small world

We went out to dinner with our friends, the Eddy's, a few nights ago. It was nice to catch up with them ... we really hadn't seen them since before the summer started. Knowing Amy reminds me of how small our world is ... I met Amy here in SB. When she was in high school in Orange County, Amy dated a boy named Stephen. I knew that same boy when he was much younger and I was in high school in Lompoc. I once babysat that boy that she ended up dating in high school ... in totally different parts of the state! (I'm not that old! Amy's just still very young!)

dancing with the stars

I've never really gotten into the show Dancing with the Stars, but each season I usually watch a few of the shows. What I wonder is why they don't call it Dancing with the Obscure Stars ... yeah there are a few familiar faces, but most of them are fairly unknown. I will say, though, that I just watched Emmitt Smith dance and although the judges were kind of harsh on him, I thought he did great ... especially given his profession.


Craig and I went on a date this last weekend. Since we don't get out without the kids very often, we were very grateful for it. (Thank you Gammy!) It's so nice to have a complete conversation without interuptions.

Can you tell where we went for part of our date???

bedtime

I'm always amazed at the positions this little guy can be in when he falls asleep!

going on a bear hunt

I just learned how to embed a video on my blog. Woo hoo! Check out my babe telling a story she learned in Kindergarten.

a little too quiet upstairs

You know when you haven't heard anything from where your children are playing it often translates to some kind of trouble! Daniel decided to experiment with scissors this morning ... on his hair! I had one of those "this is so funny, I can't help laughing, but I also want to be serious enough that he realizes he shouldn't ever do this again" responses. (I don't know if I did a very good job ... he loves being the funny guy ... I can see him doing this again just for the attention.) Oh well, it was time for a hair cut anyway ... it just may be a shorter one than usual.
Have any of your kids done this????

a minimal wardrobe

Well, I've come to realize that Daniel only really needs 3 t-shirts in his wardrobe. He has about 20 sitting in his dresser, but bless his little heart, there are only 3 he ever wants to wear ... blue Thomas, navy blue Thomas, or red Thomas. Sometimes I can interest him in his Mickey Mouse shirt ... but that's rare! I'm getting a little tired of Thomas shirts and feeling like it's a waste of his other shirts ... so today, I thought I'd be sly. Two of the Thomas shirts were dirty, so I hid the third, figuring that I'd deceptively tell him that all the Thomas shirts are dirty. Well, it didn't work! My boy is too smart for me (and I didn't do a very good job of hiding the shirt). He told me he didn't want to wear the shirt I chose for him, so we went to choose another from his drawer. While we were looking, he said, "Mommy, look there's a Thomas shirt over there with Karis' clothes." He was very happy. ... I'll get him tomorrow. This one really will be dirty!

a first for d

Last week was Daniel's first week of preschool. He loved it! He only goes two mornings a week and one of the days that he didn't go he cried, telling me "I want to go to school!" And he loves his school buddy Emma. He tells me and Craig, "Emma's my first friend." We think that he's trying to say she's his best friend.

I'm having one of those days where I'm going crazy ... Craig will be at work past the kids bedtime (for his Back to School Night) and it seems like everything the kids tell me or ask me is in a whiny voice. And K & D are having a conflict just about every 5 minutes. If it looks like I have less hair the next time I see you, you'll know why! ... I think I'll go have a glass of wine now! (The only way that I'm able to write this is because of a video!)

Thank you to all of you who have been writing comments. It's fun to hear your responses and it's fun to know who's actually reading my rambling words! ;)

the magic kingdom

Karis and I went to Disneyland yesterday with Ellie and Anne. We went to celebrate both girls' fifth birthdays. (When asked whether she wanted a birthday party or a day at Disneyland, Karis easily chose Disneyland!) We had a great time! The girls had so much fun together. Karis' favorite ride was the mini-roller coaster in Toon Town. It was fun to see the big grin on her face as we sped up and down and all around.

Happy Birthday to my sweet KK

Today is Karis' fifth birthday. I can't believe how fast the past five years have gone!
Five years ago today - Karis at 14 minutes old!

One year old:

Two years old:

Three years old:

Four years old:

My five year old!

mommy's night out ... woo hoo!

Last night I went out to dinner at Fresco with "the moms." These women are awesome! We've been getting together for the last 5 years since shortly after our first children were born. (We get our kids together to play and for us to chat, weekly.) They have been such a blessing in my life! We had a great time last night ... lots of sharing our hearts and lots of laughter! And we are looking forward to a weekend away together next month! Can't wait!
Jade pointed out a sign in the restaurant that I loved: "Chocolate is the answer ... the question doesn't matter!"
Not pictured: Tracy & me. (Tracy couldn't make it last night and the photo that the waiter took was too blurry.)

good friends in tm

For the last 8 years, we've gone up to Tuolumne Meadows each summer. I love it there. It's one of my favorite places in the world. I don't think it get's much more beautiful than up there. For those of you who don't know, TM is part of Yosemite ... in my opinion, the better part of Yosemite ... just as spectacular without feeling like you're in Disneyland.
I actually love the whole area from Olmstead Point all the way to Tuolumne Meadows. If you've never been there, you must put it on your list of things to do. Why do I love it? The beautiful river, the gorgeous meadows, the wildlife ... but the thing I love the most is all that granite! Yes, the rock. No, I'm not the rockclimber in the family, ... but it is spectacular! (The photo on the right is taken from Olmstead Point. It shows a view of the backside of halfdome. Everything in that photo that is not sky, trees, or us is granite.)
This year we went up with the Johnsens, the Eubanks, the Bowers, and my mom. We had a great time playing in the river, hiking, and laughing a lot. The kids had a great time getting as dirty as they could possibly get. It was definitely one of the highlights of this past summer.
(You can click on any of the photos to see a larger version.)

wonderful sb and the mysteries of hello kitty

I love living in a "small" city. I love that you run into people you know everywhere. I had lunch last week with a couple of my favorite ladies, Tammy & Deb, and their kiddos. We ran into Maja Greig, Stacy Kiel, Chris Mundell, and Kevin Grose. (Of course, we were at Taffy's, a SBCC favorite.) But then again on Friday night when I went out, we ran into at least 8 people we know. I love that. (I have family in San Diego ... I think that kind of thing happens rarely for them.)
-The other day Karis pointed out that Hello Kitty has no mouth. She started wondering how she can eat without a mouth and suggested that she might eat through her nose. I asked her what she thought that would be like and she said, "Oh, I wouldn't want to do that because my boogers would get dirty." Hmmm??

mmmmmmmm!

I decided to skip the yummy sandwich and just go straight for the icecream for dinner ... no dishes, no clean-up, super yummy, and something I definitely can't do when the kids are around. (see previous blog) Hmmmmm? What else could I do to continue the decadence???

a decadent weekend

Craig and the kids went to San Diego this weekend. Last night I went to dinner and a movie with Sarah, Christy, and Barbara. We saw Little Miss Sunshine. I absolutely loved the movie! It made me laugh hard ... deep belly laughs ... and at times brought me to tears. However, I hesitate to recommend it to others. It's a little off color and I think that some people might absolutely hate it. (Have you seen it? Did you like it?)
Anyway, the most decadent part of this weekend (thus far) was this morning when I slept in till 9:30!!!! Now to some of you that might not seem decadent, but to anyone who has young children, you know what I'm talking about. After sleeping in, I went for a long run. Then after showering, I sat down and read for a couple hours (more decadence). I'm trying to get through a 600 page book and 10 minutes at night before falling asleep hasn't been cutting it. If I want to finish it before Christmas, maybe I'm going to have to convince Craig to take the kids to visit their cousins a few more times! Anyway, now I'm headed out to get pick up some Ben & Jerry's to have after I eat a Bacon, Tomato, Avocado, Cheese sandwich for dinner. (That may be a little decadent, but the last time Craig took the kids away for the weekend, I painted the kitchen red and all I ate for lunch & dinner was a pint of B & J. I never told Craig about that one. I guess he'll know now!)
This evening, I think I'll just lounge around and read some more! Ahhhhhhh!
(Craig, you're so good to me!)

awestruck at God's creation

The Grand Canyon was one of our stops on our 25 day road trip this summer. The last time I had seen it was when I was a child and I didn't really remember it. Of course, I've seen it in pictures and on film. What shocked me seeing it this time was that it looks so unbelievable that I felt like I was looking at a photo or a painting ... it's so amazingly huge and stunningly gorgeous that it's difficult to believe that what you're looking at is real. Looking across the massive expanse is definitely surreal. I don't think I'm naturally good with words, but even if I were I think it would not be easy to describe the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon to another person. One has to see it with their own eyes to truly understand. My photos definitely do not do it justice.
Of course, Daniel & Karis had a difficult time hearing that they couldn't play on the walls that lined the viewing walkways!

make it taller, daddy!

I wish that Daniel's train set had unlimited riser blocks. He and Craig (well, Craig) got the hill as big as they could with the blocks available. You should see how Thomas sped down that track!
We had a great, relaxing weekend. I love to spend our 3 day weekends at home with nothing on the agenda. We just enjoyed Santa Barbara and home! Why go away when we live where everyone else pays to come?

(Half marathon training update: I ran 8 miles on Saturday and I think about 7 on Monday ... woo hoo! I won't tell you how long it took me!)

check it out

Well, I've been adding links to my this site. (I love figuring out how to do new things on the computer ... the computer nerd in me comes out! I love my computer a little too much.) You'll have to check out some of my links and let me know what you think. (Wow, Geordie has three links devoted to him! ... I love how he captures real life in his photos.)

(For those of you who had asked, I have changed my settings so that anyone can leave a comment.)

I think more of this blog is in parentheses than not.