pre-halloween festivities

we have completed the first round of halloween festivities. miley had her class party monday, followed by her pumpkin patch field trip today. she walked through the pumpkin patch hand in hand with her besties. it warms my heart to see her attached to such sweet girls. mr. trouble pants was able to tag along. he enjoyed hay riding and pumpkin picking with the big kids. next year it will be his field trip i'm chaperoning. i am so not ready for that.

when the tour guild started talking to the kids about outhouses, miley turned back to me laughing :)

miss miley is fortunate to be part of such a great group of kids!

program interruption

we interrupt our regular scheduled programming to bring you information about an important initiative. john marcotte authored the 2010 california marriage protection act that moves to 'safeguard marriage from the evils of divorce'. he only needs one million signatures to get this act on the ballot. that shouldn't be difficult to achieve considering 51% of california marched to the poles in defense of traditional family values last november. i fully expect to see the moral soldiers return to their street corners brandishing banners in favor of this act. after all, what is more threatening to the family unit: ellen & portia exchanging vows, or john & kate destroying 8?

if you've read this and believe me to be anti-divorce, please watch these public service announcements. i am anti something else entirely.

mandatory metallica

mia, levi, and miley 5/2009
this picture doesn't really have anything to do with this post, other than the fact that it was taken at a race.
it might be my favorite race pic ever. it was so windy. the babies were hot, of course dirty, & very tired.

every night at 10:00 brian runs for the radio. it's mandatory metallica time. so when tickets went on sale just before brian's birthday last year, i knew just what to get him. around his birthday this year, stone temple pilots were playing at a local casino. unfortunately, there was no budget for concert tickets, so instead of seeing one of his favorite bands, brian got an ice cream maker for his birthday. which he was totally happy with. this is why i love him.

pan to this latest race weekend. crazy grandma and aunt katrice are at my house having hannah montana sleepovers with the girls. brian and i are enjoying some one on one time with mr. trouble pants at the drags in stateline. when grandpa jim and grandma tish checked their race team (present company included) into the hotel thursday, they were given a set of concert tickets as a thank you. concert tickets that made them scrunch their noses, squint their eyes, and ask 'who is s.t.p?' they handed the tickets over at the first sound of excitement in my voice. concert tickets & childcare- grandparents rock!

i am more of a jack johnson kind of girl, but live s.t.p and metallica blow my mind! a few things about scott weiland- he sang all their greatest hits, he has super groovy dance moves, he wore very tight pants, and the strangest looking pirate shoes. the highlight of the night was the encore. after the band made their first exit, we sat trying to come up with a song they hadn't already played. we didn't have an answer when scott weiland stepped into the spotlight and scrame into his megaphone: i am smellin' like the rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed. rad.

happy birthday baby, sand drags & s.t.p- does it get any better!?

self incrimination

miley had to use the restroom at costco last night. i made her give me her purse while she took care of business. she handed it over and sternly said, "do not look in that." as it turns out, she'd been packing a pocket knife in her ariel purse. another proud parenting moment to add to my growing list.

a hiking we will go

we took an afternoon drive up to mt. baldy sunday. the monkeys love the outdoors. mia climbed rocks, miley collected bugs, and levi wacked brian in the face with a gigantic stick. it was fun!

he also wacked mia in the leg with a rock

unbreakable plans

chelz and i are always doing fun stuff with the kids, yet we don't ever follow through on our plans to do a girls night. when i read that ingrid michalson was coming to orange county, i knew i'd found the perfect, unbreakable, plan.

we arrived at the venue absolutely certain we were in the right place. there wasn't a dude in sight, just a crowd full of giggly girly girls. we fit in perfectly. right down to our light weight old navy scarves. the concert was great. her music sounded even better live! she was just this cute girl from stanton island singing about love and strumming her ukulele. we waited anxiously between songs listening for the opening cords of our favorites. both of us doing the happy clap upon hearing familiar notes. to my delight, she played everything on my wish list. if you'd like a copy of any of these happy tunes, just let me know....

my ingrid michaelson favorites
you and i
mountain and the sea
far away
everybody
be ok
the way i am

thanks chelz, i love you girl!

after bedtime last night

the babies were up hunting ducks and eating brownies. their parents were up collecting p-wings, rescuing princesses, and killing king koopa's. it was early morning before we turned off the nintentdo, abandoning poor mario and luigi in the flying battle ship of world 5.

i'm glad we both enjoy such silly things.

omg

my biggest concern when mia started school was the outside influences she would be exposed to. she escaped kinder with minimal damage, just that unfortunate swimsuit situation. first grade has been another story. she came home a few weeks ago asking if brian and i knew what 'omg' meant. then, she dropped this bombshell after school yesterday-

mia: i didn't eat any of my lunch today.
me: what were you so busy doing that you didn't eat your lunch?
mia: talking to zacharia.
me: you should be eating your lunch.
mia: but i have a crush on him. do you know what 'crush' means?
miley: (mockingly) it means you loooove him!
mia: exactly! we'll have lunch together every day until we brake up.
me: omg.

a laundry basket full of sentiment

7/2009, our 1 year anniversary in the house

saturday night brian and i sat on the front porch swing watching flames devour the mountain adjacent to our house. the fire was burning at the creek a few miles away. our home was never threatened, but with unpredictable 50 mile an hour winds, that could have changed at any moment. i quickly packed an 'in case of evacuation' basket and set it next to the front door.

i keep looking at that basket. it keeps reminding me how much time, effort, and energy we waste on stuff. to think that we could (easily) fill a gigantic moving van with all of our stuff, when all that matters is a laundry basket full of sentiment.

brian's belated birthday list

waiting at the restaurant last night with the blue-eyed shadow atop his lap

a few things about brian thirty-three years and 1 day after his much celebrated birth-

1. he still loves jim more than me.
2. he makes breakfast and packs lunches.
3. he will periodically lick my face because i think it's disgusting.
4. he's a big man with a cute little blue-eyed shadow.

brian welding the rv gate

5. 'i didn't know i was pregnant' is his favorite tv show.
6. he was born an entire month after he was due. an entire month!

7. he has more gray hair than george clooney.
8. he wants for nothing, not because he has everything, but because he's content.
9. his childhood nickname was 'pooper.' it's also his adult nickname.

messing with my bangs while i'm trying to take a pic

10. he's an amazing husband, father, and best friend who fills our home with laughter!