Thoughtful Nonsense

Funvember

2011-11-02T07:59:00.001-07:00

Funvember? I don't know if that really works...

Anyway this is our last quiet week until the fun starts.

Nov 10 - big school fundraiser that I've been working on for a month
Nov 11 - No school! Disneyland
Nov 12 - meeting up with Kathrin a Xanga friend from Germany who will be in LA
Nov 13-16 - Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for work - staying here
Nov 16 - my dad and his wife arrive!
Nov 17-20 - San Francisco
Nov 23-26 - Thanksgiving in Phoenix

So much fun stuff going on. Gonna be epic!!

The Big Day

2011-10-18T11:56:00.001-07:00

Vann and Matt's wedding turned out beautiful!! Honestly the sweetest moment of all was before the wedding itself. The bride was anxious all morning getting ready. We told her she was beautiful and she just smiled. Then she met the groom for Sneak Peek photos and he saw her for the first time in the dress she would marry him in. And the next time I saw her she was calm and beaming. Once he told her she was beautiful she knew it. And they were just perfect together the rest of the day. It was magical to watch. I'm so happy I got to share their special day with them.

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Benson!

All I've been doing is eating

2011-10-14T07:48:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we started the day right with Oklahoma Joe's. We arrived just as it opened and didn't have to wait in line. After about 15 minutes the line was out the door. I got the Smokey Joe and Bill got Hog Heaven and it did not disappoint. Gooooooood BBQ. I'm jealous that apparently this town has a good BBQ place on every corner. Why can't they make good BBQ in SoCal??

After stuffing ourselves we walked around the Plaza, then we girls got manicures and pedicures.

Bill and I went back to the Plaza and found an awesome toy store called Zoom where we bought some goodies for the boys.

Rehearsal = check! Rehearsal dinner at the Ameristar buffet... Oooh yeah. Good stuff aaand totally stuffed myself. I feel like this is a stuffing yourself week especially after hearing what food and desserts will be at the wedding today.

Luckily, my dress still fits. Whew.

I'm planning to go to the Nelson Atkins museum this morning for a bit. Then wedding time! The day is finally here!

Kansas City, I love you!

2011-10-12T23:46:00.001-07:00

Why didn't anyone tell me how awesome this city is? We've only been here one night and Bill and I are kind of in love with it.

We got in around 6:30 and had dinner with Matt and Vann at Johnny's Tavern. We walked around the Power & Light district then drove around the downtown area and the Plaza. It's so pretty here. The buildings - the architecture ... There's art EVERYWHERE. It's just pretty. I could take a million pictures but I don't think they'd do it justice.

Bill and I caught a late movie at the AMC Cinema Suites and there are literally only 15 seats in the entire theater - comfy big leather seats and full service menu. And as dorky as it sounds I was also impressed with the bathrooms too. I made Bill check out the women's. There were huge individual stalls and each had it's own sink and hand dryer, all styled with different actresses.

We saw 50/50. So sad. SO good.

Tomorrow we're going to Oklahoma Joe's for lunch, then manicures and rehearsal & dinner. Maybe I can squeeze in an hour to go to the art museum.

Birthday Weekend

2011-10-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

My Ashie is 4 years old. After having 3 kids now, I become more and more amazed at the differences in their personalities. Holden was an only child for 2 1/2 years before Luc came along. And then it was just the two of them for 2 1/2 more years. Asher was born into a family of 4 as the little one. And it's so interesting to see how his personality is made up of qualities I saw in him even as a newborn, and being a product of 2 older brothers. He was named Ash after Bill's favorite series of movies 2nd to Star Wars (Luc's namesake) - Evil Dead and Army of Darkness. The main character is Ash and there is a scene that makes me think of Asher all the time. It's Ash fighting a Bad version of himself. This is SO our Ash. I feel like there is always a conflict going on inside of him to decide whether to do something mischievous or be sweet. What usually happens is he does the mischievous thing and then hugs me and says I love you hoping I don't get mad.

We bought annual passports to Disneyland. Individual tickets are $80 each and that's only for one park = a total of $400 for all 5 of us for just one day. Crazy! We live an hour away, the boys get out of school every Friday at 1pm and Bill is off that day. So we decided we'd just get the passes for SoCal residents and go on these days, or another day that the boys are off school. I paid $400 on Friday and I'll pay $50 a month over the next year which is such a better deal! The boys want to go again this Friday so why not?

For his birthday Ash only asked for two things - a racing thing and a nerf gun with darts. We moved Luc into a bedroom with Holden, and now Ash has his own room. So we set it all up for them last night. And he has his racing thing mounted on the wall. If any of you know a kid who likes cars, this thing is awesome! It stays on the wall so it's out of the way. No clean up, only set up one time and it's really easy. You can't break it. It pops back in place so easy and they can do it themselves. It is so cool.

Sunday we're going to Marianne's for Isaac and Chloe's birthday party! Then next week we leave for Kansas City for Vann's wedding! And Halloween is around the corner! Seriously October is the funnest month of the year! (This paragraph is full of exclamation points.)

Just how "active" should an Active Parent be when it comes to school?

2011-09-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

I wonder about this a lot so I'll set it up for you and I'm curious to know what other parents think.

First of all, I'm really happy with my kids' school and all of the teachers they've had so far. I really trust the teachers because I can see how well my kids are doing and how much they like their teachers. Plus I've volunteered my time in the classroom as well as being a room parent for Holden last year and now Lucas this year. So I also get to see first-hand how things are going.

This is the first year that Holden as a 3rd grader is actually being graded on an A-F scale and not just S/U. I've found myself paying even more attention to every single grade he brings home on every assignment and test. He's received mostly A's with just one B+ here or there so he seems to be doing just fine. But Friday he brought home his first C+.

The assignment called for them to put together a flip book that they had to cut out, listing 5 keywords with definitions of each. They also had to draw pictures for each. Holden only drew 1 picture (a very elaborate one) and his teacher wrote "C+ pictures?" - so because he didn't draw 4 of the pictures, he got a C+. I asked Holden what happened and he said he didn't have time to finish. Of course I had a million questions some of which I asked and some I kept to myself... Why didn't you have time? Were you messing around? Did everyone else finish? How much time did you have? Is a C+ grade appropriate for only a few pictures missing? Did it take longer because he spent too much time on his drawing?

It may seem like not that big of a deal, but I want to make sure my son is getting a fair grade and that he has enough time to complete his work. AND I want to know if he's distracted or bored or doing something else when he should be working. Holden doesn't offer up much information as he's like his dad... forgets things as soon as they happen if he doesn't think they should take up brain space.

If it's just the first time, would you contact the teacher and ask her about it? Or just leave it alone unless it happens again? My first instinct is to ask her. What harm could it do to ask?

But then I step back and think, well maybe I'm being too anal and Holden will be okay. It only happened once and I've told him he needs to concentrate and finish his work. Plus, I want to trust that his teacher is fair and doing what she thinks is best without questioning her every move.

It probably sounds anal me even asking but I just want to know what you would do.

Farm of Tom

2011-09-18T15:32:00.001-07:00

Bill's mom has been here for the past two weeks and she's leaving on Wednesday. So yesterday was kind of our last day to do something fun before she leaves.

We went to Tom's Farm in Corona which is a neat place with a wine & cheese shop, antiques, live music in the square, craft fair, food, candy shoppe and rides for the kids like a train and carousel.

The weather was beautiful and it wasn't overcrowded so it was a nice little afternoon.

Arm Parties

2011-09-17T22:04:00.001-07:00

I have been really into bracelets lately. I feel like I just want to make a ton of ones I see online that are far too expensive. I'm kind of cut myself off from shopping because I've been shopping A LOT. And I spent too much on a Missoni for Target shopping spree. So in lieu of overspending, I am going to keep sewing and start on some simple jewelry.

Here's what I've been wearing this week.

Jeans Obsession

2011-09-13T09:55:00.001-07:00

Trying to post on here from my iPhone for the first time. I hope it works!

I worked on some more jeans last night. Again I got a pair at GAP for super cheap that are too big and too long. And here's the result of my sewing endeavor with them.

I love LA - and my sewing machine, in case you missed that last time.

2011-09-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

Did I mention yet that I freaking love my sewing machine?

Earlier this summer I found a pair of skinny bootcut jeans at GAP on clearance for like $3 or something ridiculous. The only problem is they were made for a giant. I'm 5'6" and I ended up cutting off 2-3 inches from the bottom. I was just rolling them up and tapering them which looked cute for summer. But they would come unrolled and then were really bulky if I tried to wear under boots.

So last night I attempted to taper them myself and shorten them another 2 inches.

SUCCESS!!!

The right leg is how long and flared it was before. The left leg is the one I shortened and tapered. I'm so happy with how they turned out! Upon close inspection it's obvious the amateur hem job I did on these babies. But no one will be staring that closely at my ankles. Plus they'll be tucked into boots when fall arrives. Yippee!! Now I can keep buying weird sizes and lengths in the clearance section and do my own alterations!

Friday, we had a great time in LA with Winston, Bill's mom and the boys. The La Brea Tar Pits were a hit with the kids and they got to run around like crazies in the park until Winston got off work. He works in a building directly right across the street so it was convenient. There are these big hills that surround the museum and we spent most of our time lying in the grass and rolling down the hills trying not to break a limb. Holden said, "I love LA".

Sew What

2011-09-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

My very first sewing pun. Awesome, right? I knew you'd like it.

So, I've fallen in love with my sewing machine. I've been wanting to hem some of my jeans and fix holes without having to take in a dozen pairs to the tailor. Bill's mom is here so she helped me get the sewing machine set up since it was Bill's grandmother's and she's familiar with it. It's a 1956 Singer - isn't it beautiful?

I realize it may not be the easiest sewing machine to relearn on since I haven't sewed since I was 9. But I love it. I made this cute little tube scarf yesterday out of the H&M dress that I tried to take in by hand-sewing and screwed up. I'm looking forward to taking old clothes that I have around the house and redoing them instead of just tossing them.

So my first project was taking this shirt that was too big and just trying to make it fit better. I used another shirt as a pattern, just cut the sides, took it in there and under the sleeves. It turned out really good actually...

Except I think it might be a little short. But I'm taking some stretchy knit/spandex fabric and making these. It's amazing how different you look when you wear a shirt that fits you though right? When it was baggy I think it made me look much bigger than I am. (Sorry for the poor lighting.)

Anyway, that was fun. And now I just want to make more and more stuff. If anyone wants to share their favorite projects or sewing blogs and websites, I would love that!

Here's something I want to make soon.

A few sites that I'm getting lost in:
refashionco-op.blogspot.com
sewknitme.blogspot.com- this girl is so cute
cottonandcurls.blogspot.com

I'm planning to get through this list this year too.

I'll post more pics of my projects and work on some better photography too. This was a rushed 1st attempt because I was just so dang excited.

Okay now toff to get some work done, run some errands and be ready to head to LA today to see Winston. Going to the La Brea Tar Pits!

My toothpaste is strawberry flavored.

2011-09-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

Ash discovered a new Japanese cartoon to watch on Netflix called Sgt. Frog. I started watching it with him today and was greeted by an intro song called "Ribbit March". It's sub-titled and after reading along, I had to sit down and transpose to share with you.

Forward Ho! To conquer Earth!

When I leave home with an umbrella it never rains.

Attenshun! Grit your eyes!!

I forgot to cook rice for the curry.

I pinched my pinky in the closing door.

I hopped on and found it was going the wrong way.

The company trip was a washout.

Ah, dinner is much cheaper if you buy it at the store!!!

Raise our voices high in a victory cheer.

I run to answer the phone and it’s a fax coming in.

Today marks “the first year of the Keroro era”!!!

Sweep a square area in a circle.

Paddle hard shedding sweat and tears.

My toothpaste is strawberry flavored.

Keron is No. 1 in the universe, I think.

Ah, they said it’s five minutes from the station but it’s really fifteen!!!

Well then, soldier men, it’s a job well done!!!

= = =

What just happened?

Shoe extravaganza!

2011-08-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

After deciding today that I may never find a single pair of boots I like, I decided to stop into Ross for the heck of it and see if they had anything good. And what do you know? I hit the jackpot.

Actually got these at TJMaxx earlier this week for only $25 (reg price $40) - Madden Girl.

Roxy - Reg Price $50 - Paid $25

Nicole - Reg Price $60 - Paid $23

Sporto - Reg price $120 - Paid $25 (ignore the mess please)

Close-up of the ones above


Skechers Shapeups - Reg price $90 - Paid $20

SCORE!!!

Boys, Birthdays and Boston

2011-08-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

Had a good birthday week with my boys. Although my actual birthday day was a little bit tougher to get through than I hoped. Since my Mom died, this day has held a bit of sadness to it despite how hard I try to deny it. I just miss her too much and especially on a day when I'm celebrating when she gave birth to me. I hate to say that I was not all smiles, but instead had myself a good cry at the end of the night. Still the days before the actual day were wonderful. Just still coping with not having my Mom around, which I'll probably never be okay with.

I got a yummy ice cream cake which is what my Mom used to always get me.

The boys took me shopping for boots and we didn't find any I wanted. Then we shopped for a camera instead and couldn't decide on one, ha ha. But I found the boots I want online so I'll buy them eventually - when it's even cold enough to wear them... October??

Southern California is so weird - so unlike any place I've ever lived before. The weather is awesome but for a girl who loves fall, it makes it difficult to dress like I want for much of the year. So that's why I have to go to Boston again to make the best use of my fall wardrobe. Jennie and now Beth too this time are planning another trip there in November. Can't wait for a repeat of the ridiculousness - tripled.

I made hats for us. For myself, I made a red beret. I'll post a pic of myself wearing it later after I fix my hair. It's pretty gnarly right now.

For Beth

For Jennie Ash wanted to be my model but it looks pretty different on a bigger head.

The boys started school yesterday. Everything went well. They like their teachers and their best friends were actually in the same class with them this year too. So that always makes the transition to a new grade easier. Today, neither of them even wanted me to walk with them to class. I followed Lucas anyway like a creepy stalker Mom. I told Ash that I was sad about it on our way home and he said, "Well Mom it's just you and me." And that made it all better.

Birthdays!

2011-08-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

I love birthdays - mine, Bill's, my kids, my parents, friends, random people I meet on the street, my manicurist who seemed a little put off by how happy I was for her 21st birthday when she seemed so ho-hum about it. Every since I was a little girl, it just felt like that one special day when it's completely okay to think of myself and accept a little extra attention. And no matter how everything else is going in life, if the days leading up to the big birthday are not so good, I feel like I at least get that one day to forget it all and celebrate.

Bill thinks I'm crazy but I can actually remember every single birthday I've ever had. I think I remember my 1st birthday too but that would be too crazy right? Here are some of my birthday highlights.

1st - Sitting in a high chair and my mom putting cake on my nose
3rd - BBQ in the backyard, my best friend Bumper
6th - Disneyland
7th - Pink bicycle that matched my best friend Gina's
8th, 9th & 10th - Skating rink!!!
13th - Move to a new city and my only 3 friends in the entire city still make it an amazing day
16th - Dad drove me around the city blindfolded and had a surprise party at a restaurant with friends and family.
18th - Another new car before heading off to college. The Toyota Tercel which Bill would later smash the hood of with his ass after I just met him.
21st - Vegas
26th - 1st birthday as a Mommy
29th - Pink party!
34th - Today :)

Rambling and Doctor Talk

2011-08-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

I ended up buying the 4th pair of those glasses because I thought they had the full-on geek factor I wanted. I was waffling between those and #1 since those seemed cuter. But I like the ones I picked. Ordered some prescription sunglasses too.

I've had a rough-ish week. Battling an illness that seemed to never want to leave my system and anxiety on top of that probably made it even worse. Sometimes I feel like I just invite anxiety when it's not needed. Granted, anxiety is never "needed". But being anxious about important things feels justified where in my case lately the stupidness entering my brain was just that - stupid. I said it all out loud to Bill and while hoping to calm myself ended up firing me up even more. I don't know what will come of this.

Despite all of this bullshit swirling in my head, my life right now really is amazing because I have the best family ever. I love my husband and my kids and they are freaking awesome. And my birthday is coming up on the 12th AND I got a Nook color yesterday as an early gift. It is ssweeeet. I like Bill's iPad but I didn't really want one. I kind of wanted an e-reader but I didn't like the screens on most of them. But the Nook color has a screen like an iPad and it has some other cool iPad-ish features, like a web browser and apps. (Woot Pandora!) Plus it was only $250 as opposed to $600. So yeah I like it. A lot.

Now to news I've been wanting to blab about for the last month... Bill is going back to school... to be a doctor. It is super exciting for us. He has found his calling and is so motivated and inspired to do it. And it makes me so happy for him. He will be in school for a long time but if we work it out by him joining the military, then his school will be paid for and we'll have a little bit of a cushion there financially since he won't be able to work full-time once he actually starts medical school. We are really comfortable right now in his current job and our lives but we are obviously not the kind of people are who satisfied with being just content. Although it's certainly nice for a while. We have both gone through life enjoying the moment but looking toward the future and considering what we can accomplish in the grander scheme of things.

Why are we here and what is our purpose in life and on this earth? These are things I think about and helps put my thoughts and life in perspective when I worry about things that are so trivial. And then my brain explodes.

This is the most random post ever.

Anyway - I'm very proud of Bill for choosing this path, especially at age 34 when some people think you should have it all figured out by now. He's going to love being a doctor and will be so good at it.

I feel like my brain just took a dump on my blog.

Which glasses should I get?

2011-08-02T22:25:00.000-07:00

I really want some black geeky glasses.

Inspiration...

So here are the ones I'm choosing from. I think I know which ones I want but if you care to share your opinion, please let me know which I should pick. And if you don't think I should get any of them, well... then keep that opinion to yourself, haha.

Thanks!

The August Break

2011-08-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

Saw this on Dee's blog and I'm going to do it too. The August Break.

I love August. Birthdays, school starting, last days of summer.

Thinking of Fall already

2011-07-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

I've been delaying posting since we got back from vacation because I'm overwhelmed trying to catch up on the last few weeks via blog. I think I'm just going to skip it. We had a wonderful vacation, it was a beautiful wedding, I posted lots of pictures and updates to facebook so there you have that. Moving on to new things (are you okay with this? I think I am.) ...

Today is going to be a bullet post and I'm going to get back on track tomorrow with regular posting. Getting this out of the way.

Did I already say it was an awesome wedding? Well it was.
Booked our hotel in Kansas City for Vann's wedding. Just need to get plane tickets but seeing them for $200 a piece roundtrip so that's pretty cool. Can't wait to see Vann and Matt again, and watch another happy wedding.
Looking forward to SuperJenn's wedding in September. We don't have to travel far for this one. Gotta shop for a dress!
Planning another trip to Boston in November with Jennie and Beth this time too! Wardrobe planning is #1 priority for this one. Compiling lists of style inspirations. Yep.
Getting a haircut today. I'm totally not showing you guys a picture of what I'm getting in case you think I'm joking and yell at me not to get it. It's going to be good though. I promise. I WILL post a pic after.
I've been on a mad crocheting hat spree. Made one for Bill, one for me, two for Allison's daughters, one for my Dad and working on another for me. This may be a hat Christmas instead of a scarf Christmas this year. I hope everyone likes hats.
My birthday is in 15 days. I know what I want but Bill is getting me something I didn't ask for, although it's probably something I asked for before that we both forgot about it until now. This may actual be a surprise even though of course I've been guessing because I'm a ruiner of surprises. I know he's not getting me boots though so I'm listing that at the top of my wishlist. I like these.


This color is cognac but I like every color. In case you were wondering.

Okay that's enough bullet updating for today. More real posting tomorrow.

Guess what? It's hot in Phoenix.

2011-07-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

The boys and I have been in Phoenix now since last Wednesday. Guess what? It's freaking hot here. We've mostly stayed inside except for swimming. Although it seemed like every time we got into the pool there was a mini-dust storm. The winds picked up and the sky got all crazy. Right when the kids got out of the pool the other day, it actually rained... for about 15 minutes. Yesterday it was 102 (as opposed to 118 earlier this week) and it actually felt cool to us - how warped is that?!

The first few days we were in town, Bill and I got some time together to celebrate an early anniversary - thanks to Aunt T and Uncle B for watching the boys, who apparently all had a wonderful time too.

Bill and I swam, ate good food (sushi and Mexican), shopped at H&M, and saw one good movie - Super 8. If you haven't seen it and love movies like E.T. or pretty much anything Spielberg, watch it. May be one of my favorite movies ever. I'm letting it sink in but I LOVED it.

I also caved and watched Transformers in 3D for Bill and afterwards he apologized for making me endure what might have been the crappiest movie I've EVER seen. I'm sure there are worse movies out there but I haven't seen them or I've stopped watching them as soon as I realized how bad they were. I thought Shia would have made it bearable but he wasn't enough. I slept through parts of it hoping it would be over when I woke up - didn't work. At one point I asked Bill when it would be over and he said "40 more minutes" and I almost lost it. I looked around and people were actually enjoying it. What kind of black hole did I fall into?

I hate that I spent a longer paragraph talking about a Michael Bay movie than a JJ Abrams movie.

Where we spent our time half of Thursday.

Complimentary dessert from the hotel

The boys' birdhouses they painted while we were gone.

Lego Nintendo creations

The joy of reading

2011-06-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

When I was little, I read ALL THE TIME. And I mean, every second that I could squeeze into my life.

At bedtime, I would have a flashlight tucked away under my pillow so I could read under the covers. If I was brave enough, I'd sneak into the closet and read. I always got caught but it was worth it. Although I never really got into trouble over it, except for the lectures from my Mom about hurting my eyes. (Hence, glasses by age 11.)

Car trips were my favorite because it meant that I had more time to read. I couldn't bring a flashlight for night-time driving since it was too distracting for my Dad. But I read until the very last ray of light filled the sky.

At school, I'd finish my work early just so I had time to read at my desk. Sometimes we'd be assigned to read from a page from our textbooks and I'd go ahead and read the entire chapter. Once I finished that, I'd hold my textbook up and read my own book inside of it.

Now almost 34 years old, I almost feel like that little girl again having to sneak in time to read because I have so much else to do.

Lately I've been reading on my iPhone because it's handy when I'm waiting at the DMV or sitting with the kids while they watch Power Rangers. But I enjoy actual books more. I just finished reading Hunger Games - a real book and everything! I bought Catching Fire and Mockingjay yesterday at Target, which I plan to read this week while on "vacation" in Phoenix. And for this short episode in my semi-hectic life, I will read uninterrupted.

And it will be awesome.

My mom would be so proud of me

2011-06-24T00:24:00.000-07:00

My mom would be so proud of me - this is what my friend Jennie said when I told her I wore dresses on my trip to Florida last month. My mom always wanted me to dress more like a "lady". ;)

I actually started a big long post about balancing working at home with all of the other things that come along with being a stay at home mom... and now I feel like I'm too tired to finish it. So that about sums up what it feels like every day as a stay at home working mom, heh heh.

So instead I share with you something that was a really big deal for me today.

I wore a skirt. All day.

Yep, I'm actually kind of a girl and stuff.

Lots of stuff

2011-06-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

Man it felt like a long weekend! And a good one.

I got to see my friend's baby on Friday when I took her son home. SO cute! I lose all sense when in the proximity of a newborn. The cuteness is too much to handle and I'm a cooing, grinning, Awwww-ing madwoman. I wish humans could gestate like hamsters in 15 days. Maybe we'd have 15 kids right now.

GAP was having a big sale with an additional 50% off clearance so I bought a tank and 3 pairs of jeans for $35. I am still getting used to weighing less (I'm down 9 lbs from January 1st) apparently since I bought a pair that do NOT fit me. I tried them on for Bill and he looked at me like I was stupid - "Yeah honey, those don't fit you." I guess those will go back. But the other two are cute, just had to cut 3 inches off the bottom of each since I'm not 5'9". One pair I'll probably have to hem and the other I pegged.

Friday after I visited my friend, Bill, Holden and Lucas went to see Green Lantern. Ash and I went to the playground and then had Japanese food for dinner, just the two of us. He's my only kid who has an adventurous appetite so I like to take him fun places. And he pigged out on edamame, sushi and yaki soba.

Master of Chopsticks

Saturday, Bill and I had the sitter over to watch the boys and we escaped for a few hours. Had sushi, which I think I could eat every day. And then saw X-men: First Class which I LOVED! Michael Fassbender as Magneto = amazing. Michael Fassbender in anything = LOVE

This has also been a blanket knitting/crocheting weekend. I may not have time to finish out the month of June strong with many creative projects since I have these other time sensitive projects to wrap up in time for certain events.

For Father's Day, I had the boys put their handprints on a shirt for Bill, actually a little kit that his uncle gave us. And they also had written a letter to him in school which I posted here. A must read!

Next week we're going to Phoenix for a while. Bill's aunt has been offering to take the boys for a few days so they can have some fun and give Bill and I some time alone. Our 12th anniversary is in August so this will be an early celebration of sorts.

I looked up hotels online last night. Nice hotels in Phoenix are cheap in the summer since the average temperature is EQUAL TO THE SURFACE OF SUN (i.e. hot). I found some decent places for $80 and really nice places for $200, which I'm not willing to spend. I ended up on hotwire.com (if you don't know how it works, you don't get to see the name of hotel until after booking but you can pick specific areas and ratings) - my go to place for hotel deals. Seriously love this site. I looked up the area I wanted to stay in and picked a 5 star hotel, knowing from searching Expedia that it would only be 1 of 2 places that were available for those dates. And Voila! ended up with a room at the Royal Palms Hotel for only $117! (reg price $204) It was my first choice so I'm excited! More exclamation points!!!!!

When not sleeping, I'll be here.

Sackboy Clothing Designer I am NOT

2011-06-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

We have my friend Luong's 3 year old with us for a couple of days because she had a C-section scheduled today. We picked him up last night and so far he and Ash have only tried to kill each other a few times which is pretty good for 2 stubborn hot-headed 3 year olds.

She had her baby boy Max this afternoon - 9 lbs 1 oz, 18 1/2 inches long. Kai is officially a big brother so we've been trying to help him understand that. So far... well... his parents have some work cut out for them, heh heh.

We took them to Chuck E Cheese's for lunch. Yeah, there's that.

Holden had Taekwondo class today and he earned his first stripe on his white belt! He just had to memorize the first set of basic techniques and be able to do them on his own, like front kick, punch, low block and whatever the others were. He got them perfect. Pretty cool :)

Lucas asked me to sew an outfit for his Sackboy toy. So I took 30 minutes to sit down and whip up a shirt, bowtie and hat. Day 16 of my creativity-ness. I sew everything by hand and it is not pretty. But at 6 years old, my son is forgiving. And I'm perfectly okay with the seam on my dress being crooked.

New-ish dress

2011-06-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

I bought a dress at H&M which is now too big. I really love it but I can't exchange it now since I've worn and washed it. So I decided to cut it up and resize it down.

I wore it out today and belted it so it wouldn't look so baggy but from the back and side it just looks like I'm wearing a bag. Or I look pregnant.

Here's how much fabric I cut off. I'll probably make some pockets out of it.

Still nice and flowy but actually has some shape to it now.


Now you can tell I actually have a butt.

I bought some kelly green jersey knit fabric at Joann today so I can make this next.

Parenting like a BOSS

2011-06-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at Taekwondo a row of parents behind me watched me barely react as Ash fell backwards in a chair, got his finger stuck in another chair and rip a chunk of paint off the wall. No one said anything but I could see it in their eyes and the way one of the women screamed "HIS FINGER IS STUCK!! HIS FINGER IS STUCK!!" as I gently pulled his finger out of the chair and sat him down, that they were confused by my "non-reaction". It's not that I wasn't worried he would get hurt or pissed off that he was doing something he shouldn't have been doing. It's just that... well, Ash is Ash. And he's 3 years old.

This is a normal day for him- getting into shit and living his life in peril.

When Holden was my only child, I did everything in my power to prevent every minor scrape or accident, and dedicated every minute to making sure he was on his best behavior. But guess what?! It didn't work! He got hurt just like every other kid and he did stuff he wasn't supposed to do like sneak out the backdoor and run across the street to the neighbor's yard when he was only 2 years old - in the BLINK of an eye, I tell you!

When Lucas came along, I finally understood that kids will be kids and I let him do his thing. Of course I wanted to protect him and I wouldn't let him put himself in danger. But climbing and jumping and being a kid were nothing to be concerned about. When he started preschool, his teacher gave me a lecture about letting him climb on top of things because he could break his arm, break his leg, break his head, die, etc.... I know these things. I worried about these things too. But he did it anyway!

It's not a matter of discipline. My kids for the most part are pretty well-behaved and I'm not delusional. I've heard it from multiple people, even strangers. Sure I've had the occasional old woman shoot them dirty looks in the salad buffet line but some people just don't understand kids. And I leave them to their misery.

My point is, again, I let my kids be kids. If they get hurt doing something stupid, they learn not to do it again.... eventually. If they do something wrong, I take them aside and let them know. It's not anyone's place to judge or question my parenting style.

Especially when my kids are awesome.

Summer Vacation Schedule

2011-06-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

No blogging or crafting this weekend! AAAHHH! But we had a great weekend.

Saturday we went to Bill's cousin Dave's house and hung with his family. Had a great time and even got to see Bill's Grandpa play the Kinect. Dave had a swimming pool at his house and I didn't bring the boys' bathing suits - MISTAKE. They ended up in the pool anyway stripped down to their underwear. After they soaked their clothes. But yeah, oh well, thank goodness for dryers. Sunday we had a late breakfast with the fam and then they headed back to Arizona. Short weekend but was really great spending good quality time with everyone.

Now that family is gone and it's kind of our actual first day of summer vacation it feels like, I started thinking last night that I needed some kind of schedule for the boys. I don't want them sitting around playing video games or watching TV all day. They really do better when there is some kind of plan for the day. They like to follow the schedule and look forward to each thing on the list. I'm not super anal about it so we kept things flexible but it really seemed to work out well... so far. I'm hoping too that with this schedule they'll know how to keep themselves occupied so I can work easier and not have to hire a babysitter. I'd rather spend that money on summer activities for them. We'll see how it goes this week.

First thing in the morning I have to get most of my work done so I give them FREE TIME until 10:00. Limited all video game and computer time to 30 minutes at a time. And then...
10:00 CLEANING - I figure we clean the playroom first thing so they have room to play during the day.
10:30 DRAWING
11:00 BROTHER TIME - I wanted to designate a time for the boys to play together because Lucas will bug Holden all day to play with him and then arguments start. If Holden knows he gets his own time away from his brother he enjoys his brother time more. Ash doesn't care.
1:00 READING - alone, to each other and with me
1:30 FREE TIME
3:00 WRITING - letters, journals, comics, stories
3:30 FREE TIME
5:00 CREATING - legos, computer/video game level creators, paper projects
5:30 FREE TIME
6:00 FAMILY TIME - This is usually when Bill wakes up on his work days after his night shift so we do stuff all together as a family.

For Day 13 of creativity...-ish, Lucas and I worked on his Nanoblock giraffe. Have you seen these things? The blocks are TINY!!!

My Dad said, "He looks exhausted."

I also signed them up for Taekwondo today which will be twice a week. And Lucas is going to start Teeball at the end of the month with one practice and one game a week for 8 weeks. Going to look into science camp for Holden too.

Looking forward to a fun summer with LOTS to do. And hopefully some relaxing good family time too.

Also, THANKS to my friend Vann who surprised me with some of her hand-made goodies. YAY!!!

Bill's Grandpa says "blog" is a made up word. :)

2011-06-10T23:20:00.000-07:00

I've been on a roll blogging every day the past two weeks or so, and I will feel incomplete if I don't post today so here I go.

This has been an EXHAUSTING week! But lots of good stuff.

Bill had a great birthday yesterday. I bought him an iPad a month ago as his big birthday present and didn't want to wait to give it to him. But on his actual day the boys and I got him these goodies.


Halo figures, Star Wars legos, The Fast and the Furious series on Blu-ray, glee CD & Rob Lowe's book

Ash couldn't keep a secret about the Legos he picked out. But the rest he was surprised about it.

Ash: "You will like your Legos!"

We went to El Torito for an early dinner. Bill thought he was getting out before something terrible happened... but he was wrong.

One of the things Bill hates most in the world - restaurant employees singing Happy Birthday to him. (I do it every time.)

On Day 6 the boys and I did a fingerprint painted birthday card. Ours doesn't look as ... professional ... as this one. But Lucas did a great job drawing the cake and presents, I think.

And in case you didn't see the pictures on facebook, here are the boys busting through their Welcome to Summer banners. Which they loved!

So there's that.

Last night I worked until 2am, then was up early again working some more. I left home at 9am to get a smog check on the car, trip to the DMV, mailed some packages and got a full-service car wash, detail and shampoo. Bill's family came into town and I had to make a hotel reservation for them while I was out because the hotel wasn't answering the phone. I didn't get home until 3pm. Insanity.

Bill's family got here at 4pm. We got Lebanese food for dinner, made a trip to Toys R Us to get a present for a birthday party tomorrow at 10:30am. I didn't have time to work out yesterday or this morning but I was able to squeeze in 40 minutes of yoga just now and I feel absolutely relaxed despite all that's been going on. I love it.

After the birthday party tomorrow, we're going to San Clemente to see more family.

So yeah. Now I'm going to relax by knitting which will be my creativity project for the day. Then try to get to bed by midnight. Good night all!

Shark Attack!!!

2011-06-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad you guys like my sweater. I like it too! And believe it or not, it's still cool enough here in southern California that I can actually wear it in the morning and evening. Woot!

Today is Bill's birthday. So I'm trying to get a quick post out of the way because this afternoon Holden comes home early from school and I have a cake to bake. Then birthday fun! I've been up since 6:30 this morning working and helping Lucas make an impromptu shark box craft at his request from his Highlights magazine.

Last night I finished the posters for Welcome to Summer and I'll post pics of the boys busting through them later. :)

So here's Day 9 - Luc's shark project which we worked on together. Made out of a Twinkies box.

Embellished sweater

2011-06-08T19:14:00.000-07:00

There was lots of stuff I wanted to write about today but it's family time now. So I'm just posting Day 8 creativity stuff.

I did this.

Here's mine. So easy! Probably took about 45 minutes just because cutting the flowers was a little tedious. If you cut the squares, fold in half and then cut the flowers, it moves quicker. And I did quick stitches, no major sewing. Will probably have to sew again to make sure the stitches hold.

And... I LOVE IT! I really like the color combo too.


Taking a picture of myself jumping.


I was laughing so hard at myself.

*I updated my blog header too. What do you think?

Productivity, I like you very much.

2011-06-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

I love a productive day!

Up at 6:30am to get Holden ready for school and then work...at my kitchen table. After spending some time with the other boys and getting Luc to school at 11:20, I took turns working more and cleaning the house, getting it organized for summer break. There will be chaos in this house this summer with all 3 boys home all day long, so I need to have things in order before they destroy it all (again).

I organized their art supplies and piles of drawings and scrap paper, sorted Legos into baggies and stashed other stuff away that I just don't want to look at anymore. They probably won't notice anyway.

I also filled an entire trash bag full of school papers. I allowed myself to keep a large manilla envelope for each one with their art, best papers and writing from the school year. I have a few pieces of schoolwork from when I was young and I love to see what I wrote and reminisce. I wish I had kept more of it.

I was staring at the trash bag and while I know it will be recycled and was used for something worthwhile originally, it still feels so wasteful! I decided to make something out of it... at least temporarily. Each of the boys gets out at different times on Thursday so I'm going to make them each a "Welcome to Summer" banner that they can break through when they come into the house.

I'm going to take their school papers and tape them together and then paint the banner. I think they'll love it and it will make more use out of their old papers, one last time.

And today I'm working on this. Will post pics when I'm done. I'm about halfway finished and I've spent an hour on it so far.

*edit* Day 6 - here's my wreath. Lookin' pretty lopsided, ha ha. But cute enough. The boys love it.

Tiny hands, big body

2011-06-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

Today was Luc's class picnic at school. It's amazing to see how much the kids have grown and what they've learned in one year. Kindergarten is such a magical year because they start the school year as almost toddlers and then by the end, they're real big kids. For this get-together siblings were invited which was nice. Ash is pretty popular with Luc's classmates. He gets high fives all around every time we drop Lucas off at school.

My Big Boy

The High Five Ash Game

Playing Go Fish - "Do you have any fours?"


Showing off his dribbling skills

For Day 6 of 30 days of Creativity, I did a project with the boys. But I can't post it here because it's a gift for someone's birthday on June 9th. So that will have to be another one that I post later.

My awesome friend Alexis lent me Tina Fey's book. So I had to take a picture of myself with my own weird miniature arms and hands posing with the book like Tina. What do you mean you can see Holden's tuft of red hair behind me? No those are not his arms. I just have really tiny, tiny, tiny hands for my body.

This day, I'm not sure what to think of you.

2011-06-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

I can't blame Bill for not wanting to do anything some days because I had every opportunity to take the boys to see the hot air balloons and I didn't do it. The idea of taking them alone while Bill worked/slept was exhausting before even attempting to set foot out of the house. Sometimes I feel like maybe I lug them around to do things against their will anyway, hoping (begging that) they'll enjoy doing something new and different. So I figured everyone just wanted to stay home and relax anyway. I comfort myself with this thought as an excuse for being so lazy.

For Day 5 of on my daily creativity journey, I crocheted a broomstick style bracelet. The tutorial for the bracelet is here, and the video for how to do a broomstick crochet can be found here. The chick talks too much though so just skip to the middle. (There's also a part 2.) I made 5 rows as opposed to 4 like the tutorial to fit my thick wrist, out of worsted lime green yarn and Lucas stole it. So I'm going to make another one for myself in a melon color.

I had a motivating day at David's Bridal yesterday. 2 months ago I ordered a bridesmaid dress for Vann's wedding in October. I went into the store to try it on and it was too big so I re-ordered a smaller size. I see results in the mirror and on the scale but clothing affirmations are the best. I know I'll be able to go down another size by the wedding, but getting down two more sizes would be even better. I need to stay away from brownies though in order to make this happen.

This morning I got news that a childhood friend passed away from cancer. She's been battling it for years now. I hate the disease so much especially after my mom's passing 3 years ago. It's hard to console one's self with the idea that a person you care about is no longer in pain when you wish they never had to go through it in the first place and instead got to live a long, happy life. But we tell ourselves lots of things to make it an easier pain to bear being without them. I'm happy she had a wonderful family and supportive friends to help through this, and was able to say good-bye and go on peacefully to a better place. She was a good, kind person, inspiring and will be remembered by many, many people. See you later, Metisha.

1st grade

Balloons and Bracelets

2011-06-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

I wanted to go to movie night at the Berry Farm yesterday. Sitting on a quilt watching a movie on the side of a barn eating blueberries sounds like heaven to me. But as you can imagine, it sounds like hell for Bill. So I didn't force him to go. Insert big SIGH here.

HOWEVER, if I can get my kids up early enough tomorrow morning I'm taking them to the berry farm to see the hot air balloons take off. Granted, we have to be there by 7am. This should be fun and make for a good photo opp. I really wish I had a DSLR camera. Going to ask for one for my birthday. Or from Santa.

For Day 4, I followed this tutorial to make braided bracelets, the 2 finger version. I just used an old grey jersey t-shirt as scraps. I made one loose and the other tight to get a different effect for each. These turned out really cute I think. Anytime I have some extra fabric scraps laying around, I'll make more. After cutting the strips, the weaving only took about 5 minutes. I'd say 10-15 minutes total for the entire project.

And throwing in one more picture of my outfits from my trip to Florida last month.

Getting mail and school annoyances

2011-06-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

I love sending mail and getting mail.

Getting a letter or even a small little package in the mail just brightens even the gloomiest day and makes a good day even better.

Yesterday I started feeling sick (and still sick today, wah wah waaaah) but I got a little package in the mail with a beautiful new ring in it from jewelmint.com.

Today I'm sending:

a book to a fellow bibliophile friend in Virginia (will post a pic after she gets it)
a knitting book I had out on loan from a sock-knitting grandmother in Portland
William & Kate magazines and another little surprise to a friend in Malaysia
a handmade veil made by a friend for a soon-to-be-bride in Oklahoma
a crochet bag for an old friend in Florida (she's not old, we've just been friends for a long time, unless you think 34 is old then yeah, she's old)
this one is not as fun, but i'm sending a charm back to have it fixed so I can add 3 new beautiful charms with my boys' names and birthdays to my charm bracelet, excited to get this one back so I don't just have one charm on my bracelet (will post a pic when it's done)

{I sent a little poem and a tiny gift to a friend in Arkansas this week but I can't post a pic until she receives it}

= = =

I just went to school for a Volunteer Appreciation dessert get-together right before Luc's school starts so I had him and Ash with me. And the woman in charge actually blocked my way to the library and told me no kids were allowed. Usually things like this don't bother me because I can understand the reasoning and it's not a big deal anyway. But this really pissed me off and hurt my feelings.

I'm a mom of 3 kids, 2 of which go to this school. I work part-time. And I still am the room mom for Holden's class and volunteer Thursdays in Luc's class. I volunteer at almost every single event and donate lots of time and money to that school. Yet they couldn't allow me to go in for a few minutes with my kid to sit with his teacher and talk. They said they even turned away another mom earlier with her kid. Nowhere on the invite did it say "NO KIDS ALLOWED AT SCHOOL". Not to mention that this woman had the nerve to actually stand in my way as I was walking into the room. Although I did go in anyway to say hi to Luc's teacher and listen to her get fired up about it too. Still she couldn't convince them otherwise either. Putting together a letter to drop off at the principal's office later today. Just need to omit the expletives.

Wearing my new ring to calm me down.

And at least I had this little guy to cheer me up who snuck away with a lollipop.

Day 3's creativity project will be posted later today.
*Update*

Here's my attempt at this DIY shirt-making. I made it too small. Too much mom gut showing. Oh well. I'll try again with another shirt another day.

Buns and Braids

2011-06-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

Started the day out doing something creative with my hair now that I've decided to just grow it out (because I'm too undecided about what haircut I'd want). Just twisted, coiled and pinned it. I couldn't find any bobby pins so I just used these colorful barrettes that went with my green shirt and purple scarf.

Purple and Green - and wearing earrings made by my friend Vann. :)

Now for my actual project - a braided t-shirt necklace. I took an old t-shirt and cut it into strips, then braided them together. The strips were a little short for a necklace so I just tried together two strips to make it longer. I made 4 braids and then knotted them together with a bow. In the original inspiration, you're supposed to sew something around the sections that you connect to hide them, but I like the texture of the fringe so I left it. This took about an hour and I'm a fast braider. But it can be done while you're watching TV or whatever, and you only need an old tshirt and a pair of scissors.

And there you have it!

A pretty pillow and lobster for lunch

2011-06-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of 30 days of creativity. I was so excited to get started, I actually forced myself to not do anything new yesterday so I could save it for this month. Yep, I did that.

I decided to make the little flowers today out of soft yellow felt. I made 4 of them in varying sizes and sewed them onto an old pillow. The pillow is still soft and in good condition but I've gotten sick of staring at it. Now, it's cute! This took 15 minutes.

I decided to get creative with my lunch too. I made home-made lobster ravioli... which means I took the lobster ravioli out of the package and made it in my home. HAR HAR yeah I'm hilarious. Basil pesto cream sauce from a jar and a piece of toast, garlic bread style sprinkled with Italian seasoning and basil. (entire meal only about 350 calories)

30 days of creativity starts June 1st

2011-05-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

I love this and I'm definitely doing it.

30daysofcreativity.com

I already have some ideas of things I want to make and do.

I'll post each day here whatever I come up with.

Sneak Peeks of what I have planned...

Bud

2011-05-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

I never knew my grandfather Van. He died before I was born. I've only heard stories about him from my grandma and my dad, some good, others not so good.

We hope that after we die, people say only wonderful things about us. But it's probably the un-wonderful things that people tell that make it more real that we were actually here. Like they say, nobody's perfect. And our imperfections that lead to misguided actions may not always be justified or warranted, but they make us who we are just as much as the good things we do in life.

I used to wish I didn't know the bad things about my grandfather. But he's been gone for a long time and I don't even have my own memories of him. So instead I try to piece together the picture of a man who was just doing his best the only way he knew how. And did at least two very good things in his lifetime, one of which was marrying my grandma, and the other, well, making my dad of course.

In the few pictures I've seen of him, he was very old and not smiling. He was apparently not an affectionate or demonstrative man with his family. But there's something about a smile on a man's face when he's not the type to freely give one up. It's a precious moment where I get a little glimpse of a grandfather I never knew, when he was a young man, full of life...with a friend who wore a bow tie.

His friends called him Bud.

Bud, on the right, with friends.

2011-05-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

Birthday Party time was fun yesterday. Watched the kids play laser tag, ride go karts and run around like maniacs. Ash rode one of those kid version rides of the Tower of Terror. Loved it.

Met Winston for lunch at On the Border in Rancho Cucamonga which means I don't need to eat today. We went there for the queso and I'm still full.

Stupid things I keep thinking about:

I have $100 in spa/salon gift certificates and still need to use them.
I also need a haircut. I think.

Last day of school is June 9th and I'm going to sign the big boys up for some kind of Karate type thing. Maybe gymnastics for Lucas. I'm thankful we have a pool so we can go swimming a lot. I think it's going to be a good summer. Cue Will Smith, Summertime...

Garlic Edamame, I can't get you out of my mind.

2011-05-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

Had a 4 hour lunch with my friend Luong yesterday. Had forgotten what it's like to have lunch with a friend without being interrupted by my 3 kids and however many kids the friend may have too. Although I've come to enjoy the chaotic meals and random kid conversations at a table full of children because for me that's what my life is all about. We had some yummy sushi, a tofu dish and seaweed salad which surprised me with it's yumminess, and garlic edamame! Besides the conversation, this was the highlight of the meal.

Today we're going to Holden's friend's birthday party where there will be laser tag, go karts, arcade games and Ash chasing (my least favorite party event).

Then off to Victoria Gardens to have lunch with Uncle Winston.

So far a great start to a nice long weekend.

Living to write and writing to live

2011-05-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

I started a blog 10 years ago which I wrote in pretty much every week, sometimes more. In the last two years since twitter and facebook took over, and also 3 kids, I've blogged less and less. I've pretty much abandoned my original blog and sparsely updated this one. When I read my old one, I'm nostalgic. This blog may never be what that one was to me but every day I'm breathing I feel like I need to be writing. Not every post has to be epic, tragic or inspiring. But I must write. (inspired by Attic24, shared by a dear blogger friend)

Today I'm going to get sushi and a mani/pedi with a friend I've known since 2000. We met through work in Maryland which seems sooooo long ago, before I was even a mom which is such a very large part of who I am now. Since then, I've moved to Germany, California, Arizona, Florida and back to California. She was in DC but is originally from Montreal and moved to San Francisco at one point. Now she's married with one kid and a bun in the oven and ended up moving within an hour drive from where we are right before we moved here. Pretty amazing how life brings people together, can separate them and then bring them back together again.

I knitted her a blanket this week for the new baby.

Another Mother's Day

2011-05-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

The last few years, Bill has started the pre-Mother's Day conversation with "Soooo I let Mother's Day sneak up on me..." which means no plans have been made yet for the big day.

In my early years of motherhood, I did have an expectation of my husband doing something extra special for me. I DID carry a child in my body for 9 months (ahem, 3 times!) after all and even though some women manage to perform this same seemingly impossible feat while drinking, smoking, doing drugs and eating poorly while still managing to have a healthy, beautiful child, I still feel that I've accomplished something amazing - 3 times!

After having Holden, I really did feel like Bill owed me something. I thought, "Geez, his part was easy!" ... if you know what I mean. But then I had the challenge and privilege of growing that child for 9 months, birthing him and then caring for him 24 hours a day with little sleep or guidance from the magical parent fairy who was supposed to tell me about all of the little things I never imagined would keep me up at night (the crying, breastfeeding, the explosive pooping, the worrying if he was breathing) once I was 100% responsible for this precious little thing without even a one second break.

That first Mother's Day, Bill bought me a nice purse and watch and I felt I deserved it. It made me feel special and loved and was a nice pat on the back for a job well done.

After the first one, I still expected a little something and Bill followed through. And then one year, I know I told Bill I didn't care if he got me anything, but like so many women do and no one understands, I still wanted him to get me something. And expected him to read my mind. Which, let's face it, he is NOT good at.

This year, I said the words out loud. "Honey you really don't have to get me anything this year."

And you know what? I mean it. Bill may not have given birth to our 3 children, but he's done enough in their lifetime to prove that the role he played was just as important and deserving of appreciation. He really is an amazing father. He doesn't owe me anything. I just want to enjoy our kids with him every day for as long as possible.

This Mother's Day, I don't NEED a present. My kids are old enough now that they know what the day means, and if they want to have Dad buy me something or make something, it will mean a lot to me, of course. It's nice to be appreciated. It's sweet to receive gifts or flowers from the father of your children. But it means even more if they tell you throughout the year that they appreciate you.

When my husband tells me he feels lucky to have me as his wife and that I'm a good Mom on a regular Sunday in November or a Wednesday in February, I really feel like that is more than enough.

We're square.

And P.S. No, we still didn't buy a new bed! Ugh....

Christmas memories

2010-12-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas always brings back so many memories.

I remember the days when Bill and I were without kids and used to go CRAZY at Christmas buying each other anything we wanted. We had all of this money (really not much, but felt like a lot when you're 22) and no one else to buy for but ourselves and a few relatives. We couldn't wait to open the presents on Christmas Day so we usually ended up giving one gift a day starting the first two weeks before Christmas.

As I was putting out the presents under the tree this year, I was telling the boys a story about when I was around 5 and wanted to open one particular present so badly I cried and cried and cried until my Mom let me open it. Looking back now I can distinctly remember how sweet and sad my Mom was for me that I was so unhappy about not getting to open it that she just couldn't stand it and had to let me open it. She reasoned with me that if I opened it early I wouldn't have a big present to open on Christmas Day but I didn't care. And this was just like Lucas. He was so eager to open all of his presents he didn't care about waiting. By the way, I still remember that present. It was a tea set. And worth opening early.

Each year we put our ornaments on the tree and tell our kids where each one came from. And as we add more, they recall year after year where we got those ornaments and what they mean to them. There is just something so magical about this day. There are sad memories too that I try not to dwell on. Because even in all of the sadness there were sweet moments that helped us get through what can sometimes be a difficult time of year for a lot of people. 3 years later, it's a hard holiday to manage when I miss my Mom so much. Yesterday I was thinking I needed to call her to wish her a Merry Christmas. Instead I just dreamed about her all night.

Merry Christmas to my Mom, who always made Christmas the merriest time of year no matter what was going on. And I'll follow in her footsteps.

We need a new bed.

2010-11-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

Bill and I have had the same bed for the last 11 years.

When we first got married and were living in Maryland, we discovered an IKEA within an hour's drive from our first home. Like every poor newlywed couple, we furnished our home with the wonderfully inexpensive, infuriatingly constructed Eurocrap. It only took us 10 days to assemble our new dining room table, sofa and bed - the only 3 items in our entire house, besides splurging on a $500 TV which at the time seemed really expensive.

At 22 years old, when all of our extra money seemed better spent on clothing, movies, eating out at restaurants and adventuring, we convinced ourselves the full-size bed would do just fine (because it was the cheapest). And the model sans headboard and boxspring was perfectly comfortable (because it was the cheapest). And the natural wood "finish" was actually prettier than the darker wood (because it was the cheapest).

Over the next 11 years, we moved 5 times from the east coast to Germany, then west coast, desert, back to east coast and now on the west coast again. Our little full-size bed has made the trip with us and managed to hold itself together even missing support slats and carrying more weight each year (ahem... 3 pregnancies here, people... I can't speak for Bill on this one...). Needless to say, it has seen its fair share of wear and tear and surprisingly has survived pretty well for a cheap little bed.

Once we moved to CA this last time, we discussed buying a new bed, and as of right now, our cheap asses still haven't bought one. Yet again, we've convinced ourselves we can use the money for better things, like 3 growing boys, vacations and trips, 3 hungry boys, birthdays and holidays, and did I mention 3 growing and hungry boys?

Last night I spent most of the night with a mustached-man that felt like he was running a one thousand degree temperature who I think may possibly have the HEAVIEST leg of any person alive all up in my business while I tried to sleep. Every time I tried to move, that leg of lead was holding me down and scalding my skin with its insane warmth. So when I woke up this morning, I decided all I want for Christmas this year is a bed.

A real grown up bed. A Queen size bed. That isn't missing pieces. That has two different areas on the bed for two grown people to sleep without touching, if they don't want to.

Sure I'll miss our little mini-bed that has been with us through so much life. It may be a little bittersweet letting go of those memories... and all that money. But better the bed than murdering my husband in his sleep.

The REAL Beezus and Ramona

2010-07-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

If you're a child of the 80s, you've read all of the Ramona Quimby series by Beverly Cleary or at least heard of them. And you've probably seen the trailer for the new Ramona and Beezus movie... and then promptly vomited in your mouth. (I won't link to it here, so google it if you haven't watched it yet. Also, "A little sister goes a long way" as the tagline? WTF does that mean?)

If you did in fact see the trailer for the movie, you can quickly tell that Hollywood managed again to take a beautiful, real story and turn it into crap by packaging it in a perfect, picturesque pile of baloney.

I haven't read the books since I was young, but now I want to go find all of those weird colored hardbacks that smell like old paper and glue and bury my tears in them. Any fan of a great book can't help but be excited about the prospect of seeing characters you envision in your mind come to life. But then it's always a crapshoot if the producers are going to find the right director and cast to make it happen the right way. It seems of late, they screw it up more than they do it right. Harry Potter is the only series that comes to mind that did it right, even if it's not perfect for everyone. Still, it captured the magic of the wizarding world in an enrapturing way.

But the Ramona books are more about capturing the essence of childhood and growing up - being awkward, inappropriate, ugly and hating your sister. Not chasing after boys, wearing makeup and annoying your sister only to later hear her say "Oh Ramona, even though you painted on the wall, I still love you and appreciate your individualism. Sorry I ever took you for granted!" Smile. Pose. Hug. Get the boy at the end.

In this case, Hollywood should've just left it alone. I won't watch the movie. I know what the real Beezus and Ramona look and act like. See below.

Total eclipse of the heart

2010-07-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a few weeks since Eclipse came out and poor Bill didn't get to see it until last night. I allowed him to drag me there... okay, okay I wanted to see it too.

I've read the first two books and half of Eclipse, but it didn't take a literary genius to figure out where she was going with the rest of the book and the series, so the movie didn't surprise me. I've ranted enough about how I think Stephanie Meyer is a hack writer but still manages to not take away from enjoying the story. I still enjoy her characters even though it is a ridiculous love triangle. Pretty much any book/movie with vampires is watchable and enjoyable for me.

I enjoyed the movie despite the things that irritated me as a writer, and the weird vampire shattering. It was interesting and fun and creepy in all of the right ways. The stand-out for me was Taylor Lautner, though. I think he does a great job of coming off as passionate, tortured, brooding and cheeky. Plus, those dimples are adorable.

What I do wonder is why there are so many people obsessed with it. I can see the allure of a vampire loving an ordinary girl and doing anything for her - and then tossing in a hot werewolf doesn't hurt things. That would certainly appeal to a younger group of girls who have never experienced love. Bill thinks a lot of women get wrapped up in the fantasy because many of them haven't read a lot of fantasy novels and this one has mythical creatures and love. So how does that obsession take hold for so many people? Not just girls and women.

For those of you that are OBSESSED... (and you know who you are...ahem...liz, jenn, marianne, mary...etc...) please tell me why you love it so much. I would love to know how you connect to the story on a personal level.

A small thing

2010-07-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Recently, someone close to me went to prison.

Of course there's a part of me that realizes he deserves some kind of punishment for his crime, but because I care about him, I wish it didn't have to be this way.

It's so easy for probably most of us to think "out of sight, out of mind" when it comes to prisoners. I mean, certainly, if they have wronged another human being or broken a law, there is a price to pay.

Still, we're talking about a human being, locked away in confinement with very few rights if any, day after day after day. Despite it being justified in many ways, I still feel so very sorry for him. It's painful and sad to imagine what his days must be like, being away from his family with nothing to do but think about what he did wrong.

I would hope that because of this time, it would make him think twice about every decision he makes in the future after he gets out. But will it really? Will it "cure" the disease that took him down this path in the first place? Probably not. And that for me is where prison feels like it fails. It seems most of the time it's just a matter of alienating criminals from society, but doesn't often take steps to help guide those people in the right direction after they're released so they don't end up back there again.

I don't think every person in prison is an evil person. I bet a lot are people who are dealing with a lot more issues and ended up making bad decisions based on feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and despair. Feelings we've all felt, but have been better equipped to deal with than these individuals, for whatever combination of reasons and circumstances.

So why am I writing this? Without sounding like I in any way defend criminal behavior, I simply care about this person and think about him a lot. What can I do to help him? Probably not much. But I decided today to write him a letter as often as I can. I haven't decided yet what to write about. Without judging, giving advice or making him feel worse by telling him things he's missing out on, I just want to reach out to him so he knows that even though he may feel alone in there, there are people out here besides his mom, sister and brother who want him to have a good life.

Until he gets his freedom back, I hope I can remind him of that and help him through this in this small way.

Just wait until the honeymoon is over

2010-07-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

Bill and I have been married now for almost 11 years, and dated 3 1/2 years before we got hitched.

August 21, 1999 - we both had just turned 22 and there were a lot of people who thought we were too young. Maybe we were, but one thing was for sure - we loved each other and knew without a doubt that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Bill had joined the army and was going to be traveling the world, and neither of us wanted him to be doing it alone. We didn't have a lot of money to spend on fancy rings. Bill paid $35 for an opal ring at a pawn shop, and we had picked out 50 matching wedding bands from James Avery the first year we were dating. There's a Hebrew inscription that reads "Whither thou goest, I will follow", and the sentiment has always rang true for us as we've moved from Oklahoma to Washington DC to Germany to California to Arizona to Florida and now back to California. Always together.

When we first got married, people used to say things to us like, "Just wait until the honeymoon is over." or "Wait until you've been married 5 years...7 years... 10 years...." - possibly assuming after years together we'd realize how hard it is and expect failure? I don't know what their intentions were but it always infuriated me. At what point will it stop? After we've been married 50 years, will there be someone there to say, "Wait until you've been married 55 years!"

I always look to Bill's grandparents who have been married for over 60 years as a gauge for a successful marriage. The #1 thing I notice when I'm around them is that they genuinely enjoy each other's company.

We are by no means experts on marriage. And our marriage like all has not been perfect. But after 14 years together, believe it or not, I still like hanging out with Bill. That could all change 50 years from now but I don't think so. If we make it 60 years, I'll request an epitaph that reads "Here lies Bill and Anna. They never got sick of each other. So there."

What were we thinking?

2010-07-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

Last night after finishing up a work project, immediately followed by organizing the walk-in closet of our new home, putting away laundry and finally situating our bedroom so it feels more livable, I made one last walk-through of the house picking up toys and random pieces of food from the floor while everyone was tucked away sound asleep in their beds.

And yes, I absolutely am aware that was a ridiculously long run-on sentence - a direct reflection of my life these days. After moving 2400 miles across the country from one coast to the next, unpacking belongings and making our new house a home, while working part-time, my life is one big run-on.

So after all that, I bumped into my brother-in-law Winston in the kitchen and asked, "After living with us now for a year, do you still want kids?" His answer... "I would never have them so close together. But I think I'm good with just one." And I said, "What were we thinking?"

There are MANY moments in my life that I think Bill and I were 100% crazy out of our minds STUPID for thinking we could take on 3 kids only 2 years apart, all the while wondering if we want to have another. (no plans! don't get excited, people) Sometimes I am SO exhausted and just need a real break from it all. The whining, yelling, working, cleaning... you get the picture.

But then this morning, I found myself sitting on the couch with a Lucas tucked under my arm, an Ash nestled in my lap, and a Holden seated to my left with his leg touching mine, and I listened to them talking and giggling while playing Little Big Planet. Instantly a wave of assurance rushed over me - I'm in the right place, exactly where I should be, with my little munchkins (evil minions) where they belong.

Sure the day to day battles wear me down and I'm not immune to motherly insecurities, but little moments make it all worthwhile. I wouldn't change anything about my life. I honestly enjoy every single moment of it. Even scraping banana off of the floor.

What, you don't believe me?