Stinky Soak.

Tonight after I got home from Huggins fix the kids wanted to go play in the hot tub before bed. This is a fun way to end the evening. But it had been raining off and on all day today, and the (wet) dogs were especially aromatic this evening as they hung around the jacuzzi looking for love. And Norman has this insatiable urge to drink jacuzzi water. It doesn't matter if they have fresh, cool water in their bowl or not, the lure of drinking 102 degree chlorinated water proves to be irresistible. We recently switched to a "greener" maintenance program for the hot tub in which we now use a hydrogen peroxide method over the bromine tablets. So far we're happy with the condition of the water, and it doesn't have that chemical smell. But Norman enjoys both flavors just the same. No wonder the dog is covered in tumors (just kidding, he already had them and it's a common trait in Labradors).
And today at school Natalie had her party which was terrific fun. And her most cherished treat from the day was a Navy bean (are those the large white beans, like Lima bean size?) that her teacher had painted a ghost face on. It was her "baby ghost" and he carried it around very gingerly and talked very sweetly to it. She also snuck it into the hot tub tonight and was forlorn when the face disappeared and her ghost started to disintegrate. So if anyone has a spare bean I could borrow to make her another baby...
Tomorrow is my favorite holiday!!!!

Sugar cookies... part deux.

Brady's artistic rendition... they look kinda tasty.

Natalie's creations, believe it or not but the majority of the icing was on her tummy and hands.

Natalie's from the side: Mt. Sprinkle.

Natalie is having her Halloween party tomorrow, and I signed up to bring cookies, so we made more sugar cookies tonight. I set aside a half dozen for each kid to decorate their own and will finish the rest of the batch tomorrow (still doped up from that migraine!).

And a little saving grace for Brady's "Harvest party" *cough*. Apparently Haggen makes plain cutout sugar cookies and you can order just the quantity you need for your school parties. So at least they aren't those godawful factory made sugar cookies that you get in the clam shell, they will resemble something a little more traditional.

Harvest party. Pa-shaw.

Tuesday card class

I've been able to attend Treasury of Memories card class fairly regularly lately, and it helps that I've gotten my co-worker/friend Julie addicted to it too.

So yesterday I went and made some super cute cards and these ladies "trick or treated" us. They are regular attendees and are part of a wonderfully funny, sweet, ornery group of women and a very entertaining to be around. The lady on the left was showing us the contents of her purse (severed fingers).

Afterwards, I picked up little miss from school where she had "a really good day, mom" and then we walked over and picked up the B man from his school and lazily made our way back home.

I fully intended on attending the school meeting that evening regarding becoming an IB school (I want to call it International Baccalaureate) but I had just finished dinner and was feeling the beginning of a headache.

Two Vicodin, 2 codeine-laced aspirin, 2 Excedrin, a hot shower, heating pad, and 12 hours of sleep later, I'm recovering from it.

Today should be a better day, we need to finish our pumpkins and Halloween decorating, and make sugar cookies for Natalie's party at school (and BUY plain sugar cookies for Brady's party... love the public school system, the have managed to homogenize every part of our child's school experience.)

Oh, Jessie.

Big sister Pearl with the new love of her life, she floated out of the delivery room when she was the first to meet him and got to come report the news to the rest of us waiting.

First of all, yes I got there in plenty of time to be one of the first to meet Huggins (thank you, mom). I am utterly happy for them, he's healthy and pink and just perfect. I can't wait to get some more time with him.

NOW, on with the post!

Yesterday morning my in-laws arrived back at home in CA and began the "move-in" process (you know, after living someplace else for 6 months...). They promised to keep an eye out for "Jessie", Natalie's new favorite friend from the movie Toy Story (OK, you know how Bambi can make you cry when his mom dies, that's what the Jessie scene in Toy Story does to me when she gets dumped by her girl. So there is no way I could deny my daughter the chance to love Jessie, despite the fact that the doll has evil eyebrows. Why would Disney approve that for marketing? Why couldn't they just round her eyebrows a little more? Ahh... I digress). Later that morning I received an email that states that Jessie was hiding behind the clean towels trying to stay in sunny CA, and a photo.

I called Natalie in to the computer room to show her the email she received and this is the response I got:

"Jessie! JESSIE! Jessie, come back! Mama, get Jessie! Mommy! I want Jessie to come home this second!"

So, being the wonder-mom that I am, thought this was sweet/funny, and am always looking for ways to tease Cameron, had to take this picture and email it to him.

So anyway, Welcome back to the sun Cameron and Sue, I look at my fading wonderful brown skin and think of you...

Please join me in welcoming...

The baby commeth!

I called Carly's house to take her out and about and break up her endless anticipation and Jim answered the phone... she was unable to talk!
I am anxiously trying to get over to be with/around her and NOT ONE PERSON IS AROUND so that I may ditch my kids to help welcome hers to the world.
It's probably better that I'm not there right now, I'm a tad excited.
Got to go!

Weekend update

Most of Brady's Kindergarten class, there are several shots of this group, but the number of children fluctuates in each frame...getting 5&6 year olds to hold still must be like herding cats. Brady's buddies (Larry was in charge of B and the boy in blue who Larry described as "greased lightning". I wonder if that's why he was assigned to the "dad" chaperon.)

Natalie with her ghost (which lasted about 3 minutes before being destroyed and devoured. The spiders didn't even make it off the table.

Brady couldn't leave Merch-bot without these. I kept teasing him that his moustache was really nosehair. He made several people downtown smile that day.

Friday was Larry's last day of vacation, and it was also Brady's first field trip so Larry chaperoned the trip to Stoneyridge Farm.

It was a whirlwind trip, the bus didn't leave the school until after noon, and had to be back by 2, so the kids had the edited version of the tour. Larry said it was like 6 minutes at each event before re-boarding the bus for home; which I'd like to point out the bus ride was NOT Brady's favorite part of the field trip, the giant rope swing was.

Saturday we went to Brady's first soccer game (they are the red rattlesnakes) and they "won". This will be the last year the B plays indoor soccer, as his skills are improving, and it's very hard to kick a soccer ball and keep up with it on a gymnasium floor.

Afterwards, the kids and I wandered through downtown visiting Fiamma burger, Merch-bot, Kids Northwest, Mallards, Avellino, Hols, and Clark's.

THEN we went to Haggen and participated in their Halloween crafts, an Oreo spider and a lollipop ghost. It was sweet because when we walked in, 2 of the employees greeted Brady and Natalie by name, which made them feel at ease, and made me feel a little more connected to my local store (or is it just that I dump my kids at the daycare there so often that they're known as "those poor Allred children"?)

We woke up to frost this morning, regardless of the sunny blue skies. Maybe we'll carve pumpkins and visit the still pregnant Carly. Maybe we'll paint her belly like a jack-o-lantern and kill two birds with one stone...

Christopher Walken is the best

Here is a link (click title) of one of my favorite music videos of all time. Christopher Walken is so great in this, as in almost anything he does.
We always watch SNL when he hosts, as he never disappoints. One of my favorite lines from SNL came from him and it goes something like this:
"I have a fever. And the only prescription is more cowbell!"

Blogging brings the world together

I have a very small "blogging community" which mostly consists of people I talk to regularly anyway.
But lately I've been noticing that my different "groups" of friends are linking together through our respective blogs.
I'll run into one friend and they'll ask what ever happened with so-and-so, and then another friend will ask what the background is to another friend so that they have a better understanding of their blog.
And then I'll go read one friends blog and see that she has linked my other unknown-to-them-personally friends blog is listed on their favorites.
I just think the whole thing is so cool that all of my friends far and wide are connecting to each other and really enjoying each others' lives.
It just proves that I have wonderful, very exciting, friends.
And blogging is very cool.

Fun Fall Day

Natalie happy to pose on each pumpkin ("how 'bout this mom? over here mom!)

If you don't have your readers on, the scale reads at 68 pounds.

On the hunt for The Great Pumpkin (see above).

I keep meaning to take a picture of this "Thomas Kincaid" house in Ferndale. Today I remembered.




N running from her daddy in the leaves.

N taunting her daddy after her great escape.

She celebrated too early.

Finally caught.

Our little dimple girl.

A couple of smooches for the road.

The small one was the kid's creation (Lar's construction) and the big one is supposed to be a Mickey Mouse pumpkin (we're making the ears bigger tomorrow so it doesn't look like a bear anymore.) So far my favorite cookies (that I can't bear to eat) are the Candy corn ones and the...

Spider web ones.

Little Betty Crocker (she's Canadian isn't she? I thought her home was in Victoria?)

This morning Miss Amelia ( I think Brady believes her birth name is "Melers") came over and played at our house this morning while Jen and Aiden got to go on a field trip (Brady goes tomorrow with Larry. I think he's more interested in the bus ride there.)

Little Miss Amelia was so much fun to have around, and Larry just thinks she's the cutest (he only sees her from time to time, so he's always surprised by her new accomplishments). After Natalie left for school, Amelia helped me roll out cookie dough and wash dishes. She was such a big helper, and quite a talented baker (her cookies were delish).

Larry and I took Natalie to Memorial park after she got out of school and played in the remaining falling leaves (great photo op's people!). Then retrieved the B-man and headed to Boxx Berry farm where we got our fill of pumpkins.

And I really need to go to the grocery store... I've yet to do a real "shop" since we got back home so tonight Larry ate a frozen Shepherds pie, the kids had a Red Baron frozen pizza, and I had a bean burrito. Then we all had our fill of sugar cookies and worked off the sugar carving pumpkins.

Good day.

**And if you want to see how Bunco was last night at my house (hint... awesome) head over to Brooke's blog, the Gat Clan Chronicles and check out her photos of the ladies. And I made mini caramel apples for the party. I'll be making those again, but for my own "private" party. Have mercy, they were yummy. I took and apple and my melon baller and made a "mini apple" with it. I stuck a stick in the apple and then dipped them in caramel. After that cooled, I dipped them in white chocolate. But it doesn't stop there. Before the white chocolate sets I sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar. Yeah.

The power of one.

Apparently I could have become the most hated human in the world (luckily I mailed my ballot today). Oh well, my in-laws would still love me ;)
Click on the title of this post for the video.
Thank you Carly, you made me smile a little more today.

I just finished voting

and I feel a little better now. Today is c o l d, but sunny and beautiful, we never made it to Sehome yesterday, maybe we'll make it to Memorial park today, they have good leaves to jump in.
I had to pause for a moment and admire my wonderfully tan hands... I know it's a fleeting beauty, but I'll soak it in before the rain and cold washes it away. *Sigh*
Bunco party tonight here... I've got to dig my costume out so I can greet my guests in style. I've also got to get crackalackin on the housekeeping, as I have been lax on that aspect! Oh and make sugar cookies with the kids, go to an office meeting (learning more about lasik eye surgery), and a bazillion other things before 7pm need to be done.
But I've done my good deed for the week too. Remember my expensive mistake (did I tell you?) about driving all the way to San Diego only to realize that we'd left the tickets sitting on the kitchen counter? Well they expire soon, and so I Craigslisted them and I ended up donating them to a San Diego "boys club", that provide activities and basic needs to low-income families and more recently the hurricane victims. So hopefully these will put a smile on some more children's faces, I know my kids had a hoot there, I'm glad our mistake can make another family happy.
And I voted. Have you? (I know it's 2 weeks before the election, but Whatcom county is an absentee county so I don't have to "go to the polls". )

Home again, home again jiggity jig

We made it home last night, found out that our fish tank heater died while we were gone so we lost a couple of fish (my poor mom wouldn't have any idea about this since the fish hide in rocks a lot...) but they are warm again, and seem to be faring well (the survivors that is).
I woke up yesterday morning, rolled over and started spinning like crazy. My vertigo couldn't have picked a worse time to rear it's ugly head. I spent the morning vomiting and trying to get an article of clothing on without inducing more vomiting. And we still had to change all the sheets on the bed, pack the last few items, put the trash out, dress the kids... you get the picture. Poor Larry was running around frantically doing everything, hopefully everything looks OK when Cameron and Sue get down there next week!
I "sobered" up enough to walk on the airplane and didn't have an episode during the flight (I was slightly panicked I'd actually have to use the airsick bag).
Natalie was on cloud 9 when I picked her up from school today, it's a lovely fall afternoon and she had a full day catching up with all her little friends.
Larry is picking up the B-man as we speak, and then we're off to Sehome to enjoy the fall colors, before the rain resumes.
I've got to go, there is a kitty who desperately needs some love (poor Daisy).

Catching up with family.

We were all laughing so hard at this poor unfortunate group. Until... We walked out looking like this (a Pilot whale came over to our group, all the others got was the little dolphins). Note that Natalie is not standing in a shadow and my pants have a dry patch at the top that shows their true color.

What the boys did yesterday.

Cute little guy, waiting for breakfast.

The Beluga whales are always fun to watch (usually we see them at the Vancouver Aquarium).
We encountered these guys out on their morning walk. They are strange and funny birds, lots of odd-ball personality.
Dun-dun-da-dun-dun SHAMU! SHAMU!
The dolphin experience awaits us.

Yesterday we spent the day where? Yup, the beach. I can totally imagine what kind of family we'd be if we lived down here (don't worry folks, my mother-in-law's neighbor just sold their little house for just over half a million... I think we'll stay in Bham's price range).
Then last night we headed over to Uncle Bryan and Aunt Barbara's house for dinner. Cousin Emily and her family showed up too, which was a very nice surprise. We got to see her daughter Brianna again (11??!!), and meet Emily's new husband and their ADORABLE son Joseph, who just turned 1.

We stayed up late laughing and talking, while baby Joseph went home with daddy and Natalie crashed on the couch. The other cousins (B and B, actually 3rd cousins to each other) laughed and talked all night inside while watching America's Funniest Home Videos. Which I totally loved because Brady just doesn't have any family to play with at home, so it was nice to see him making a connection with her. I loved playing with my cousins growing up, and my kids only have one cousin in WA, and we just don't get to see her that often.

Off to cash in our final day at Disneyland. Today we just plan on doing California Adventure because we're tired, and it's another weekend day so we're afraid of going back in to Disneyland after last time...

Tomorrow is a rest/clean (maybe beach?) day and we fly out Monday morning :(

One more... for Jackie

So we fed these bat-rays (it was so cool! Larry's fav. part of the day), and afterward we are all washing our hands (from you know, holding dead fish and sticking our fingers near another animals mouth). There are two sinks at the exhibit so Larry is helping N wash her hands and I'm helping B wash his, as well as washing our own hands. Simple enough concept, right?
This lady mutters under her breath "So are we all washing our hands our what?" like we're just dilly-dallying around the sinks.
In unison, Larry and I both (in the same tone, you know the tone. It was the same tone she used with us) tell her "Why yes, we all are washing our hands", but then I added "Smart-ass" where Larry showed restraint and I have none.
Bitch.

too tired to post

I have some great photos/video from Sea World today, but I need to go to bed!
But some random thoughts:
-Had deja-vu today when we stopped at the exact same Chevron and Coffee Bean that we stopped at 5 years ago when we took Brady to the Zoo..
-Had a incessant romantic feeling every time we drove by a beach name from a Beach Boys song (Doheny, Laguna, etc.)
-Thought of my brother when we drove through Dana Point (his life was saved/changed there).
-Thought of my dear friend Rach as we drove through Mission Viejo and past Laguna beach where we spent our senior year spring break. I love that she loved the same kind of vacation I did/do: Lay on the beach. Every day. Period.
-Laughed a little when Natalie began sobbing uncontrollably for not being able to pet Shamu. She really wants to pet a whale in her lifetime(it was her wish for a reward for potty training... almost 2 years ago!)
-She also wanted to pet the sharks.
-We forgot our tickets to Sea World... I didn't realize this until we were IN San Diego. That was an expensive mistake.
-We had the shittiest breakfast ever at IHOP this morning.
-We found an awesome hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant for dinner (Don Chuy's).
-When they say you're in the "soak zone", they mean it.
-Natalie got Nursemaid's elbow again today. Larry was playing with the kids, swinging them over certain bricks in the sidewalk (you know the game: "one, two, three, JUMP!") We were in the ER 2 Easter's ago for this...
-I saw a fine specimen FeMullet today, tried to sneak a picture but it's pretty obscure. A FeMullet of this caliber is a rare find in the wild, we were fortunate just to see it in person. I dubbed her Larry's girlfriend (and the conversation went downhill from there).
-We met a family from Arlington today too.
-My tan in coming along nicely, thanks for asking.

I might forget to come back home...

I woke up this morning to my kids snuggling me in bed and a hot cup of coffee next to the alarm clock.
After we leisurely packed up for the day, we drove back out to Huntington beach where I sat and watched some of the best surfers in the world on some terrific waves (the Santa Ana's died down and the surf was 4-7 feet today). I also watched my kids play in the sand, my husband boogie board, the pelicans diving for fish, and the dolphins breaching off shore.
Totally perfect day. I could do this for a living.

Oh! Two tidbits from Universal

I almost forgot to tell you that I saw Ed Begely Jr., who Larry still isn't sure who I'm talking about and I also saw a mother/daughter from the show "Showbiz moms and dads" or some godawful show like that... I made the connection (they looked vaguely familiar) when I heard and saw the mothers behavior.
We were at the animal show (where the animal actors do a little presentation) and we were sitting in the second row (the first row is painted blue and reserved for people with disabilities). The theatre was filling up, and apparently mommy dearest really wanted her daughter up front, you know, in case a child was called on stage for a demonstration (they were and darling daughter wasn't chosen "It looks like they were looking for an older, bigger child this time dear" like we were on a casting call). But here is the kicker: I watch her looking for a spot to sit, and she says to her child "There aren't this many handicaps here today, so we can just sit here." I couldn't help but give her stink eye then and there and several other times, as well as telling Larry very loudly just what she said (I pointed too). I mean seriously? You showed up late to the show and think that you are entitled to a front row spot because the people that need your seat haven't shown up yet? Oh, and yes the blue row did fill up that afternoon... she just kept squeezing down on the corner desperately clinging to her front row seat. Which, by the way, the trainers usually don't pick from the front row, because, uh, most people sitting there are physically unable to jump on stage and do animal stunts easily.
This lady has really stuck in my craw. Most people fall into "ignorant idiot" or "unaware" but to purposely be so despicable? I wanted to trip her on the way out, because you know simple education or a "excuse me, go sit up in the bleachers with the rest of us, you mistakenly sat here" because she did it on purpose! And she saw nothing wrong, regardless of how uncomfortable I made her with my stink-eye.

Disney Day two

Ugh. Today we woke up early and went to Disneyland to take advantage of our "Magic Morning" pass (you get to enter an hour before the park "opens" and ride a couple of popular rides early).
We brought our strollers today, which made staying there for a full 12 hours tolerable. That and we took a long lunch followed by a show (Billy Hill and the Hillbillies) that let everyone recharge (and Natalie napped).
Of course no ride would be complete without Brady's incessant complaining about the ride prior to ever getting near the ride to know what he is complaining about, and Natalie seems to have forgotten her brain in Washington, because her antics are making us wonder if she has taken the whole California Blonde stereo type to heart.

Again, the photos aren't top notch or anything, and the weird picture of me holding a tag? There are a bunch of coconut wind chimes over by the Tiki Lounge, and they are from Whidbey Island! Hey mom, do you know who is distributing these?

Another day off tomorrow, back to HUNTINGTON beach!

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Beach babes

Natalie told me a couple of weeks ago that she wants to be a Lifeguard...
Natalie on the pier (I secretly love Huntington Beach because everything has my "nickname" HB all over everything).
Brady was being a very sweet big brother at the beach.

We spent the afternoon at Huntington Beach today, and despite some wind, we had a great time. Natalie and I had lunch together at the end of the pier while the boys dug a giant hole by the shoreline. When Natalie and I finally joined them, Larry took Brady out for his first surf lesson (on a body board). Natalie had a try too, but she is much more like her mom on the beach, lay back and relax. Which is what I did.

We plan on returning tomorrow or Wednesday to soak up the last rays of sunshine we'll see until spring!

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Oh, and Brady lost another tooth today, so we had to call my mom to ask her to leave a note on Brady's bed informing the Tooth Fairy that he was on vacation and could she please detour down here on her way back to Disneyland...

Universal Studios

Natalie kept filling her bucket with ONLY the pink foam balls.
The kids waiting for the water feature on the Citywalk.
Natalie was a "Fantasy Feline" today.
I desperately wanted to get a family picture here, but nobody would stop :(

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
Inside Curious George's playhouse.

The rocket at the Curious George water park. Brady wasn't posing, he was trying to ignore me and inspect Bruce.
A little sumpthin' sumpthin' for the ladies... Wisteria Lane!

Norman was there today... creepy dude. Brady the nonconformist refused to flex for the photo.

We just arrived back home from a day in Hollywood CA. We all had a superfun time, the kids favorite part by far was the Curious George area. They have a water park and an indoor foam ball zone, that they would have spent all day at if we'd have let them.
Brady said he didn't like Jurassic Attack (Natalie was too short, so I skipped this ride with her) and he sort of liked The Mummy (I rode with him, then sent Larry in on his own since N was too short for this one too, besides she would have hated it).
All was fine and dandy until the horrendous wait time at Krustyland. The wait time was long all day, but once we got "committed" to the line, it slowed even further due to technical difficulties, so we waited WAY to long for 2 small children, but it was a fun ride too.
And I have a sick confession: I love to drive the LA freeways. I mean on the weekends when there isn't any rush hours, I love the speed, the technical maneuvering. It's sick, I know. Don't tell anybody.

P.S. Natalie is making the stink face (from the Disneyland pictures) because as soon as we hit the bottom of Splash Mountain (we were in the very last seat), a giant wave splashed over and soaked her pants thoroughly. So she was upset at that shocker, not so much the ride itself (though she started to panic a little when it got dark.)