Visiting Clinton Avenue

After fighting over the apple, Aunt Bobbi taught them to share simultaneously!

I could see their eyes light up with joy - a visit to break the day's monotony! Aunt Bobbi and Great-Grandpa Bob loved playing with the boys as Great-Grandma Ruth quietly enjoyed Gracie's smiles. I'm happy to have brought such a treat for them. I know these precious visits with them are too far between...

Future Phelps perhaps?

City by the Bay Day

Scott, John, Phoebe, and I were able to head to San Francisco for an afternoon and evening of fun last weekend. It was great to do some of those classic tourist musts including: riding the cable car, walking Fisherman's Wharf, eating a clam chowder bread bowl, and visiting Ghirardelli Square for some lovely chocolate and ice cream sundaes. Apparently Johnny has done none of these before, so we called it the "SF for Johnny Day". The evening was topped off by an Asian fusion dinner on Union Street where we felt as if we had entered the hip SF scene. It's pretty cool when you are a suburban wife and so rarely get that vibe - at least Pheebs and I felt that way... What fun it is to date your husband! And what a blessing is the serving, loving, and babysitting Grandma! Woo hoo!

I cherish every moment
I get with this guy...

Dear Oblivious Phoebelee

Cuddle up
Fishy face
Apparently you have to ask for it to stop
The Scorpion Bowl... duh duh duh

Late Night Humor

For some reason, at 2:49 a.m., I cannot sleep. While going through and deleting old emails, I ran across this one. I couldn't stop laughing. Late night humor, I guess. But anyway - here you go. Enjoy.

Ways To Maintain A Healthy Level of Insanity

At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and Point A Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise your Voice.

Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with That.

Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In".

Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone Has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch To Espresso.

Finish all Your Sentences With "In Accordance With The Prophecy."

dont use any punctuation

As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."

Sing Along At The Opera.

Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme

Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play Tropical
Sounds All Day.

When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"

When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking Lot,
Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

Tell Your Children Over Dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are
Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."

Birthday Luau

Last weekend, we helped celebrate Vivienne (Scott's cousin's daughter turned one) and Anne-Marie's (Scott's sister's daughter turned two) birthdays. Yikes - did that make sense? Anyway, a family luau - costume mandatory, limbo, and even a pig on a spit. I know... intense. I chose to be a vegetarian that day, but it was fun nevertheless! Uncle Daniel decided to dress up Noah in a grass skirt. I love his facial expression - even at 19 mos., he knows something isn't right...

Moooommy...

What is this??????

I'm getting outta here!

~ And more fun pictures ~

Chef Lolo

What a fun day in the kitchen! Today I made Double Cranberry Muffins, Coconut Biscotti, Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, an Egg-Sausage Breakfast Casserole, and Chicken Scaloppine with Spring Herb Salad and Steamed Squash. I feel accomplished - like a happy little homemaker - especially since my kitchen is actually clean at the moment. :)

Parental Pride

I love watching the Olympics! Just last night, while watching an interview with Debbie Phelps, I found myself crying. I finally understand... Parental pride and joy. While Michael was being honored with his gold medal, I imagined one of mine up there. Wow! Tears again. Although it doesn't matter if my children become Olympians or not - if they live their lives with passion, conviction, love others, and fear the Lord, I will be the proudest mom in the world.

Gracie and her Lion

Thanks to the idea from a dear friend of mine, I am taking monthly pictures of Gracie next to a stuffed animal for a year to see how much she grows! Therefore, I give you Gracie and her lion... She's getting so big already. Sniffle, sniffle.

One, two, and three months in order.

Our first trip to the ER...

Last night, after noticing Hayden's wheezing breaths spurred by coughing, crying, and his head cold, we called the Kaiser advice nurse. After consulting with a doctor, we were told to bring him in right away. We could tell it wasn't life threatening, but it was still sad having to take in our little guy... He was such a good sport though. In a strange way, the time alone with him (even in this circumstance) was so nice! We really don't get many opportunities to play alone with each boy. He was giddy, playful, and very cooperative. He got a little nervous when they took a chest x-ray, but he left his monitor alone well enough and was the best the nurse had ever seen at the breathing treatment at his age.

After a couple of hours and a clean bill of health, we were able to return home. Nothing major: bronchialitis - asthmatic symptoms brought on by viruses. Basically, he often sounds like he's got asthma if he has a cold, but they don't diagnose that until age five. At least we went in and made sure there wasn't anything bigger going on. It brought back thoughts of his first few days of life. We're wondering if the small lung issues he battled in the NICU could be contributing to this. Who knows?...

I confess that I was surprised at my lack of instinct here. (Although now I know that even if we had not gone in, he still would have been just fine. It would have just taken longer for his bronchial tubes to widen up again... Perhaps that lets me let myself off the hook :) ) I noticed he was wheezy, but it was Scott and Grandma Kathy who encouraged me to call in. I am thankful that they both have experience in dealing with and identifying those asthma symptoms, and we have such a loving and caring family.

Call me a weirdy, but as I said, we knew this was not a life threatening trip. Therefore, I had time to document this event for the scrapbook. Plus, he was just so darn cute. Had it been more serious, I wouldn't have whipped out my camera. Don't worry - I'm not that crazy.

OH! And what a day for this to happen. My dear husband had just gone through quite a trial. Tear gas exposure and getting pepper sprayed in the face - hence the squinty, red eyes. He's such a great dad...

Capitola Once Again

Sand : by Helen Moore

Sand in my swimsuit,
Sand in my hair.
When I go to the beach,
sand gets everywhere!
I wonder, I wonder
Oh how can there be,
Sand left at the beach
When there's so much on me?




Oh, how I love going to the beach with my family!
In spite of the pounds of sand that migrate to Brentwood, I love to see the boys' eyes of discovery, new delights, and of course, precious play time with Daddy.

Ahoy Sailors!

What a marvelous day we had out on the boat the other day! Nothing too choppy, of course. We just putted around the harbor and estuary.
Noah was absolutely enthralled with the whole experience - our little skipper! Hayden was a bit more serious, but he had a pretty good time too. We are so thankful to have GGpa still willing and excited to share his boat with his loved ones! Here's to many more sails!

The Journey Begins

This marks the beginning of a new hobby. Let us see if I, with all that is around me, can keep it up! Let me start by saying how very much I love talking about my kidlettes and hope that readers don't get too bored.

I've made my husband's lunch for tomorrow and can now retire for the evening with nothing on my to do list but rest. (Okay - there's always something on my list, but I'll ignore them all for now)