New Years Eve...Boating!

 Our friends Mike and Jennifer were awesome and took us out to sea on New Years' Eve. It was a blast to see our favorite cities and beaches from the other side. Mike made the most aesthetically pleasing, delicious sub sandwich of our lives, and a pod of dolphins swam by while my sister used the boat's teeny toilet (not really). We learned that seals smell disgusting up close, and I went to my first gas station for boats. We saw a yacht with a helicopter in the harbor (If I ever wanted to feel more important, I would buy myself one of those).

 

My sister, looking for marine life.

 

These guys were just chillin'. (But don't stand downwind)

I think this was Laguna?

The houses were all interesting and beautiful. This one (in the front) used to be the most expensive home in America. If I ever wanted to feel more important I would buy this house to go along with my huge yacht and heilcopter. ; )

 Mike, our Captain and sandwich artist.

Thanks for the fun ride!

Happy New Year!!

Sparkling Cider

A quick chill in the freezer?

Great idea!!

Forgetting it overnight?

Not so great.

: (

Tonight I was cleaning out the game closet and I found a random bag of acupuncture needles!

Anyone want to come play!!?

Hermione Granger and Peter Pan (said in my best British accent)

Second star to the right, and straight on til morning!!

Ever since I felt Halloween approaching I could not picture Littleman as anything but Peter Pan.
1.) The kid is totally carefree.
2.) Certainly, he doesn't seem to think he needs his parents. He runs off all the time really.
3.) I hope he never grows up!

How to:

His costume is a large green t-shirt, frayed at the ends with scissors. I dyed his onesie and a pair of tights dark green to go underneath it all. I tied a brown satin ribbon as his belt (didn't buy him the Peter Pan dagger...I don't want him getting any ideas...). I sewed the green felt hat from a pattern I found on the internet, and sewed on a large red feather from the craft store. It was all pretty easy.

Hermione Granger

Katelyn insisted that she needed a *tie* in order to be Hermione this year. She said last year (as Harry Potter) she didn't feel really like him without a tie. Well, that about broke my heart (not really), so this year I went all out and bought her an entire Gryffindor uniform. 

 How to:

During my research I discovered that 1st and 2nd year Hogwarts students wear grey uniforms. Unfortunately, nobody is selling school uniforms this far into the school year. But I didn't lose hope. After lots of shopping, Katelyn and I came up with this: White button-up collared shirt--JC Penney's, grey(ish) v-neck sweater--Old Navy, uniformy-looking skirt--Target, grey cable-knit stockings--Old Navy. The robes and tie can be purchased at a costume shop. My dad (aka Dumbledore) carved her wand as a bday present last year. (Honestly, she still believes that Dumbledore himself sent her the wand.) But the best accessory of all was Hermione's big hair. I braided her wet hair into little braids the night before. The next day, undid the braids, fluffed and hairsprayed. Voila! Instant pouf!! It lasted all day.

Have a Happy Halloween!!

Intermezzo**

Maybe it was just me, but I thought today was an exceptionally good day. The kind of day that I hope my kids will look back on and think: Yep. Overall, things were good. Don't get me wrong, it was a very normal day. The most exciting part of the day was when I finished folding laundry and realized that all the socks had found a match. Seriously, does that ever happen?

No. But it did today.

Tonight, as Adam put the kids to bed, I sat at the piano playing Brahms. His music is beautiful. It speaks to me more than the other composers, and I was reflecting on the day. After a while, Adam came in and asked if I thought the music might be keeping the kids awake. I said "Yes," then I lied, "No. Why?" He said, "Katelyn is laying in bed with her arms in the air waving with the music." That made me smile and I kept playing for her, and thinking. .  .   .    .

There's one day I look back on as a perfect day from my childhood. I was probably four. We lived in a beautiful house in the woods in a town called "Paradise". My dad was still at work, and my mom was at the stove boiling spaghetti for dinner. I was marching all around her blowing the rhythm to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"-- no, I think it was "Jingle Bells"-- loudly on my recorder. I was blowing the one same note over and over, but in my head it sounded like I was doing it right. For me, that moment was perfect. My parents held my universe in order.

I felt like I gave that moment to my kids today.

I just hope they noticed.

**Intermezzo means "in the middle", or something like that. Kind of like an intermission. It's also the name of one of the songs I played tonight. My time to reflect felt like an intermission to the day. Also, I like how the picture is random and Kate is taking a bow, like in the theater, which ties into the intermission. (I saw a lot of plays growing up, fyi.) But I felt like that all needed to be explained. Haha!

Five-Year-Old Fashionista

Today I planned on running Kate to school, but I was self-conscious about the other moms and dads seeing me in running clothes.

I asked Adam, "Should I wear my tight shorts that go long, or my short shorts that are loose?"
He said, "Either one; you look hot."
I said, "Thanks, but still don't know what to wear."

The tight shorts are very tight. They show everything (including my J-Lo booty).
The loose shorts are very short, and my legs are pale and scrawny. People don't need to see that, right?
But I was determined to run. I chose the loose shorts and walked out into the kitchen.

*****

Kate was in her jammies eating breakfast at the table. Her reaction wasn't exactly the same as Adam's. She took one look at me and said, "You look Ugly! If you think you're dropping me off in those clothes, then I'm not getting ready for school today!"

(What-the-WHAT?! She's only been 5 for a day!)

After lots of back and forth, she apologized, (although I can't say I totally disagree with her...I think running clothes are kind of ugly, too. For example: my mom used to wear her running shoes everywhere and I remember being more than a little embarrassed.)

We made a compromise:

I would wear street clothes and WALK them to school; she would get ready to go. 

The funny thing is, we ended up running anyway.

I was wearing bermuda shorts and a white cottony shirt.

We were four minutes early.

Kate's Day

5...
years

Today was Kate's 5th birthday. Here is how the day went:

Me: Kate, what do you want for dinner tonight?
Kate: Macaroni and cheese--and Oreos.

Kate: Broccoli makes good Shrek ears.

Zach: I an ogre!

She got birthday hugs from her friends at school. So cute! Back at home I showed her her new flower garden. (Did you know the Target garden centers are closing down? Great deals right now!) Planty and Queenie didn't make it through the summer. Feels like a death in the family. But she named all the new plants: Cutie, Pretty, Smelly, Shady and Strawberry. Planty and Queenie have officially been replaced. Haha!

Bertha brought her a balloon bouquet and one of those HUGE cookies. And Kate got her bday wish of playing Wii with daddy while I taught lessons for a couple hours. Our neighbor was so sweet and brought her a few little gifts with a card and a dollar. Kate was super excited about the dollar. :)

After Bday dinner she blew out her candles and opened up her brand new Pillow Pet, which she's been obsessing over all year. I swore I'd never buy one...the commercial is so obnoxious...but lucky for her Adam picked some up in Fry's one day. One for Zach, one for Kate. I won't be surprised if he gets one for himself next! Anyway, she LOVED it! Adam did good!

Now the kids are on a sugar low. They are camped out in the living room with their new PillowPets, watching Dora in the dark. It was a good day!

So It Begins...

"Momma, Momma, Momma! I'm so proud of myself; I'm so proud of myself!! I'm so excited, I'm so excited!! You can see it on my face! (Huge smile :)"

-Katelyn, on the first day of school

Robot Arms: Day 1

Can you guess why there are homemade splints attached to Littleman's arms? Hint: Think of his two bad habits.

Did you guess?

Okay, his palate is pushing forward from all the thumb-sucking and I don't know what else to try. And his other hand is always wandering into his diaper. He has no shame. It's gotta stop!

So...

I got this idea from a magazine. As you can see, he is not at all happy about it. Tonight was his first night in "robot arms". Anytime his hands began to wander where they shouldn't, we strapped them on. Luckily, he HATED it!

I saw definite progress tonight as he was falling asleep (his favorite time for his two bad habits). I noticed he would start bringing his thumb to his mouth, hesitate a second, then tuck his hand away. And he didn't even TRY the Al Bundy hand resting in the pants move! It's a start...

P.S. When he's older, I'm sure he'll either love us or hate us for this. I'm hoping love (fingers crossed).

P.P.S. He probably won't love that I blogged this, though. Remind me to erase it before he develops his social conscience.

Adam is at work...we are texting our hopes and dreams. At least I am. He is mainly working. Katelyn is with grandma, Zach is asleep, the house is (relatively) clean, and me...I am eating chocolate ice cream with a HUGE spoon, listening to a band that sounds like Radiohead on my new Shuffle. Just waiting for my next student to arrive. The quiet is a nice break after a few crazy days. Did I mention I got a gorgeous new purse for my birthday? And yesterday I watched Littleman get rammed by a black sheep in the petting zoo? He's okay, so I don't feel guilty saying that it was funny. Plus I learned a secret that makes me really happy. Little things sometimes make the day really pleasant.

The Best Laid Plans

This week is my birthday week. 

We had been planning on doing something fun today to celebrate, BUT... last night Zach had a fever. 

Today it was worse. 

I stayed home all day with Zach (and his fever) while Kate and Adam enjoyed the beach and the Sawdust Festival. 

He forgot to take pictures. 

We have no babysitter tonight because who wants to babysit a sickie? 

**Not anyone I know. 

Adam is out with both kids right now shopping for my present. I am home doing laundry and planning my grocery trip. 

Also, I am feeling a little sorry for myself. 

There...I said it. 

But I'll try to make the best of it. Maybe I'll hit up the Redbox at the grocery store and have a micro-date with Adam tonight. 

And maybe we can convince a few people to come over tomorrow for World Cup Cupcakes? 

We shall see...

Life doesn't always go as planned. 

**This statement is false

Surf Shots

For years Adam has been wanting a waterproof camera so he and his friends can get good surfing pictures. I finally gave in and got him one for Father's Day a few weeks ago. (It was on sale at Costco!) I totally surprised him. He was kind of like a kid on Christmas. Here are some of the pics he and his friend took on their first day out with the camera.

From the Beach

Here is our view from the shore. As Katelyn would say, it was a "coldy day". Hence the runny noses. Katelyn found a teeny tiny purse while sifting through the sand. She's holding it in her picture. It was her beach treasure. Then there's baby Zach making the classic baby bird face, hoping something yummy might fall in.

the end

To My Watch

Dear watch,

I miss you. Remember when I bought you? Robinson's May was going out of business. I got you for a great price. I thought you were beautiful. Then you were stolen. Probably by the same person who got my iPod. Sometimes I forget about you, but then I see this pictures and I notice you on my left wrist, where you always used to be. I liked you a lot. I'm pretty bugged that someone would take you from me. It has been about two years now and I still haven't replaced you. I keep hoping you will show up unexpectedly one day. I think that's why I've been holding out. In the meantime, I have been wearing my timex running watch. But I am afraid it looks sort of lame to wear a running watch when you're not running. Especially at church. So I'm beginning to think it is time to move on. I'm just afraid my new watch won't be as nice as you were. Or as cheap. Either way, I will always love you.


Dana

Memorial Day

 

I am sort of confused by the new Blogger post editor thingymahooha. I can't get it to arrange my pics the way I want, so I simply did the same thing for them all: HUGE! 

For Memorial Day we went to one of our favorite places...Laguna Beach. I wish I were a decent photographer, and I could capture some of the beauty of this town. I tried, though, and here are a few shots I took of Laguna today. Laguna is a beautiful town. It has a creative, artsy vibe, which I love. It reminds me of the NorCal town where I went to college...but more beautiful and with a beach. The downtown has golden fire hydrants, hand-painted parking meters, London-style phone booths, and plenty of art, statues and unique shops.

Residential:

The gardens in this neighborhood were gorgeous! Here is a sample:

 

More residential. There was a gap between these two houses. This pic gives you an idea of the view.

 

Taking a little path to a secret beach. Shhhh!

 

Playing soccer in the grass.

Nobody took my picture, so I took my own. Objects in mirror are closer than they appear...