Paul Is Not the Only One Who Gets To Do The Surprising

Since all this house business happened so fast (about 4 weeks from start to finish), some of my dearest friends, who I do not get to talk to every day, had no idea. As the closing was getting closer and closer, I thought it would be fun to surprise Kelly and She She. Vickie had this great idea (gotta give credit where credit is due!) to invite them to lunch at the new house but under the guise of the house of "someone I knew". She She admitted to having suspicions, but Kelly was completely surprised. It was priceless to see her ask "is this your house?" first to Susan, then Vickie and lastly me. Once she got a "yes", it was squeals all around. Since we had only closed 2 days before and there wasn't any furniture in the house, we entertained our first guests with a folding table and camp chairs in the hearth room. Oh, the memories we are making!

Vickie, Belle, She She, Susan, me and Kelly

It Has Been Almost 12 Years...

since we moved into our house. And soon we will be moving out. We bought another house and will be moving soon. We had been keeping our eye on the market for a couple of months and found something that fits our needs. It has been very hard for me since we have such great neighbors, some we consider family. Needless to say, I cried at each neighbor’s house as we made the rounds to tell them personally. As an Army brat you would think I would be used to this, but I guess I am a little out of practice. I just wanted to share some of the great memories we have made at Erie Cove:

A marriage proposal, arrival of 2 children, countless gatherings of friends and family, numerous birthday parties, planting and training a tree for kids to climb (which they do), watching neighbors help build a pier and seawall (complete w/kids handprints in the cement), an outdoor violin recital, catching turtles, loosing balls that roll into the lake, experiencing for the first time a true sadness for the loss of a tree, watching the new ducklings every spring, canoeing on the lake and many others.

No Flowers In Our Hair

Ashley and I had a fantabulous time in San Fran. Here are some highlights:

-thought I lost my ID in Salt Lake (“lost” meaning dropped in the toilet)
-got lost as soon as we got there, but not the bad kind of lost
-stayed in the nicest hotel Ashley has ever stayed in
-saw some wicked steep hills
-saw Wicked
-rode a cable car and visited the Cable Car Museum
-toured Alcatraz and saw a beautiful sunset
-had some sort of camera glitch and lost a lot of pictures
-saw an awesome view of SF from Coit Tower
-ate sushi and other delish food
-walked the Golden Gate Bridge, and paid $5 so we wouldn’t have to walk back
-was in awe at a JapanTown dollar store
-made a deal in ChinaTown
-visited SFMOMA
-learned a lot about mass transit
-saw a beautiful Japanese garden, hopefully to duplicate in my new backyard
-perused an antique paper show for the first time (a what?—like old letters, photos, stuff like that. It was tres interesting!)
-learned why it is called the Tenderloin District
-really did not see as many typical San Fran’s (if you know what I mean) as I thought
-walked the Wharf and watched a sidewalk performer
-ate at In and Out Burger
-salivated in a paper store in JapanTown (yes, paper—it’s an art thing)
-learned that personal space is completely relative and people in SF are very nice to tourist
-understands why my single brother lives there. The weather is great and it is easy to get around.
–realized you can pretty much eat whatever you want because of the amount of walking that is done

Now for the pictures:

A view of Golden Gate Bridge from Alcatraz at sunset

On one of the piers at Fisherman's Wharf

Riding a SF landmark

Jaan and I in the Haight

Our hotel room (just kidding--it is one of the cells in Alcatraz)

JapanTown with Hello Kitty

How clever is this picture? Great idea Ash!

My Husband May Not Do All the Laundry...

But he knows how to surprise me! Paul is an expert at planning surprise trips. For those of you who did not know me way back when I turned 30 (5 years ago), Paul surprised me with a trip to New York City with my best friend from high school, Dawn. And since it was Christmas at Harmony's, he also had to secretly pack for me. We had a fabulous time filled with lots of shopping, sightseeing and an unforgettable adventure in China Town.(If you don't know that story, ask me about it sometime!)

I turned 35 on the 27th and while I was talking on the phone with my (very much missed) friend Ashley, he walked into our bedroom with Juliana's easel. This is what I saw:

If you can't read it, on Jan. 29th I will be on my way to San Francisco with Ashley to see Wicked!

Despite being incredibly spoiled, I do realize I have got a pretty amazing husband. Thanks Nick (and Nick's mom!), for letting Ashley run away with me for a few days. I GREATLY appreciate it! And Paul, my wonderful husband, I promise I will come back!

In All Fairness

Okay, okay, here are the good pictures. They are not as funny, but I figured I better post them so Paul's family won't ban us from taking pictures next year.

Not Your Usual Christmas...

Yes, I am just getting around to posting my Christmas pictures...and instead of posting a bunch of sweet adorable pictures of children and everyone looking their best, I thought I would do something different. Here's to keeping it real...Enjoy!

The Young and the Innocent

A few days ago when I asked Andrew about his day at school, he told me one of his classmates got in trouble for calling another boy a bad name. Here is how the conversation continued...(keep in mind Andrew answers questions just like Paul - short, to the point and with little, if any emotion.)
Me: What did he say?
A: I don't know.
Me (in total slick-investigating-mom mode): Do you know any bad words?
A: Just one.
Me (now, in a totally undetectable oh-my-goodness-what-is he-going-to-say-keep-your-cool-no-matter-what panic): What does it start with?
A: "S"
Me (now wondering, have I ever said the "S" word around him? Do 2nd graders say that? Where did he hear it? Does he say it? And I am SO glad he did not say "F"): What does it mean?
A: Be quiet.
Since we were laying on the bed, he did not see me smile at his answer. And I am pretty sure he could not detect the enormous amount of relief only a mom can feel knowing that her 8 year old son still thinks "shut up" is a bad word.

Enjoying The Sounds Of Christmas

One of my very good friends, Kelly, who knows how much I love the symphony, was incredibly generous and gave our family tickets to a holiday concert performed by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra at the Cannon Center in Memphis. At the beginning of the performance we were told a local television station, WREG would be recording the performance which is to be aired on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I immediately made the kids take off their jackets. Juliana asked "why?" and when I told her "you might be on TV!", she gladly complied. Andrew did not care a bit and grumbled something about being cold. The kids were fascinated with the camera jib (this long arm with a camera on the end) and it was interesting to see it move so seamlessly.

Why is all this so important? Well, for one of the songs (I think it may have been Jingle Bells... I was too busy taking pictures of Juliana), they asked for child volunteers to help out on stage. Needless to say, Andrew was not interested at all but Juliana was very willing to help. She and all the other brave (or attention seeking) children got to ring bells and throw faux snow and at one point the camera came in right next to her. Now, she may end up on the cutting room floor, but if you happen to tune in, be sure to look for her. She will be the one on the end wearing a red dress with white furry cuffs and white tights with red and silver snowflakes on them (thanks Anna!).

We had a great night and it was perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit. It also reminded me of the times we would go hear Ashley play. Thank you so much Kelly!

*The pictures are blurry since we did not have the "good" camera with us. Who knew there would be a chance our daughter would be up on stage?

Celebrating Paul's Birthday

Paul's birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year, so we celebrated while we were at Harmony's. Paul wanted brownies instead of cake which worked out nicely since we had Juliana's cake from the night before. He enjoyed the day relaxing, watching football and eating Thanksgiving dinner. And yes, he really is 42!

Celebrating Juliana's Birthday Part II

Every other year we spend Thanksgiving at my mom's. My brother Jaan comes to visit and we drive to Harmony's. And since Juliana's (and Paul's) birthday is so close to Thanksgiving, every other year she gets to celebrate twice. Once at home with her friends and family, then again at Harmony's. Juliana enjoys helping in the kitchen and she was happy when I told her she could decorate the cake herself (well, after she asked). I frosted it and she added the designs and sprinkles. Who ever thought that letting a child decorate a cake would make them so happy?

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There are very few mature trees in our neighborhood, so Juliana was excited to see leaves on the ground. Unfortunately, Harmony already raked her yard so we had to borrow some from the neighbors yard. She was very eager to rake them together and Andrew conveniently showed up afterward to play in the pile. That's a big brother for ya!
*The music is an homage to one of my all time favorite 80's movies...do you know it?

Celebrating Juliana's Birthday

Since Juliana's birthday is so close to Thanksgiving, we try to celebrate her birthday a little early. Though we have never tried, I would image the attendance would be pretty low if the party was the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year she turned six and she chose to invite a few friends over for a sleepover instead of a bunch of friends for a party. Her guests arrived Friday after school. After some pizza, they had birthday cupcakes and ice cream. They ended the night with popcorn and a movie before falling asleep.
The next day after lunch we all headed to the movie theater to see Bolt before taking everyone home. It was a really cute movie and a great choice for either boys or girls, which was a good thing since Juliana chose to invite two boys. And if you know Juliana, that shouldn't be too much of a surprise. She is definitely not a girly girl and I just hope she will meet some similar girl friends next year because I don't think we can get away with a co-ed sleepover for her next birthday. There is a certain awareness that happens around first grade...you know what I mean, when they become aware that "boys are dumb" or "girls are gross".