Weekend Recap - Santa Barbara

we trekked up to Santa Barbara this weekend for the day...for me to attend a bridal shower (why has it been like 3 years since the last bridal shower?) and for Bryan and the boys to play with friends. i, unfortunately, did not get any pictures of the bridal shower...that is what happens when you take a 3 week old baby as your guest :) - but take my word for it...it was so amazing...elegant...the food and the little courtyard - gorgeous!

 i think it all makes me kinda glad that bryan and i were the first of our friends to marry because everyone's wedding and showers and parties have been so unbelievably amazing...we didnt have that pressure because we had hardly attended weddings at that point ourselves...now everyone's parties look like they came straight out of a magazine...anyway...i digress.

it was certainly nice to have some girl time. i truly cherish any adult time i can get right now - i feel like i am in a boy war zone most days...so the peace and quiet and wonderful chatter of girls felt very nice...refreshing even!

After the bridal shower we headed over to our friends' house for a BBQ...there were only these four cuties above, but it seemed like a lot more...toddlers can be very overpowering! we had so much fun and so did our boys - it makes the drive worth it!

our advent so far...

a time to journal this advent season - amidst the flurry of wrapping and planning and DO-ing!

reading:
i just finished The Magician's Elephant and The Tiger Rising, both by Kate DiCamillo - both were fantastic! i got them in hopes of reading them to Bryson - i would like to start reading him chapter books, but i think these would be probably better for him when he gets a little older...perhaps 7 would be an appropriate age? there are a lot of themes that i think are important and would get lost to a 4 year old...

we are also reading the true Christmas story in the Gospel of Matthew along with several kids books - trying our hardest not to turn Christmas into gift-fest 2009...

i am currently reading Octavian Nothing...has anyone else read this? i am reading it for a book club...it seems like a heavy read and not sure i can swing it as my bedtime book...

making:
i have not been the best gift maker...i have to admit...i have made some zoodies and some Christmas bunting and our stockings and cookies of course, but that is pretty much it! i had high hopes for myself, but i also think i have done pretty well with not making myself crazy in the process!

listening:
to Christmas music a lot! our favorites are the hymns and carols and also some Amy Grant Christmas album, Bebe and Cece Winans Christmas, Muppets Christmas and Handel's Messiah, also XM has 2 great holiday stations - Holly and Holiday Pops...both have been on you better believe!

loving:
our beautiful tree and mantel and fire. oh what a difference lights are to our dark little family room! the smell of the tree and the fire and the lights lifts my soul! also the lights on our house make me smile every time i see them. true, there are about 10 different strings of multi-color lights and true each of the 4 palm trees are covered with white flashing lights and none of them flash the same, and some might laugh at our house, but Bryson and i agree that our house is our favorite on the block!

giving:
i love giving gifts! i rarely stress about gift giving...although i still have quite a bit to do, it is so much fun to take time to think about expressing love to others with a gift. i am trying to involve bryson in this process and he is hilarious - he is constantly wrapping up stuff to give to Bodie or me...like his scissors or stickers on wrapping paper. he still doesn't quite get the whole idea of giving it AWAY though. today we went to Disneyland and he wanted to get Daddy a pirate gun....hmmm...i said...i dont believe daddy would like a pirate gun..."oh" he says, "well if he doesnt like it then i will play with it" - the kid is smart, but the lesson of giving will still take a while i presume...

advent is about waiting and expectation and although last year i was truly filled each day with expectation (our dearest Bodie was due Christmas day and came to us Christmas Eve) this year is also finding us waiting and expecting - not just the excitement surrounding the day, but we are also moving shortly after Christmas. 2 1/2 weeks after to be precise...and although we don't quite know where yet...and although that should maybe make me quite worried...i have a peace about it and i am trying to find the bright side of being able to scale DOWN...way down...and also give away....a lot...of stuff...a lot of stuff!

and somehow i can't be preoccupied with that when i have this insanely excited 4 year old who is truly amazed by the season - by the lights and the smells and the gifts under the tree and the stories and the fires and the singing and all the loveliness of this season, when people take a little time to make it a little special, which to a 4 year old means so so much...i can't help but catch his fever and find that kid in me also. i am so thankful for that child who helps me find my lost child within and feel the warmness surround me. i hope you too are enjoying this advent season and find the little things that bring you back to when Santa was real and wonderment was abundant!

miracle mile

after my SIL left on sunday she left me with a special gift...my 9 yr old nephew and 12 yr old niece...oh how i wish i had a 12 yr old girl ALL the time...they are fortunate to be enrolled in a year round school and have the month of October "off track". my niece, Hope, gets extra credit if she visits certain places and takes pictures and does a report so i promised to take her to the La Brea Tar Pits and the Page Museum. My husband thought i was a little nutty for taking 4 kids into LA the day after running a half marathon, but to me it was much easier with the help of the older kiddos...so off we went...

Just a little note - the Page Museum is quite small...and not so much fun for a pre-schooler - much more suitable for the 8-12 yr olds...we probably spent a little under an hour there...and thats including the movie they show...but anyway - it was cool to see especially since Bryson has been into the movie "Ice Age" and its sequel. i remember taking the kids at Bethune on a field trip to the Santa Ana Discovery Center and seeing a dinosaur exhibit...i think it was the first time i realized that dinosaurs actually existed in the same space where i go to the grocery store and currently reside and drive on highways...i was so blown away and came home to share that excitement with my husband and he told me that i just discovered what every boy discovers around 8 years old...i guess i was more into ballet and barbies at that time...

my favorite part of the museum was the "fishbowl" where they show the paleontologists sorting and piecing bone fragments together...BTW they used Elmer's Glue...which Hope and Buddy found amusing (as did i) and Bryson only talked about how the dinosaurs were all dead...hmmm...not very fascinating to him i presume...

so since that museum did not take up much time and since i knew the area quite well from my L.A. days i decided to show them LACMA - but it didnt open for 45 minutes, so i marched them up Wilshire to my old office to say hi to some collegues...the only one that was actually there was a fellow secretary, Joyce - it was so good to see her though and the kids got to see how Conde Naste works a little...i am sure they were thrilled! it was fun to be back at my old work and to see the changes and what was still the same and to know how i so don't miss going into an office every day!

we headed back to LACMA but i realized the old children's museum portion was gone...good thing the admission was free thanks to Target...we had a picnic lunch outside of the museum and let the boys climb trees and run around and then headed in. the children's portion consisted of 3 tables and painting with asian calligraphy brushes and watercolors...which was cool...for like 20 minutes...and then after each kid painted 2 paintings each they were done.

i took them into the museum and noticing Bryson's sudden rush of energy realized the ONLY way it would work would be him in the stroller and Bodie in the ergo. if it wasn't for Bryson's 20 minute temper tantrum it would have been really enjoyable! There happened to be a Picasso exhibit. I was so taken aback and told Hope and Buddy "Look! Picasso!" ...to which i received an echo of  "huh?" so i started to explain cubism...showed them some of his paintings and what he did and asked them what they thought...to which Buddy told me "I don't like that one!" and pointed to a very large painting on the wall. "why dont you?" i asked...in a hushed voice he explained "because she is NAKED!" i was actually impressed he saw the boobs all contorted, but i guess that is the benefit of being a boy...you can see boobs anywhere...

among Picasso the kids also saw Rothko, Pollock and Frank Lloyd Wright to mention a few of the bigger names (all of which they never heard of). i gave Buddy the camera and told him to take pictures of his favorite pieces (without the flash and where it was permitted of course!) then he really got into it and snapped some lovely shots of the artwork.

it was time to go and on the way home i continued to tell them about cubism. i told them about a project i did in art class in college where we took a piece of art we did and divided it into little squares and cut it all up and then re-arranged it on paper to show cubism and asked them if they would be interested in doing that with some of the art they created in the musem (half expecting them to roll eyes and say "whatever")  and to my astonishment they were excited about it!












so we did just that and here are their "masterpieces"

overall, in the attempt to be helpful...if you are interested in taking your youngster to LA i would recommend these museums to children over 8 - and beyond that, from experience i would also go to the California Science Center for children of all ages - awesome place!

in addition to our "field trip" we also did the following with our niece and nephew:
*baked banana bread
*taught Hope how to crochet a beanie - of which she has now made 3 - one for her American Doll, one for Bodie and one for her sister Katlyn...girl takes after her auntie!!
*hot-tubbed it and the kids also swam in the pool crazily enough
*taught Hope how to sew a sundress for her American Doll

on a sidenote...Buddy asked if i could teach him to crochet as well. i swear i did not put this idea in his head. and another sidenote - he is the sweetest cousin to Bryson...so giving...he left his Wii nerf game for him and was so generous in sharing everything with him and playing guns with him and wrestling...not to mention what a God send Hope was to me and helping watching the boys while i cleaned and got dressed! good to have good cousins!

week in review

so this last week has been a little nutty for us. to recap:

1. last saturday 9/5 while attending the Greek Festival...bryan attempted the strong man hit the mallet on the thing and try to ring the bell thing...and broke his finger...after breaking it and having his buddy "set" it back in place he then fainted...the firemen were called and EMT and i almost got into a fight with a 50 yr old crazy lady whose booth B fainted in front of....it was a CRAZY day. this is obviously the short of it...its much crazier and involved than all this - after an ER trip we learned he broke his pinkie in 3 places...he had a temporary cast and now has a finger splint and hasn't complained once. so there was that...

2. pseudo rebels have been recording a remix all week here and i have heard "I got a feelin" approximately 9.876 times. good times. good feelin' times i guess you would say.

3. MOPS started up again...yeah! so nice to have that grown up time for a couple hours!

4. Jr League started up again and I had a Jr League meeting here as well as a craft night this week and not to mention trying to sneak in the office whenever i can to deal with the monster pile that is my inbox

in between all the madness i have been able to steal my babies away to the park and the VA garden and the El Dorado Nature Walk and 2nd Street and the beach...it has been good to have some time with Bryson - he keeps trying to tell B to fire me...so i dont have to work anymore...awwww...so sad...he won't though bryson...trust me...i have tried...several times!

i am hoping this weekend is a little more laid back...we have plans every day so far, but hopefully we can find time in between to just RELAX! hope your weekend is peaceful and rejuvenating as well! Cheers!

P.S. isnt that picture just awesome? this is Bodie's new sign - "all done" - he says it like "da duh" and does a one hand interpretation...and Bryson picking his nose...of course...