The Young & Restless

chimney sweep

2012-01-31T15:39:00.001-06:00

First, be sure to wear a white shirt.

Second, gleefully push ash and soot down the opening to your dad who is on the other side.

Third, wear your frog boots. They are best suited to this job. Also, waving your dirty hand to your mom will certainly make her smile and be glad that she decided to take pictures of the event.

Fourth, don't forget to take off your frog boots before you step on the light carpet.

ten years of grace

2012-01-30T22:24:00.000-06:00

5 year old vocabulary

2012-01-18T10:26:00.000-06:00

Me: "Jimmy, please put your laundry away."
J: "I cannot. I cannot pick up all of my socks. They are missing their dopplegangers."

its my party!

2012-01-13T18:16:00.002-06:00

(the following beautiful picture was taken at someone else's birthday party in the summer, but it works for today!)

The celebration began last night. My darling MIL took me to see a stage production of South Pacific. The music was fun and the partial male nudiness was surprising. All in all a great way to move more towards my late 30s.

This morning consisted of Nate staying home long enough to make breakfast and lunches for kids, an emergency trip back to school with a forgotten (and sorely missed) Kindergarten backpack (this small act puts me as a contender for Nicest Mom on the Planet award - I love being a contender), breakfast out, and some good shopping. This afternoon brought some nice laziness and catching up with the children on unwatched episodes of Phineas and Ferb. Next on the docket - a family date night. Tomorrow consists of a for-real-date-night with my handsome surgeon. I'm pretty stoked.

There were many birthdays during those med school and residency years when it didn't seem so birthday-ish. Its nice to make up for all that!

Happy Birthday to me!!!!

protective eye wear

2012-01-12T10:18:00.000-06:00

Yesterday this young fellow decided to wear Nate's old lab goggles to school. He informed his class during Share Time they were in fact x-ray vision goggles. His teacher's response, "Oooooooooo." She's the best.

Here is our little man in one of his many photo poses in front of the flamingos at the zoo. I bet you would never have guessed that the flamingo is his second most favorite animal. His third, of course, is the flying donkey. The first favorite seems to change whenever it strikes his fancy.

to party

2012-01-06T09:50:00.002-06:00

Right after the holiday swoop we head right into the birthday bang. I'm up first, then Grace, then Jimmy - all before Valentines Day. I'm still in Holiday Recovery Mode. I can't fathom putting together a birthday party, let alone 2 (or 3 if we do a family one too).

Grace is leaning towards a Hogwarts themed bash, Jimmy is gearing up for a Spy Guy soiree. All I can think about is chocolate cake.

1 and 2

2011-12-31T10:32:00.003-06:00

The Big Guy did come. He filled our stockings and even managed to lug in a new bike.

Much to Jimmy's chagrin, he also managed to bring some sweet Christmas church duds. That's what happens when you are churchin' it up on Christmas Day.

Most of our pictures of Jimmy on Christmas look like this:

Most of our pictures of Grace look like this:

I love Christmas-ing,

Evidently the children do too. There are no better facial expressions than this on Christmas morning. Do you agree???!

After tearing open up everything from the North Pole, a little biking was in order.

(or scootering, if you were so inclined).

Who can resist a manly man on pink wheels? Not I.

We paused on our Christmas Day and did some churching. Not only did Nate and I sing in the choir, I did a duet with another gal. Talk about sweating bullets.

We rushed home, changed into comfy-ness, and dived into gifting again.

Please note the young scientist and her blur of a brother.

It was a very Merry Day. Hope yours was too!

extras

2011-12-31T10:09:00.003-06:00

Our lesson in reading the fine print: no omelette is worth that!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-29T23:35:00.001-06:00

Our early Christmas Eve celebrations took place at Nate's parents home. It was full of festivities: Danish delights, a white elephant gift exchange (btw, I got some bumpits, totally), Christmas crafts, and also Nate decided to wear his oldest sweater - I think that has become a new Christmas tradition (if you can call it new as it is old, as in from early high school old).

Upon our arrival at home we discovered the Christmas Elves had visited us. Do they visit you? They come every year on Christmas Eve and bring us new pjs!

It turns out our elves were none other than Lanny and Wayne from Prep and Landing. See, they even left us some landing gear to play with.

They also decided to get mom and dad involved. You'll note I'm sure that Grace and I are darling in our kitten mitten pjs.

You'll also note how fabulously "Animal"-like Nate and Jimmy are.

We some how managed to get the kids to bed.

And then we waited for the big guy to show up!

walkin' in a winter wonderland

2011-12-29T11:02:00.001-06:00

We decided to go and find some snow.

Turns out that just over 2 hours from the house,

there is plenty of ice-encrusted snow.

The children were more than delighted.

Nate was delighted to glimpse some wintery birds (who wouldn't be delighted at a prospect like that?!)

We spent Christmas Eve Eve in Prescott, AZ (which is called Arizona's Christmas City)

We got our Christmas on.

The next morning (Christmas Eve), we headed back up into the mountains. Lo and behold we found more snow.

The children helped finish a snowman.

It was dang cold. Like 32ish degrees.

Hats were employed.

Hogwarts scarves were also donned.

An attempt at angels were made; however, once the snow is ice-encrusted an angel is hard to come by.

We had to travel up this high:

But it was well worth it.

Stay tuned, more Christmas posts to come (including Nate's incredible Christmas sweater - YIKES!)

christmasing

2011-12-22T23:39:00.002-06:00

So far we have dabbled in construction:

Cracking nuts:

I mean, the Nutcracker.

And saw some lovely, shimmery lights:

With some fun, lovely people:

Hope you are enjoying your Christmasing, too!

sing choirs of angels

2011-12-22T09:33:00.000-06:00

the holidays

2011-12-15T17:13:00.001-06:00

Jimmy told his teacher we celebrate Hanukkah. When asked why he chose to tell her this he replied, "I do not know why.*" Perhaps I should invest in a Menorah. (This one is lovely!)

*Did you know Jimmy cannot bring himself to use contractions??? Weird, but true.

its beginning to look a lot like christmas!

2011-12-08T17:32:00.002-06:00

Today I treated myself to a delightful wait in the pick-up line: a chocolate-covered marshmallow snowman, accompanied by chilled Pellegrino and a little, light Agatha reading. The red sweater I donned really encapsulated the festive spirit right there in the minivan.

Our halls are decked (and really, the hall in the house has no real decoration, but most of the other rooms in the house do!) And our Grizwold tree tree is much more tame that I thought it would be (gratefully no squirrels have made an appearance yet!). In fact, I find it quite lovely.

I am attempting to roast a chicken for dinner tonight (along with roasted fingerling potatoes and a quintessential green bean casserole - I've been thinking about having that for WEEKS). The problem with the chicken is that it pretty much looks like too much of the head was left on. I like my meat fully butchered, and this one is lacking in that department. I need to gather my gumption and face the birdie.

I'm also still facing a Christmas card conundrum. We didn't take family pictures this year, the ones last year were fantastic and I didn't see the point in re-doing them (especially as no one has change much in appearance since then). My current favorite picture is the one where we are all wearing turkey hats, but I don't see that jiving with the whole Christmas-y theme. In other news, our digital address book has fully fried and I need to start from scratch!

So dear reader, if you want to remain on the "Nice or Naughty" Page Christmas card list, let me know would you? (and convey your address somehow, please - an email to stlpages at yahoo dot com would do nicely).

Too bad I can't send chocolate covered marshmallow snowmen instead.

date night

2011-12-05T22:24:00.000-06:00

One night we went out to a very fancy dinner. We clean up pretty nicely, I think.

learning

2011-11-29T17:12:00.002-06:00

In this picture Jimmy is modeling what has got to be my most favorite Kindergarten Thanksgiving themed headgear - Turkey Drumsticks. As with most things awesome from Kindergarten, they are constructed out of paper bags. I'm sorry the picture doesn't do them justice. He is also pointing to an exquisite portrait of our family.

The following are a few pieces of vital facts that he has come home from school and shared with me:

1. Culinary school is the worst kind of school ever. You can never see your parents; you sleep there, but only until 3 in the morning when they wake you up; your teacher can never, ever feed you; and you stay there forever.

Jimmy, maybe you mean boarding school? "Um, yeah, I guess. But its the worst kind of school EVER."

2. One of the biggest insults one can receive is being called "Eye Ball Lips." He is still taken aback that someone had the audacity to call him this. The person who offered him this indignity also happens to speak "salty."

3. Mice are good. Rats are EVIL.

4. One can determine the girl one will marry easily. Especially if the girl in question wears her Super Girl shirt on the same day you wear your Super Man shirt.

5. It is important to be diligent about writing your name on your paper each and every time. But it is especially awesome if every once and a while you give yourself a middle name on your paper - a middle name such as "Pherb." (The particular spelling of this name was intentionally done in honor of Phineas and Ferb, he decided to blend the PH and the -erb in honor of the two boys. I like his mini self-lesson in phonics).

what to do

2011-11-28T15:40:00.000-06:00

If you find you've nothing to do on the afternoon (and yet you are still in your pajamas)

and your dad is home after hours of hospital stuff (7 day call is no fun for anyone!),

you may discover that "practicing" fishing in the pool can be a fine idea.

(Especially if your dad has promised that he will take you fishing to a real pond.)

So cast your line

and reel your reels!

The pond holds promise of catching real rocks

and real leaves, and real gunk.

And it will be a real good time.

she knows

2011-11-27T09:48:00.000-06:00

Last night as we were leaving a football game, Nate was enlightening us on the highlights of the game, discussing the merits of our players vs. their players, and wondering if the arena (note, that's an "arena" and not a "stadium" which is where we just came from to watch the football game) was housing a basketball game. This of course lead to more sports discussion, when finally Grace cut in and said,

"Oh men, and their desires!"

how was your turkey?

2011-11-26T12:50:00.000-06:00

thankful people

2011-11-24T08:52:00.000-06:00

As the sun dawns on this beautiful Thanksgiving day, I pause for a moment to give thanks to 3 of my favorite peeps:

It is with them that I find myself...

Happy Thanksgiving to you and all of yours!!!

handsome heros

2011-11-10T14:10:00.003-06:00

These 3 handsome gentlemen are pretty special to us.

Our Army Man:
Grandpa Beck

And our Navy Men:
Grandpa Chuck

Grandpa Jim

Wishing you a very Happy Veteran's day to you and yours!

12 hours

2011-11-08T21:20:00.002-06:00

Ever wonder what we look like after 12 hours of driving in the car through all kinds of weather and terrain (including the three different regions of Arizona which we heard about in detail from our 4th grade geographer) and including a completely different nation (that would be the Navajo Nation))?

I'm sure you have wondered such things. So I'll show you:

Not too shabby I think, all things considered.

For the permanent record (because that's what this is) these pictures were taken as we were dining at the fine establishment of El Azteca. Sadly it was not the original El Azteca (the one Nate and I would eat at multiple Monday nights of the month because of their fine offering of "All You Can Eat Crispy Beef Taco" night), as the original one closed down right around the time we moved to STL (and that, my friends, was a very long time ago). This was the Taco Shop owned by the same people. And it was delicious.

For Fall Break (I LOVE Fall Break), we headed North to show the kids all things Provo, to visit with some family members in SLC, to attempt and pull off a surprise birthday party for my mother in law (yeah, she lives here, but she was up there at the time), and have a quick respite in Park City (we loved PC so much, we actually discussed what it would take to move there - don't worry though, I think it is just a dream).

(More to come (eventually))

the concert

2011-11-05T10:59:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago we had a rare opportunity - a 4th grade Tonette concert!
A Tonette concert?, you ask, is that something like 50 nine year-olds blowing until they are blue in the face into plastic recorders to make "music?"

No. In fact there is a significant difference between a Tonette and a recorder (though I have no idea what it is). The children produced charming songs (sometimes with intentional harmony). It was a fun evening and just the start of many concerts in the future. For the first quarter, band students play the Tonette, from there they are able to choose an instrument to focus on for the rest of the year. Since this particular Tonette night, we have been delighted with the tones of the flute. So far we've heard B flat, A flat, C, D, and G. It's fabulous.

ps the children were asked to wear black and white for the concert. grace chose her black and white striped dress. imagine our surprise to see the other children in white shirts and black pants. are we in agreement grace's choice is the more darling of the ensembles? i thought so.

scary

2011-10-28T18:20:00.001-05:00

We had such a fun time carving our pumpkins.

They were full of gooey guts and crunchy seeds.

And when I mention that WE carved our pumpkins, of course I mean that Nate carved them.

The rest of us just played around.

Jimmy's was a spooky one.

Grace's was of course a Harry Potter one.

And then we found our pumpkins (just 3 days later) in an ultra-spooky state:

ooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOOooooo!

Happy Halloween!

persuasion

2011-10-28T17:48:00.004-05:00

To help convince Jimmy that he should agree to watch a Barbie movie with her (um, gag) Grace employed the following tactics:

'Listen, Jimmy, there's a kitty, some horses, a prince, and Real Evil.'

He agreed. Happy Friday afternoon!

no pain no gain

2011-10-26T23:25:00.003-05:00

Today's PT appointment was incredibly painful. So painful (to borrow a phrase from my favorite bully, Buford) I was sweating through my eyeballs. Have you ever been in pain so much that you couldn't stop your eyes from leaking? There was no emotion involved at all, just pure pain. It didn't last long and then it was quite gone.

My range of motion has increased. My walking is more like real walking. I'm back at the gym (on a very limited routine, but I'm still going). And I still get to ice down every night, and though that may not sound like fun to you - consider today was one of only 2 days in the last 2 months where the temps here were not more than 90 degrees.

I think I'll refrain from lumbering tonight and instead walk over to the kitchen and make myself a nice up of cocoa to celebrate the release from pain and our fall-like temps (only a high of 82 today!)

2011-10-25T22:08:00.003-05:00

I realize the last few posts have been about Jimmy. This one is too. Grace is still here and is as Gracey as usual. She has now started playing the flute (so far she's learned B flat AND A flat). She's also trying to expand her literary pursuits beyond Harry Potter. But Jimmy, well he's 5 1/2 and is just as something-else as Grace was when I first started the Grace-isms on the side of this here darling blog.

Tonight during the prayer for dinner, Jimmy prayed "and please bless Mom and Dad that they can be nice." Later on in the evening he said it was uncomfortable to sit next to Nate because he was too warm and too hairy (perhaps I might know someone who has felt that way before).

We must have made progress because his bedtime prayer included "thank you for letting Mom and Dad be nice." Let's see what tomorrow brings.

the opposite man

2011-10-16T21:12:00.003-05:00

While contemplating some music to sing at an upcoming Christmas party, Jimmy suggested instead of going for "Still, Still, Still" I should choose "Move, Move, Move."

This is the same kid who has decided to always cheer for the team "versing" BYU. This would be the reason why he cried during BYU's first touchdown last weekend. (I suppose it didn't help matters that it was 46 degrees and well after bedtime.)

j's perspective

2011-10-14T16:13:00.002-05:00

We returned home late last night from a week(ish) trip to Utah. Two nights in Provo, two nights in SLC, and (probably my fav) 2 nights in Park City.

On our way out of PC yesterday morning, we happened to drive past the town's cemetery. Jimmy looked over at it through his window and said, "when I get to run through that obstacle course, I'm going to go super fast!"

We just cracked up. I suppose to the uninformed a cemetery certainly does resemble an obstacle course.

lame

2011-10-05T15:51:00.002-05:00

It all started benignly enough. A mother-daughter hike with moms and girls from church, a sunrise hike at Pinnacle Peak. And may I say, the sunrise was beautiful. The girls ran ahead, the moms followed. We (the moms in the back) reached our last 1/3 mile or so. We were pleased to have made good time, thus allowing adequate opportunity for the rest of Saturday's activities and obligations to take place. If I was lucky, Grace and I would get home just as Nate needed to go in and round which would prevent Jimmy needing a sitter.

It would seem that I was not lucky.

I managed to slip on some loose gravel, fall forward, gain some major road burn, in-bed a rock in my hand, and tear a few ligaments in my ankle. With the help of a sweet, calm friend, I made it down off the mountain.

Nate and Jimmy met us at the ER (Jimmy even took a moment before hand to make me a picture of a dinosaur to feel me better, I will say it helped). My friend took Grace and Jimmy for the morning. And Nate dutifully stayed with me. We found it ironic that he was spending his Saturday morning at a hospital, but not the one he needed to be at to do his rounds.

We made it home by 11:00 (my, how long the morning is when you actually see the sun rise), with two new shiny crutches and a large, black Darth Vader-like boot.

It has now been 10 days and I can cruise around much of the time with NO crutches (but wearing of course my awesome footwear). I will admit that having a crutch to rely on does give me peace of mind. The first several days were not fun for anyone. Nate and the kids picked up the slack as I hobbled about and we have somehow managed.

And so we continue on.

I get to wear the Darth Vader beauty for several more weeks. I've considered being Vader for Halloween, but truth be told, I've wanted to be Princess Lea for a long time and none of her costumes would be done justice by wearing her father's boot (not even the gold one).

a little-pick-me-up

2011-10-04T10:31:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick link to brighten your spirits: click here!

the letter of the day is "f"

2011-09-27T20:38:00.003-05:00

A certain someone asked me about a song she heard that had the "f"word in it. After much discussion I finally asked, "what exactly is the "f" word?"

With much hesitation the reply finally came, "fricken."

"Is it 'fricken'?" I asked, "or is it another word that sounds like it?

"Oh its 'fricken' all right, or is it 'fracken'? I never am too sure."

vocabulary

2011-09-23T18:13:00.000-05:00

The other night, we were reading together. During Jimmy's turn, the word "quake" was included.

He paused and informed us all that "quake" was another word for something that can happen on airplanes.

Something that would shake and make you wiggle around while flying.

And that something of course is -

Turquoise!!!

It took a bit of convincing on our part for him to accept that infact the word was "turbulence," but you probably knew that already!
ps these are 6 month old pics taken on a chilly day on the California Coast. You could say it was a "salty" day!

punctuation

2011-09-18T22:08:00.001-05:00

(The following photo has nothing to do with this post as it is a final photo from soccer season. Since then we've been through lacrosse season and lived to tell the tale. We are looking forward to another lacrosse season, perhaps when it is not over 100 degrees every single Saturday morning).

Jimmy's really into the whole Kindergarten thing. He loves reading and will demonstrate this awesome life-skill to anyone and anything (including a stuffed platypus).

He's currently digging punctuation - periods, question marks, and (my most favorite) "questlamation points!!!!!"

what do you do in the summertime?

2011-09-17T12:13:00.000-05:00

What do you do in the summertime? When all of your world is 110 degrees? You pack up some cousins, some grandparents, and an aunt an uncle and head to where its cooler - say only 101 degrees!!!

We've found Sedona to be the perfect location to find 98-100 degree weather in August. It blows my mind I'm excited when it is in double digits. I've thought of having a double digit temperature party when we actually reach that on a continual basis. I think I will and I think it will be called Thanksgiving.

Back to the post here -
On our way back down away from the coolness of Sedona to the hot, hot Valley of the Sun, we did some off-roading and wound our way over to Montezuma's Well.

Its actually a sink hole with a natural spring.

Its one of the first Native American sites I've been to where I can actually believe one would want to live there. The water was cool and refreshing and their houses were awesome.

Here is where the spring sprouts from. The water is pure and clear.

So pure and clear in fact it is most difficult not to jump in it yourself.

Thankfully wise grandparents are there to casually restrain you from your tempation.

Parents are also there and are slightly willing to pose for a picture.

Thanks for being such a great host, Montezuma. We will return.

But next time, we might take the paved road we found on our way out instead!

a san francisco treat

2011-09-16T12:40:00.002-05:00

Nate and I just got back from 4 days in San Francisco. We stayed at the Fairmont on Nob Hill. While he was in meetings, I tootled around town on foot and on cable car.
Grace Cathedral:

Scenes from Ghiradelli Square:

Boudin Creations:

Sammy the Sea Lion:

Pier 39:

Coit Tower and the Transamerica Building:

Saints Peter and Paul Church:

Cable car on Nob Hill:

Our digs:

China Town:

Ferry Building:

A highlight was eating in the kitch Tonga Room. We laughed our way through our meal (which was surprisingly good!) and boogied down to the floating band. The "rain storm" they had every 25 minutes or so was "refreshing!"

I didn't leave my heart in San Francisco, but I love it nonetheless!

Sidenotes:
1. Tony Bennett first sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" in the Venetian Room at the Fairmont.
2. It is a toss-up between lobster bisque and clam chowder on the waterfront. I really don't think you can go wrong with either one.
3. When you go out of town, one of your children will get sick and your mom will take care of them handily.
4. Yes, they do serve tea and coffee in Royal Dalton china in the Laurel Court, but you don't necessarily have to tip over the cream onto the floor to be sure. In the event you do think the creamer is empty, but it isn't, a kind server will come by and clean up the ridiculous mess you made and polish off your shoes and manage not to make you feel like the idiot you truly are (or at least were for that particular moment in time).
5. You will still laugh over the above mentioned event for days to come.
6. When butter fish is the fresh catch of the day, you should be sure to eat it.
7. When in the Tonga Room, you should have a Pina Coloada - even if it is a "Mocktail" and not a "Cocktail." Your waiter won't bat an eye when your date orders a "Fruity Loopy," either.
8. When there is an organized protest against BART police, the said police will not only come out in full riot gear but they will also shut down the cable car system for several hours. This provides a wonderful opportunity to appreciate how steep those hills really are.
9. Ghiradelli is all well and very good, but the finest baking dutch process cocoa I've ever come across is from Dean and DeLuca.
10. You may find yourself in a cab because the line to get onto a cable car is over an hour long and you are smart and realize cab fare is 2 bucks more than the cable car ticket price. In this cab you will be reminded of Steve McQueen and "Bullet," but you will get back to your hotel in record time.

trying old things

2011-09-07T16:01:00.003-05:00

Today I was back in the classroom. I've volunteered to help out in the Kindergarten room. This time I got to run literacy centers. And you know what? I loved it.

I'm not really the room-mom type. I really don't care to collect various funds for various things. I don't enjoy planning and carrying out elaborate classroom parties. I don't want to be in charge of pta kinds of things. But, I do want to teach.

I love helping a child discover that s/he can actually read. It really is something to me.

I loved it so much this morning that I went to Grace's classroom and spoke with her teacher. Turns out there are a few students not reading near grade level. And now a few times a month I get to work with those kids!

Yay

brown cake

2011-08-30T12:23:00.001-05:00

This is Salsie and Pops (and you know who else).

We don't get to see them nearly as often as we would like, but when we do boy do we have fun.

Salsie has this dreamy, amazing cake that she makes. She calls it "Inside-out Bundt Cake." Jimmy calls it "Brown Cake." Somehow that name seems to have stuck.

Without further ado, here is Salsie's recipe:

1 pkg instant chocolate pudding

1 pkg Devil's food cake mix

1 pkg choc chips

1 3/4 cups milk

2 eggs

Combine pudding mix, cake mix, milk and eggs into a bowl. Mix with a spoon until well-blended, about 2 minutes. Mix in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased Bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed with finger. Don't over bake! Cool 15 minutes, then remove from pan.

Because Bundt cakes and I sometimes tear one another apart and because Sir Nathan isn't as much of a die-hard chocolate lover as I am, I've made a few modifications:

I do it in a 9x13, substitute vanilla pudding mix for chocolate, and do a milk chocolate cake mix instead of devil's food. I whip it up the same way and bake, but keep an eye on it as it should be done in about 40 minutes or so.

It will make you and yours oh so happy!

salty

2011-08-23T11:09:00.004-05:00

Last night Jimmy was telling us about a boy in his class. This is how it went down:

J: Well, he talks kind of different and he smells different too.

Us: What do you mean?

G: Yeah, does he have an accent or something?

J: No. Well, well he talks kind of SALTY.

Us: SALTY?!??

J: Yep, and he smells salty too.

G: Maybe he's from The Coast.

Yeah, maybe. There are lots of Coasts here in AZ!

(ps The above picture was actually taken on the coast last March and it features four rowdy cousins and my favorite bridge.)

holey

2011-08-19T22:47:00.001-05:00

This little man of mine lost his first tooth last night.

Oh, and if you wonder at his ensemble, he is of course a secret delivery agent who digs dinosaurs.

alias

2011-08-10T23:16:00.003-05:00

In the last 24 hours I discovered that Superman's alias is not named Clark Kent.

His real name is Nate.

This man can fix a non-functioning laptop, dismantle a non-working washing machine, diagnose its problem, and then reassemble it with a new part, oversee the construction of a fort in the front room, give a speech to a high-rollin' group to raise big bank for the hospital, teach me how to sweet talk another computer into working, slow dance in the family room, and work on his sourdough starter.

He can do all of this in a 27 hour period of time, and still keep his day job.

(I wish I would have bought him this shirt)

Thank you, Superman, I mean Clark Kent, I mean Nate! What on earth would we do without you?

the most wonderful time of the year

2011-08-08T15:32:00.003-05:00

Are you ready for this?

A Fourth Grader!

And a Kindergartner!!

I'd say we're off to a fine start.

All I can say is "Wooo hooo!!!!"

a grand adventure

2011-08-06T23:44:00.002-05:00

With school starting on Monday, it seems only fitting that I finally get around to tell you about our grand adventure.

On our first real weekend of summer break (which happened to be Memorial Day weekend), we ventured North.

We saw vast vistas with lots of other visitors trying to vie to see the same vistas we were.

We clung to security fences and obeyed all signs of safety and precaution (except when we were climbing trees).

It was truly an adventurous and windy time.

Oh, and we saw a canyon.

things from today from a long, long time ago

2011-08-03T23:08:00.002-05:00

All summer I've wanted to take the kids to the dinosaur museum. Seemed like the thing to do when it was 108 degrees outside.

We finally did it today. I must say there was some good sibling vibes going on.

We saw all kinds of dinosaur bones (this of course is a bad picture of a triceratops).

We saw a crazy meteorite that crashed into Tucson ages ago.

We assembled a mastodon (well, really they did, I was just along to provide photographic evidence).

The above was my favorite sign of the day (it was even worth reading, if you ask me). I've been chuckling about it all afternoon.

Grace demonstrated that if we were dependent on grinding our own corn and wheat with this method we would indeed be hungry and rather skinny.

Jimmy proves he may not be as big as a dinosaur, but he's pretty tough (or something).

the end

2011-08-02T20:36:00.001-05:00

All good things must come to an end. We ended ours by cruising up to Santa Cruz and walking about the boardwalk.

As you can see, we weren't alone. And many of those people you see pictured made for some mighty fine people watching.

There was some lovely beach watching, sail sighting,

toe dangling,

and raucous riding!

It was beautiful. There really is something about that California coast, it gets me every time.

But the best sight is what greeted us at home (note how they donned their souvenir t-shirts and are wielding their darling otters - Jimmy's shirt reads "The Otters Strike Back" and Grace's shirt of course depicts "Hairy Otter")

Happy Summer, one and all!

ps school starts next week, can you believe it?!

discovery

2011-08-01T15:29:00.002-05:00

Guess what I found that I love to do and never did before...

Did you guess, kayaking? Good job if you did.

We rented a kayak for two and skimmed on top of the Bay. It was so fun. I did get a bit nervous when I realized there were real live animals (with real live teeth) that were swimming about near us.

Nate loved the fact that there were real live animals swimming near us and didn't seem bothered by the idea of their teeth in the least. The most fun to watch were the otters. They would laze about on top of kelp beds (lots of kelp beds, one of the reasons the otters love Monterey Bay) and then get up and play and frolic about. The stinkiest animals to see were the seals (or were they sea lions?) Thankfully we weren't too close to note the location of their ears which is how one would differentiate between the two (see I do know things, even if I don't read all the signs).

Above you will see a view of where we stayed. It was very Water-Front.

After kayaking about, we got cleaned up and hit the town. See, aren't we just darned cute? Have we really known each other for 17 years? We certainly don't look that old, well at least in this light, right (right??)

And while we were dining I discovered a new treat. See, prawns used to knock my socks off. They are still good, but I found more that scallops would swim about in my culinary dreams. And after this delight, a perfectly executed calamari steak floats right at the top. Here it is - the best meal of the trip - teeny, tiny micro greens on top of a mountain made of calamari steak, sea scallops, and prawns, on top of a bed of creamy risotto, flecked with capers, with sweet asparagus thrown in just to make things even better.

This is us after we are full. Full and happy.

Oh man, I love vacation.

(Think we need to find a new selves-portrait pose? We've perfected this one, I'd say.)

love on the rocks

2011-07-30T23:00:00.002-05:00

With temps in the low 60s and scenery more than beautiful, we not only were tempted by the bike rental people on Cannery Row, we were sold - hook, line, and sinker. We headed into Pacific Grove, had lunch at a tiny, darling place, and then coasted on over to, well, to the coast!

We found an area where the bike trail led to a foot path, which led to some crazy tide pools. We thought after our visit to the Aquarium, and after our year living in San Diego, a mere tide pool would not hold any bait for us. Boy were we wrong. It was full of crabs and fish and sea things (things I would know what they were called, but I didn't read the signs at the Aquarium).

There were birds galore!

But the sight of this bike tour we seem to remember the most was when we quite obviously interrupted someone's secret rendezvous for two (yes, THAT kind of rendezvous). They (the two people interrupted) were rather put out.

But honestly, is two steps off a public foot path on the coast full of rocks and sand and aquatic creatures really where you would want to rendezvous? I think not. They should be thankful and consider taking their business elsewhere, such as a place with no public, no foot paths, no sand, no rocks, and potentially no aquatic creatures.

the aquarium

2011-07-27T18:57:00.003-05:00

Nate loved our first visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium so of course we had to do it again on this visit. I enjoyed it more this time. We seem to have figured out how to make our very different museum paces work out over the years. I'm more of a walk-around-see-cool-things-read-about-only-the-coolest-looking-thing-find-the-gift-shop-then-go-out-to-lunch kind of museum visitor. Nate is more of a read-every-single-sign-plaque-pamphlet-ponder-what-you've-read-study-everything-you-see-ask-the-docents-insightful-questions-ponder-more-and-forget-one-has-to-eat-lunch kind of visitor. (Its nice we've had some time to work on this, don't you think?)

This time we got tix that would let us in for two consecutive days. This was great because I could pause and read many more signs and plaques than I used too and Nate could skim as many signs and plaques as possible, knowing that he could ponder and read and study even more the next day. This allowed us plenty of time for lunch.

During our first visit, we noticed most of the docents were retired from other professions and now volunteered at the aquarium. Nate decided that was what he'd like to do upon retirement. This was decided well before he even applied to medical school.

Considering the insightful questions he posed during this trip, I would say he's well on his way to living his retirement dreams.

Though if you ask him about it, he just might clam-up.

note -

The pictures were all taken when I wasn't reading plaques or signs. Had I been reading them, I could tell you the names of these amazing sea creatures. All I can tell you is that the first two are different kinds of jelly fish and I loved watching them dance around. I found them to be mesmerizing (this was good, because Nate took the opportunity to ponder). The next two pictures are of different sea horses. The sea horses are amazing. I had no idea about their variety and complexity. I loved the one that resembled a plant. The final picture is of my favorite kind of species, though he is not only a sea creature - he is a land dweller as well. And bipedal. Amazing ;)

13 is a great number

2011-07-21T12:33:00.003-05:00

I've never had fresh flowers delivered to my swanky hotel room before! I certainly hope to again!

I've never stayed this close to the ocean before, I certainly plan to again!

Here is the sun peeking through the clouds during breakfast one morning. It was a chilly 55 degrees. Heaven for someone who just came from the Valley of the Sun.

Here is a quick shot of Nate and I at Monterey Bay. We have a similar shot taken 13 years ago during our Honeymoon.

I think this one is fabulous!

13

2011-07-14T10:52:00.002-05:00

Happy Anniversary Eve, dearest!

light dusting

2011-07-07T11:22:00.002-05:00

We got back into town around 5 Tuesday night. We were home by 6. Dinner was off the grill by 7. Good thing, because by 8 it was a crazy world outside our door. It was difficult to see the trees and cactus behind the pool. Opening the front door ensured your eyes would be full of grit (and possibly beams and motes). The wind just wouldn't quit. And my favorite - the entire house smelled like fresh dirt from the garden.

Turns out we were in the midst of an "haboob." Yes, you should google it. At one point it engulfed all of Camelback Mountain. It was said to be at least a mile high and spread about 50 or 60 miles wide.

By morning the wind had stopped, but there was dust and dirt EVERYWHERE. And our pool was as dirty as I've ever seen it. Apparently it wasn't the only pool with such troubles, the high school swim team had to cancel practice because of their own murky water.

Dust seemed to hang in the air. It seemed hazy almost, but very different.

We stayed inside most of the day except for a few back-into-town errands to run (because we would have to eat, y'know).

It occurred to me this was like a distorted reflection of Christmas break. We were hunkered down inside, all cozy with fun movies, toys to play with, and great books to read. When we did emerge from our cocoon, it wasn't for long and we hurried (along with the rest of the shoppers at Costco) inside and then hurried back to the car.

Today we won't be making dustman or sledding down dust hill, but we will be hosing down the patio furniture and doing our best to revive our sad garden.

For some reason, I just can't get "It's beginning to look a lot like..." out my head. Perhaps we will have to break out some holiday tunes to get us through our chores today.

brand new beauty

2011-06-21T19:50:00.002-05:00

Today I used a brand new vacuum. This was quite exciting as I have never used or owned a new vacuum before. We began our newly married life (almost 13 years ago) with a 1981 Electrolux. It was Grandmother Darling's pride and joy, but the canister was proving too heavy for her and she and Grandpa were very happy to present this machine to us. We were happy to have it as we didn't have a vacuum and knew that there are some parts of marriage that really did need to suck (mainly the carpet that you'd walk on day in and day out).

Years later the Electrolux began to show her age. About this time we were presented with a much less heavy Oreck from my mom. She acquired this when I was about 12 or 13. (You can do the math on that one). It was awesome until the last few weeks.

So last Friday, I talked the kids up and filled them with excitement as we headed to the Vacuum Store after soccer. Jimmy was well prepared to face whatever came our way with his shin-guards, but he gratefully relinquished his ball to the confines of the car. He and Grace graciously checked out all the Vacuum Store had to offer. Grace then settled into her library book (because, you never know when you might need to read your library book in the exciting Vacuum Store) and Jimmy took it upon himself to notify a Vacuum Store employee their floor was very dirty (he had found their demo area and it truly troubled him, probably because shin-guards were no match to the mess the demo area provided).

The Vacuum Store regretfully informed me the repairs on my "elderly" vacuum would be over 100 bucks. I regretfully informed them I would not be seeking a $100 plus repair on my "elderly" vacuum. We did leave as friends, but I was sure not to impart my phone number.

After days of pondering, searching, researching, and hemming and hawing, the day arrived to purchase a brand-spankin'-new vacuum. As Grace had a previous engagement that particular afternoon, only Jimmy was there to accompany me on the purchase of a new vacuum. While cruising the aisle approaching our new-to-be acquisition, Jimmy pointed to each and every vacuum and said,

"Hey, Mama, check out this beauty!"

"Oh, look at that beauty over there!"

"I think this could be our new beauty, its purple!"

"Wow, what a beauty!"

It made buying a new vacuum even more awesome that it could have been.

This afternoon I assemble my new Beauty. It totally sucks.

I'm very happy.

into the light

2011-06-07T11:44:00.001-05:00

It was light. It seemed far too early for the sun, but no doubt about it, the light was peering right into my eyelids. I blinked them open. It was light all right. Man, did it feel early!

Time on the clock - 1:57 a.m.

Huh?

Blinking a few times I discover its not the sun causing this disturbance, its the lamp on the bedside table.

Nate is sound asleep. "Honey," I say, "Did you turn the light on?"

"Yes," he says, "I turned it on to examine the neck adhesion."

"Of course," I say, "well the procedure is over, will you please turn the light off now?"

"Oh, yeah."

Its now dark. And I've got about four more hours of darkness to snooze!

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pee-wee

2011-06-03T12:49:00.001-05:00

Have you ever seen little pee-wee shin guards and soccer socks? I'm not sure if there are many things cuter than they are.

Have you ever seen a little boy dash across the field full-throttle wearing the said pee-wee shin guards and socks?

Well, you should. It really will make your whole day better.

for you, kathy b.

2011-06-02T23:25:00.003-05:00

We received terrible news today. A member of our ward (congregation) was killed. He was Grace's Primary (Sunday School) teacher. Our prayers continually are in behalf of his wife (who also teaches Grace's class) and his family.

However, I find that my hands need to be busy. After cleaning the house, they were still in need of work. They really seem to be the most at ease in the kitchen. To prevent myself from baking cookies (you know that is my stand-by in times of stress), I considered baking brownies. But I saw the effects of both would be the same - I would consume far too many of each. Instead I busted out the cookbooks and whipped up an old favorite I haven't made in eons; and while doing so I realized I promised faithful reader, Kathy B., I would post Nate's Favorite Pork Chops. She said she wasn't interested in pork that turned out dry. Never you fear, my dear, these are wonderful!

So here are two family classics:

Savory Summer Pie - adapted from a Southern Living magazine dated ages ago

1 unbaked pie crust

1 small red pepper, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped

4 large eggs

1 cup half and half

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack

1/3 cup shredded Parm cheese

3 plum tomatoes, sliced

Fit pie crust in a 9 1/2 inch deep pie plate. Prick bottom and sides. Bake at 425 for 10 min. Remove from oven and set aside.

Saute bell pepper, onion, and garlic in hot oil for 5 minutes or so. Stir in basil and remove from heat.

Whisk together eggs and the next 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in sauteed veggies and cheeses. Pour into crust; top with tomato slices.

Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

(Also, someone I know loves some Tabasco on his serving of this)

Nate's Favorite Pork Chops

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

6 pork chops, not the skinny ones mind you, make sure they are nice and thick!

olive oil

2 medium tomatoes (or one can diced tomatoes with all the juice)

1 onion, sliced

3 Tbsp soy sauce (the secret ingredient, if you will)

1/2 cup water

Combine flour, garlic powder and pepper; coat the chops with the mixture. Brown both sides of pork in the hot oil over medium heat. Sprinkle tomatoes and onion pieces over top of the chops. Pour soy sauce and water over all. Simmer, covered for 45 minutes (or less if you weren't able to get those nice, thick chops), until tender, turning once.

Please, please, please serve over rice.

summer

2011-05-31T15:43:00.002-05:00

Summer has officially come, as it is now summer break. We kicked it off right with a trip to the Grand Canyon.

It is really big.

Today was the first day of summer day camp, not quite sure why the word camp is used as it is a three hour class the children get to go to a few days a week for a few weeks.

Jimmy's is Masterpieces. This involves messy painting and other artwork all the while studying a letter of the day and doing corresponding yoga moves to emphasis the letter. He digs painting and loves letters. I'm sure he'll get over the yoga.

Miss Grace is now in summer term at Hogwarts. Thankfully Hogwarts has a campus in a town nearby (and thankfully that campus shares rooms where Jimmy's summer camp is - whew). She received a letter in the mail (at least we think it was mail, there was no evidence of an owl delivery). It was addressed in a toned-down version of calligraphy and had a wax seal on the back. The letter of course was on parchment.

As the students enter their classroom they each have to say, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." And when they leave they have to say, "Mischief managed."

They also played Spell Tag today. Have you ever played before? The children yell "Stupify" as they tag one another and those tagged become toads. Someone needs to do a leapfrog over the stupified toad to unstupify the tagged kid.

It is awesome.

I hope your summer is awesome too. Let me know if you get anything delivered by owl.

going home

2011-05-07T21:08:00.001-05:00

For weeks Grandma has been in and out of the hospital with some in between time at a nursing home. Her great plan was to make it home by Mother's Day. And she did.

Grandma passed away Friday evening. As patient as Grandpa always is, I'm sure he was grateful she finally came. I love this picture of them (above) taken in 1941 on the streets of Chicago. Arm-in-arm, he listening to every word she said, and she saying a LOT of words.

Three Interesting Things:
1. I loved hearing the stories of the two of them and their social life. They would often hit the strip clubs with their friends, probably when she was about my age. Apparently that's just what one would do with one's spouse and friends on a Saturday night. They loved banging the little hammers on the table and chanting, "Take it off! Take it off! Take it off!" Makes me rethink our current social life and date night. Nate, do you have any little hammers lying around? We might need 'em.

2. She only had one kidney. One time, many years ago in the hospital, a resident came into her room, all very earnest-like and said, "Um, well, excuse me. But did you know you only have one kidney?!" Without blinking an eye her reply was, "Well what did you do with the other one?!" And then she laughed. I think eventually he laughed too.

3. She and her sisters swear that their father's second wife killed him. And then she ran off with his car. Its like a true-life Agatha Christie, right in my family.

I really hope the Cubs make it through this year. She's only been able to cheer them on for a few weeks of the season. The remainder of this season must be done without their most ardent fan cheering them on and sharing "encouraging words" from her comfortable chair in her living room.

Grandma, you'll truly be missed down here. But I can only imagine what you and your sisters are gossiping about and what your latest schemes are. And I'm so happy your Steady is there to be by your side. Just be sure the two of you stay out of trouble!

Love you

off to the races

2011-04-23T10:21:00.000-05:00

About a month ago we enjoyed a rain-filled adventure in California. For a few brief moments we were dazzled with sunshine. Luckily one of those moments corresponded with a certain nephew's birthday party.

(I have no idea what these scooters are called, but they are more than awesome and I think I'd like one for myself.)

The difference between the following two are hilarious to me. I think a certain niece of mine picked up incredible speed as she was turning a bend on the path. Fortunately she's rather tenacious and her handy dad and Uncle Nate-ness were nearby to avert any serious injury. The facial expressions and body language of everyone in the last of these two photos is quite telling. Don't you think?!

Ps. One of these isn't a kid. Can you guess which one???

sage advice and the help of a reading list

2011-04-19T09:22:00.001-05:00

From a big sister to a little brother:
"There's an old saying that goes 'never judge a movie by its cover,' its the same thing with people."

I suppose one would say we watch a lot of movies around these parts? However, when we're not watching we are reading. Grace was featured in one of my friend's blogs. Check it out!

grumpy bunny

2011-04-18T09:21:00.001-05:00

Incidentally, if you are in the market for a new picture book, might I recommend this. We've had it for seven Easters now and I never grow tired of it. Perhaps because I can be a grumpy bunny too!

getting your game on with your peeps

2011-04-17T22:15:00.001-05:00

Its Easter-time. You know this by the crazy amount of Peeps one can find at any given store. But imagine if you will, that you've recently opened up your Easter seasonal box, y'know the one you left in STL for an extra year in storage and haven't been into since 2009 or so. Yeah, that one. Well, imagine your surprise and your husband's delight when within that box you find an unopened package of pink Peeps.

What does one do with these?
Let us show you:

You carefully throw the Peep at a child waiting "patiently" with a tennis racket.

In the following picture if you look closely you can see the tail end of a Peep right by the arrow. (I am sure by now you are used to our amazing photography around these parts.)

The child then whacks the Peep. This is done over and over and over again until all the Peeps are smashed to smithereens in the backyard. You then "graciously" pose for a picture with your racket on a rock and try not to get whacked yourself.

And that my friends, is how its done.

sometimes things are useful down the road

2011-04-12T15:03:00.004-05:00

Big test today for 3-5th graders in the state. So big that McDonalds has offered a free breakfast to children within that age range. How a greasy egg mcmuffin will help test scores increase, I'm not sure. But I digress.

Apparently They (they being the school administration from the district down through the teachers) have been "reminding" the children how important it is they do well on these tests. Grace has taken this to heart and has become slightly concerned about it. Oh how I wish she did not take after me in the test-taking-anxiety mode! She should channel her father in this regard! He's the coolest test taker I've evern known. We've talked about how she's taken tests like this every year in school. My favorite was last year, because in CA they don't just take standardized tests like everyone else. Oh no, y'see they do STAR testing. Fancy.

She's decided to try and chill about it. But I can tell she still is a bit ruffled. So I did what any fabulous mom would do. I put a note in her lunch that says,
"You're good enough, you're smart enough, and gosh-darn-it we love you."

Seems only natural the pep talk I give my child I gleaned straight from SNL.

whew!

2011-04-10T20:55:00.003-05:00

This has been one of our more wild weeks on record in a while. I am looking forward to the mundane and normalcy that should begin tomorrow.

All of our activities were good ones, there were just too many of them at the same time.

Some items I'll mention:
1. Nate ref-ed his first bball game. He needs to get a bit more comfortable when he blows his whistle. I think we're going to have to have some whistle practice. He also may consider not apologizing when he makes a call. But who am I to suggest such a thing? I apologize for junk All. The. Time. (Even when I have no business doing so!)

2. I was in a vocal trio at church today singing second soprano. I'm thinking if they knew how many notes I blew, they won't ask me again! Here's to hoping!!!!

3. I put on Jimmy's Super J cape today after we got home after church. I realize now I should have worn it to church as it certainly makes one more "super" and we all could have benefited from that during the "special musical number."

when I get to be 21 again

2011-04-06T14:49:00.002-05:00

Say all you want about men not planning in advance. I sure have said much on that subject concerning one man I know, but I now need to take it all back.

He asked me out on a date for September 3. (I said yes by the way and am already planning on what to wear).

What could possibly be so important to promote such advanced planning?
The Def Leppard and Heart concert!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited. I'm thinking of some of those clip in hair extensions in dark purple are in order!!!

Now to line up a babysitter. Think I'll wait a little bit on that one.

on the mend

2011-03-28T12:35:00.003-05:00

Last week was not what I intended it to be. We were sick (we being the children and I, Super Man seems to rarely ever get sick and he already took his turn for the next 10 years or so). Grace even stayed home one day. We lounged a bit in our pjs, coughed on each other, and relished in the idea we had no where to go. The next day everyone felt better. Well, everyone but me. I pretended I felt better, because I had better things to do than sit around being sick. Who has time for that? I played that way all week until I couldn't play anymore. Saturday it hit me. Super Man agreed with my self-diagnosis of bronchitis (it helps that I had that last year the the symptoms including the old-man wheezing where the same). With the help of some appropriate meds and some serious veggeing, I started the mending process. I played hookie from church (and napped during the time my family was gone - oh how I love a good nap in a quiet house). And today, well I'm better. I can move about caring one load of laundry after another without being short of breath. I'm not achy and I'm not too cranky (though the children might disagree, but we're all entitled to our own opinion, right?) So here's to a new week - may it be one without wheezes and crankies and one full of sunshine and fun.

we're back

2011-03-22T15:06:00.001-05:00

We survived a Spring Break Road Trip. And by survived I mean that we went, we're back, the laundry's done, and we're all still speaking to each other. Fourteen hours each way makes for a lot of togetherness. We went up to Northern California and saw Nate's old stomping grounds (and lots of other things). We visited cousins and friends and San Francisco. We pondered why we don't live there and found the answer to our question at about 5:50 p.m. one evening (traffic - its easy to forget how awful it is when you haven't been in it in a decade). We were rained on A LOT and found it ironic our first day back to the grind in AZ it rained A LOT as well.

Today we think fondly on our trip in the comfort of our own home as we cough and sneeze at each other. Grace has the added bonus of coughing and sneezing on us and not her school mates. A nap is in order for some and I think 2 out of 3 of us may actually cross the line of sleep.

Wishing you a restful Tuesday. May you find joy in your journey (wherever it is you are going - across country, across town, or across the living room) and relish in the laundry when you get home too.

the cape

2011-03-09T15:36:00.001-06:00

An amazing and talented gal who used to live near me in STL (both she and I now reside in different parts of the country) made this cape for Jimmy's Halloween costume many, many moons ago. She had no pattern but she certainly had know-how.

The cape can be worn while riding one's scooter or bike, while making breakfast, and playing with cars or trucks. You should note it is effective at Target to keep all the bad guys at bay. Its also helpful when watering the garden and a nice accessory to tooth brushing.

The cape is constructed with two layers of material cut into almost a triangle shape (with a straight edge at the top). When first made, the cape came to about mid-to-upper calf on him. (I guess he's been growing up, huh?) An extra swath of cloth was used to make a fastener that went in front of the neck. It was secured so it was not tight in the least with Velcro tabs. (This allows the superhero to disrobe as quickly as possible when he is trying to regain his incognito status). The "J" was then stitched on top in an applique sort of fashion.

The only role I played in the construction of this masterpiece was hemming and hawing over which material to use and that took about 2 minutes (its all about color combinations, people). Then the MacGyver of Domesticity whipped it together in no-time and we have been forever grateful.

So if you are even slightly crafty and unafraid of your sewing machine (its a fear I still need to overcome), I bet you can whip out one of the guys in no time!

dream on

2011-03-04T10:54:00.003-06:00

The following actually took place in one of my vivid dreams of last night-
Donald Trump came up to me with that crazy flop of hair while carrying an acrylic pitcher of Diet Coke. "You want to split this?," he said. "Sure," I said.

We were of course sitting across from an immaculate-looking Sophia Loren named Donatella Versace. She of course was sitting with Valentino.

Now if only I could remember what I was wearing, I'm sure it was amazing.

wild kingdom

2011-03-02T18:35:00.001-06:00

The children have decided to use their new nets (the butterfly variety) to catch rabbits. The plan is to just swoop the net over the bunny's head. They have conducted a thorough search of the backyard on tiptoe (one in actual sneakers, the other in frog boots - kind of hard to tiptoe in those as it becomes more of a quiet clunk).

After a few minutes they requested some vegetables to bring outside. They were given leftover sliced red peppers from last night's dinner. This allowed for the next step in a proper rabbit hunt: tiptoeing around the yard with their nets and produce. After a few minutes of that, they decided the rabbits wouldn't come if they (the children) were still outside.

Its now time for the next step in the rabbit hunt - Rabbit Trickery:
G: Hey, I'm real, real sleepy. Aren't you Jimmy?
J: No. I not sleepy.
G: (whispering) Just say that you are
J: (whispering) Okay. I am.
G: Okay bunnies, we're tired. We're going to bed.
Then they tip-toe around the corner.

Still no bunnies to behold.

Next they ask for carrots. Because you know, bunnies really like carrots - not red peppers.

They now are sneaking around the yard with their new produce (not sure of the fate of the red peppers yet).

J: Carrots, Carrots!! Any bunnies in the yard want carrots at my house?

Wait!

I've now been asked to find lettuce. I was instructed not to worry though, as they are just going to place it by a rabbit hole. Minor problem is that they haven't found one yet. However, they now are armed with shovels. The consensus is that the rabbit hole is buried and all they have to do is just dig it up.

Could this be a yard-sized conspiracy to get out of eating salad tonight?
hmmmmmmm

queen of cool

2011-03-02T09:19:00.001-06:00

Third Grade is cool. Its a place where just about everyone is cool and everyone does cool things. Its also a place where you can say if someone isn't cool. Someone like Justin Bieber. Apparently he's fallen out of coolness with this third grade crowd. What does this mean for his career, I wonder?

Also, there's a new "cool" game one plays in the Third Grade. Its called Slug Bug. This has nothing to do with a burnt out headlight though, it only has to do with VW Bugs. When one sees one, one punches one's brother in the back seat. It is delightful. We've scaled it back a bit to just yelling "Slug Bug" whenever one comes into view (less bruising that way). This is how it went this morning:
G: SLUG BUG!!!!
Me: That's not a Slug Bug, that's a Porsche.
G:Oh, well they look alike.
Me: That's grounds right there for not being ready to play Slug Bug

In other news when we went to check on our automotive enthusiast last night, she woke up a bit. Then she sat up in bed and gave us a mini-lecture on the metric system. The hilarious thing to me is that she was totally awake. Who does that?!! Only my girl.

We are so lucky to have her!
I sure to love that girl of mine.

day of rest

2011-03-01T10:58:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was Monday, and it really felt like a Monday. I got a lot of things done, but in doing so found myself 5 minutes late for everything. That is why I am grateful for Tuesdays.

Tuesday lately has been our day of taking it easy. One of its beauties is that Jimmy doesn't have school. So he and I take a casual approach. We even are casual in our dress. I generally opt for sweats for a good part of the day. He goes for something a bit more freeing than that.

Once I convince him to put clothes on, we venture outside. He'll ride his bike, or we'll go to the park. Sometimes if we are wild and crazy we may run an errand or two. In between all our activities we'll do laundry, watch whatever fine entertainment Disney Jr. is offering, we'll swashbuckle, and play rousing games of Goldfish (you may just call it Go Fish). And we'll wait with anticipation for The Bus.

The Bus is an exciting thing for Jimmy because it brings home his girl. She'll bound into the house full of news, drama and tragedy all from the world we call The Third Grade.

We slog our way through homework (Jimmy will often join in and do his; lately he's really been into dot-to-dot and writing his letters) and then we're done. No more responsibilities, no more places to go. Just plenty of time to play with our toys, dabble in more card games (Goldfish and Blackjack), build forts, etc. Sometimes an early bath is in order. Then its Jammie Time. I love Jammie Time. Don't you?

easy lit.

2011-02-27T10:07:00.001-06:00

For those of you unaware, the above is an actual photograph of an actual fort constructed in my front room.

What does one do in such a fort? Well if one were Jimmy, one would snuggle down with one's monster trucks and drive them all over and up and down one's sister's princess pillow. If one were Grace, one would re-read some favorites.

This particular day she was caught re-reading some serious H.P. (for about the 74th time).

Her recent out-of-fort reading has included "Oliver Twist" (she chose to do that while the rest of us were watching the Super Bowl) and "Little Women" (this one she decided to wake up early on a Sunday morning and dive into it). She is a ferocious reader and its hard to keep her in books.

Good thing she can quickly construct the Re-Read Fort.

bennett crater

2011-02-23T16:37:00.001-06:00

This guy I know says some of the craziest things. While dropping Grace off at school yesterday he said, "Hey, that guy looks like Nicholas. Only he has the wrong face."

Today on the way home from preschool, he spotted a young gentleman sporting a rather impressive mohawk. Jimmy said, "Hey (as many of his statements seem to begin with "hey") look at that guy. He's a cock-a-d000 guy. He probably doesn't say cock-a-doodle-do, but his hair is cock-a-dooo hair."

And sometimes he uses his own set of naughty words.

In response to having to having to wear clean socks today he said, (in the meanest, growling voice he could muster), "BENNETT." I asked him to repeat it to make sure I heard him correctly. And sure enough, it was "Bennett."

Then upon hearing we were driving Grace to school once again, he said (this time in a more complaining, yelling tone) "Oh Craters!!"

So if you find yourself in a pinch, feel free to borrow from his vocabulary.
Oh no-
Hey, my water is boiling over....
Oh, Craters.

a night on the town

2011-02-22T10:51:00.002-06:00

The above was taken a few months ago by our fine photographer, Grace, in Tucson, AZ. I don't seem to have many pictures of Nate and I. I guess I'll have to remedy that.

In the past several years Nate hasn't always been available on birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines and other days when you really need a date! This has been one area I've been hopeful would improve once we made the transition from Fellowship to Real Job. And its been one area that still needs improvement. Although this time around I can't blame it on the job, I just have to blame it on real life.

Our anniversary last summer was celebrated with the children on a very hot day with a road trip between St. Louis and Chicago (how exciting that I-55 drive can be), just a mere week after we moved into our home here in Arizona. If I remember correctly we shared a milkshake in the car. How romantical.

Next, my birthday was taken over by Strep. Damn you Strep!

And moving on, this Valentine's Day happened to be our night to clean the church. For real. And of course it was also the day he had some real complicated patients and had several visits to the NICU. He missed the church cleaning and almost missed our traditional VDay dinner. I just kept reminding myself that at least we weren't the ones whose new baby was in the NICU. I always feel for those parents who's new, tiny baby is whisked away to the NICU. Certainly miracles happen there, but its so scary.

With all that said (boy do I sound like a complainer today!) we made up for it this past Saturday night. We went to the swankiest place I think we've ever been in all our days: Mastro's Ocean Club. The food was so fabulous and so well done, I just can't even put into words how wonderful it all was. But I will try:

Holy. Cats.

Here is what we dined on (you can start salivating now if you wish):
Alaskan King Crab legs with clarified butter
Horseradish Caesar salad (crisp & delicious!)
22 oz Ribeye, cooked to dreamy perfection (Nate)
12 oz bone-in filet, so good (me)
Seared scallops, (so perfect, so amazing, I could have just died)
Creamed spinach
Lobster Mashed Potatoes (for real, and if that doesn't sound indulgent I don't know what does)
And the most decadent 7 layer chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and raspberries. It was so dreamy I decided it was my birthday cake, just a few weeks late.

At least half of what we ordered came home with us in giant, fancy bags. And Grace polished off most of the steak the next day (man that girl can eat, sometimes as much as a truck driver one would find on I-55!)

It wasn't until last night that we finally finished the chocolate cake. Mmmmmmmmmm

So here's my lesson learned - good things will eventually come to those who wait. And next time (thanks to the knowledge of where one can find chocolate cake perfection), I just might be able to wait a bit more patiently.

hanging by a string

2011-02-19T16:09:00.000-06:00

Why is it so funny to watch people try and eat a donut hanging on a string?

I don't know.

But it sure is!

Happy Saturday!

hello, my name is not martha

2011-02-18T18:46:00.002-06:00

Jimmy's request for his birthday party theme first was Cars. Then it was cars. Then it was cars and monster trucks. Then it was Cars and fire trucks. I decided to just roll with it.

After initial research (i.e., I asked him what kind of cake he wanted and his response was "brown cake"), I thought the easiest approach would be to do a tire cake.

You might say though, Sarah those look like donuts, not tires. And you would be right for that particular group of goodies on the left is indeed donuts leftover from the donut-on-a-string game.

You might then say, Yes but the other ones in the middle and on the right really do not look like tires. And to that I would say, well that is YOUR opinion; but to me and this boy they are and always will be tires.

See, even Zac thinks so.

Incidentally, they (whatever they looked like) were really good. I cheated and used a cake mix, but the frosting was a homemade butter cream and boy-howdy was it delicious.

its a numbers game

2011-02-17T10:52:00.001-06:00

(please note their coordinating Christmas attire. Try as I might, I can't convince Nate his sweater vest is done. Well, we all have our own tastes, right?)

This post could also be called, "What happens in the living room, should stay in the living room."

Our latest family activity: Black Jack. Turns out its not just for Bond girls and villains, its also an effective tool to speed up math facts. Nate makes a fabulous dealer. Grace is a serious player. Jimmy likes to hold his cards so everyone can see them. Everyone especially likes the part where you say, "hit me." So far there have been no wagers...

It reminds me of the stories of lore from when Nate was a kid. When they would drive between Utah and California, they would find themselves in Nevada (if you could guess that, you are awesome at 2nd grade geography, but we're now in third grade and that is why we find ourselves playing black jack - all in the name of education I say).

His dad would talk to the kids about gambling and why it wasn't a good idea. He'd put quarters in the slot machine - to show them how wasteful it was to basically give away a hard-earned quarter. And wouldn't you know, each and every time more than a quarter would come out.

Next month we are taking a trip to Northern California. Too bad we won't be going through Nevada. I could use some new quarters.

cloudy with a chance of meatloaf

2011-02-16T16:34:00.002-06:00

Strange things are afoot here - its cloudy. Make that Quite Cloudy. Its a friendly reminder that it actually is "winter" (a fact that many of you are painfully aware of, and a fact that my kids wished they remembered more often).

In honor of this Slightly Breezy (did I mention that part too?) and Quite Cloudy day, I'm firing up the oven. We're having roasted fingerling potatoes and mini meatloaves. We'll counter all of that oven-cooked goodness with a crunchy green salad. I am pretty sure Jimmy will eat none of anything prepared. Grace will be a good sport about the salad and dive right into her meatloaf. Nate and I will counter our dinner experience with some serious exercise - I'll be doing a bike ride right before we sit down and he's playing ball tonight.

Have you given up on the meatloaf in your life (I've said goodbye to many a meatloaf recipe over the years)? This is the one that floats our boat.

And since I seem to be on a recipe kick, here's a fun after-school snack (that is if you have kids that are willing to dip fruit into things, mine are not - but that doesn't stop me from snacking!):

Apple Dip

8 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Using a hand-mixer, mix together until smooth and creamy. Us as a dip for several cut-up apples. So good!

the way to my man's heart is paved in basil

2011-02-14T17:54:00.001-06:00

I made this our first Valentine's Day when we were married (for those of you keeping score, that was a mere 12 years ago). I've made it almost every VDay since. Its not red. Its not steak. There are no oysters or other aphrodisiacs (that I know of). But there is basil. And lots of it. And he loves it.

The recipe comes from my friend, Mario. He calls it Leguria Pesto. I call it Valentine Pasta. (you say tomato, I say yum)

Pesto:
1 c fresh basil leaves
2 garlic cloves
1/2 c pine nuts
1/2 c fresh (ie. not from a can) Parmesan cheese
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 c olive oil

Combine everything except the oil in a food processor. Start grinding and add oil in a slow stream to make a nice paste.

Pasta:
1 pkg cheese-filled tortellini
diced new potatoes
asparagus, cut into fork-sized lengths

You want to have equal amounts of potatoes and asparagus (btw, nice green beans can be substituted if the asparagus at your store is just out of the question, because as we all know good asparagus is good and bad asparagus is more than bad). The amounts of potatoes and asparagus should equal the amount of pasta. I'm sure there's an easier way of saying that, but it escapes me at this time.

Cook the tortellini according to pkg directions. With 5 minutes left of cooking (and really if you are using fresh tortellini, they may cook in less than that), add your potatoes. Add the asparagus with only 3 minutes left of cooking. Reserve a cup of cooking liquid before you drain. Drain, but don't rinse. Transfer to a large bowl and toss the pasta with the pesto you made earlier. If it is too dry, sprinkle in a little bit of the reserved cooking liquid. Serve with sprinkled Parmesan cheese and wear something skimpy (oh no, wait - what i meant was don't skimp on the cheese!)

fly by

2011-02-11T21:28:00.000-06:00

Seems like life is moving way too fast.

You peek out and before you know it,

life just flies by and you realize your baby is 5 years old.

Time sure flies when you're having fun.

party time, excellent

2011-02-04T18:16:00.000-06:00

Look who's 9!!!!

She even has lovely friends,

(well, mainly silly friends).

But she's all mine!!!!

parting ways

2011-01-27T10:39:00.001-06:00

This is the replacement car Nate has driven for much longer than we thought it would even last (since 2007 if you can believe it!).

Thanks to Nate's smarts and his unwillingness to throw out any twisty-ties, the bumper has remained affixed to the car since our last year in St. Louis with those industrial-strength twisty-ties you pry off of children's toys on Christmas morning.

This old thing would speed him to and from the hospital for countless emergencies. It was ugly, wussy, and somewhat clanky. But evidently those qualities in a car don't really matter much when the car can get the job done.

The week before Thanksgiving, this car met its end. A hose blew out and squirted oil all over the engine. The engine fried. The car was dead.

My favorite part of the story is that this occurred on his way to the O. R. There was a very good chance that his patient he was going to operate on passed him standing on the side of the road next to his twisty-tie car with plumes of white smoke emanating from the engine. You'd never think of your surgeon in that situation.

Well think again, because it just might be!
Goodbye car. Thanks for the memories!

super supper shuffle

2011-01-23T10:01:00.003-06:00

I have remarkably vivid memories of the Bears 1985 Superbowl win. Remarkable, because its me and I'm really not a super football fan. I paid attention when my brother would play and I sometimes pay attention to BYU, but that's really it.

But this was DIFFERENT. We actually left church early to be sure we were home in time to watch it. A certain Brother K used to wear a small earphone and would listen to key games, you could tell who was winning by watching his facial expressions. But Brother K's expressions would not do for this game.

We hurried home, changed into our comfy Bear-cheering clothes. We got down and grooved to The Superbowl Shuffle. And then my mom made what we now believe to be the key to the Bear's success: Super Nacho Supper.

We could not believe that this actually qualified as dinner. It was as if there had been a major shift in the cosmos (obviously there was, as the Bears won 46-10 and yahoo sports has now named the '85 Bears as the best team in NFL history).

And so now, dear readers, I share it with you.
(Mom has appropriately enhanced its name... )

Super Bowl Nacho Supper

1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. Taco mix
1-cup water
1 cup bean dip
2 tbsp green chilies
2 cups shredded lettuce
3 medium tomatoes
tortilla chips
1 cup guacamole
1 cup sour cream
1 cup Monterey jack cheese, grated
1 cup cheddar, grated

Brown meat and drain. Add seasoning and water, simmer 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, spread bean dip to cover bottom of 14” pizza pan. Sprinkle with cheeses, top with meat, sprinkle with chilies. Broil 5-7 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Around edge, arrange a border of lettuce, tomatoes, and chips. Place mound of guacamole and sour cream in center.

Let's Go Bears!

Please note the Bears won the Superbowl when I was Grace's age.
Also of note, as I write this my kids are singing the Superbowl Shuffle in the backyard.
Its the circle of life, people, the circle of life.

the silent night of a motley crew

2011-01-22T14:37:00.003-06:00

An Evening Quite Extraordinary
cast: Grace, Tyler, Jack, Charlie, Jimmy, Jenna, Zac, Hank

Crew assembles:

Angel, Mary, Joseph, Wise Guy 1, Shepherd, Wise Guy 2, Wise Guy 3

Joseph and Mary finally reach their destination. Mary is posed to recieve the gift of her son. Joseph looks on with great anticipation.

They cradle the new child and are protected by a most sincere shepherd.

The shepherd decided he had other things to do. No worries though, as the heroic Wise Guys (Super J, a fireman, and of course Spiderman) appear. Please note that Wise Guy 3 even solves the problem of lack of sheep.

Wise Guy 2 then takes over sheep duties.

The angel looks on with her halo of a hot pink feather boa.

Our Christmas Eve was awesome. I hope yours was too.

today is a new day

2011-01-19T23:40:00.002-06:00

So from what I can gather, all four people mentioned in my last post are doing better. I'm usually not clued in to The Big Plan from above, so I just continue to pray everyone will find peace and comfort and the strength to heal.
-----------------------------

Moving on, it was date night at our house tonight (sometimes has to be on a school night when Daddy is on-call on the weekend - so awesome). Here's how it went down - Nate and Grace went to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This has been much talked about and anticipated for quite sometime. She had no idea it was going to be tonight (because, really we pieced it together while she was at school today via short-lived cell phone calls) and she was thrilled.

Jimmy at first was sad he wasn't going in the theater too, but then saw the Jimmy Johns next door. So his date with Mommy was at JJ's. And according to Jimmy, Jimmy Johns makes his tummy happy because he is always hungry for sandwiches and chips and Jimmy Johns has real good sandwiches and chips. I would say next to apple juice and white yogurt (vanilla yoplait for those of you not in the know), sandwiches are Jimmy's favorite foods. They of course have to be very plain sandwiches, and that my friends is why he always chooses a Slim 4 (turkey and bread).

To illustrate his love for sandwiches here is a little tale:
Once he was in big trouble for saying naughty words to me (naughty words he picked up from various other little boys who will remain nameless at this time). As things were sorted out and an apology given, Nate suggested that Jimmy say something nice to me. He contemplated for a minute and then very sincerely said to me, "Eat a sandwich." Because to him, that is one of the nicest things anybody could ever do.

So to all of you I say, Eat a Sandwich.
Good night.

hopeful

2011-01-18T10:47:00.000-06:00

Today there are four people I care about who find themselves in the hospital. (To relieve any stress associated with the previous statement, no one pictured above is in any hospital that I know of except of course Nate, but truth be told he is actually in a surgery center this morning so I would say that doesn't count).

My Grandma TicTac (as my friend from high school used to refer to her as) is in the hospital once again. This is the third time in about two months. I live far away from her now and I can't just buzz up I-55 and see her. Another gal I know is in the hospital here, she's recovering from a cancer-related procedure. And then of course there are two guys in St. Louis, both of whom we know so very well. One needs a kidney transplant, the other is donating his kidney.

So today I pray every one involved in these situations will be blessed with peace and strength to heal and overcome. I pray their medical care will be more than exquisite. And I pray their families will find the power to cope and stay strong.

-----------------------------------------------

finally

2011-01-14T09:31:00.000-06:00

Its the weekend!!!

We have games to play,

Battles to be won,

And drama to behold.
Thank Goodness its Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sunny and high in the low 70s

2011-01-13T15:58:00.003-06:00

On my second birthday there was a major blizzard that hit my hometown. Really it disabled the town. No one came to my party. My grandparents toughed it out and managed to arrive in the afternoon by taking the subway all morning. They probably had to stay weeks in our flat recooperating from the across-town trip.

Luckily I had a brand-new play kitchen that entertained them during those days as we all waited for the snow to melt.

Today I have a hard time believing it is my brithday. The sun is warm, the palm trees swaying in the light breeze. The cactus look happy. And I have been test-riding bikes. I'd say mid-thirties is going to be wicked-awesome.

ps the above pictures were taken about a month ago in Flagstaff where they actually do get a lot of snow regulary every winter

pss Nate is sick for probably the first time in our married life. He has Strep. A word to the wise, when you go and see you doctor and find out that he or she is sick and decided to not stick around for their afternoon clinic like he did yesterday, please be grateful he or she will not be trying to provide quality medical care to you through an infectious disease mask, and please do not storm off and threaten to take your business elsewhere.

psss In light of what's been going on here, my birthday will now be stretched out at least through this weekend if not until the end of the month

pssss For this first time in my multiple decade span, I bought a birthday cake for myself. I've never thought to do this before. When Nate's been oncall or captured by the hospital during past birthdays I've either made one myself or gone without. This is a much better road to take. Guess it has taken me this many years to figure it out!

my visit to the pediatric specialist, this time

2011-01-11T21:47:00.003-06:00

I spent the better part of an hour this morning waiting with Grace to see her Ophthalmologist. I really don't mind waiting 20 minutes, 30 is fine too. But over an hour. Wow. And of course it is like this every time. It was the same way with Jimmy's Orthopedic surgeon. Whew.

My nerves bundle up into little clumps every time I enter the parking garage of a children's hospital. I'm so glad our little situations are just that - little and situations - not huge and life threatening. However, I'm always worried about what the doctor may say. We spent years (about 7) patching Grace's eye. This was the "conservative" approach. They would say, 'let's patch for just a little bit longer,' and then at the next visit, 'she's so close, we'll patch some more,' or my favorite 'she's actually slipped a little, we need to patch a bit more this time.'

At the time we had no idea there was another route to go. And not to try and unsuccessfully toot our own horns over here, but we were in position to know there was another route to go. It wasn't until we moved to San Diego (and had a change of doctors) before we found out how slow we had been moving along. Surgery was recommended, and we decided to go for it (with a second opinion) once we moved here. It was successful. We all lived. And Grace's eyes seemed to do exactly what they were supposed to do.

Until Christmas morning. That's when we discovered they were not doing what they were supposed to be doing. And for the record, that isn't the best time to find out you have a non-urgent problem. If you've got a medical emergency on Christmas morning there are people there to take care of you; if you've got a non-urgent problem, well not so much! It took many, many days to get in to see our guy. Many, many days is too many for me.

As we pulled off the freeway, the nerve bundles begin to clump. I can tell this is happening because I put a force-smile on and answer every question Grace has (she has many, by the way) in a positive, yet tense, fashion. I cling to the steering wheel as we turn to drive through every level of the garage (we had to go all the way up this time) and I remind myself that breathing is better than the alternative. I also remind myself that whatever happens we'll deal with it. Whatever it is, it will be fine.

We sit in the waiting room. The Lion King is on (never one of my favorites). Grace loves it and the time passes quickly for her. I flip through magazines, send random texts to Nate (those always amuse me, but that discussion is for another time). I get in some serious people watching. And finally, it is our turn.

We are hurried back into the exam room. Grace chitters and chatters non-stop. She tells me fascinating facts from a 2006 almanac she checked out at the library. We discuss
Roman mythology. I am grateful we are finally back, grateful I cannot hear "The Circle of Life" song playing during the credits, and grateful I can't overhear various mothers in the waiting room discussing their personal problems.

The doctor rushes in. He looks at her, at the three pairs of glasses I brought (if we need to wait for new ones to come in, I want to know if any of these are better than none during our wait time), and then he rushes out. In the two minutes he is out of the room, Nate magically appears. Once the doctor returns, within 5 minutes he determines that everything with her eyes is JUST FINE and that further corrective surgery is NOT required. All we need is to get new glasses, ones that aren't as strong. Turns out we need some that aren't as strong as any pair we've ever had.

I am stunned. I am breathing. Everything is okay. Everything is more than okay.

I'm still stunned.

the elves

2011-01-07T09:57:00.001-06:00

There was little doubt on the children's part that the Christmas Elves would find us this year.

I'm not sure what one does to ensure a place on the Christmas Elves' exclusive list, but we somehow manage to be on it every year. See, they bring you brand-spankin' new pajamas. For real. Right to your front door. It is amazing.

Sometimes new pjs on Christmas are kind of dull (especially when you realize that this is your one and only gift you get to open on Christmas Eve), but when you get new Christmas pajamas straight from the North Pole, well that's just a whole new ball of wax!

(feather boa not included, it just happened to look awesome)

some might think I'm getting old

2011-01-06T13:38:00.003-06:00

Next week I will officially become old (by some people's standards). When newly acquainted contemporaries learn of my age (or soon-to-be age) they are astounded (must be my young vibe I give off all the time). Its really quite funny.

This year I want two things (well, three really if you count another trip to Hawaii, but I know that won't happen next week, so I'll keep it at two):

1. Dinner out with only grown-ups
2. This:

I can't remember the last time I owned one. And I know Nate will insist on a helmet. I suppose mid-thirties is an excellent time to revert back to childhood, right? And as they say, you never forget how to ride a bike. We shall see, people, we shall see.

life in the desert

2010-12-30T20:13:00.000-06:00

its christmas eve

2010-12-24T23:22:00.000-06:00

YES!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

(and hoping you aren't learning the true meaning of "some assembly required" like Nate currently is...)

its here!

2010-12-22T22:21:00.002-06:00

The magic is back this year. I can feel it buzz around here. Grace is extra helpful and kind these days. Jimmy keeps hugging everyone and saying, "Merry Christmas." (I think they both realize this keeps them from being in trouble!)

There's lots of hustle and bustle, but we've managed to keep things relatively calm at home. Its been Christmas music and movies non-stop. Our tree is up (and still standing, which is surprising seeing how many needles have already fallen off!)

The kids are so excited. So am I. Hope you are too!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

a holiday song

2010-12-16T10:22:00.000-06:00

The following is an excerpt from my version of Christmas Waltz (Carpenter's Style)

Its that time of year when Moms want to scream out loud,
Every child near seems to say,
Mom can you do this, can you bake this for me, can you play?

And this song of mine,
in three-quarter time
Wishes you and yours
Serious Sanity

The end for now.
PS. Jimmy will be more than happy to help you wrap your presents. He does an excellent job of randomly assigning gift tags, knotting up the ribbons, and wrinkling and smooshing the paper. But he's also very, very cute and sincere about it all.

Santa Baby, slip some non-educational reform under the tree for me

2010-12-10T09:35:00.001-06:00

Grace informed me this morning what she intended to discuss with Santa the she next time she saw him. She was going to make sure he knew that Mr. Obama's ideas on education reform and plans for implementation just would not work and should be stopped. She's amazingly passionate about this.

As one who never really delves into politics, I was a bit surprised. But it turns out her teacher yesterday told the kids of The President's plan for lengthening the school day and the school week.

Grace's response:
If its longer in the morning, well that just won't work. I mean I don't even get up until 7:00 as it is. If its longer in the afternoon, well then I won't get home until like 6:00 and then I'd have just an hour to do my homework and when will I get to watch all my shows? And if there is school on Saturdays, well I just won't even go. That's when I spend time with you guys [her family]. (Evidently she's not going to miss out on that.)

So that's what she and Mr. C will discuss. Perhaps the years of childlike innocence are up already. Whatever happened to, "Santa, what I really want is a pony"!?!!?

yes, that's my kid

2010-12-09T15:57:00.000-06:00

what's black and white and red all over?

2010-12-09T15:54:00.000-06:00

We are!!!!

how to live dangerously

2010-12-08T15:42:00.000-06:00

Is it a bird?

A plane?

Nope.

Its just my fabulous Father-in-Law celebrating sixty years of good living!

rockin' the holidays

2010-12-07T14:23:00.000-06:00

We've been way too busy to even consider blogging. So pardon us as we party on. New fabulous posts will come soon.