It's Snowing?

When we came downstairs this morning, Isabella looked outside and said, "It snowed last night!" There was frost covering the tanbark and the grass. I'll give her that, but what she was actually talking about was not snow.

She asked to go outside while I made breakfast. She came running in a few minutes later with two "pieces of snow" in her hands. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she was holding the stuffing from Brody's dog bed (that's a whole other blog).

She asked to put her "snow" in a Ziploc and bring it to school. So we did. And it will probably sit in her cubby for the entire day b/c every time she brings something to share, she forgets to take it out of cubby. There are several Ziploc bags filled with Isabella treasures at the bottom of the cubby. I should probably clean that out. Someday.

Too Busy

This was a fun-filled/jam-packed/exhausting weekend for all of us. It was a little too busy for my liking. I normally enjoy ONE activity per weekend. Here is the breakdown of the madness:

Friday:
Play-date at the wet slides, swings, climbing structures, park. 9:30 AM is probably not the best time for the park, especially in December. But Isabella and her buddy Will had fun despite their wet behinds!

We then had to run some errands, bake a cake, frost and decorate it, and get Isabella ready for her Winter Wonderland Play at preschool that evening. The whole gang was there to watch her concert or what she called it, her "contest". The Pre-K class were singing "You better watch out" and "Jingle Bells". Isabella did inform/warn me that they were to sing Jingle Bells, not once, or twice, but five times! It was cute because my child was up there singing, but I felt bad for the poor parents of the kindergartners that had to wait for all four age groups to go first.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpCbUYuC4qs

We then went back to my parents house for my brother's 24th birthday celebration, of pizza and cake, decorated by Isabella :-O! Let's just say, if you can't tell from the pictures, that she likes sprinkles. It was a little crunchy.





Saturday:
We had a bowling birthday party for the neighbor girl. The kids were over that pretty quickly, as were we. There was a buzzing noise in the background, the entire time we were there, that seemed to only be apparent to Devin and I. After the party the kids came home and rested, I cleaned, and got ready for our big Fondue party at T.J. and Shane's. I have pictures but snapfish won't let you "right click" and "save as" anymore? So that will have to be a separate posting. Are you excited?

Sunday:

We celebrated Kristi (ahhh I type Krisit eachtime. Never Fails.) upcoming wedding!! We went into the city and had brunch at Baracuda. There were bottomless mimosas and something besides sushi for Ash and I. We were home by four. I spent the rest of the day on the couch, which I'm ok with admitting to and doing, after the weekend I had!

Friday Night after Thanksgiving = Bust

Apparently the Wednesday before is the night I should have had my mom baby-sit. There really are no words to describe the night that ended at 11:00PM, other than these pictures:

Ok, no words besides the words I need to narrate the pictures:

This was the crowd @ Arties. Northgate class of 1980.

Our activities included taking pictures of ourselves. (Please notice the empty tables in the background.)

And last but not least, the waitress at the Greenery walked us to our table, took our drink orders (3 budlights in cans) and brought us what Sophia thought was going to be a plate of nachos, but turned out to be Nacho Cheese flavored Doritos. Good times.


I am hopeful for next year.

Dear Santa,

I am a four year old girl (boy) from California. I have been extra good (not so much) this year and would really like these four things:

1. Transformers-"Optimus Prime" and "Bumblebee". ( I think she may only have one of those names right. But I wouldn't know b/c I played with CABBAGE PATCH KIDS for crying out loud!)

2. Spiderman Backpack.

3. Spiderman Clothes. (I kinda thought we were past this phase...)

4. Buzz Lightyear tool box (For reals? Isn't he an astronaut? Does he also build things in his spare time?)

Thank you Santa and I can't wait for you to eat my cookies and see my room (I told her he stays downstairs but she insists he see her room.)

Love,

Isabella

Ps. You frighten me and maybe will forever, but please deliver these gifts.


(The list is in an envelope addressed to Santa, with a 42 cent stamp. We are taking it to Macy's and then they donate $1 to Make a Wish Foundation. EVERYBODY DO IT NOW!!!)

Megan's Baby Shower

” Babies are such a nice way to start people.” Don Herrold

"Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body." –Elizabeth Stone

“A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bank balance smaller, home happier, clothes dirty, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.”-Author unknown

"A baby is an angel whose wings decrease as his legs increase."
Author Unknown

The pro's and con's of Devin's hunting...

Devin, his Dad, Dad's bff and his son go up to their duck club (condo's somewhere in the middle of marshy nowhere land) every Tuesday and Saturday night during the hunting season. This has been a tradition for about 5 years now. There are other guys up there with them and they eat a 3-5 course meal, drink some wine, and get up at the crack of dawn to hunt. I have mixed feelings.

Pro's:
-Devin gets to spend time with his Dad.
-Devin gets to spend time with his friend.
-Devin gets a night off of Brody.
-Devin is successful at the hunting and gets his limit each time.
-Devin is excited to bring home the ducks, pluck their feathers, clean them and get them ready to cook, in our garage.
If I have to have one that starts with me:
-I get to watch my DVR girly shows that Devin refuses to watch with me when he is home.
That's it.

Con's
These will all start with me:
-I miss Devin terribly on these two nights.
-I am all alone (Brody doesn't count) b/c Isabella is happens to be gone Tues/Sat.
-I have to make dinner for myself.
-I have to go swimming (well so far only once with TJ but big plans for more). It is cold because it is an outdoor pool and it's November. Not to mention, swimming is much harder than I remember and I felt like I had swimmers ear for a couple days after. This is all because I am trying to keep busy and pass the time.
-I am solely in charge of Brody. It's a big job taking toys, toilet paper, water bottles, pillows, the stupid kitchen towel (everyday!) out of his mouth. This up and down from the couch really prevents me from watching my shows. And That was my only pro, btw.
-I don't eat duck.

Here's a picture of Brody with the duck Devin brought home:



Are you grossed out? Devin would throw the duck and I swear if it wasn't dead already, it definitely would have been after what sounded like his neck breaking every time it hit the grass. Brody would run after it, pick it up by it's wing, and bring it back. Devin was so proud.

FYI: For those of you PETA members or for those of you not so extreme, but still find hunting cruel:
Devin pays lots of money each year for the ducks to live and reproduce. For every duck shot down, a new one is being born. I don't really know, but he did tell me once and I felt better about it.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

We celebrated on Tuesday night at Evanna's Italian Kitchen. The food, wine and company were all great. However, do you remember this scene from "A Christmas Story", when they go out for Christmas dinner b/c the dog's ate the turkey???





That's right. We were the only people in the resturant. This may have had something to do with it:



It was kind of nice having the place to ourselves though.

Love ya Dad!

Dracula and Spidey

The Ghostbusters, the Devil's wife, a sailor, and Bert

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Funny

Isabella bought her bff R.J. this:




When explaining the "really cool" birthday present to McRae, she said this:

"I got him Deanie Hook, Hockie Talkies."

Translation: Incredible Hulk, Walkie Talkies.

Awe.

Isabella's Resume

Isabella G.



PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Highly developed flower girl skills with ability to effectively walk down the isle in a straight line.
• Excellent wardrobe of white dresses, white hair clips, and headbands.


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Simpson Wedding -Discovery Bay Sept. 20, 2008
• Successfully walked down the isle and stood at the alter with the bridal party.

McCabe Wedding – Heather Farms, Walnut Creek. Sept. 6, 2008


• Walked down the isle with Ring Bearer, no problems. Stood up at the alter for the remainder of ceremony.




Baxter Wedding- Christ the King, Pleasant Hill. Aug. 2, 2008

• Attempted to walk down isle in front of Mommy and Megan but ended up walking in between them.
• Did not have to stand at alter, instead sat quietly with Grandma.


Hansen Wedding- St. Mary’s, Moraga. Aug. 11, 2007
• This was my first wedding, let’s remember…
• Wasn’t so into walking with the other kids, so cried instead and walked down the isle in Mommy’s arms.
• Mommy’s groomsman had to walk alone.
• I sat with Grandma during the ceremony.
• I then walked back down the isle with Mommy, again leaving her groomsman to walk alone.


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
8/11/2007-9/20/2008
• I believe I have grown up a bit since my first wedding and after 2, I am able to walk down the isle w/out Mommy.
• I have also grown in the area of standing at the alter rather than sitting with Grandma.


References available upon request.

Baby Terror

Somebody is getting WHISPERED this weekend...

Sissy Pants

I love her and her cheeseball smile.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

My mom turned 61 on Thursday 9/25. We celebrated on Friday with a dinner and a spectacular birthday cake. Somebody REALLY talented made it. Me! Somebody also ate the batter off the beaters and got a tummy ache.

She is the greatest. I could probably come up with 61 things that I love about her, but it might take my whole work day. So I am going to come up with 6 wonderful things about her and 1 super wonderful thing (I did a similar formation with the candles).

6. Helps me out at work so I can make more $$$. (It's complicated but it means a lot!)
5. Cuts out and highlights articles that she reads in the paper or magazines that usually applies to Isabella and her behavior.
4. Was a HUGE help for Isabella's party. Actually, every party I've ever thrown!
3.Picks up Isabella on Mon/Wed from school so I can go to the gym.
2.Makes sure she is home almost every lunch break so we can eat together.
1.Listens to me vent, gives good advice, and deals with my moods.

#1 Would and does do everything for her family and friends!

Love you Mom!

Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Love at first sight

Brody the Bruiser met Lexi (Punes, Pooney Toones, etc.) on Saturday for the first time. We took him to the vet on Friday and she gave us the go ahead to mingle him with vaccinated dogs.

The meeting went a little like this:






Not quite BFF's yet, but they will be.