Spring Awakening

It's official, we have spring fever.  It's absolutely gorgeous outside and none of us can concentrate on anything.  The kids aren't interested in their school work, I'm not getting anything productive done, we are distracted and lazy. I think the only cure for spring fever is to give in to it.  No school, no work, nothing that requires any thought or effort, just a day spent outside doing something or nothing at all. We are going to try for a cure today, if you need us we'll be at the pool. 

I Dare You

This is wrong on so many levels

I don’t know what's most disturbing about this; that on a dare Dane drank a glass of straight pickle juice, that it was his dad who dared him, that I took pictures of him doing it, or that I decided to share this weirdness by blogging about it.  Anyway you look at it, this is not a good thing.  It's sad that this is the kind of thing we find amusing. 

Swiftly Fly the Years

Dagny is at the perfect age to be a babysitter; old enough to be responsible, young enough not to be busy on a Friday night.   If I had little ones and needed a babysitter, Dagny is totally the kind of person I would want watching them.  I understand why people want to hire her.  That being said, it's so weird for me to think that my baby is taking care of someone's babies.  I think of her as someone that I need to take care of, yet she's mature enough to take care of other people.  I think I may need to sing Sunrise, Sunset. 

Ramses I

Much fuss is made, and rightly so, about our cute little dog.  A little known fact is that we also have a cat.  He's a very nice cat, but he has become somewhat of a second class citizen since the arrival of the dog.  We adopted Ramses from the shelter as a present for Dagny's 7th birthday, technically he is her cat, and she is the champion of his feline rights.  She thinks Ramses doesn't get enough attention anymore.  It's sad, but possibly true.  So in all fairness, and to assuage my guilt,  I will now give the cat some recognition.

A few facts about Ramses the cat

• 10 years old
  
• we adopted him when he was 3
• Dagny named him after the Egyptian Pharaoh because she said if he lived in ancient Egypt they would have worshiped him
  
• his original name was Comet (you can see why she changed it)
• nickname is Ramo
• ate one of Dagny's grass skirts once and had to have the grass surgically removed from his stomach
• has no front claws
• loves to sit on laps
• furry alarm clock, if his bowl is empty he will wake you up at the crack of dawn
• purrs loudly at the slightest hint of attention
• is actually quite sweet and loveable

Lost And Not Found

Dagny has had a rough couple of weeks, dentally speaking.  She has spent over 6 hours at the dentist and orthodontist having various procedures done.  On top of all that she somehow lost her retainer. Frankly, I'm surprised she kept it this long.  We have looked everywhere for it, Steve even went through the trash. While he was elbow deep in  trash I started to wonder just how far he would go to not have to shell out $500 for a new retainer.  He was willing to go pretty far, it was impressive.  

 when she had a retainer and was still in my good graces

Much Ado About Nothing

My kids have joined the ranks of the standardized, they took their first ever STAR tests this week. Since they had never done anything like this before they were a bit anxious.  They came out of the testing feeling confident that they did well, in the end everything was easier than they thought it would be. It seems their worry was for nothing. I have a very low opinion about the validity of standardized tests,  yet I am strangely curious about their scores.  

An Eggcellent Question

I should have asked this question before I ate egg salad sandwiches all week, but what do you do with your eggs after Easter?  Getting rid of the leftover chocolate is way easier than dealing with the leftover eggs.  Dagny and Steve won't eat hard-boiled eggs, Dane likes them but won't eat eggs that have been dyed. ( he has issues) That leaves me to deal with 36 colored eggs all by myself. I can't give them away because every one I know has their own eggs to dispose of.  I have chopped them up in salads, deviled them, and made them into sandwiches. After all that I still have an entire carton left. I'm ready to throw the rest out or throw them at someone.        

Any suggestions?

Are You Ready For Some Futbol?

I take pictures of everything my kids do.  I am fanatical about having a photographic record of their lives. This week I realized that Steve has been playing indoor soccer for more than 6 years and I have never taken a picture of him playing.  In fact, due do the kids schedules I rarely get to go to his games. Steve is an awesome goalie and his exploits deserve to be documented. When I do get to see him play I watch with a hand over my eyes.  He plays with a distinct lack of concern for his personal safety, which is what makes him such a great goalie.  As his wife I find it a bit alarming. I will admit that I do enjoy the whole macho-athlete thing. 

                                                                            

Every Second Counts

Parking is at a premium in downtown Walnut Creek. Bottom line, there are more cars than spaces.  They have tried to address the problem by building parking garages, but I will only park in them when absolutely necessary,  I think they are a huge hassle.  Street parking is an issue for me because of my inability to parallel park. A couple of years ago I found this little lot that always has a space available. (No, I won't tell where it is. I don't want you parking there, it's my parking lot) It's close to all the places I like to shop, it's perfect, except that it has parking meters.  (the meters are also the most expensive in town, $1.25 an hour. No wonder there's always a space)  The meter maids literally sit and wait for your meter to run out so they can ticket you,  I watched them do it today. Suddenly my little parking lot isn't feeling so perfect anymore, I may actually have to learn how to parallel park. 

Achoo!

This is me

                 

  you can call me Sneezy 

It must be spring because I can't stop sneezing.  I have allergies, not nearly as bad as some people, but still bad enough that I want to scratch my eyes out. I lived my whole life not understanding the horror that allergy sufferers go through, then we moved to California and I became one of the sufferers.  For the first two or three years we lived here I thought I was just getting a cold every spring, then someone identified my ailment as allergies.  I felt pretty stupid, but in my defense, I grew up in Arizona and they don 't have allergies there.  I am only a sneezing, snotty, mess for about 2 weeks out of the year, so I really don't have much room to complain, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to. 

Easter Round Up

It's all about the eggs 

We dyed them

We hid them

We hunted for them

Forget the eggs, it's about the chocolate

Joyeux Anniversaire

Yes, we celebrated Gavin's birthday.  We have officially entered the realm of crazy pet owners.

Defying Gravity

There's no place like home, and Wicked has come home to San Francisco. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one excited about it, every performance is sold out. Dagny and I have seen Wicked before, but this was a first for the boys.  It's a given that Dagny and I were going to enjoy ourselves, I was interested to see the boys reaction.  Of course Dane liked the flying monkeys, and Steve thought the end of Act I was the best part of the show. Secretly, I think they both enjoyed Popular, I saw them singing along.   We had amazing seats, the show was fantastic, it was a great night.  

something wicked this way comes

with one of the Ozians 

one short day in the Emerald City

I feel...Wicked

Seriously?

There's a program on TLC called I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant.

Here is the description;

... a compelling documentary special that explores the fascinating and utterly surprising phenomenon of women who were completely unaware that they were pregnant...until they went into labor.


I watched the stupid show and I still don't understand how someone can be pregnant and not know it. Did these women honestly not notice any changes happening to their bodies?


I vividly recall being pregnant, I found it pretty hard to ignore.

Like Father, Like Daughter

I have become my father.  My dad was always yelling at us to turn off the lights when we left a room, and he was known to follow you around and turn off lights behind you. I think my dad was more concerned with saving money than conserving energy, but whatever his reasons he really did not like it when he found a light on in an unoccupied room.  I was probably the worst offender of all of his 7 kids.  I would leave the light on because I was going to be right back, but somehow he would know the light was on and be there to turn it off. I now do this to my kids.  I find myself asking them why they can't just turn off the light, or how hard is it to remember to flip a switch?  I am my dad.  Oh, the irony. 

No One Puts Dane In A Corner

Hi, I’m Dane. Remember me?   I know that I’m the second kid and not nearly as important as my sister, but I still exist and deserve to be blogged about. I had a piano recital last weekend; you didn't hear about that, did you?  My mom wasn’t even there, she was off at some dance thing with my sister. I do blog-worthy things every single day.  I won’t be ignored. 

Just letting you know.