Unders

Andrew thought it would be funny to tuck Reade's jammie shirt into his underwear. It was.

Bartering

Sometimes craigslist can get ugly!  I am not talking about this chair, by any means.  I think it is beautiful.  I want it.  My husband would kill me if I paid $100 for the thing (plus I never would).  My father taught me how to barter and I have never been afraid of low-balling people because too many times have I worked someone down and I am now conditioned like a drooling dog.  Onto the email conversation...

_________________________________________________________________
MY FIRST EMAIL:
Hello,

I am interested in your rose colored upholstered chair.  I see you are asking $100.00, but I only have a budget of $30.  Let me know if you are flexible with the price.

Thanks,

Shannon

THEIR RESPONSE:

Hi Shannon, 

I'm often flexible with my prices but to offer $70.00 less then I've got it listed for is borderline insulting. I'd be willing to split the difference with you and let it go for $65.00 but if your budget is truly $30.00, you should be looking for $30.00 chairs. I'm sure there are plenty all over CraigsList. Check the FREE catagory, you may luck out.....

MY REBUTTAL:

I apologize if I have insulted you.  I was just feeling you out because sometimes getting rid of furniture is more important than the price.  I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask.

________________________________________________________________

Oh Betty, relax.  Would you guys spend $100 on this superb chair?  

RV Dreamin'

Ideas are spinning around here. Maybe an RV is in our future? If so, I want to make it our bohemian beach roamer and I am going to name it the SS Piper.

Ideas:

The Dolphin

Kitchen

I would love a bunk bed model.

Pre-K

Andrew took Friday off of work so we just got back from a three-day weekend in Sacramento. Today is Blake's first day of Pre-K. Not too crazy of a morning, but Reade sure felt abandoned. I now get to fold a week's worth of laundry. Back to business.

Sandy

I had to squeeze one more beach trip in before school starts for Blake. The rest of the family went on a beach RV trip after Piper's birth so I felt now was the time to introduce her to the beach.  Google Maps is so great because I could satellite view all the beaches to find the one with the most up-front parking. Not only does Twin Lakes State Beach in Santa Cruz have beach front parking, it has two restaurants and a coffee shop. It isn't the most scenic, but it has the amenities.

Wake up, we are at the beach.

Eating pre-beach cookies at The Kind Grind.

"Blake, sit and hold your sister.  Mommy has to potty too," said me.

The water was warmer than I expected.

Waiting to surf.

Reade is scared of the sound the waves make.  He stays in the sand.

Piper in her baby beach tent.

Carnations

I ♥ carnations.  These are the first cutting flowers I grew from seed.  They are so delicate and have an interesting, floral scent.  I am going to scatter tons more of this flower in the garden next year so I can have tons to pick from.  I did not grow the yellow flowers in the middle.  They have survived from a store bought arrangement for weeks now.

Windowsill fun.

My own ballerina colors.

Alert

Here is a video of Piper wriggling around in her bouncer:

Sunnyvale Farm

Grandma's house is about to get a lot better!  Ellen has been looking for a rental on the peninsula that has land.  I said it couldn't happen.  Well, she made it happen.  She happened upon an estate sale to buy a couch and ended up shaking hands as the new tenants before she left.  The house is in Sunnyvale and is on a third of an acre.  A third of an acre!!!  It has a gardening area, RV storage, a workshop, and office, plus 3 bedrooms/2 baths.  Throw in a humongous jacuzzi bath tub and fruit trees for extra splendor.  They move in the beginning of October and I can't wait to see what they do with the place.  A mini Oakhurst right smack in the middle of town.

Don't worry kids, the dollhouse will move with them.

The water feature is going too.

Ellen's cooking is fabulous as it is, but imagine the fresh produce she will grow.

S'mmmmmm

Memories of eating this a few days ago is what is keeping me happy. That thing was amazing. You can find it at the Printer's Inc. Cafe on California Avenue in Palo Alto.

Poke Root Save Me

Lame. Clogged duct feeling like the start of mastitus. Darn pump. I guess I get punished for pumping bottles so I can have time to myself. It will be a slow Friday.

This stuff is the best!  

Day Be Gone

Today was weird.  Here was the breakdown:
* Babysitter came
* Took baby to doctor for shots
* Received phone call about family member (Jim, I am thinking of you)
* Fed two, hungry kids lunch
* Held baby because she started to get fussy
* Started making soup (see photo below)
* Baby woke up screaming and didn't stop until I gave her some infant Tylenol
* Finished making soup with baby in the sling because I felt bad for her
* Got kids together (after nap) to deliver zucchini bread to new neighbors
* Reade fell off his truck at the last, new neighbor's house leaving blood on their new driveway and quite the first impression
* Mosquitoes bit us unmercifully on our way home
* Got into the minivan, after applying band-aids and nursing the baby, to deliver soup to friend
* Realized it was 6:18pm and reached for my purse to call Andrew to let him know where we were
* Realized I had forgotten my purse
* Turned around and went back for my purse
* Called Andrew
* Drove back and forth and around the block with crying baby since Andrew said he was biking home and was two blocks away
* Drove to friend's house with soup and family members
* Came home, reheated left-overs, ate dinner
* Went on a walk around the neighborhood
* Put kids to bed (actually Andrew did that while I nursed the baby)
* Kissed kids goodnight
* Picked up Legos
* Watched the Daily Show
* Blogged

Just feels and sounds so weird.  I can't believe that all went down in one day.

Proof:

Potties

I went to IKEA for two potty chairs.  I went home with a basket full of stuff.  Darn consumerism, gets me every time.

Not Me!!!

It is like Andrew bit me and now I am a fermenting vampire. How did this happen? I can't even remember how I came across this blog, but it led to me picking lemons off our tree, juicing them, and then adding whey and pouring it all in jars to sit for 5-7 days. Watch out people, I could spread this STfD to you next (that stands for Socially Transmitted Fermentation Disease). I can't wait to make the plum syrup to add to the Fermented Lemonade once it is done lacto-fermenting.

Juiced

Our new fermenting box.

Google'd

Google threw a summer picnic for Andrew's group on Friday.  The kids had so much fun.  Thanks Google.

Blake and his new friend Calvin.

Airbrush face painting.

Mini golf for the kids.  I am in the back (notice new cowboy boots)
trying to keep Piper out of the sun.

Thrifty

Thrifted outfit from today's shopping trip:

Sweater - Hollister - $3.00
Dress - Gap - $8.00
Boots - $3.00
---------------------------------
Total = $14.00

Not exactly cowboy boots, but I needed a pair of black boots with a spiky heel since chunky heels are out!

Cowboy Boots

Fall 2012 = Beige cowboy boots.

 YES!

What a fun twist to an American classic. Tomorrow I am on the hunt (thanks to my mom being in town).

Isabel Marant - Fall 2012 Paris

I wouldn't mind rocking these though.

ebay treasures

Lashes

My husband has fabulous eyelashes and my two sons luckily inherited their own set. Piper seems to take after her mama (boo hoo). They always say lashes are wasted on boys, but it is definitely a feature I appreciate in Reade every day.

Andrew

Blake

Reade

I started jogging again. It was easy in some ways and hard in others. I never thought I would be one of those people who says that running is a mind clearing activity, but man do I love the childless sounds of my breathing and the world around me.

The kids only run with me to the end of the block.

Hip Hop You Don't Stop

Blake finished his first session of hip hop dance lessons. You have to love how new he is to the scene!!!
 

 The little boy in the orange cracked me up the whole time. He had some moves. His nanny told me he is self-taught all from playing dance videos on the Wii.

Up

What I do in moments like these (aka, being awake at 3:24am):

Play with my baby:


Search craigslist for goodies:

I want this!

Floral Wish List

I have been digging in the garden these past few days.  Andrew inspired me with his lush veggie gardens so I have been spending his hard earned money on flowering plants to make our borders pretty too.

I am on the hunt for a 1-gallon flowering quince.  I love these plants:

I think I might throw in a few cannas to add some height behind our dwarf mandarin tree:

I am now obsessed with dahlias.  Why didn't I like these before?

This dahlia variety is called ballerina.  I think I have to have some of those:

Mixed

Mornings are for baking. At least around here they are. I made blueberry lemon muffins yesterday before Piper woke up and today I had cookies for breakfast. Yum.

I now have dessert plates to go with my platter.

My dad picked up this cookbook at a garage sale.  The kids love it.

All gone.

Slow, but efficient.

Neighborhood B-Day

Our neighbors invited us over to the birthday party they were throwing for their five-year-old daughter. Getting to know their family and friends was a pleasure because everyone was super welcoming and friendly.

I put Piper in her party dress:

Those chubby arms crack me up:

Blake ate the candy off the top and left his cake.  Any good mother knows that no cake should linger at a birthday party so I promptly ate that thing up in honor of the birthday girl: