Heart Broken

I just got the letter home from preschool saying that 24 Valentines may be exchanged at school on Valentine's Day, but no food/candy is allowed in the envelopes. I completely understand the policy and support it, but I am disappointed. It was always so fun to open those little envelopes to see what your conversation hearts had to say:

Calendar

Every year I make my father a calendar with pictures from my childhood, his childhood, and my children's childhood. I came across this picture:



This is my father tugging on his mother's (my Nana's) jacket. This photo captured the very essence of my life right now and reminded me that this stage will simply become a hash in my life's timeline. I still can't help but feel totally drained when both kids tug on me. Andrew came home to three family members all rubbing their eyes after naps. Blake has a double ear infection so he took a three hour nap and Reade fell asleep in my arms on the couch while I watched Dance Moms! The video stopped and I took that very moment to close my eyes and join the kids in dreamland. I loved waking up to a dimmed house with sleepy, warm bodies surrounding me. A blip of peace much appreciated.

Shopping

If I weren't pregnant and getting fatter, I would buy this dress for summer:


Old Navy Dress $34.94

What I should probably buy for my summer baby:

FrockYou.com.au (sold out)

I am still trying to find a hip hop summer class to enroll Blake in for summer. When I find it, he will be wearing this:

CafePress

Past

I just joined Facebook. That means that I have been taking one too many strolls down memory lane. I had to get out some photos from my photo box and thought about looking up some college photos just for the fun of it. Dear God aging is lame! Even if I went blonde again, it wouldn't help my current situation. Now, it is simply gym time that makes a difference.

My favorite college roommate Bobby. I can't believe it was cool to wear jeans up to your belly button and wear a shirt that didn't fall below your belly button:


Andrew and I on a date to a basketball game:


He was often found riding around town impressing the girls:


I love how Andrew looks like he is twelve:


There were way too many fun photos to post (like me on my hands and knees in Mexico after some tequilla shots), but I will save those for whomever wants to stop by and look at my photo box with me.

Stories

My blogging fell behind because my parents came up to stay with us for a few days. It was really nice having them and the house seems so boring without them. I am trying to organize my photos in my phone's gallery and I came across these. They are from the Dicken's Fair this year and seem to go with the gloomy weather we are having today. The fog might lift and reveal clear skies? Right now, it is time to play knights and read stories to the kids.

Mr. & Mrs.:


Blake with the perfect expression:

Jackson-ed

Thank you Google. We got treated to a night at Cirque du Soleil by Google. Buses and buses of Googlers got dropped off at the Oakland Coliseum for a night of dancing, music, and pyrotechnics. The whole place was rented out just for Googlers.

Here I am showing off what rain can do to one's hair:


They can take down a stage in 15 seconds flat!:


We saw Cirque du Soleil: Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour. Andrew assured me that it didn't even come close to the greatness of the Cirque du Soleil he has seen. I thought the choreography came up short. They had a lot of break dancing guys, but you all have to remember that Michael Jackson always showcased 80's/90's break dancing. The current break dancing just didn't seem to fit. I also thought the Thriller section was a bit of a let down. They could have taken it one step further to make it fantastic. It was really fun to eat a whole thing of nachos (my first heartburn of the pregnancy) and a Gatorade while being entertained kid-free. Here is the promo video for what we saw:

Grocery

A new store opened up in the neighborhood called Fresh & Easy. I had a coupon so I had to try it out. The store is owned by Britain's megastore Tesco. It is similar to Trader Joe's, but a bit different. You can buy Reese's Peanut Butter Cups alongside their own label of different products touting fresher ingredients. I am sure you get what you pay for:


I dig the family parking, as well as the hybrid parking:


My one, huge complaint is that the checkout can get a bit hairy. Think Trader Joe's without checkers. It is self-serve checkout (there were two guys on the floor to assist with problems) in a very small space. My groceries had gone down the conveyer belt and then the madness began. I started bagging my items and then the next person started ringing their stuff up and sending it down the belt. So all of their groceries started mixing in with mine at the end. The guy looked at me and said, "No hurry." There I was, with two squiggly kids, rushing like a fumbling fool. Next time I will place Reade up on the conveyer belt as a marker to distinguish who's groceries are who's!

Gnome

Feeling crafty? Then pick up one of these iPhone 4 covers for a friend and start cross stitching. Isn't this hilarious. Darn Droids, never as fun:

Found on MaterialEvidence's shop on Etsy for $22.

*I clicked on the link to see if it worked and the shop is currently out of these right now. Maybe she will get more in?

Buns

Homesteader Husband decided to make his own hamburger buns. They were delicious and big!

The dough rose:


The fingers shaped:


Butter was spread (adding sesame seeds and garlic):


Heat was applied and patties were cooked:


Mouths and tummies enjoyed:

Growing

I haven't been motivated to blog these past few days. I don't feel like anything is worthy of blogging about. Our 4pm walk was all I had to work with. I feel myself getting slower and slower these days.

My son hit a milestone today. He could actually open the mailbox by himself:


I love how rose bushes can be so spindly, yet bear such beautiful flowers. These roses have the most perfume-like smell. They make me think of Victorian sachets:


All of our neighborhood houses are low...:


except for the occasional rebuild. I don't know why this pains me. Not everyone loves living in 1,200 sq. ft. of wall-to-wall windows like I do:

Solitary

My house was one of illness again yesterday. I am not going to name names at this point, but there seemed to be a second round of flu for the poor individual. Goodness gracious. I had already lined up a babysitter, for some much needed alone time, and decided to stick with that plan even though I may have been needed at home. It was good to get out and see the world through healthy eyes. How come two hours with a babysitter goes by so fast? I kept thinking back to my college days when a two hour anthropology class would seem to drag on for five hours. Why can't it be like that?

Some naughty indulgence to get the afternoon started! I ended up ripping off the bottoms of two donuts and just ate the tops:


Then off to a used bookstore to peruse the adventure travel section. I can't seem to get enough of this stuff. It is like being whisked away to a new place every time:


I ended up with these two titles:
I have made some great friends from Korea and am very interested in learning more about Korean history and culture. I was hoping for a pop-travel story, but all they had was a guide on customs and etiquette. You have to start somewhere:

Amazon

I still fantasize about visiting Paris:

Amazon

Jubilee

Andrew is sick again. This time it is a cold. He went to bed early so I decided to treat myself to some alone time in the kitchen.

Step 1. Pour myself a "pregnancy" dose of wine:


Step 2. Pick a recipe. My unborn, 3rd child called out for cherries jubilee:


Step 3. Be okay that it didn't turn out like the image above. Tasted yummy!

Torpid

For months now, I have anxiously waited to see this movie:

Andrew went to bed early Friday night so I logged onto Blockbuster.com and found they now have downloadable movies in an instant (fyi, the movie crashed ten minutes in, but tech support reissued my token and I was good to go). It was so nice to watch a romcom all by myself. Why hadn't I thought of this before? One doesn't have to have anyone around to enjoy a cheesy movie! In fact, I just might watch these things alone every Friday night. Sounds divine.

We inherited a new juicer and bought lots of fruit at the Farmer's Market so we can get this thing juicing again. Too bad I am too lazy to pull out the instruction booklet and figure out how it works. Maybe there is a video tutorial online so I don't have to get out of this chair!

Mmm...fresh juice:


Blake came home from his first day back at preschool with this comment, "Mommy, we had goldfish crackers and really yummy orange juice." He kept commenting on how yummy the orange juice was for days on end. I finally figured out what he was hinting to. I never have juice in the house (why am I okay with a dozen donuts, but juice is downright evil in my mind?) and always make him fresh squeezed juice from real oranges. I am glad he has things to look forward to at preschool.

P.S. I love his new teacher and am really happy with his new preschool.

Courtyard

Here is our neglected, front courtyard:


I am now itching for spring to come so we can turn it into a veggie/flower/kid garden spot.

I envision fun pathways like these:

1


2

And fun containers for the kids to garden in (too bad these are way out of price range):


Things I want to plant:

Orange Black Eyed Susan Vine


Hydrangeas


This Jury's Yellow Camelia

Pruned

Just a reminder for everyone to prune their fruit trees while they are "resting" during winter. Andrew and Blake are helping the apple tree get ready for spring:

Annoyed

Two things I am really sick of today.

1. Ant infestations in our bathroom.




2. The flu. My case has been mild, but Reade was in full flu mode this morning. Blake didn't get to go to his new preschool today because I didn't want him to spread the love around. By the way, the story below is real. Gross.

If you really are interested then click here.

2012

Happy 2012 Everyone! Last night was a hoot:

Joining the masses as we make our way north towards Paris Hotel:


Almost there:


We sit down at our wonderful, balcony seats and immediately I look over and see a penis. The guy apologizes over and over saying he had to pee so much and he was so sorry for interrupting our nice meal. With that, I quickly held up my cell phone and started taking a picture. He said, "Oh please, don't take a picture of me. Please, ah lady, don't take a picture." I asked him if there was a Facebook account he would like me to upload the photo to. No answer. The worst part of that was watching people step in and out of his pee puddle without knowing what it was:


The dinner was great. We were seated right next to the VIP elevator so we got to see Holly Madison, Good Charlotte, and Kourtney Kardashian & Husband heading up to their respective clubs to host New Year's parties. Here we are counting the seconds down:


This is how we all felt on the way to the airport this morning:


Our series of events on the way home:
1. Our flight was delayed
2. The first woman to board the plane fell down and hurt herself. When we boarded the plane, she was sitting in the front row, wrapped in bandages, and hyperventilating. Not a good sign. Paramedics arrived to assess her condition. IV was inserted. 45 minutes later, the woman is removed from the airplane via gurney and we finally get to depart.
3. Andrew barfs in the airplane bathroom due to his full-blown flu.

I have loved being healthy and it looks like 2012 is not going to be one of good health right off the bat!!! Wishing everyone a healthy 2012 (a.k.a. finding new friends because the Hursts seem to be plagued all the time).