Tuesday

I'm right in the middle of 'Friday Night Knitting Club' by Kate Jacobs. It's a really easy and fun read. I'm enjoying it immensely. When I went in search of the link to the site I also found Walker & Daughter. So COOL! It really makes me want to try taking up knitting again.

Have I mention how comfortable our new bean bag thingy magig is?

Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day, and it's passed by so quickly. They both snuck back into our bed early this morning and we all felt like a pack of sardines in a tin can.

We spent the day with Auntie Hilary and Uncle John. On the way down we didn't encounter much traffic, but I ask you when did the carpool lane suddenly turn into the Autobahn? I was driving the speed limit and then was slowly bullied into travelling near 80mph until I set my limit to around 70. And still a handful of @#%&*$% drivers rudely passed me!!


We layed by the pool and then the jacuzzi and then had a delicious barbeque! Ah, we are so ready for summer!

Alyssa's First Birthday

We all went to Alyssa's First Birthday Party.

@ Daddy's Work

The news is on and they're reporting on the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars. Can you believe that it opened 30 years ago today? This reminds me that we met Mark Hamill at Shutters while attending Great Aunt Charlene's memorial earlier this year. We were all waiting for our cars at the valet, and he couldn't help it but notice our crazy kids running around. He commented on how their play brought back memories of his own kids when they were that age. Apparently his younger son was just as wild and crazy as Rhys. He then asked where we were from and what we did. I guess he thought we were tourists staying at the hotel. Kenny answered that he was in animation and that we lived in the area. It was a lovely exchange and just proved how normal most celebrities can be.

I was a bit down today so after a long conversation with Jamie and a shorter one with Kenny I took Rhys down to my happy place. As we pulled into the Ikea parking lot Rhys says 'look mommy ice cream!' We took a quick look through the tent and picked up a bench for the patio. Grabbed a couple of hot dogs, and yes, split an ice cream cone!

Rhys happily chatted away during our ride to and from the store. He was so different from his normal quiet self (his usual behavior in the car, especially when Henry's not present) that I was a little distracted driving. "look mommy balloons!" "Plane... hi plane... bye plane... see you later" It just warms my heart that he's making these long overdue strides.


We got home, dropped off the bench and then left to pick Henry up, but not before he asked for a diaper to do "that" and then there was a struggle to get him into the car and into his car seat. For some strange reason he prefers Henry's seat. After about 10 minutes he finally backed down and agreed to get into his seat. We then picked Henry up and did a couple of errands before picking up some lunch, finally arriving at Daddy's work for a picnic lunch in the park.



Afterwards we went upstairs to visit for a little.


This is the Family Guy pinball game. If you double click the image you can make out some of the characters in the game.

This and That

Happy First Birthday Alyssa!

Got an email from Jamie this morning. She's posted her second entry. Hilarious. I can totally relate to the Spaghetti Incident. And the slug refernce... I tell you I never used to be that way, but since having kids I find myself continually putting things off until the next to last minute. Have I mentioned that I'm a Type A? Or used to be, so maybe I'm now a Type A- or Type AB?
And isn't baby Jakob cute?!

My friend Ben called me yesterday and we had a wonderful chat. He told me he was reading my blog and laughingly said Rhys was a prime SuperNanny candidate. Boy, I couldn't agree more!

I told him I had to start this blog for several reasons.
1) It keeps me sane. It's like my own special diary with benefits.
2) I have to write it down or I'll forget. Selective amnesia is how I call the sometimes state of my brain since having kids. I cannot remember a lot of things... hope this is not an early sign of Alzheimers.
3) I find it hard to keep repeating these stories, so it's easier to write it down to keep friends and family in the loop.
4) It's a creative outlet. Like instant scrapbooking without the messy bits and pieces that can potentially boil into a Spaghetti Incident.


I don't know if many of you are aware that Gap had purchased Forth and Towne a while back. They then opened up a bunch of stores, the closest to me is located in the Century City Shopping Center. This particular store opened in September 2006. And now Gap has decided to close Forth and Towne. I really LOVE the stuff in there. I was waiting for them to come out with a petite line, which will not happen now.


Went to lunch with Mom, Dad and Rhys today. We had lunch, or rather brunch at Coffee Co. Rhys was relatively well behaved keeping occupied with the jam dispenser and only opening 2 packets. He even asked to go to the restroom, and actually went, too! Afterwards we did a little shopping and then came home in time to rest a little bit before picking Henry up from school.


Luckily Henry finished all his homework yesterday, because we had a playdate with the twins. They had a blast and we met their new puppy Chewy (short for you guessed it Chewbaca) and wouldn't you know it? He looks just like Chewbaca! Rhys had a ball chasing the poor thing around. What a cute puppy.

the Barricade

This has been slowly giving me a headache all morning long:


We're now into the afternoon and the whirling sound of a helicopter circling the neighborhood is continuing to give me the darnedest headache. That and a whining Rhys trying to get me to do something with the box the bean bag came in.

An hour or so before I'm due to pick Henry up from school I get a call from my next door neighbor who asks me if I know what's going on. I reply 'no but it sure is giving me a headache'. She fills me in, telling me that she was on her way back in when she saw that the street was blocked off with yellow tape and a hive of officers. She adds that while on the way home one of the college kids next door asked one of the officers what was going on, and was told that there was a man with a gun running loose down the street! And to please keep the doors and windows locked and stay indoors.


I get off the phone and ponder what I'm going to do with Henry. I call Kenny and give him the update. He suggests that I go pick up Henry and don't come back for a while, just so that we're out of the area. Just in case. While considering my options, a police officer comes towards the house. I ask if it's ok for me to go pick up my son from school and am told that I just need to go around the block to exit. I'm also told that they have a burglary suspect cornered in a house down the street. They are getting ready to deploy the canine unit and everything is under control.


Ah, life in the big bad city.

The Bean Bag

It's here! Our new crazy multi functional beanbag! I first saw this at my cousin's house last year and have been going back and forth about getting it. I don't want to sound like an ad but it so comfortable! And versatile too! It's made out of heavy nylon so it should clean up nicely from those impossible messes that comes with having kids around. Beats lying on the cold hard floor.

Now of course I'm itching to get one for the each of us. I'm dreading when Henry comes home, and the possibility that Rhys will push him off to claim it as "MINE!"




Did I mention that it was really comfortable?

Gym Class

I'm trying to keep collected and not be discouraged, but I am really tired. I'm losing patience because in Rhys' case it really does take a village.

Today before our Gymboree class we had a 10:30a appointment for vision and hearing testings. I am sad to report neither went well, as he was much more interested in the cool new toys in the room than being tested.

On the way to Gymboree I had flashbacks of last week's terrible ordeal.


Thankfully it didn't come down to any confrontations with security, but we were in 'time out' about four times. I don't want to keep excusing his behavior on hunger and/or tiredness, but I'm beginning to realize that it may be that simple. I need to make sure this kid is fed and takes a nap! I tried to have him eat something before class, but he didn't want to because he had a late breakfast. Boy did we pay for that one!

Right after class he dragged me upstairs for some rides and eats. His lunch of choice of course is Chicken McNuggets. It worries me that that is all he willingly eats, but thankfully he doesn't touch the fries so I don't buy them. I don't indulge him as often as he would like and other than force feeding him I see no alternative, because when I do present him with healthier fare he usually turns his nose up at it and demands something else. When I refuse he will drink himself silly until he is full. But sometimes, sometimes that old trick will work, and he will eventually eat what I've prepared. On the condition that he is able to pick something out of it, like cheese off pizza. Bad example I know, but you get the picture. It's usually Trader Joe's organic cheese pizza, so I don't feel too bad.

I let him have a couple of rides before enticing him down to the car with the promise of picking Henry up from school. Just as we were leaving the mall he started screaming. An elderly woman told him to 'shut up' in a nasty tone. Can you believe the nerve of some people?

The rest of the afternoon is passing quite normally. As I'm typing, I'm also supervising Henry on his homework (getting him to complete his homework is sometimes like pulling teeth! Speaking of which his top front tooth is starting to wiggle), occupying Rhys(who should be napping) who is waiting for Henry to play with him. He is concurrently viewing Felix the Cat, and playing in the patio with the water guns Kenny brought home last night. I found Rhys earlier this afternoon with these same water guns shooting up the tv!

On a happier note we made it through most of the morning and early afternoon without a diaper! Until he requested one to do 'that which will not be named'.

Dinner & Dave

A free Monday morning! I can't remember the last time I had a meandering block of a.m. time to freely putter around. I checked email. Got a message from Jamie saying that she's decided to start a blog of her own! It'll be nice to be able to add another essential site to check out.


We all went to cousin Brian's Graduation Dinner last night. It was really great to see everyone gathered. What's really amazing is how many kids are in the family now. And funny to see them getting into things, chief among them Henry and Rhys. They kept wanting to go see the fish pond in the front of the restaurant. At one point I told Rhys to please come back since there was no one to supervise at the moment, and Ethan replies that it's okay for him to go out since he was bigger. He then proceeds to raise his hand up to his head signifying he's big enough for this ride! It was hilarious.


I tidied up a bit and then found a little time to surf the net. I found this piece by someone called Kel in Seattle who was fortunate enough to make coffee for Dave Matthews about a week ago. This song is stuck in my head.

Okay, I'm sure this comes as to no great surprise to my friends, but I will confess that as a favorite pastime I occasionally enjoy dreaming up different scenarios involving me meeting Mr. Matthews, so it was a blast to read about someone who actually had. LUCKY!

Rolling Green Spirit Week

Yesterday was the last day of Spirit Week and Jr. Olympics and all the kids got to wear athletic clothes in their class color. Both Henry and Rhys are dressed accordingly.


Afterwards we left for a meeting with Rhys before heading to the local McD's for a quick breakfast and some playtime. There I was amused with this image


The highlight of my day was when we met up with Grandma and Grandpa at Rolling Greens.


It was spectacular! I wish I took more pictures but I was busy running after Rhys.


I have to admit that I almost turned around and went home when faced with the fact that the place is located on the side of a fairly steep hill that reminds me why I am so happy I do not live in San Francisco. They do not have a parking lot so you have to park on the street. A very narrow and steep street!

in the Name of Love

STOP


in the name of LOVE

First Teeth Cleaning

Breakfast with the boys. Henry is outfitted for Spirit Week.


Rhys gets ready for his first teeth cleaning! He did really well too. I'm giving him 85% for sitting through most of it. This is his first teeth cleaning in terms of him sitting in the chair and allowing someone to stick instruments into his mouth. It's actually the second attempt, not including the play cleaning he got from Austin the hygienist when Kenny and I got at our last cleaning.


He was remarkably in good spirits completely recovered from his insane behavior of the past two days.

The Major Ordeal

We get to the mall for our Gymboree class and Rhys tells me he needs to go to the restroom. We get out of the car and into the mall he shoots off to the escalator, per usual. This time he cozies up to an older woman, and before I am able to get on the escalator a man gets in front of me. I've got my eye on him and he's looking at me. The guy thinks he's looking at him and starts to wave at Rhys where upon he turns his back on him.

We get to the main floor and he makes a break to the second escalator towards Gymboree. That's when I excuse myself past the guy. The guy then asks 'Is he your son?' cause he's kinda freaking out seeing Rhys go one way, and the lady Rhys was standing near go another. I nod and he's relieved. I head up to the second escalator and see a mall worker standing at the top, she gives me a look and points towards Gymboree. I nod again and thank her. I walk in and see Rhys half way up the gate attempting to enter into the play area. I grab him and proceed to walk him upstairs to the food court and restrooms.

Our excursion to the restrooms goes well, and we go back downstairs arriving just a little early for class. He's climbing on the fixtures and jumping around doing his impression of 'Dodzilldo' (Godzilla). This encourages a couple of other little boys to do the same. Soon the room is filled with boys walking and growling like Dodzilldo. The teacher comes into the room and pulls him off the fixture asking him to get down before he hurts himself.

Soon enough we all go into class. We get situated Rhys is doing ok but then comes the first obstacle course. He does that alright until he decides that he wants to do it again and "NO" he doesn't want to stand on his shape to wait for the rest of the group to have their turn. We go into time out. Instead of calming down, he's getting worked up, getting really loud and swatting at me. I just want to break down and cry. I tell him if he doesn't calm down and tell me he's ready to go back to the group then we will leave.

What happens for the next 10 minutes or so is an eventual exit back towards the car with several stops along the way, trying to reason with him. I'm trying to get him to say "Sorry Mommy. I want to go back and play". But he refuses and says instead "I don wanna say it" except it’s a little garbled and really LOUD and angry! We're back on the ground floor right in front of Macy's and that's when he decides to fling himself on the floor and play dead. I get down on my knees and loose it. I start to cry. What am I going to do with him? There is no reasoning.


Soon we've got an audience. People start passing us on the way to and from the parking lot. At one point there's at least 10 people milling around in addition to 2 security guards! Everyone is asking is he ok? Do I need any help? Did he fall? Is he hurt? All the while Rhys is playing dead on the floor, eyes rapidly blinking to sneak peeks to see who's there. I'm calmly answering them. No he's fine. He's just throwing a tantrum. I even go into the whole Gymboree story.

After what seems a lifetime I pull him up by his hands and make him stand on his own. I ask him if he wants to go back and play and he answers 'Yes I wanna play'. We calmly walk back to the class and rejoin the group. We're in there for a few minutes before it's snack time and the adults leave. During the break a woman asks me how old he is and then we're chit chatting. I don't really remember what we talked about other than compared notes between Rhys and her charge. She reassures me that it's just his age and that he'll settle down soon. I'm just a mess and feel really weepy.

We go back into the play room and finish up the last few minutes of class and on the way out Rhys pushes a giant play tube. I look inside to see if anyone is there and yes there is a little boy in there. I ask if he's ok, and his mom replies for him that he's fine. She smiles sweetly and continues to say that in fact he loved being pushed and that it's really hard to have such an active child and 'Bless my heart for holding up so well'. I nearly loose it again!

Before leaving we go upstairs for a little lunch. Next stop is Target for something red for Henry to wear for Spirit Week and Jr. Olympics at school. I rush through because even though he's behaving not so bad now I fear for what might come. We finish and now go pick Henry up. There I find out from his teacher that Henry was play fighting with his friend and actually 'kicked' him 'in the privates'. Nice. Both my kids are delinquents.

On a brighter note I saw this on the way home!

Moms Day

This is the longest break I've taken since starting this thing. It's been very busy and I've been in a bit of a funk. Got this terrible virus from Kenny and it makes you weary, achy and whiny. Thankfully the weather has cooled down a little and our friend Coastal Eddy has come back.

Mothers Day was pretty ho hum. After hemming and hawing and unable to get last minute reservations at our restaurant of choice we ended up having dim sum. Angele came over early and escorted Henry to services, relieving us of the ordeal of all (Rhys included) going to church. Thank you!

We met my parents, Angele, Hilary and John at the restaurant at 1p. Had a great lunch and then meandered over to the market next door before topping things off at a cute coffee/tea shop, where we had refreshments and conversation for a spell.


Yesterday Henry tested for his first belt at his new Karate class. The stars lined up and luckily my parents were able to come up after Mom got her stitches out. Luckier for me Rhys had fallen asleep, so my parents volunteered to stay in the car with him while I got a peaceful hour watching the testing. Even though he was goofing off a bit Henry still did well and got a white stripe!


As I had previously mentioned I've been busy nesting in the garden, mainly in the backyard. I've planted cherry tomatoes and basil donated from my parents garden. This is the first crop I've attempted since Rhys started walking. I'm dying to check this place out.

Last week I had a little time before I had to pick Henry up from school so decided to take Rhys down to Ikea to look for some odds and ends. We ended up in the big tent on the parking lot where they have all their seasonal items. It was late morning and there was hardly a soul around. It was so pleasantly refreshing we took our time looking around. Fell in love with these outdoor cushions and large planters. Wisely did not purchase any of the breakables, but decided to take the cushions.

Wouldn't you know it, just as I made my final decision and made my way to the cashier two people reached it before me. The first person came and went. The second person had only one thing to purchase, one of those popsicle makers where you pour the making of a popsicle into the mold and pop them into the freezer. Well the cashier rang it up and accidentally tore the receipt right about where it line items the purchase. The guy started freaking out and asked if she could fix the receipt! It escalated into this crazy examination of the receipt; he asked if she could ring it up again, she said she'd have to call a supervisor and one was not available at the time. She offered to staple the two pieces together, he refused. Another co worker was called into it, both workers and I were looking at the guy thinking 'you don't know if you want this popsicle maker for sure right now and you are entertaining thoughts of driving all the way back here to maybe return an item that costs a little over two dollars?' I think he began to realize how silly he was being and how much time he was taking and finally left with his torn receipt.

Mom's Day @ Henry's School

We spent the morning at Henry's school. They invited all the moms to the classroom for orange juice, cookies, a beautiful hand painted box with a picture of mother & child, and a really great Mothers Day presentation. With moms sitting in their seats, the kids lined the perimeter of the room reciting a poem they memorized and then each child told of why their moms were special. It was so cute! We couldn't have imagined a more perfect way to spend our morning.


Sadly I noticed a boy crouched in the back of the room, where the kids hang their backpacks, who appeared to be crying. I gathered that his mom did not make it to the celebration and he was very disappointed. It was heartbreaking. It brings home how important it is for us as parents to do our best to not let our kids down. Because God knows how much longer they're going to actually want you to show up.

Mischief

It's finally cooling down to a temperature that allows my mind to function without my head overheating. The intense heat we've been experiencing these past couple of days makes you worry all that much more about Global Warming, and to top it off there's been another fire at Griffith Park.


I woke up this morning with a tickle in the back of my throat. I forced myself to go to the medicine cabinet in search of my bottle of Zicam. It hadn't expired yet! But the mister was not working properly, so I unscrewed it and gave a little gargle. Yuck.


Rhys is having a meltdown in the bathroom. He's having issues. Perhaps its the heat. Can we blame the heat for his mischievous behavior? He's overturned my pot of marigolds twice, put rocks in my coffee (luckily I caught him doing this and did not find the surprise), jumped on my leg or more specifically the area that connects the top of my leg to my pelvis and let me tell you that hurts like bloody anything and countless other things that my melted brain cannot or will not remember.

Yesterday Rhys and I did errands. We started off at Trader Joes then dropped everything at home in the fridge before heading back out for Jen's envelopes and then finally a super satisfying trip to Armstrongs. I got a few plants to freshen up the container by the front door.

I also found a selection of geraniums to scatter in pots in the back. I even got their new rewards card!

Because the heat melted my brain I wasn't able to think straight enough to get Henry a disposable camera for his field trip. So we met Kenny at Target and while I let my head cool off in the car the boys went in for the camera (which when we got home I noticed that it was not a disposable camera, but a carton of 35mm film rolls!) and some Pokemon cards from the money the tooth fairy left for Henry's second tooth.

It was getting late and didn't feel like making anything for dinner so we stopped off to order take out a restaurant. While waiting for my order I noticed a family of three seated in the corner. They were finishing up their meal and the preteen got up and approached the chef's counter looking for something. After a few moments he started mumbling 'toothpicks. got any toothpicks?' and as he's saying this his hand is wandering into the different things by the front of the counter as if saying it and poking his hands into things will some how make it magically appear. Well he ended up sticking his hand into a bowl of food the chef and just spent some time preparing for a diner. You should have seen the scathing look the chef gave the guy! Eeew!

All this heat along my fresh interest in everything green has led us to a lot of dining al fresco lately. In addition to taking coffee and shakes outside we've also been blowing bubbles and it's so much easier to hose off the table of spilt shakes and bubble liquid.

Rhys and I left the house today at 11:00a. Equipped with a drink and a snack Rhys was asleep by the time we reached Salon Amba. I quickly found a parking spot not too far from the salon and had to call Jen to see what can be done. She had someone come out to watch Rhys while I ran in to drop the certificates off. I was in in out in 2 minutes and then it was off to Gymboree.

Can the heat be an added factor to the fact that a lot of people are driving around the city with their heads up their rear? I pulled into the parking lot and there was this guy taking up TWO lanes to wait for his parking space?! Uhmm, could you maybe take a second and straighten up so the 3 cars behind you can pass to go into the underground parking where there are plenty of spaces? Plenty of spaces in the SHADE?! What an idiot.

Our third play class at Gymboree saw young Rhys and his mommy in time out for half the class! Fun. Afterwards the teacher praised me for sticking to it and told me she's seeing a vast improvement. Okay.

Before we left I was so hungry so we went upstairs to the food court to get some Mediterranean to go. When we got home we ate it on the picnic bench outside and blew bubbles before getting ready to pick Henry up from school. Henry had fun at the Space Museum in Pasadena and luckily they were not impacted by the Griffith Park fire probably because the fire began about 1:30p and they were back at school by 2:00p.


We got home and I made us all strawberry banana shakes.


While enjoying them in the backyard Zach popped his head over to see if Henry wanted to go over to have a play date with him and his friend Neil. Henry furiously finished his homework before heading over.


I wish I could hose this down!! We'll call it the chocolate syrup episode.


I came out to see chocolate smeared all over the walls, posts and table and Rhys diligently trying to scrub away the evidence.




Here's my pathetic attempt at a shot of the Griffith Park fire.


It's a startling sight that smacked me in the face on the drive down La Cienega.