Bye Bye Baby Girl...

Somewhere in November, Mr. Boy started asking to sleep on the floor, instead of his bed. Since we are trying to be parents who say yes more often than no, we let him. The monsterous bunk bed has sat empty for two months. Early last week, AK crawled into Mr. Boy's bed, hoping to sleep there, and I decided to try it out. She got out of bed once to tell me that she was sleeping in a "big bed" and that was it.

So, I've got one kid in the lower bunk, one kid who prefers the floor, and a crowded room full of unused furniture. Ah.. no more. I took apart the crib and had a good little sniffle, as it has been in constant use for four and a half years. No more baby girl screaming "Mama, I'm Awake!" in the morning. Thanks to Mr. Man's muscles we moved the room around a bit, and promoted Mr. Boy to the top bunk. So far, all seems to be going well. The best part is the room is spacious!! The kids now have room to play and there has been many hours of hearing them dance around in the big open space instead of sleeping. Now, I think it's time for AK to pick out her own sheets, although right now she loves the cowboy ones, or as she refers to them the "Orse Peets".

Also, it's time for another version of SuperHero Stories! Here the Superheros are "having a slumber party at their Uncle's house." (My brother is in town at the NAMM convention promoting his awesome website Beathive and spent the night, thus we had a "slumber party". That's the phrase he uses anytime anyone sleeps over. Mr. Boy has been begging all day to have a slumber party at his uncles house) The superheros look like they are having a good time. I love how Batman is standing next to the open fridge, I'm pretty sure he's the host.

New Year's Resolutions...

I always vow to do things differently in the new year..."This will be the year... I *insert unattainable obnoxious goal here* Then I fail, beat myself up, and spend New Years Eve reflecting on what a failure I've been.

So.. while having breakfast with my dear friend Laura, somehow we got to talking about resolutions, and she is brilliant. She said her resolution for this upcoming year... blow dry her hair, instead of air-drying. And so I'm shamelessly stealing herNew Years Resolution.

Yep, that is all. For 2008, I will blow dry my hair.

Now granted, it's not like I already do this, so it's taken a bit of effort... but for the most part it has been the most successful resolution I've made. I had previously sworn that 2008 will be the year of good health, but already that is proving to be much more difficult to keep.

I appreciated one of my blogger friends list of resolutions was things like...

-love Crowded House, more than the last year (her favorite band)

-Not smoke Crack

-Answer the telephone by saying "Hello"

Those are all very attainable resolutions, however, the Crowded House one I'd have to work on.

What I did on my Christmas Vacation by Mr. Boy

I came up with cool outfits every day. Mr. Boy has really taken to dressing himself and creating ensembles that make a statement. I am proud most days of the choices he makes, he's got a decent eye. (It helps when mom, doesn't buy the cheesy stuff.) Notice how there is a bit of Orange in the plaid in his shirt, well he picked his Orange Crocs to wear because of this teeny strip of orange. So, because we had leisurely mornings in jammies, when it was time to dress, he took his time, picking each outfit out carefully. Every day it was accessorized, with a hat, glasses, or gloves. During my mandatory "Quiet Time" I created elaborate scenes with my toys. And he created elaborate stories to go along with them. The animals on the pillow in a pile are "Australian" hence they are on an island (that explains the pillow). Next to him there are animals sitting in shoes, which are really animals driving cars and speedboats. "Elephant Friend"** and his piggybacking Panda Pal near the front are escaping their evil jail, but got tangled in some fencing. I LOVE hearing his stories.
I did my part to help the Justice League defend the Universe. Every single day I run into a Justice League formation. They crack me up. Here, they surround "Justice League Headquarters, protecting it from the bad bad bad man who makes people sit in their rooms until they calm down" Apparently, the Justice League is a little bit of a Therapy tool for Mr. Boy.

**Elephant Friend... I'll post more details on him in the future, so check back! Also, other upcoming events include an interview with Mr. Man, and resolutions for 2007.

It all started with a note from.....

It all started with a note from Mr. Boys Preschool teacher. Telling us... well.. that's not important...good things though... what is important... it reminded me that I needed to send a sympathy card to a friend who lost a loved one this week. As I went through my stash of cards, I started to weed out the ones that were just too frilly, cheezy, or foofy to ever send to anyone. Then I got to thinking about correspondence. In this tech savvy day, we have instant access to people... via cell phone, text messaging, email.... we just spout off the neccessary communication so easily and instantly.

How often do we sit and contemplate then write something heartfelt to those around us?

So, I took some of the cheezy and foofy cards, and instead of tossing them, I wrote... and then kept writing until I had this impressive stack of notes. It was the best thing I've done all year.

Try it...

New Years Eve, a day for taking stock...

New Years Eve, the close of 2007... We hit the neighborhood party, and continued in the annual tradition of letting the kids stay up until midnight. It was AK's first year... and possibly Mr. Boy's last year doing this. We hit the neighborhood party for a bit, then played on the Wii for a while. All was going well...

However, by the time the clock struck midnight, we had one whiney girl, and one hysterical boy. Perfect pic to show Mr. Boy... when he resists bedtime. Both were asleep by 12:08.
At the close of 2007, I couldn't help but reflect on where I am today compared to a year ago. I had high hopes of things being different in so many ways, but the truth is thing are not much different. Whether or not that is a good or bad thing, I do not know.

What I do know, is that from May until just a few days ago, my body has not been well. It could have been worse, I don't want to paint a grim picture, but I haven't felt like the me that I knew in 2006, physically speaking. I have seen far too many doctors, waited anxiously for test results too many times this year. It's not a year I want to relive in that respect, however, most of it has not been in my control, which has taught me patience, and also to accept help. I vow for 2008 to be a better year healthwise, as far as I can control it.

Today, I ran for the first time since April. I mean.. really ran. I tried a couple times in the last few months, but stopped, because my body said... "no thank you" . Though I ran at a snails pace, I still enjoyed it. I'm so ready to train for another race. Anyone want to join me on a half marathon, say September? C'mon who's with me!? And this time I want a better finish line shot! I didn't look at the camera or smile at all!

I REFUSE to raise ungrateful children aka Christmas Morning

*Warning: Ridiculously, obnoxiously, picture heavy post.

The Scene: Christmas Morning at Chateau de la Francaise, Santa, who spent most of the night putting together Playmobil products, has arrived and delivered a bounty of toys for all, both big and small.

Santa has set up scenes all over the living room. Here pirates fight off Crocodiles...
Enter the children, who are thrilled at Santa's arrival. However, remember the 2-9-9-9 Cars from my earlier post? Well, Mr. Boy doesn't see them under the tree, and grows increasingly more frustrated as he opens each gift. Promptly after this photo was taken, Mr. Boy threw his new Batman PJ's over his shoulder and proclaimed them "Stupid". Mr. Man & I looked at each other with a look oh "oh no he di'nt". With a flick of the wrist Mr. Boy is sent to Time Out. I know, I know.. Time out on Christmas? Oh yes indeed. Then we made him reopen his presents, be grateful, and say thank you after each one....
Then, after he practiced and perfected Gracious Present Opening 101, we pulled out a gift from far under the tree. It was the 2-9-9-9 Cars he so desperately wanted. His excitement was contagious.Then there was AK, who kept getting mad at us for making her stop playing with her new toys and open more presents. She got a new baby, to replace her well loved baby who has a skidmark on her head from being dragged down the driveway every morning. We learned that you can not simply replace toys, you merely add to them. AK now drags two babies around. We should have opted for the double stroller.. AK also ripped the wrapping paper off in dime sized pieces, so Mr. Boy had to intervene in the interest of getting through the gifts prior to 2010. Also, random thought, for months we keep trying to have Mr. Boy get dressed before he comes out of his room in the morning... however, he didn't get the memo that Christmas is Exempt from that rule. So just pretend he is wearing matchy matchy red PJ's. Santa brought Mr. Man and I lots of good gifts for the Wii. Knowing that Santa was bringing us good gifts, we decided to do a $5 buck gift exchange between us. Mr. Man did not follow the rules, however, I did. Here he is opening up his Sponge Holder... yes... a Sponge Holder, you know for Kitchen Sponges. It sticks to the side of the kitchen sink. Here is a little known fact, I can NOT STAND Kitchen Sponges. Oooo how I hate them. What? I know you are shocked, that I loathe a product that is a haven for germs. If I see one in the bottom of the sink, I get a ziploc baggie, and turn it inside out like a glove, pick it up and seal it up, then I walk it out to the outside trash. I can not stand them. Anyhow, Mr. Man loves Sponges. So.. as a gift from the heart, a place for Mr. Man to keep his beloved sponges.

I can't help but look at this picture, and think.. huh.. what happened? Mr. Man and I picked five gifts for each child back in November. We went shopping togethere on a Hot Friday Night Date in November to avoid the "Christmas Eve shopping at Walgreens Fiasco of 2006". Looks like Mr. Man and I had a hard time sticking to our list. We really don't want to raise spoiled children, but this picture is Exhibit A in the fact that we are failing at our cause. Here is AK with her loot, however she's sitting on most of her gifts. Then the family arrived, and my brother and I with Mr. Boy in between us, all rocked on Guitar Hero.
While my dad, who was hospitalized a few days after this pic was taken, snoozed with his favorite pal...
And the cousins snuggled the other dog.

And if you made it to here in my posts, you win the "Reader of the Year" prize.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is quite possibly my most favorite day of the year. I love the excitement and anticipitation of the day. We spent Christmas Eve at Uncle Mike & Aunt Debs. We read Luke 2, while the kids and I sat under the piano. Then just for kicks we had a pinata. AK is a darling. She looks so teeny tiny trying to hit the pinata.

The kids wearing their matchy matchy pajamas, in front of the tree. Mr. Man reads the Cajun Night before Christmas to the kids.
Then the kids are whisked off to bed, and the elves get to work. We did lots of Playmobil, and totally underestimated the set up. The pirate ship took 90 minutes to put together!!

Gearing up for the Holidays

*warning picture heavy posts*

Here's Mr. Man, Santa, and Mr. Boy who refused to talk to Santa the first time he got near him. Then he was totally upset, because he forgot to tell Santa what he needed. So he went back up there, to chat with Santa. He asked for the Dinoco 400 Cars set from Target it's $29.99, and Mr. Boy calls it the 2-9-9-9 cars.

AK with Santa, she didn't like him either.
Our Annual Gingerbread Decortating Extravaganza. We did the Costco kit, and the Trader Joes' kit. Oh how I love Trader Joes, however their Gingerbread house smells oddly like Ketchup.

Mr. Boy with his house..

AK with her house Mr. Boy & AK all dressed up for a holiday party. They looked adorable.
Then Mr. Boy performed at his preschool Christmas Pagaent. So fun. They performed their song without a hitch. One class asked the parents to sing along to Away in a Manger . I totally choked up singing along with 100 3 &4 year olds with thier parents. It totally put me in the Christmas spirit.

It's a Festivus Miracle...

Mr. Man went to a client's holiday party. They had a white elephant gift exchange..... Mr. Man brought home this. It's a 6 and a half pound can of the worlds GREATEST food.... hominey.. YUM. I grew up on this, love it, it's nectar of the Gods..... and Mr. Man thinks it is vile and wretched.

When he told me about the white elephant gift exchange and then unveiled his prize... I exclaimed, "That's no white elephant gift, it's a Festivus Miracle"

Christmas Present....

Just some shots from around the house... The Tree

And the two pairs of legs that are constantly sticking out from under the bottom of the tree. Remember laying under the tree when you were little? Nathan loves sleeping under the tree, I'm thinking it will be a St. Lucia tradition in our house is to sleep under the tree. The lights on our house.... Mr. Man came up with the sweet swag design. The sentimental decorations. On the right is a statue that Mr.Man just HAD to have when he was little. In the middle is the first Nativity that Mr. Man gave me that first humble Christmas. On the far left is a candleholder that I had growing up.

The Christmas Cards in process.

And the dog who has laid at my feet during the whole Christmas Card assembling process. When I work I throw my trash on the floor... then clean up at the end. Sandy always loves to lay on my pile of trash.

And phew... done and mailed!!

My 15 minutes of fame...

Haven't seen it yet, but apparently AK & I are in the OC Register today. If you get the paper, would you mind saving me a copy?

Shhhh... we are LA Times, Wall Street Journal, and Daily Variety type people. I'm surprised we haven't been kicked out of the OC by now.

Update... Oooo we are online. Check me out I'm an Internet Celebrity. CLICK_ME!

Another edition of Superhero Stories...

I was standing looking at the tree, when I saw tucked deep in the branches there was some ornaments that didn't quite look like they matched. Upon closer inspection, I saw the superhero's hard at work on another rescue operation. (click on picture to make it bigger, 10 points if you can spy Batman.) When I asked Mr. Boy what was happening, he replied "A forest rescue, Super Grover is trapped."

Happy Birthday Skoopix...

Yes... another letter to our dog... go ahead and roll your eyes at me.


Dear Skoopix or more commonly known as Skoopi,



On the occasion of your 8th birthday, I write you a little note. You got the short end of the doggie stick in life. You were the second dog... commonly known as "Sandy's pet". You came to this house knowing you would never be "Top Dog" here as long as Sandy was around.



We felt like Sandy was lonely, and needed a pal, so we scoured around for you looking for just the right dog. We went to this sweet little family who had breed puppies as a family project. We met your mom, who loved you and nudged you to "Go Play" with the others. You walked right over to Mr. Man, and settled in his legs for a slumber. Well, that was it.... you picked us. We took you home that night, and your mama's human sobbed as she said goodbye to you.
Oh, your tummy was so soft, like velvet when you were a puppy! Our friends came over that night to meet you, everyone loved to hold you. You would sit down and throw back your head and howl this pitiful.. "RoooRoooRoooooooo" sound when you were being ignored by Sandy or us. You still do it on occasion and it makes me laugh. Sandy could not STAND you the first week. Everytime you touched her, she would scowl and run away. Your lovable and resillent nature just kept trying to get her to accept you, and she did once she realized you'd share your food with her, and your food was much tastier.
Your name.... is ridiculously unique, a daily reminder of our good friend Booboo and her husband. We spent New Years Eve with them and were discussing what we would name our first children, and the men were getting a bit punchy... Mr. Man said.. "Schnaug.. that's a good name for a first born son".... and everyone laughed and laughed (maybe we were all a bit punchy....) then asked how you would spell that.. Mr. Man said "S-k-o-o-p-x, the koopx is silent.. and the Naug is invisible. " For whatever reason, that was just HILARIOUS. Out of that came your name Skoopix. However, though your name is ridiculous, Skoopi fits you well.

Skoopi, you remind me a bit of Forrest Gump.... loveable, obedient, and incredibly loyal, however you have not been blessed with a high brain capacity. For what you lack in mental power, is more than made up in the love you expel. Sandy loves and worships Mr. Man... you, however, are ALWAYS by my side. You are MY dog. You have never tested me like Sandy has. When I went away on my first business trip, you were so beside yourself you ate the Christmas Tree and a giant hole in the couch. You are always sitting there by me and when my hand falls to my side, you gently nudge it looking for some rubs and scratches. You crave physical touch, and can not stand being on a "stay". Your whole body shakes just waiting for that moment you can be released and go back to nuzzling.
We fear what it will be like for you to lose your pal Sandy. You are best friends... you started sharing the same bed this year, and you are rarely out of each other's sight. Sandy gets you into all sorts of mischeif, and you copy her bad behavior. Sandy jumps on guests, even with failing hips, and years of training, she jumps. You join in the jumpfest. If Sandy misses the guests arrival, you quietly stand beside me sniffing the air in the direction of our guests to see if they are interesting.

Skoopi, you are so loved and such an integral part of this family, I can not imagine life without your nose nuzzling me throughout the day. On your birthday, I am grateful for the silent loyal companion who has loved me unconditionally each and every day of their life.

With Love,
Your favorite human on the planet and that other guy (aka....Mr. Man)

The Company Shindig...

So, I got all fancy to go to Mr. Man's fancy holiday party. I even wore a bit of make up. Mr. Man... he looks THRILLED I tell ya to be taking this pic. What you don't know is this the 11th and final shot we took... Seriously, it's easier for me to wrangle the wee ones into smiling for the camera than it is to get this guy to smile on cue. We take, or should I say attempt a family pic every few months. He is the one staring off into space or looking down at a shiny spec on the ground when we finally are able to get everyone else to smile... but I didn't come here to whine about Mr. Man's inability to cooperate in pictures...

We had a lovely time, swanky club in Hollywood. The food was well.. ahem.. not my favorite part. However, the people were fun. Mr. Man has worked there a while, it's interesting to see him work the room. "Mr. Fancy Working Man" is definitely not the "Mr. Man" I live with. He's a lot more animated, and get this... he speaks without grunting or even without being spoken to first. IT'S AMAZING.

*Flashback*


The second holiday party we went to for this company, I stood with my jaw on the floor the entire evening. On the way home, Mr. Man said... "you are too quiet" and I was just too flabberghasted to speak in complete sentences... "you spoke... you know.. initiated conversations, your colleagues think you are funny.... they have "Mr. Man-isms... you are the "cool guy" to work with". I was disturbed for days... mostly because back then, we hung out with my friends and their spouses, not a lot of people knew Mr. Man without knowing me first. And well.. I might talk too much, and Mr. Man could never get a word in.


Anyway.. back to the fancy shindig... I was way overdressed, apparently these things are getting more casual. There were a few of us wives that didn't get that memo. Mr. Man kept his suit jacket and tie on the whole night so I wouldn't feel like the only one overdressed.

And since this fancy shindig was a ways away, we got to chat on the way up. Guess what subject Mr. Man brought up... ahem.. brace yourself people. This blog! WHAT? I know! I warned you to brace yourself. I printed off his birthday letter, so it's peaked his interest. In fact, being the techno-geek that I adore, he was like..."Yeah, maybe we should get you your own domain, and I could develop an interface for you" (In my head... huh... I'll have to remember those terms and ask one of the guys at the party tonight to break that down into terms I can understand) Maybe.... I'll have to get more serious about this blog thing knowing, that now it's not just me spouting off into those vast world wide interwebs. Now my audience might include Mr. Man. Ooooo that means I'll have to behave... well shoot that's no fun.

I should be.... right now..

I should be at a rocking girls weekend up at Lake Arrowhead. My bag was packed, snow boots were dug out from the depths of the garage, directions for Mr. Man on how to care for the wee ones in my absence was posted on the fridge. Mother Nature wasn't willing to work with me to make the trip happen.... maybe she got wind of the ever lingering pneumonia, and the stern lecture my doctor and a specialist gave me.
Dissappointed doesn't even describe my feelings. I need a girls weekend.... need some time to laugh until 3am, need some shopping with my pals, and some time without having to care about anyone else but myself. Oh well.... there will be others, if not I'm making my own one happen!

Christmas Past...

I distinctly remember sitting around Uncle Mike & Aunt Debs** kitchen, and hearing the adults reminisce about their "poor days" as young couples and college students. Mr. Man's parents, and Aunt Peggy were there as well, talking about the simple early days of their families. One of them said, "I loved being poor college students." I believe it was Mr. Man's dad who said that, the details are fuzzy because it was a LONG time ago.... and my children have used all my brain cells today. Anyway, I remember stopping whatever I was doing and my jaw dropped and I said.... "You LOVED being poor?" as if they just told me the world was not round, but a cube. They reminisced about the simpler times, the simple pleasures of going out for ice cream.

I thought they were crazy...

However, I must be getting old, because I pulled this picture out from our Christmas box and I looked at that couple... and smiled remembering that very first Christmas. In our teeny tiny house in LA with one small heater, that hardly heated.

Am I wearing a Christmas sweater in that pic? And why are my bangs so short? Yes, that is a baggy Christmas sweater, and my bangs are short because several weeks prior Ross cut my hair. He claims he knew how to do it, but my bangs ended up an inch shorter than I asked for, and I took one look in the mirror and burst into tears. They grew out, and Mr. Man felt guilty every time he looked at me for 4 months. Times were simple back then.

We were on a tight budget... Mr. Man just started his first real job, and I was working in downtown LA getting ready to quit and head back to school. I had a whole $5 a week to do whatever I wanted with. Our grocery bill was rarely over $20 (although, that was also the era where we eat spaghetti every day, because it was all I knew how to cook) We also ate roasted garlic on Ritz Crackers every Sunday night as a special treat. I remember this, because it had to be real Ritz crackers, and those were "expensive".

That first Christmas was romantic, I remember my gifts included a black fitted Gap sweater, which I still have for sentimental reasons... (I'm sure Mr. Man was hoping I'd wear it instead of that huge festive sweater), some Victoria's Secret lotion, and a wonder mop (those were ALL the rage back then). We looked forward to exchanging gifts and Christmas. We sat by the tree and talked about Christmas's to come... the traditions we wanted to carry out with our future family.

We gave our little spunky old neighbor lady, Gloria, that we loved dearly, an ornament that I handpicked from Pic'n'Save, and she gave us a box of Godiva Chocolates. I felt terrible that we gave her something so cheap, and she gave us something so indulgent... something that cost 10 times more than what we paid for that gift.... however she kept that ornament out year round, and when she passed away her daughter took that ornament knowing it was a prized posession. I learned a lot that from that experience, a gift does not have to be expensive to be of great worth.

And the tree... was a hand me down from Mr. Man's parents. It was plastic, real plastic, like tupperware and a bit brittle due to age. The bottom half of the tree only had branches in the front. We had that tree for years, and every year it got a little more sparse, and it shed just like a real Christmas tree. I saved a branch of that tree, and keep it amoung our Christmas things. The tree spent it's last Christmas with us when Mr. Man was in Grad School, another humble year, and it didn't have branches on the bottom half. It was a real space saver, and a real conversation starter. I have a soft spot in my heart for that tree... just call me Charlie Brown.

Those early days were filled with fun memories. We watched a ton of movies, and Mr. Man was always playing new music for me. I had missed the 80's, and he was totally stoked to fill me in. We listened to Kevin and Bean on KROQ every morning while getting ready for work. And every once in a while we'd go out on a date.... to Panda Express or In-n-Out. Mr. Man took me on a tour of In-n-Out's across LA during that first year. Telling me about the important event that happened at each one. And going out to eat... that was BIG deal. I got dressed up, put on perfume, and everything. Oh, and Souplantation... that was reserved for special occasions... you know like Birthdays.

Whew... I could reminisce all day...

Anyway, bottom line, I look back at those "poor days" and I smile. I know what the "older folks" were talking about.

Simple Bliss.

This all goes towards the concept that I've been working on, and that's enjoying this ride called life. My friend Bob in particular is always so good about reminding me to enjoy the phase I am in. When the Christmas tree is decorated in one giant blob on the bottom two feet, obviously done by a toddler she will exclaim, "That...is AWESOME! Did you get a picture of that?" There is a time and season for everything my friends.... one day my clothes will be free of sticky handprints, and I'll come across a young mom with a sticky handprint on her pants, and I'll smile.

**Uncle Mike and Aunt Deb, everyone should be so lucky to have relatives like them. Deb makes you feel like you are the most special guest in attendance when you visit. There is no other woman more gracious than Aunt Deb. And Uncle Mike... everyone should have an Uncle Mike. And at one time, we had a theory, that everyone does have an Uncle Mike. He is a riot, always laughing, cracking jokes, and it's never dull around him.