Life in review 4

We got a nice visit from "Babo."



We made all natural harvest cookies. Our art for November.



Apple dumplings. With ice cream. Homemade.



NOW I can post about December! Nothing like the last day of the year to get ya goin'. . . .

Life in review 3

The 10th Anniversary festivities began--self portrait at the San Francisco Ballet.



We hiked over Ladera.



Lily played a sheep in "Tom Turkey," her 1st grade play.



Lily turned 7! We bowled, we played, we danced.



We ate cake.



We feasted.

Life in review 2

Max burned his thumb (car lighter + curiosity = ouch).



We went to the beach.



Lily's teeth got really wiggly.



We drank our last cup of Postum, forever (bring it back, Kraft!!).

Life in review 1

To recap a bit of our life these past few months . . . .

Some cousins came to visit.



Max turned 9! (Note to self: don't put candles in molten chocolate lava cake . . . .)



We celebrated at Legoland.

This is LA, baby

"What?" you ask? What are we doing with Jon Heder? The one and only Napolean Dynamite? Well, we had a ourselves a funky Friday night in downtown Los Angeles. Paul's band, GoGo 13, was asked to play a gig at The Roosevelt Hotel for a film's after party. It's a kooky independent documentary called Hi, My Name is Ryan, made by some Mormon guys, and one of the songs in the film is an Aquabats song. Since the lead singer of GoGo 13 is brothers with the Aquabats guy and co-wrote the song, they got to perform that song, and a bunch of others. There were about 4 bands that played, lots of LA-type people, artists, a silent auction . . . . Oh, and Money Mark from the Beastie Boys, too! All in all, a very eclectic mix of people. And Jon Heder! It was fun.

Ahhh . . . Halloween

This was the first year that Max dug in and carved his pumpkin all by himself--he even scooped out the guts! Yea, Max! He did a great job. Lily had help with her "cat" pumpkin, well, probably more help than she needed. I just can't help myself! That was a fun night.


We got this princess costume for Lily and once she saw the collar that stood up, she was inspired to be a Vampire Princess.



And lest you think I was a lazy costumer this year, when Max said he wanted to be Indiana Jones (about 8 months ago), I started looking for an appropriate Indy shirt. They don't exist. So I dyed one! AND I sewed the gun pouch out of felt, because those don't exist either. He had a whip too, a real one, but just didn't want to carry it around when I wasn't about to let him "use" it--not with all those kids around! All in all, we had a great Halloween. They gladly handed over their junk candy for some awesome Trader Joe's and Whole Foods confections, and each got to pick out a toy at Toys R Us. Now on to the next holiday!

Opposable Thumbs

We use them every day, quite constantly, actually. And I've realized how much I take my o.t.'s for granted. Try doing anything without them: buttoning jeans, opening the frig, making a PB&J, typing . . . the list goes on and on. From morning to night, all day long we use our opposable thumbs for nearly every task. I am guilty of not putting any thought towards these stubby digits since high school biology. But now that I am temporarily down to just one, I vow to spend more time daily in appreciation of the wonder that is the human thumb.

While playing a rousing game of dodge ball in the street yesterday afternoon, I learned two very important things: don't taunt the 6 year old neighbor holding the ball by shuffling in front of him while wearing flip-flops, and never play dodge ball without a video camera rolling. We would have had a great time watching my hilarious trip, stumble, and fall, over and over again. Yes, I fell. And I broke my thumb. Now I have to figure ot how to make chicken pot pie and chocolate molten lava cakes for Max's birthday tomorrow without the use of my beloved, un-opposable right thumb.

Crayons in the Crack

It went like this: "Oh no! MOMMY!" I came sprinting to the aid of my sick couch-ridden six year old occupying her time in front of the TV with a cookie-sheet desk, paper, and crayons in a cup, expecting to see something had been expelled from her stomach and made a mess on my sofa. Breathlessly I said, "What's wrong?" (pant, pant). She just pointed. To the cup. Of crayons. It tipped over. She said, "There's crayons in the crack." She was obviously incapacitated and had no way of reaching that far, all the way to the space four inches from her hand, to the abyss that is the couch cushions to fetch the crayons herself. I thought inwardly, "This is what she pulled me away from motherly duties for?" (OK, so I was just reading somebody's blog at that moment.) But outwardly I was all love and comfort and I'll get your crayons for you and here's some juice, baby. Kiss on the forehead. All's right with the world.

This guy is 40?!

To my honey on his 40th Birthday:

You're just as handsome as you were then,
Even though it was "way back when,"
That I first laid eyes on you and said to my friend,
"I am totally going to marry him!"

Happy birthday, Paul. I love you!

A Natural Easter

We had a great time coloring Easter eggs the natural way for the first time this year--with food! Lily loved it (and I must admit, so did I). They turned out alright, though the yellow was by far the best color (gotta love turmeric!). We'll continue the experiment again . . . . in a year. Enjoy!