Rally To Restore Sanity/Fear

Live streaming this morning:

http://www.comedycentral.com/dcrallylive/

Movember

Andrew's first day (he got off to an early start):


About a week in:


I completely support the cause, but I don't do facial hair so this should be interesting.

Andrew's Movember Page if you would like to donate.

Nourishment

Well, the van's problem had nothing to do with the transmission. The ball joint broke, which then broke the axle. I knew something didn't sound right! Anyways, the van is on the mend and we should get it back tomorrow. We are going to put a for sale sign on the thing and see what kind of response we get.

Now for the happiest baby on the block:

Decisions

I am sick of making decisions. Isn't that adult sounding of me? Anyways, the Eurovan has had a rough couple of months. Ever since getting our transmission rebuilt we have had nothing but problems with the right, front wheel. First, a bolt came loose when I was in Sacramento, which resulted in the worst noise I have ever heard in a car. Then, today the boot broke and left me on the side of the road (thank goodness we are between storms). Back the Eurovan went to AAMCO and of course they said, "That isn't our problem." So now we are in a game of he said, she said so hopefully this will all resolve itself with some sort of dignity. This is the first time Andrew has had to rescue his family off the side of the road. He is ready to sell the thing. I was just finally coming to terms with the van and fell back in love with it. What's your opinion? Sell the thing or drive it into the ground since we dumped so much money into it? Just curious.

Patching

In the sun:




And in the rain:






I started sleep training with Reade and life is all better now! He transitioned so well and seems to ask to be put down for naps and sleep. I feed him twice a night now (at 12:30am & 4:30am), but I am going to narrow it down to one feeding a night since he barely eats at the 4:30am feeding. The quality of life around here is improving with each hour of gained sleep.

Cramming

How much fun can one family cram into a weekend? Lots! This weekend we: hosted Andrew's parents, met Jessica at the airport to celebrate her homecoming from Australia, visited with Andrew's aunt/uncle/cousin, attended a birthday bash, ate a yummy fajita dinner with a birthday cupcake dessert session, drove up to King's mountain to try on living up there (way to far for Andrew to commute, but I love it), went to a pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay in the pouring rain, and shopped a teeny tiny bit.

At the airport waiting for Jessica:


Time to go home and eat all that Australian chocolate:


Happy Birthday George and Turtle:


What a party! It is always fun when the hostess jams with some fellow musicians:


I made pumpkin cupcakes to celebrate Ellen and Jessica's belated birthdays:


Happy Birthday to them:

Found

I have always dreamed of living in a trailer on the beach. I searched high and low in our area and only came up with retirement communities about a block away from the beach. Somehow I stumbled across this property. I want it. I have to have it. Andrew laughed a really big laugh when I sent him the link. Can you say Eurovan 2! So what if it is only 650 sq. ft. We would love each other more being that close (ha ha).

I never even knew Martin's Beach existed (south of Half Moon Bay):

How charming:

Totally workable:

Ok, so it looks like heck from the front, but those are good bones. Ok, so we would probably have to tear the thing down and put another trailer on the property. Did I mention it is a mere $109,000. I am sure I could call up one of those 1-800-GOT-JUNK trucks and have them haul it away!

If you want to compete with me and make this your dream home then go here.

Mmm...Marrow

I love it when you learn about something new and then it pops up in your everyday life over and over. It is as if you were never ready to explore that topic until now and then the world saturates you in it. This is how I feel about bone broth or bone soup. Never before did I know it had magical, healing properties to aid in strengthening a woman after childbirth. How fun. With flu season approaching and a household of four, I thought I better get this stuff ready pronto!

I am attempting a crock pot version so hopefully it will turn out just fine.

Wise Words

A well done response to the recent teen suicides:

Art

Sierra Art Trails got overshadowed in blog land by Andrew's century ride. This year was calm and rainy. Ellen was the hostess with the mostess (wow there is a blog for that) and Sandy cooked up quite a feast. She made the best brownies which resulted in an extra two pounds for me. Now for some art.

Blake as live, constantly moving art:


Chris Sorenson working his welding magic:


A Chris Sorenson pumpkin:


Chris took Nick under his wing at a wee age (2006):


Now we have a teenager let loose with an open flame:


Martin Nunez Photography (and here) was there to wow us with his great photography:


David Caris showcased his ceramics:


It was a weekend packed full of family, friends, art, hard work, and love. Try to top that!

Growing

Reade turned six months. Six months of growing with no sign of letting up (thank goodness). I love this plump juicy fruit. We celebrated his half year birthday by shoving homemade rice cereal into his mouth. He isn't a fan. This morning I added banana into the mix to see if it was the "homemade" part that was upsetting him. Nope. I look forward to this experimental, slow process. Pureed pumpkin is next on the list once he accepts rice goop and bananas.

Exclusive days are being traded in...


for more variety.

Autumn Yum

If only I had the time:


Chocolate and Vanilla Hoot Owl Cookies


Baked Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes


Caramelized Autumn Fruit Stuffing Cups

I am so hungry!

Reade (Five Months)

At 5 Months I:
* Can roll over! I started rolling from my tummy to my back.
* Blow raspberries
* Stopped spitting up
* Sleep from 9pm-11:30pm and then wake up every one to two hours from then on out
* Can sit up on my own, but not reliably
* Crack up when I see my brother
* Hate being put down
* Play in my walker
* Really like to watch other people eat
* Still need to be swaddled
* Can be held by anybody
* Can put my whole fist in my mouth
* Love to watch TV
* Enjoy swinging in park swings
* Got to meet, enjoy, and say goodbye to my wonderful great grandfather

Check out my Four Month photo.

Away

I have been meaning to upload tons of photos and videos, but my energy levels have been so low since getting over this cold. I drove up to Sacramento to spend some time with my Nana and uncle so uploading photos is out of the question. At least I can attempt to blog with cell phone pictures!

Blake on Grammie and Papa's front step:


Getting bigger:


We try out a new park every time we are in Sac. This one was just okay:

TV

My neighbor watched Reade for an hour and a half while I took Blake to a pumpkin patch. We spent some good, quality time together. That means I get to spend the rest of the day watching TV right? My kids are both napping so I watched all three episodes of Outsourced on NBC.com. Hilarious. Try it out!

Let The Seasons Begin

I never liked Halloween until I had kids to share it with. You would think all of those scary decorations would scare Blake, but he always screams out for one more lap down the spooky aisle. He now calls Target the Halloween store.

I have the kids' cold so things have been even slower around here.

Weather

I wish there were more lightning and thunderstorms where I live. Blake gets a subscription to High Five and I could have killed them the other day. The title of one of the poems was "Scary Storm" and showed a child huddled in his room afraid of the storm outside his window. I promptly sat Blake down in front of the computer and showed him video after video on YouTube about how fantastic lightning and thunder really is. I really should be a storm chaser!

Being brave:




Both of my kids came down with colds so we have been lounging around the house for the last few days. I am still in my jammies (it is 2:35pm) because Blake woke up every time Reade woke up (every two hours) and cried his little eyes out. Just when I was going to start sleep training!

Century Ride

Andrew completed his first century bike ride. It was the Grizzly Century in North Fork (about 30 minutes from his parent's house). He rode 100 miles over a 10,000 foot elevation gain. It took him eight hours to complete and he was tired and a bit light headed at the end. Good job Andrew! You can see a map of the ride here.

He took these pictures:

About 1500' up the first climb.

Sunrise over the hill.


Riding:


Andrew paired up with the guy in the front. He said it was nice to have someone roughly the same skill level riding with him to keep him motivated. A bee stung the guy on the thigh 20 miles in so he had to ride in pain while his thigh cramped up for the last 70 miles:


At Mile high lookout, time for a rest stop after another 50' or so more vertical feet.


The last bit up to the Mile High Lookout:


The view of Mammoth Pools from Mile High Lookout. This view is well worth the 27 mile bike ride to get there.


A close up on the domes in the distance. Our route took us up to the left of them to add some elevation and distance. We ended up descending most of the way to the water, then back up behind and above the rocks, then back down to the water, then across the hills back towards Bass Lake.


More Mammoth Pools shots.


Refueling at the rest stop:


Lunch at 9:30am is good when you've been up since 5:30am.


Andrew ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a side of California rolls:


Notice there are no photos from the first rest stop to the summit. It got a lot harder, the elevation makes your legs burn way more than doing this at sea level. This photo was taken at the highest point of the ride. Just after this photo, I got another rest stop, and then the next 12 miles was a 4500' descent at about 30mph. Way fun.


Another great accomplishment and adventure. He isn't quite sure if he will attempt this exact race again anytime soon.

Turntable

Rummage sales rock. I made sure I arrived early just so I could snatch up the good stuff. I got the turntable for $15 and went home expecting to plug the thing in and rock my heart out. Turns out, my Onkyo receiver doesn't have a phono hook up so I had to order a preamp. The preamp arrived in the mail and now my system is complete. It is fabulous and I can't wait to head over to Rasputin Music on Monday to pick up some vintage vinyl. I look forward to buying some: Janet Jackson, Mamas and the Papas, Elvis, Madonna, and whatever fun stuff I come across. Blake loves the record player. We even danced like 8th graders together. Precious.