party hats

We went to Mireya Gil's birthday party last night. The Gils always throw great parties and serve the best food. We had a great time!
I had intended to bring my camera ... my new thing is that I should carry my camera with me at all times (like Geordie!), so that I can capture everyday life. But I left it in the car, so the only photo I got was this fun one of my kiddos after we got home.
Karis' birthday is coming up too. I'm having such a hard time deciding what to do for her. I did so much for Daniel's last birthday, but right now all I feel like I have energy to do is make some cupcakes and bring them to her regular "playgroup" park day. Oh, the "mommy guilt!"

the big day

Today was a big day for Karis (and for the rest of us). It was her first day of Kindergarten. And she did great! In the morning she didn't want to line up with the other kids, but I walked her to the door and she let go of my hand and went inside with all her classmates. The big question to me today was, "how did you do?" I did great! I think that if she had cried, I would have been a mess too! When I picked her up, she wouldn't say that she liked it, but she had many things to share that make me knnow that she did. Her favorite parts of the day were art and playing with her buddy, Ellie.

my ballerina and my cornball

Yesterday, Karis finished a week of ballet camp. There was a very informal show, and my sweet ballerina had a bit of stage fright. But to me, she was the most precious dancer out there! (I know I'm biased.) Her doting brother watched from the side with buddy Brody Johnsen. Brody (1 yr old) had great fun trying to copy all the ballet moves.
In this photo Daniel shows his true personality - our little comedian.

turkey and a break from being mommy

I have had a great summer. One of the highlights was a trip I took with my mom. She treated me to 2 week trip to Turkey. (Just a mother/daughter trip … no kiddos) It was really wonderful to just be me without having the duties of being “mommy.” The night that we left was very difficult … I had to hold my tears back when I was saying goodbye to my kids. I wasn’t actually sure that I wanted to go … it sounded like such a long time away. I missed Craig and the kids, but I so appreciated the freedom in not taking care of my little ones. I feel like I was a little more adventurous and carefree than I am normally. By the end of the trip I was sad to be coming home … another week would have been nice.

And Turkey was such an incredible place … beautiful, exotic, interesting, … delicious food! … gorgeous, gracious people! … history, art, architecture that blows your mind (our country is such a baby in comparison). I want everyone I know to get a chance to visit this beautiful country. And I want to go back! We went on a “Rick Steves” tour. It was far better than I expected. We were with a great group of people, had an incredible tour guide, and saw some of the best of Turkey. We had so many unique, intimate experiences … lunch at a Turkish woman’s house, dancing at a small town wedding, a question & answer time with an Imam. In an evaluation that the tour company sent us they asked us to tell them about a “wow” moment from the trip. This was so hard to do because there were so many to choose from! There were definitely multiple “wow” moments every day.

I must add that Craig deserves the husband/father of the year award for freeing me up to go on this trip!!!!!!!! How many mothers of young children get to do this? And when I came home, Craig told me that my mom and I ought to take a trip like this every year. He is an incredible husband … for many reasons, this generosity to me being one!

If you have any interest in seeing photos from our trip, check out the slideshows that I made:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=sabraws
(or just click on the link titled "My Videos on YouTube" on the sidebar)
And let me know what you think!

The photos below: My mom, Judy, in Ephesus with the Library of Celsus in the background. Me, wearing a scarf that some village children sold me and placed on my head.

rainbow falls

Me, Karis, & Daniel at Rainbow Falls near Devil's Postpile Monument. The kids hiked in a mile and a half to get to the waterfall and back out again! Unfortunately, we weren't well prepared ... we ran out of water on the way back. We are very thankful for the strangers who gave us a couple water bottles.

to run or not to run

The Santa Barbara Half Marathon is coming up on November 4th and I think I’m going to do it. I was at dinner with a few girlfriends last week and I asked if any of them wanted to run it with me. They looked at me as if I had elephants flying out of my ears. They not only had absolutely no interest in running it, they seemed to think that I’m crazy. Now, I never have run that far … probably the farthest I’ve run is 6, maybe 7 miles. But my friend Tammy always tells me that anyone can double what they run … no problem. Speaking of Tammy … she and my friend, Anne, are the two who at one point had shown interest in running it with me, but they both went and got pregnant. How convenient! Well, I have a few more friends who might want to run it with me if I ask. Then I have friends who I know would run it but would be in a totally different league than me … the league that I can’t keep up with. And then again, I could run it solo … just me and my iPod. What do you think… should I go for it?

just starting out

Well I’ve decided to join the blogging community. I know that many of you have been waiting for this!!! Your deepest desire is to constantly know what is going on in my life, … well, that is, what is going on besides laundry, meal preparation, house cleaning, and nose wiping. Well, let me tell you … there’s a lot! Need I say more? Now, I can’t promise that my blogs will be as funny as ChrisMundell.com or that the photos that I post will be as fabulous as Geordie’s photos (www.aidanproject.com) … but I will proclaim you my best friend and post a photo of you on one of my blogs if you become a faithful reader/commenter.

I am excited to start this. If for nothing else, it will be a great way to journal about life. And hopefully some of you will have fun reading it.