Easter Day

"For I remember it is Easter morn,
And life and love and peace are all new born."

- Alice Freeman Palmer

Our Easter morning started early with a little girl tip toeing into our room at, oh, around 6:20 am... at least she whispered, "Happy Easter!  Happy Spring!"

After a relaxing morning, we traveled up to my mother's house in Napa for a traditional ham dinner along with asparagus and delicious fried potatoes in romesco sauce and aioli.

Sentimental.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdz5utGJles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsZDG965Hbg

I really love this movie. The ending kills me. The father's little speech there... yup, so true, so true.

Pretty amazing.

That little girl. Earlier this evening she rode her bike (without training wheels, thank you very much) around the cul-de-sac and just as it began to drizzle she stopped to tell me how good the air smelled... you know that smell she was talking about. The smell that doesn't last that long as it begins to rain. That new rain smell... it is a good smell and it's pretty amazing how she knew that just as we all do. I hope that smell gives her the same good feelings years from now as it does for me right now.


Now I don't have a photo of her riding her bike in the rain however here are a couple from the other day. We have this young cherry tree in our yard and although the cherries are totally sour the children insist on picking them. Here she is with one:


Now the next two were taken just before the one above hence why, I think, her eyes look kind of puffy. Truly cute.

I think I can say this without jinxing myself

I haven't had a cold in like forever! WOOHOO! Last year, I think I was sick from about somewhere in October to, oh, somewhere in March with a sinus infection in between that needed antibiotics. Good times. I really haven't felt sick at all and in fact everyone in the family here was sick about a week or so ago and I didn't feel a pinch of anything. Hopefully all that horrible-ness from last year gave me the cold fighting force field of a preschool teacher.

Today, it was nice and warm and no one was sick so we played in the kiddie pool. Good times. If you follow me on facebook then you've seen this photo and the comment I made. If you don't here are my comments. When I look at this photo I think: 1) Goggles are key. Check! 2) BWAHAHAHAHAH! 3) I love my children.

Pajama Day

Dave worked at preschool this week. It was pajama day. How fun is that for a dad? Tons of fun, of course.

I am so thankful for this time we have together.  So very thankful.

Does this make me a regular?

So I'm in Trader Joe's at the register and I turn towards the cold foods section of the store and notice a new mural.  I ask the lady at the register if the mural is new and it is.  Huh.  The mural depicts local outdoor activities.  I can figure out 2 of the 3 spots but the last one escapes me.  She tells me what it is and well I still don't understand what it is.  She says the location again and then says, "You have a son, right?"  Yes, I do... I answer.  "Your son would love it!  There are animals, blah, blah, blah..."

Now I don't know if she uses that line on everyone or changes it up a bit (and well that's the pessimist in me) but if she really remembers me then I've made my mark at Trader Joe's.  Finally.  

Rubios = Great fish tacos

So we just got a Rubios up the street from us... Hooray!  I remember when I was pregnant with both children all I wanted was spicy type food including Rubios and Baja Fresh.  Of course, when I ate said food, I developed wicked heart burn.  Ah, the irony of it all.  Now, whoopie!  Acid reflux be damned!  

Awesome.

There's a show on Discovery right now called When We Left Earth.  Needless to say, I love it.  I'm all about the launch of those rockets... it's so incredible.  I can't imagine what it must be like to be inside one of those space shuttles.  It must be an amazing experience... funny though how I really can't stand to fly though.

Another favorite segment was when the program focused on space walks... pure craziness.  The astronauts kept saying they weren't nervous and how they were just concentrating on what they had to do.  Okay.  Nerves of steel.  At least one said it was unsettling looking down and just seeing earth... um, unsettling?  That would be one word I *might* use... 

Come on in Summertime...

... we're totally waiting for you!

Earf Day

In honor of Earth Day (or rather Earf Day if you are 4), I'd like to share with you gDiapers.  We've been using these for the last month or so.  How coincidental is it that when I ordered them off Baby Center, Ryan goes and potty trains himself.  Anyway, we use them for him at night instead of a Pull Up or something similar.  They are super cool as diapers go.  I don't wash anything but the outside part and the inside yuckified part goes down the toilet.  Perfect for someone who doesn't want to deal with washing cloth diapers yet wants to be environmentally friendly... I only wish I had heard of them earlier.

We went to the drive ins!!!

Last night we went to the Solano Drive In Theaters... it's about 8 miles away!  The family saw Horton Hears a Who! and it could not have been more fun... it was a little chilly but we brought a ton of blankets and, well, I was a bit eager to go considering it still is spring and the temperatures get down to the high 40's.  But still!  I was in heaven... from the Solano Theaters marquee to driving through the lighted arches entrance and checking out the domed snack shack (even inside the bathrooms you could see the funky angled architecture) and seeing the remnants of the speaker poles (you can now tune in to a radio station).  Ah, it was totally fun.  For our little family it was perfect and now we can enjoy going to the movies again!  

Currently...

I love:


-finding the perfect tree on the first try at The Home Depot after going to OSH and 2 other tree lots.





-knowing that the first song Led Zeppelin rehearsed for the concert on December 10th was No Quarter.


-seeing my brother and my children instantly connect with each other when he visited over Thanksgiving.


-eating Sweet Potato chips from Trader Joe's.

pink.brown.green.

1. my favourite pink doll shoes, 2. pink and green fabrics from inspiration linen colors, 3. vintage bottles, 4. SWEETIE PIE, 5. beautiful horse with brown eye, 6. Pecan cheesecake, 7. May your week end be as pink as this rose!, 8. Green... and crunchy, 9. brown and pink flowers of felt, 10. heart top matcha latte :D, 11. Squashed Foret Noire, 12. New "Vintage Pink" German Glass Glitter

Today.

Today.

Today my father would have been 69 years old. Happy Birthday Dad...

(photo of him when he was a boy... love this... one of my favorites... reminds me of the character Chris in Stand By Me.)

American Beauty

Came across a You Tube video as I clicked from one site to another to another and again... you know what I'm talking about. First time I saw this movie it didn't phase me and the second time I simply cried at the perfectness of the ending. This is one of my favorite movie scenes ever. EVER.

Oh and strange fact about that ending... the scene over the top of the neighborhood was filmed in Sacramento somewhat near mid-town... quite close to where I had my first apartment. Huh.

Willy & Chitty

Two of my favorite movies to watch on TV before the days of DVDs and TiVo are Willly Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang... pure childhood delight. The perfect amount of color and wonder and sweetness with a touch of evil, scary meanies.

The golden tickets, the oompa loompas, the chocolate stream, the gum that tastes like a meal, all of it... so great!

Two of my favorite quotes from Willy Wonka are:

WONKA: Try some more. The strawberries taste like strawberries. The snozzberries taste like snozzberries!

VERUCA: Snozzberries? Who ever heard of a snozzberry?

WONKA: We are the music-makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams. Come along, come along.

Poor Veruca.

... and this right at the end when Charlie gives Wonka the gobstopper...

WONKA: So shines a good deed in a weary world.

Love it.

With Chitty, it's all about the songs... like Truly Scrumptious and Hushabye Mountain (a song that I would sing to the children when they were babies and well, still do). And that scary guy who captures the children for the king... Aack! You know that scary guy... with the scary pasty face and black outfit!

Yikes!

And what about Benny Hill? What in the world is he doing in that movie????

Thankfully, we have both now on DVD and Ashleigh has requested them both in the last week or so... wooohoo! Secretly I'm thrilled!

yo.

Yup, loved it... the last Sopranos... loved the song, loved that they all ate onion rings, loved Meadow horribly parallel parking... loved it. I felt like I was inside Tony's head... everyone is a threat and yet there is his family in the middle of it. Who knows what happened after the scene went black... and that's the way it should be.


I loved loving this show and I know every character was bad to the bone but it was deliciously great. Two times that show literally blew me away. First, when Adrianna was killed. Knew it was coming but the way it was done was horribly brilliant. Second time... Chris' death. I stood up and kept saying, "Chris! He killed Chris! Christopher!" So good. Dave reminded that we were both blown away when Big Pussy died... ah, the memories.






Dave and I were talking about the ending and Ashleigh overheard us... great! So she asks, "What show are you talking about?" I answer, "The Sopranos... it ended. It'll never be on again. We started watching it before you were born." Sigh.


So now what? Guess we'll need to start watching shows like Big Love or The Office or Grey's Anatomy... Nah! Forget about it!

Two Totally Cool Things...

First, I've seen tons of scrapbooking blogs where the author has a Flickr mosaic on it... really cool stuff so tonight I did one... wow! Too much fun... I love this red, pink, turquoise combination...



1. Pink rose, 2. Guess How Much ... I Loved This Session, 3. cupcake, 4. I'll drink to that, 5. Trinity in Watermelon Tutu, 6. Beet Mousse and Radish Mise en Bouche, 7. Guitar Town, 8. sunrise santa monica, 9. frame, 10. Kissed By The Rain, Caressed By The Sun, 11. Jounieh, Lebanon; door detail, 12. Jen Duncan's super cute kitchen!, 13. Christmas 2007, 14. Vintage "summer sheets" tote bag from Sugar Sugar!, 15. Pink Water Lily, 16. La maison rose de la Butte Montmartre

Secondly, this is the best ice cream flavor ever... well, non-chocolate that is. I'm not even a fan of the show...

Eighteen dollars well spent!

Have you seen this machine?

They sell it at Costco and let me tell you it is awesome! Tons more bubbles for so much less work... It has given my children quite a bit of entertainment in the last few days. Also has an adaptor that let's you plug it in versus wasting dozens of batteries.

I recommend it even if you don't have children!

Cool stuff.

Have you ever tried this stuff called Bar Keeps Friend? It made my kitchen sink manufactured in 1989 look brand new... and I am not kidding. I think I want to order the gift basket for myself and how about that Christmas apron... ridiculous!

Okay, that's all.