Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Faithy's early, muddy, Christmas

For my mudlover, the perfect gift from Jenny... A mudpie maker!! Noah even got dirty and exclaimed it was the first time he ever got muddy and loved it! (If you don't know, Noah doesn't want to be sticky, muddy, or wet. EVER. If he is any of those 3, it has to be on his terms) Faithy on the other hand welcomes all kinds of messiness with reckless abandon :)

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Santa's Bag

We had a present delivered to Jenny at our house for Christmas. Because Darren selected gift option, it came in this big, blue "velvet" bag with yellow ribbon. Needless to say, Noah was BESIDE HIMSELF to discover that we actually had, in our possession, SANTA'S BAG!!!


He played Santa with it and slept with it under his bed. But then I told him I googled it and found that he would have to leave it under the tree so it could be picked up and used again on Christmas Eve. So Noah willingly complied and we placed the bag and his letter to Santa under the tree.


The next morning the bag and letter were gone, and replaced by an ornately written letter from Reuben, the Elf of bag retrieval. He assured Noah that his letter to Santa would be put on his desk, and that Noah was on the nice list! He also said the he celebrates Jesus :)

We look forward to seeing what Santa has in that bag next time he brings it back!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

I'm THAT mom...

The one that let's her son eat his corn dog on the dashboard during
his first visit to sonic :) (those are his sonic bionic sunglasses).
I'm not wanting to know what the folks in the car next to us are
thinking!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Date Night

After a 15 minute FaceTime call with Noah where he wanted a thorough
tour of our accommodations :)

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Surprise Getaway

Surprised Dar with a weekend in Tiburon. Thanks to Jenny we don't
have to be home until Monday afternoon! We are enjoying some wine on
the hotel deck and looking at all the sailboat lights on the bay (and
I'm eating cookie dough) :)

Life is good!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Transforming Transformers on the iPad

Noah has started teaching Faith about Transformers.... She is somewhat interested, though not as much as he would like her to be. However, if he makes his convincing "transform" sound and bellows "Autobots, transform and roll-out!" and drops to his hands and knees and drives off - she is likely to join him on her hands and knees with "vroom vroom" sounds for effect. Of course it helps if mommy plays along too... which she does. I've taken out a few Starscreams in my day. Even though I'm not really sure who I am, Noah just says I'm a corvette, and I'm cool with that.


Blustery Day Activities

It's cold outside. The kind of cold where I don't WANT to stand around while the kids waddle around all bundled up and red cheeked. Sprinkling? No problem. Windy? I'm fine. But cold air? It's uncomfortable and not helpful when the kiddos are just getting over colds... So the alternate is, coming up with something entertaining to do indoors. I've got Noah asking me to please not turn the TV on and keep it off. Then there's Faithy squealing "Umizoomi! George! Dora!" And many days, the squeaky/screechy wheel of Faith wins out (depending on mommy's day).

The last couple of days I've improvised. Today, I even impressed Noah... "Mom, I'm so surprised and happy that you thought of this game using a lever! That's so smart of you!" Yes, he's my encourager. Today we took the round soft snowman-head ornaments off of the tree and used a pasta strainer (lever) and an alton brown measuring cylinder (fulcrum) and catapulted them across the room into a box. Noah got extra points for hitting our cat.

Yesterday I thought it might be fun to put a cookie sheet on the cutting board and pour baking soda into it. Faith spent a long time playing in it with her hands, paint brushes, and basting brushes. Noah loved it too. It wasn't too messy and I didn't have to worry about the kids eating it :)








Wednesday, December 1, 2010

In case you're wondering...

This is Megatron, transformed into a gun. It's a shame you can't hear the sound effect.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Noah singing Kim Walker

Noah singing "Happy Day" - one of his most favorite songs. I love this.

Faithy singing Kim Walker "How He Loves"

One of the only CD's Noah wants me to play in the car is a Kim Walker worship CD. I knew that Noah was learning all the music, but didn't really get how much Faith was picking up until she starting dancing and singing "How He Loves". I laugh at the end because I had NEVER seen those crazy jazz hands she does!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Thoughts from a former Facebook Addict

On November 1st, 2010, I did the unthinkable...

I deactivated my Facebook account. I still find it hard to believe that I haven't posted a status or looked through a stranger's photo album during the entire month of November. And I have to tell you, I feel AWESOME. The time it has freed up in my day to day is priceless. I no longer watch my kids play while I update my status about watching my kids play. Instead, I am present - watching my kids play.

I no longer linger in the kitchen checking my computer or phone to update my page to see if someone - anyone - commented on my hilarious/inspiring/boastful/humiliating/boring status. Instead, I am present - taking care of and enjoying my home, my husband, and my children.

And if I need to know how someone is doing, I call them, or text them, or email them. **side note, remember I no longer read your status updates, so I won't automatically know what's going on in your life!**

It has truly been liberating for me. I do still think in "status update" snippets. This is when you are in the middle of doing something and your mind automatically edits your experience into a soundbyte or perfect status update. Most of my days used to be full of those thoughts! Now I'm down to one or two... and I just hold on to them and tell Darren when I see him or maybe I'll blog them here. Who knows.

So, that's where I've been. NOT on Facebook. I didn't unfriend you on National Unfriend Day, I just took the plunge and walked away - and I haven't looked back :)

Check back in here for updates on the family and life - but not my minute-by-minute status :)


Traffic Jam

Noah found a sheriff's truck that said "traffic unit", so of course we had to make a traffic jam at Jenny's so the sheriff could investigate.

Gingerbread Village

This is partly a post to test out blogger since I haven't blogged in 4-EVER. It's also an opportunity to show how cute my kids are. They had no problem getting behind this year's gingerbread "village" - lots of mini houses to decorate. Though both of them, especially Faith, were more interested in the candy. They don't quite look like they did on the box, but they were fun and yummy :)



Monday, March 29, 2010

Faithy gets a haircut

Last week I took Faith in to get her first haircut. Even though you might think that you can wait a long time before getting a girl's hair cut, it's not always the case. Faith was starting to sport a pretty nice mullet, and the crazy whisps of her baby hair would cause her "do" to be in a constant state of "windsweptness" (yes, I made up that word). It also fell in her eyes and she wanted nothing to do with any kind of contraption to keep it back.

She did really well I think, only crying near the end. My personal favorite shot is of her with the Donald Trump hair. You will know it when you see it... In the end, she now has bangs, and her hair should grow into a cute little bob :)





Friday, March 19, 2010

The Nascar Mayer Wiener

If you haven't heard, Darren is part of a very select racing team that proudly races #55 around the track. The race that they compete in is called the 24 hour of Lemons and is the most unique race you are ever going to see. The rules are simple. Buy a car for less than $500. Get it running. Outfit it to race. Race two days. And if you want to go the extra mile, give it a theme and get crazy.

Well our guys did just that. This race was at Sears Point and they created... the Nascar Mayer Wiener.... It was amazing. Everyone donned hotdog or condiment costumes, wore a great t-shirt, and possibly a lovely hotdog hat. A few other wives and I also passed out 300 free hotdogs to the grandstands, racers, and of course... JUDGES (I use the term loosely). These judges take bribes and give out penalties like...

Colby got pulled in for a penalty when it was actually a Miata that bumped HIM, so he didn't feel he should get penalized. "I'd like to know where that MIATA is..." he told the judge. Pentalty? Write "I'd like to know where that Miata is" 100 times on the car with a permanent marker.

- One team had to dress up like the Village People and dance behind that car as it drove around the Paddock with a boom box blasting music from it.

-Another team had to put on tie dyed shirts and play reggae music and bongos.

-And another team had two guys duct taped together who had to hobble to the cafe to get the judges whatever they wanted...

This race was a seriously good time, and I'm excited for the next one Darren will race in this August. Oh, and though they didn't win the race, they did win the "organizer's choice award" which is the team who seems to fully "get" what Lemons is all about.

I'm so proud.

(If you want to see pics of other cars, go here)






Saturday, January 30, 2010

Mr. Affection

This is Noah and Faith driving back from errands today :) She is
asleep and he fell asleep while they were holding hands. He literally
kisses her hand or face 40 times a day - I love how much he loves her!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Faithy putting her one tooth to work!

She steadily and patiently scrapes off tiny pieces and chews em up.
She is loving it! (mommy got it started for her)

Sunday, January 3, 2010

"Yeah, I think I look like an octopus!"

That was Noah's answer when I asked him if he wanted me to take a pic
so he could see what he looked like...

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Meet the next Ty Pennington

This is the home depot workbench that Santa got Noah at Jenny's house - I see a TLC show in his future :)