The Bride To Be

I love weddings. The diversity of the ceremonies, the variety of venues, the dress the bride wears... I love it all. This summer, Hubby and I will be witnessing several friends reciting their vows, and I can't wait. I just love weddings.

Recently, I got to spend time with a dear friend's sister who is getting hitched. The shower was at TP's house... the perfect place to laugh and play. Blue and black decorations and attire were theme, with the bride to be wearing a scndalously short, strapless summer dress. Champagne, chicken wings, and a group of ladies = some great memories. No details needed, let's just say that TP's living room was covered with TP from wanna be designers.

Park fun with a leash

I let the baby drag the dog around at the park. Funny to see them try to lead each other around. They are are the perfect pint sized pair. I don't know if it was baby walking the dog, or the dog walking baby, but it sure made a great picture.

They are so sweet

The boys are so sweet. I spoke with a friend tonight and she reminded me that the time I have with them right now is so precious. My boys, all three of them, drive me crazy sometimes. But at the core of it all, they are great kids with big hearts. I am so proud of them for being such wonderful little people. How lucky am I to be part of their worlds.

Relay for Life

I love Dona. She is retiring this year and I love her. She does everything at work to make my job easier. She is supportive and kind. She is acutely aware of the needs of the school (as a whole) and meets those needs head on. She isn't afraid of anybody, that includes the people that yell, whine, complain, and argue. She is a leader on campus without trying to boss anyone around. There will be a great void to fill (or not fill) when she leaves in 2 weeks.

Seven years ago, she lost her husband Joe to cancer. Since then, she has participated in the Relay for Life at Hilltop park to help find a cure.

Thank you Dona for letting my family be part of this with you. Congratulations on your retirement.

Speaking of Chocolate...

My new thing is to modify the diet. It is NOT a diet, it is diet modification. That means that instead of a lot of coffee, I only have a little. Instead of a lot of rice, I only have a little. Instead of bacon and eggs, I have yogurt or a shake. It is day five and all I've learned is that I am weak. I like sweets, I like carbs, and I like snacks. Sweets, sugars, salts, or sours... bring it on. As I continue to modify my diet, all I can think of are the rows and rows of delicious M&M's at the M&M store in NYC.

April's Promotion

Proud parents we are to two young men with white-yellow belts in jiu jitsu. The boys attended the belt promotion ceremony at the San Marcos Carlson Gracie dojo in April. It is a great set up, with parents able to watch from above and students learning on the lower level with weight bags, a ring, and a large mat area for rolling.

The boys waited patiently as everyone received their belts one at a time. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa came along to hold the sleeping baby, while I took pictures of the whole event.

The boys will continue to go to jiu jitsu this summer, which is great because hubby and I have made some great friends at the dojo. While the children learn, all the mommies and daddies in a small area behind glass. It is good there is glass because the moms and dads get loud sometimes. I suspect it will be a fun summer. Plus , the dojo families like to have barbecues and beach parties, so they are definitely our kind of people.

Easter

Easter Sunday was the day after we came home from our trip to NYC. Despite coming in very late and being exhausted from a whole days travel, the boys woke up energized and ready to look for eggs. The special thing about the eggs at my mom's house is that she doesn't hide candy. She hides money. We have a running joke that it is great to find eggs that jingle, but it's better to find ones that don't. In fact, she often will put one special egg out that contains a $10 bill or something like that. Of course, sis and I look for that one too.


The three babies got a chance to participate, but only the little girl really understood what to do. She even found an egg all by herself! The boys ran around and followed the big kids. Baby even removed his shoes and ran in the dirt. He must get that from his dad.
When all the eggs were found, the kids ran inside and proceeded to open all the plastic containers to find M&M's, quarters, dimes, nickles, and chocolate eggs wrapped in foil. And of course, some eggs were worth more than others.

The best part is that the seven (that's right, SEVEN) were together to celebrate this holiday and build a great memory for when they are all grown up. For now though, they are truly enjoying what it means to be a child. I love it.

Happy Birthday, Babe

Babe, you are so spoiled.

The "S's" of the City

In addition to skyscrapers, subways, and shopping, and scams, New York can boast it has another fabulous "S" ... the Street performer.

While walking to FAO Schwartz, we stumbled upon a group of young men trying to make a few dollars as dancers. They had bright yellow sweatshirts on and a big bucket that tourists could drop money in if they saw something they liked. Of course, I gave them a dollar. Not because it was an exceptionally good or that they were overly entertaining or talented. Rather, I gave the dollar because I knew that those obnoxiously bright yellow sweaters would look like a fabulous burst of color on my blog. I was right!

New York, New York

I love Spring Break. It's one of the perks of being a teacher... natural breaks in my work year to play with my kids. This break our family took a much needed trip together and ended up in New York City! The next several blogs will be dedicated to this trip, but I will have to go slow. Having a baby and two very active big boys only allows me to write a few thoughts down at a time. And since we spent 4 days in the big city, I will simply have to blog about specific highlights one at a time. I'll start with the reason we chose NYC verses anywhere else...

With the two really into the whole Pokemon thing, it was too easy to decide that we would take a trip to the only Pokemon Center in the United States. We researched and found that there was a place dedicated only to Pokemon merchandise... decorations.. hard to find items... rare cards. The whole nine yards. So, we booked and kept it a secret.

Well, the joke was on us. After paying for non refundable tickets on priceline.com, we found out that the famous Pokemon Center was actually closed and replaced with Nintendo World.

All the same, the boys enjoyed the store so much. Plus, in Nintendo World, there is a whole area dedicated to Pokemon and all of the merchandise that Nintendo makes that is related to Pokemon.

Lucky us. Even baby had a fun time playing games at the DS station that is set up in the middle of the store.


At the same time, also located in Rockefeller Center was the American Girl Place - one of only three that exist in the United States. With Le Bear in mind, I sought out to quickly pick out a few things for her and "Megan." What I found was a store filled with little girls and their lovely dolls...and there pushy, obsessive moms in search of all the accessories that their daughters MUST own. It was crazy and for the first time even a tiny piece of me was glad that I didn't have girls. The feeling quickly passed when I went to the 4th floor (Yes! FOUR floors!) and found the Twinks behind glass. At that point, I was simply looking for a reason, any reason, to take the beautiful dolls home and set them up on a display stand amid my Lladro collection.


Next blog: The Street performers in Central Park. Not exactly America's Best Dance Crew, but a memorable experience for us.

Show me you love me

I think that my family has figured out that the one surefire way to show me that you love me is to feed me.

The boys took me to Buca di Bepo for a wonderful birthday celebration. To make it more special, we sat at a special booth located in the kitchen area. While eating, we had a chance to watch the chefs create wonderful dishes and the servers bustle about getting the orders ready for hungry customers. The boys and I enjoyed the pasta feast. There was only one little boy that , due to restaurant restrictions (no high chairs in the kitchen), ended up not being part of the eating portion of the night. Rather, Papa came to the rescue and took the little one away to sissy's house. There, he enjoyed a meal of something delicious mashed up into little pieces and shared 3 ways.

Mom also helped to celebrate by hosting a late lunch at her house complete with strawberry pie, Mandarin orange cake (with pineapple frosting) and all sorts of wonderful dishes, including those little fried chicken wings that simply can't be good for you.



Hubby left to attend a funeral for four fallen police officers in Oakland. It was a tragedy that left us shocked and saddened. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/us/28cops.html

While he was gone, many unexpected twists and turns happened at work for me. Without too many details, let's just say that I am blessed, blessed, blessed with good friends, healthy and safe family, and angels watching over me. And, it is safe to say that my co workers fooled me by playing a very funny April Fool's joke by - an "Over the Hill" celebration for me. The funniest part about the whole thing was that it wasn't even my birthday... but I got to eat cake and open gifts so it's all good!

Creative, fun, and Useful!

Little ones are such fun. A friend of mine is welcoming her first child this summer. She invited several women to a luncheon at Villa Carpi in Carmel Valley for salad and pasta (the food is delicious!)

As a gift for all of her guests, sheput OPI nailpoish in white and blue to (signify that she is HAVING A BOY!) in an adorable little pouch.

I just thought I'd share because 1) I love babies, and 2) I love nailpolish. And, this was a super cute idea.

Jiu Jitsu

The boys started taking Brazilian Jiu Jitsu last year. Hubby and I wanted the boys to continue learning and staying active, as well as continuing to learn about responsibility and discipline. They took several years of Shito Ryu, a Japanese Martial art form, but when their karate dojo closed, we allowed them to take a "break" from any kind of sport. (This break coincided with baby being born, so it was good timing.)
After several months of jiu jitsu, the boys are now ready to promote to their white-yellow belt! The promotion ceremony will be at the San Marcos location at the end of April. Family and friends are welcome to come, so please join our family to celebrate the boys' well deserved and hard earned promotion.

Feet

His feet keep growing! We have officially moved from size 12-18 to size 18-24 in Robeez. Before we know it, he will be at North County Fair asking for something too expensive at Foot Locker. I'm trying really hard not to blink...

The big boys are into Pokemon more than ever. It was dying down (so I thought) but the new Pokemon Platinum game for the Nintendo DS came out this past week, and the old flame has been lit again. I am so blessed that the boys are into healthy things and enjoy kids stuff. But they are growing a bit too fast for my comfort. I just hope they hear me when I say FAMILY, FAMILY, FAMILY...

Cake and a B-Day wish

Cake: I love it. Since it was my mother in law's birthday, our weekly Sunday dinner was extra special with several delicious desserts to pick from. Ice cream cake, homemade cake, banana cream pie. Fresh flowers. Roast beef for dinner. Family, friends, good wine. It was a great way to end the weekend.

G and G's baby girl is a cutie... with an itch.

The Big Purge

I'm so proud of sissy. With four small children running around her house, she has what one can only call loving CHAOS going on. She has everything: boys toys, girls toys, baby toys (times two, of course) Add on to the fact the no neck husband is like a kid too, and sis has a regular zoo.
(No neck, don't even try to fake it... we all know how much you like toys too.)


Luckily she is kind of a superwoman and takes it all one step at a time. Her latest super feat was a super successful purge day. She invited friends to help her declutter, getting rid of everything she no longer needs: clothes (for all 6 of them), toys, baby items, shoes, all the good stuff. In addition, she got rid of all the things that she once thought she would need, but realized was simply "stuff" that was being saved for a rainy day.
The cougar crew came for the morning with their things too and it turned into a swap fest with me scoring a few key items (the poncho is my favorite)

I kind of wish I took the teeth whitening set too. And it's too bad sis didn't keep the red pants...hot.

The Band

Do you remember playing an instrument in school? In the 5th grade, students are given the option to be part of something wonderful: The school band. Last week, Hubby and I got a chance to listen to the entire 4th grade class play the recorder with the 5th grade band. The local music store owner came and spoke to all the parents about "free" lessons over the summer to prepare for this great endeavor.
The boy wants to play the saxophone, no the trumpet, no the tuba, no the baritone, no the...