Surf Is Totally Up!

On our recent trip up to Ojai, just north west of LA, Tau was keen to try surfing, mostly because the two older kids that we were vacationing with were very eager to take lessons.

Dave doesn’t surf and my sense of balance is dodgy at best, so we didn’t have great expectations. Instead, I was just impressed that Tau was prepared to try something so out of his comfort zone.

And whaddya know, but that boy totally surfed like a little grommet. Not quite a pro, but he certainly got up on that board and rode the waves!

He never fails to impress me. Also, have you ever seen a kid look so cute in a wetsuit?

One Community: September!

I was at a loss this month for our One Community post. Our words to photograph were work, gold, centerpiece and balance — and I had no upcoming celebrations where I might see a centerpiece to photograph or even put one on my own table. Centerpieces are all about Thanksgiving and weddings and Christmas for me. Funny how you can get stuck on something like that.

And then I realized, girl, you have 7303 photos in your Flickrstream. You mean to tell me there isn’t at least one centerpiece among it all?

Turns out there were many, along with plenty of work and gold and balance. And so below I give you a handful of my Flickr faves that speak to my family, my community.

Work. I am fortunate enough right now to work ten minutes away from home, close enough to drop and pick up kids, to take them to doctor appointments and after-school activities, to pick up milk, bread and fruit on my way home. And my kiddos are with me all day at work, along with Yoda of course.

Gold. Why is it that pictures never do sunrises, sunsets and moonscapes any justice? This was the view from our front door the other night and the whole sky was on fire! Golden! The person who invents an app that can capture that? Will be my hero.

Centerpiece. Before Maceo, when we were three not four, we used to have very civilized meals. With place settings and tall candles and the good napkins. Now we have rice-n-gravy smooshed into hair and projectile sippy cups and maniacal screeching. Lots of screeching.

And before we were three, we were two, just a man and a woman. And we bought those beautiful pewter figures you see on the table, which are actually a salt and pepper set. One day our table will look like this again, and we will look back and be thankful for all the crazy and the laughter that Tau and Maceo brought with them.

Balance. Ahem! Talking about the crazy. You are not allowed to walk on the balance beam until you are in third grade. Third day of third grade? We lost our balance and fractured both the left elbow and wrist. We had visits to Urgent Care and the ER, multiple x-rays and a CT scan, and now we’re a week into four weeks of an awesome red cast. Go us!

One Community participants include:

Sarah is a life-long Missourian who shares her home with her husband, two sons, and an old grumpy dachshund. Like every good Midwesterner, she can (and will) talk to you at length about the weather. Sarah blogs at http://www.beautyschooldropout.net.

Colleen lives with her handsome hubster and two feisty felines in Portland, Oregon. She loves rain and sun (in that order), words and pictures, and chatting up the neighbors. She blogs at: http://www.underaredroof.com

Rebekah lives in Kilkenny, Ireland with her husband. An American by birth, she’s discovering what it means to be an expat on the Emerald Isle. She blogs at: http://www.honeysucklelife.com

Kara is a cheerful nerd living in downtown Phoenix, AZ with her law-studying husband and an anxious pound puppy. She works full time in the mental health field but in her off time enjoys sunshine, great food and the occasional craft beer. She blogs at: http://www.sunshine-cupcakes.com

Teresa lives in Massachusetts with her husband, college aged daughter and two crazy cats. She is a creative spirit who tries to find the lesson, blessing and humor in everything and she blogs at http://laughteramongtears.blogspot.com/

Kelli lives in Phoenix with her dog, Willie Nelson Mandela. She is a novelist, public health advocate and United Methodist. She blogs at: http://www.africankelli.com

Stephanie is a lifelong Wyomingite with ranch girl roots. She has her own marketing and graphic design business and in her free time, she enjoys knitting, fishing with her boyfriend, and team roping. She blogs at: http://www.nowicanseethemoon.co

Eduarda is a curious, visual creature who believes all pictures tell a story. She hails from Mozambique, via Portugal and NJ, and now is desert rate living with her husband and two teenage daughters in Chandler, AZ. She blogs at: http://of-blue.blogspot.com/

One Community: August!

We’re away for a week with friends in Ojai, CA, just northwest of Los Angeles. And while I remembered to bring my good camera, I forgot my USB cable.

So we’re going to Instagram it this month for One Community, our monthly photo project in which bloggers take pictures of their homes and communities with four theme words in mind.

Today we visited close-by Santa Barbara, a city I love and that we’ve visited many times. Our friends were new to the city, so we visited the mission, ate fish tacos and walked State Street.

Anyhow, I managed to juggle my Canon (sans USB, so you’ll have to wait for those), my iPhone, the stroller and a gaggle of kids, and still got a few pics.

Our four words for August:

Ice cream. Well, really, frozen yogurt, and my favorite kind — Pinkberry. I chose chocolate thinking there would be nuts to add as a topping. But no nuts, and so I had to add strawberries and cheesecake balls. A bit much but I needed a luscious ice cream photo, right?

Bright. A gorgeous tile mosaic in the entrance to Lululemon on State Street today. This Instagram photo? No filter. No filter, I tell you.

Numbers. If you’ve visited Santa Barbara, you know the architecture has a heavy Spanish influence. And what’s Santa Barbara — hey, what’s Southern California — without Spanish ceramic house numbers?

Finally, we wrapped up a long day of tourism with carne and pollo asado tortillas, and a soak under the stars and palm trees at the gorgeous house we’re renting. Dave snapped this one of Maceo and I in the hot tub — SPLASH!  Hope you’re all enjoying August friends!

 

 

One Community participants include:

Sarah is a life-long Missourian who shares her home with her husband, one (soon to be 2) son(s), and an old grumpy dachshund. Like every good Midwesterner, she can (and will) talk to you at length about the weather. Sarah blogs at http://www.beautyschooldropout.net.

Colleen lives with her handsome hubster and two feisty felines in Portland, Oregon. She loves rain and sun (in that order), words and pictures, and chatting up the neighbors. She blogs at: http://www.underaredroof.com

Rebekah lives in Kilkenny, Ireland with her husband. An American by birth, she’s discovering what it means to be an expat on the Emerald Isle. She blogs at: http://www.honeysucklelife.com

Kara is a cheerful nerd living in downtown Phoenix, AZ with her law-studying husband and an anxious pound puppy. She works full time in the mental health field but in her off time enjoys sunshine, great food and the occasional craft beer. She blogs at: http://www.sunshine-cupcakes.com

Teresa lives in Massachusetts with her husband, college aged daughter and two crazy cats. She is a creative spirit who tries to find the lesson, blessing and humor in everything and she blogs at http://laughteramongtears.blogspot.com/

Kelli lives in Arizona with her dog, Willie Nelson Mandela. A native Arizonan, she is enamored by the lush landscape, and looking to build community. She is a novelist, public health advocate and United Methodist. She blogs at: http://www.africankelli.com

Stephanie is a lifelong Wyomingite with ranch girl roots. She has her own marketing and graphic design business and in her free time, she enjoys knitting, fishing with her boyfriend, and team roping. She blogs at: http://www.nowicanseethemoon.co

Eduarda is a curious, visual creature who believes all pictures tell a story. She hails from Mozambique, via Portugal and NJ, and now is desert rate living with her husband and two teenage daughters in Chandler, AZ. She blogs at: http://of-blue.blogspot.com/

Orange and White Belt

 

This boy has been doing taekwondo for a few months now, and he’s loving it.

He finally accumulated enough classes and stripes (for various achievements) that he was able to test for his first colored belt, the orange and white.

And he did it!

Tau, we’re so proud of the focus and hard work you put in to reach your goal! ATA!

Instacamping

 

 
Saturday night we took the kids, plus two of Tau’s friends, to our local family “campout.” And I use “quotes” because it involved Dave and Tau pitching our new tent in the afternoon at Lake Poway, then going out for dinner at a local sushi restaurant, driving five minutes to the lake and sleeping the night in the tent, then packing up our gear in the morning and driving five minutes home.

Our city hosts this event a four or five times throughout the summer, and it’s a lot of fun. They offer evening hikes; camp songs and scary stories around the fire; glow necklaces for all the kids; graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate for s’mores; and coffee and danishes in the morning. And it gets us out camping without schlepping out to the mountains. No propane stoves or pit potties or long drives in the car.

Instacamping? Here are some Instagram shots:

Rocking this camping thing with my dad

Keeping up with the big boys

Roasting marshmallows for s’mores

Guess who thought sleeping in the tent was the best thing ever? 

One Community: July!

 

This month, I’m joining One Community, a monthly photo project in which bloggers take pictures of their homes and communities with a theme in mind. The theme varies by month, and the goal is to both showcase similarities and differences in our communities worldwide! Here goes!

Yesterday Tau and I visited the annual Old Fashioned Fourth of July in our community park. The park is popular for the volunteer-run railway that runs the perimeter of the park, a favorite of boys, young and old. On holidays like the Fourth, they gussy up the steam engine and its open carriages with red, white and blue bunting, and stage a real-life ambush with period-costumed outlaws, who hold up the train, smoking guns and all. It’s great fun.

Unfortunately, my camera battery died shortly after we arrived, so I have few pictures and none really of the steam train in action. But you’ll get the idea — hot summer temps mean seeking out shade, grabbing a snow cone, meeting a president or two, and admiring old cars and beautiful patriotic quilts. I’ve added a set to Flickr with rest of the pictures I took.

Nostalgia – an old Ford, restored to prime condition, gleaming in the sun.

Season – finding a cool spot in the grassy shade, snow cone in hand!

Celebrate – the train station, festooned!

Red, White and Blue – “Mom, we shoulda gotten two cotton candies for each of us!”

And because I can’t resist sharing, a bonus picture! My son meeting his favorite president.

Looking forward to seeing everyone else’s July pics!

One Community participants include:

Sarah is a life-long Missourian who shares her home with her husband, one (soon to be 2) son(s), and an old grumpy dachshund. Like every good Midwesterner, she can (and will) talk to you at length about the weather. Sarah blogs at http://www.beautyschooldropout.net.

Colleen lives with her handsome hubster and two feisty felines in Portland, Oregon. She loves rain and sun (in that order), words and pictures, and chatting up the neighbors. She blogs at: http://www.underaredroof.com

Rebekah lives in Kilkenny, Ireland with her husband. An American by birth, she’s discovering what it means to be an expat on the Emerald Isle. She blogs at: http://www.honeysucklelife.com

Kara is a cheerful nerd living in downtown Phoenix, AZ with her law-studying husband and an anxious pound puppy. She works full time in the mental health field but in her off time enjoys sunshine, great food and the occasional craft beer. She blogs at: http://www.sunshine-cupcakes.com

Teresa lives in Massachusetts with her husband, college aged daughter and two crazy cats. She is a creative spirit who tries to find the lesson, blessing and humor in everything and she blogs at http://laughteramongtears.blogspot.com/

Kelli lives in New Jersey with her dog, Willie Nelson Mandela, and her boyfriend, Dutch. A native Arizonan, she is enamored by the lush landscape, and looking to build community. She is a novelist, public health advocate and United Methodist. She blogs at: http://www.africankelli.com

Stephanie is a lifelong Wyomingite with ranch girl roots. She has her own marketing and graphic design business and in her free time, she enjoys knitting, fishing with her boyfriend, and team roping. She blogs at: http://www.nowicanseethemoon.co

Eduarda is a curious, visual creature who believes all pictures tell a story. She hails from Mozambique, via Portugal and NJ, and now is desert rate living with her husband and two teenage daughters in Chandler, AZ. She blogs at: http://of-blue.blogspot.com/

Once Apouon a Time

 

Fantasy Land – by Tau

Once apouon a time the horses saw a mean, red, and big horntail. His name was Drago. Uh oh seid the horses. Drago is go ing to eat us. Quick get in the castel said the oldest horse. So they did. We need to teach him a lesson seid most of the horses. Lets run toward him and scare him away. So they did it and Drago never came back.

The end.

 

Best. Dad. Ever.

 

Taken Hawaii, Nov. 2012.

Surfacing

I am starting to feel like I can blog again. This past weekend, I tidied paperwork, got some exercise, went to the pool with Dave and the kids, and finished an entire sewing project. I didn’t feel the need to lie down on the closest surface and fall asleep.

Dave and I are beginning to feel optimistic. Maceo has been a horrible sleeper from the beginning, and he’s battled even more as his teeth have come in. So it feels like we haven’t slept in years. Well, we haven’t. But slowly, slowly, he is starting to sleep better. When he isn’t teething, I’d say he sleeps well. When he is teething, he whimpers and cries out, grinds his teeth audibly, and is generally only happy if he can fall back asleep with his head on top of yours.

There are only four baby molars left to go and they should come in soon. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and, this weekend, I felt a shift. As if I had the energy to get things done. That I could take moments in between tag-parenting two boys to start to tackle big things. Maceo is finally no longer a baby, and we have room to breathe. I think. Inhale. Ah! Exhale.

Merry and Bright!

 
 

Embroidered Onesie for Baby Solana

 

 

This One Doesn’t End Like All the Others

I was so chuffed with myself. This month’s Fabric-by-Fabric One Yard Wonders sew along was the Eight-bottle Wine Tote.

Perfect Christmas gift, filled with eight bottles of wine, I thought. I’d whip it up in no time! Even better, I found this fun dotty home-dec fabric in the clearance pile at JoAnns. Festive but not overtly Christmassy. I was in and out of there for under ten bucks!

Then I got home and realized that the fabric I bought was not wide enough. No problemo! I had some coordinating brown sheeting that would work well for the second, inside layer. Then I read on to realize that I needed a yard of cotton batting to sandwich between the two layers of fabric. Duh! It does pay to read the instructions before going shopping.

Still determined to forge ahead, I found something in my fabric stash that would pass for batting and began. I sandwiched the layers together and pinned. I meticulously marked out my 2 x 2 inch quilting lines with tailor’s chalk, and started sewing.

And after three rows of careful stitching, holding the layers steady, I remembered why I don’t do projects that require quilting. Ever. Because I suck at quilting!

The brown side didn’t look too bad. See?

But oy! The dotty side! It was nasty and skew, with pinches and gathers in the wrong places, despite all of my careful sewing.

And this is where the wisdom of middle age kicks in. I took my shears and cut away what fabric I could from the mess, and saved it to use another day. And then I tossed the rest in the trash!

Life is too short for bad sewing projects.

Not that the project is bad mind you. Take a look at this pretty version of the eight-bottle tote! My lack of preparation and execution — and perhaps I do need that walking foot for my sewing machine after all — is absolutely to blame!

 

The Internet, She Does Not Lie!

Weekend before last, I flew to Colorado to spend a weekend with my friend Kelli.

For years we’ve read each other’s blogs, shared joys and sadnesses, recipes and sewing patterns. And I feel in our correspondence a clean connection and a kindredness of spirit. We click. Really well.

I flew into Denver and we immediately picked up Kelli’s friend Sheila and drove up to the mountains. “Ladies, you two really are so similar. I know you are going to get on REALLY WELL … no pressure!”

What a way to see the beauty and scale of Colorado first hand. Dodgy photo taken through the car window:

We were headed to Glenwood Hot Springs for some serious R ‘n R. And did we ever R ‘n R! Soaking in the springs is just so relaxing! Until Kelli suggests that the only way to improve on this experience would be for them to fill the pools with those tiny little fish that nibble the dead skin off your feet. Sheila and I were equally grossed out, and fits of giggles ensued.

Back at Kelli’s home in Golden, CO, we spent the rest of the weekend hanging out at her very comfy home, catching up, and realizing once again just why we get on so dang well. Stories about kids and dogs, friends and family, likes and dislikes, loves and losses.

The moment that I realized that the Internet doesn’t lie about what’s in a person’s soul? When we realized, while idly chatting, that the one possession we’d both wanted from our grandmother’s homes, were the biscuit colored mixing bowls they used all their lives for baking.

Kell, almost identical to your stand-in. See?

Sunday night, a bunch of friends came over for pizza and board games to celebrate Kelli’s birthday. The kind of group I’ve seen time and time again on her blog, eating a  meal together or celebrating a holiday.

Kelli and her roomie BJ:

It was a fun get together, one where we laughed so hard playing games my belly still ached when I went to bed.

Speaking of beds, the biggest treat of the weekend was the peace and quiet of a room of my own. No little feet or voices waking me, comfy cotton linens, and one of Kelli’s Mom’s intricate quilts at the foot of my bed.

Kelli, you know how to open your home and heart to guests so well. Thank you for a wonderful time!

Yarmulke Deja Vu

I turned around the other day in the kitchen to see this:

Hmn … where have I seen Tupperware Yarmulke Baby before?

Oh right! Same kitchen, different baby!

Getting His Climb On!

Tau took a few of his friends rock climbing for his birthday. Fun!

Click through for all the pictures on Flickr!