery support? A reminder of where you went to college? A deterrent for a burglar who washes his or her hands before they steal all your stuff? Solved.

McJaguar will save your life one day. Fact.

And on the days he isn't saving your life and protecting your family? He might have some extra candy in his mouth (wrapped, naturally).

Little known fact about McJaguar -- if you aren't good to your husband, he might turn up under your pillow or in your shower. MCJAGUAR! PROTECT THE MANTHROOM!

February 2012: The Fall of Mr. Tall

Aside from a terrific Valentines Day, February has been a slower month for the Moreiras (read: we did plenty of things with family and friends but nothing pictureworthy). To continue our tradition of forgetting everything we do that does not include a picture or video, please see the following cute pictures of Troy experiencing life on the wild side [for Troy].

Troy can mostly be found with his "diggers," specifically his green shovel. He will only put it down for brushing his teeth, washing his hands, and eating meals (sometimes). And to make life more interesting, that boy loves him some dirt.

Good thing we have dirt.

Sadly, after an unfortunate overwatering incident, Mr. Tall -- Nathaniel's oldest house plant -- met his Maker. After a last ditch attempt to save Mr. Tall, it was determined that root rot was the culprit, and the diagnosis was terminal. A few clippings have been saved from his remains in an attempt to save his posterity, but the outlook looks very grim. The good news?

Troy got to play with dirt.........in the house.

One of Troy;s favorite games for February is called "Hide." Usually Mama will say "hide" and throw some pillow under Troy. He can contain himself for up to four seconds, and then he has to check to see if you've found him yet. After picking up on this game, Troy can now "hide" himself.

Unbeknownst to Troy, putting your hand over your eyes does not constitute hiding. Everyone else can still see him, but he hasn't figured that out yet :) The blinds, small pillows, and in the armpit of those he is attempting to hide from are also some of his favorite hiding spots.

One of his first attempts at coloring went pretty well. He kept his artistry reserved mostly for the white paper medium, although, in his defense, the kitchen tile is also white.

After Troy wins the Tour de France in 25 years, international newspapers will post this picture all over their headlines. Remember: he learned it all from his Dad.

Cristy got to visit one of our old neighbors recently, and had a lot of fun meeting the Zollinger's new addition: Zachery. After some early stays in the hospital, we were happy to learn he is health and doing very well! Sadly, after Julianne and Nate learned that we knew where they lived, they decided it would be best to move to Colorado. Good luck! You can't hide forever!!!




R.I.P.
Mr. Tall, 2005 - 2012
"I planted, Apollos watered,
but God was making it grow
and gave the increase.
~1 Corinthians 3:6

Next Up [and by popular demand]: The Manthroom

Post-Christmas Visit to Mississippi Campbells

Troy has been growing up way too fast recently (as children usually do, we are told). Recently, he so desperately wants to be involved in a conversation that if he can't think of anything to say he will fake cough twice and then say "bless you," to which he expects you to respond, "bless you Troy." As with all conversations with Troy, if you do not acknowledge the word he has chosen to say he will repeat it until you do, and Troy is very, very patient in these matters. His favorite words to repeat are: a.) prayer; b.) Amen; and c.) bless you. What a righteous son we have! Sometimes over supper we have said four or five prayers just to satisfy our child's need to bless the food. I mean...come on...we're eating vegetables -- it only needs to be blessed once, right? Nope. Not in our casa.

We will have to do a new blog post soon about Troy's new favorite games, but this is probably one of them. We'll call it "Cape" because it has no other name and because what you do is put on a cape and pretend you are flying. How about that for originality.

January 11th through the 16th we decided to visit the Mississippi Campbells, despite Troy and Dad each being independently sick (Troy with Croop; Dad with a Virus). Both were medicated and everything was supposed to be peachy. But then Troy kind of got worse and Dad experienced a series of unfortunate events that left him out of commission for almost the entire vacation, mostly quarantined in the bedroom. (As such, most of these pictures were taken by Cristy, and unfortunately we didn't do much because of aforementioned sicknesses.)

As evidence of said sickness, please see exhibit A, Troy's unusually slender belly (for him it was slender -- really).

One of the first things we saw in Mississippi (and Nathaniel's favorite part of the vacation) was Jack's awesome display of Jedi mastery in the lightsaber. We have two videos of this, but sadly the videos are too large to post online :( We have a new camera and we didn't lower the quality of the video enough :( But take Nathaniel's word for it -- some of Jack's move will be written in the archives of the Jedi Masters forever. That's the truth. You should see his roll attack!

Kevi was a quite observer for most of the vacation (symptom of three older siblings?) but boy does that boy love to climb around in the kitchen.

The weather was nice and though we didn't get out too much it was fun to watch the kids play in the backyard.

Cheerio Necklace for the Green Giant!

Sadie is all the fashion these days :) Take tips Cristy :)

We never thought a person could do 100 cartwheels without having some sort of negative physiological reaction. We were wrong. This was probably Maddie's 39th out of over 100 cartwheels, exactly 100 of which she did in a row. IMPRESSIVE! Look at that form.

Going for a walk to deliver food whilst Nathaniel sleeps. Again.

We were entertained by no less than 4 acrobatic shows over a two day period. Pretty good stuff here. Cirque du Soleil quality really. Maybe even Vegas -- who knows. But remember you read it here first.

No matter what Aunt Cristy tries to do, she is physically and emotionally incapable of bringing/buying gifts for family on vacation. There are far worse traits :) Enjoy the video camera girls! Enjoy the bow and arrows Jack!

Maddie says, "what WHAT?!?"