randomly, today is national waffle day.

how embarrassing that I made pancakes for breakfast this morning.

when I was little and we had family gatherings (which was often) the grown-ups would always gather at the table after dinner to play some game or other. shortly after I got married, Grandma and several of her children moved to Alabama, and I never got a chance to learn many of those games. 

so we made Grandma teach us Mexican Train Dominoes while she was here.  We've played it several times since, and even the boys can play. Good times!

When I took her to the airport to leave, Fletcher decided to come with us.  He chatted up people in line, asked questions of the security guards, threw change at random in the gate area; and then when Nana got on the plane we walked to the window to see if we could find her seat. 

We did - 2nd window from the front. "See, there's her white jacket and she is holding her book." But she would have had to hunch way over to look out the window at us, so fletcher just gave a little wave and whispered, "Bye bye, Nana."  It just about killed me. 

Miss you already, Grandma!

"Adventures" with Staci. Also without. 

so. yesterday I headed up to a nice big park so my boys could run off a summer's worth of steam. and my friend staci came with us and the kids had fun jumping in the creek and getting wet from armpits to tennis shoes.  when the low blood sugar and cranky faces set in we decided to head to a place in Culver City to eat. 

a mile or so down the road my phone rang and staci said she'd pulled into the lot of a place called Numero Uno Pizza and it looked fine and maybe we could just eat there so I turned around and we all headed in. the 8 of us were the only ones in the restaurant. It was dingy, and filthy, and smeary.  and then the pizza came. 

on the restaurant's website it says, "The company has built a strong reputation around exceptional food featuring only the highest quality ingredients for our toppings including 100% whole milk mozzarella cheese".

really? hmm. "strong reputation" eh? well I got 3 words for ya. 

NEVER. EAT. THERE. 

and then. Staci hears about this place in Redondo Beach called Seaside Lagoon.  and she was going to head down there with her folks and didn't it sound amazing? sure, yeah, sounds cool lemme call Betsey and it sounds good to her too so we'll see you there yay! 

NO. NOT YAY. 

the first sunny day we've had in weeks had turned cloudy by the time we got there.  thousands of small screaming children ran and played in the shallow waters beneath fountains.  instantly the children were lost from sight. a trip to the bathrooms produced a smell that I hope to scrub from my memory.  betsey said, "at least the water doesn't stink" and we called staci to see if she had arrived yet. 

"no. we're running late. is it bad?"  yes.   "is it as bad as the pizza place yesterday?"  just about.

she laughed. "okay, I'm not coming." 

WHAT?!   so Betsey and I sat on the sand and nursed and talked smack about utah, gave the 10 minute warning and shot out of there like a bat out of some place cold, crowded and briny. 

by the time we got home the water had ripened on my children's skin and clothes and did, in fact, stink. (sulfer, maybe?)

this newfound friendship may be the death of me! staci, next time i get to pick. 

Little Baby Van has a tooth!  and he is determined to eat anything that comes within sight. He got really mad at me for keeping the newspaper out of his reach this morning. 

While Nana is visiting the boys have been sleeping in their sleeping bags. They are in heaven.

It's been a nice visit - despite three and a half days in the hospital for her (THAT was fun) - and the boys are just in love with Nana and full of information for her and questions too.  Connor sits and listens to her stories and our conversations and begs us to keep talking when we run out of ready things to say.  

I've been so glad to have her here, too! I can use my serger now! Still have to study up on all the things it can do but at least now I know how to thread the beast... Thanks, Grandma!

This summer has been a whirlwind! People visiting left and right and activities galore. I'm going to take a deep breath when school starts and hole up for a week to recoup! 

The boys experienced their first baseball game last Thursday - we went and saw the Dodgers play the Braves.  Con insisted on knowing all the stats for each team and all the players; I was unable to oblige with any help and kept pointing him toward the giant screen which would put up helpful facts. 

- and while the "all you can eat" seats were fun, those Dodger Dogs are not all that we were made to expect. I'm just saying. 

Been reading a few entertaining books which makes my last couple of weeks feel more normal. I find that I equate times of my life according to what I was reading then. So when I am not reading anything I feel a little lost. 

Lots of errands today and tomorrow, and then I get my Grandmother's company for a week here.  She's going to show me the ropes with my serger. Hallelujah! 

Progress.

if I'm lucky I'll have the last cushion done today.  A busy weekend and a busy August are coming up and this may be my last day of leisure for quite some time.  Never before have I looked forward to the school season as a reprieve! 

this puff pastry pizza is super easy to make - just take one puff pastry and fold up the edges a bit, add parmesan, zucchini and tomatoes and bake 20 minutes. Its gorgeous and scrumptious. 

and I was the only person in my house who would eat it. 

Hungry?

Are you hungry?
Are you so hungry? 

Those are his favorite words. 

I'm supposed to have finished this by now...

I finally got two of the couch cushions covered a couple of months ago - with the idea that by the end of that week the entire couch would be done. But no. I've still got the throw on the bottom two cushions to hide the chocolate stains. And the milk stains. And orange juice. And that one big rip that nobody will admit to creating.

this is the only before picture I have; I had already covered one cushion before I thought of taking the photo.  It's pretty simple to cover.  It's all very rectangular and really shouldn't  be hard once I actually get down to it. 

I just need to get down to it!

dang it. this new place opened up right across the street from our apartment andIloveitsomuch! I've already gone so many times (6, in 10 days...) that I'm on name-basis with one of the employees and she always gives me a discount.   if there is a Yogurtland near you, you should try it out. Especially if you have kids. You serve everything yourself and there are tons of flavors and toppings to choose from.  And at 30 cents an ounce it's far cheaper than any of the other new yogurt shops. 

YUM. 

today was shots day for littlest guy (middle guy gets 'em tomorrow).  the doctor kept expressing her disbelief at his size and I suppose she has reason:  at 18 lbs 10 oz the kid isn't even on the charts! Luckily he's also very tall.  Not so lucky for my pocketbook since I'm buying him a new wardrobe every few weeks. 

he's also learned a new trick! He can roll from back to front now, and spends all of his waking moments trying to do so whenever I lay him down.  before we know it, he'll be running all around the place. Sigh!

a week and a day ago my very dear friend and my son's very dear wife-to-be came to stay with us for a "long" vacation.  they are with relatives for the weekend and then back with us for only one more night before moving on. 

we've been so busy with them here!  when they lived here I pulled out several of my future daughter-in-law's teeth because I guess I'm good at it. Well on this trip, she returned the favor! Fletch lost his first tooth! (so what if it was an accident - as long as I didn't have to do it!) 

Van found that hair is very fun to hang on to.  She found this hysterical.

much enjoyment of the balcony. even on the cold mornings.

craig brought out the glow-bracelets and they commenced making their own fireworks inside before we headed up to the roof to watch various shows around the city.

One of Con's "cooking" projects, although this one was of the no-bake variety:

He wanted to surprise Elle for dessert one night  (got the recipe from Pioneer Woman). It's amazing how much ice cream will fit into those little pails!

Summer Activities! 

for family night this week my husband said, "let's all pick something that we want to work on for half an hour every day" (he's been needing to get a project done and needed some motivation and support, I'm thinking). 

Fletcher : I'm going to learn to read!

Connor:  I want to cook!

Me:  A hobby. Any hobby! 1/2 hour will be more time than I'm getting now...

Him: said project 

and so far so good. Fletcher is practically learning to read without us, the cute little guy; and Connor has baked/made something every day all week. 

3 of the 4 have been dessert-type foods but who's counting? 

today was the last day of swim lessons. we go back in august for another round and I'm glad. while my little one is no longer terrified to get his face wet at all, he still has a ways to go before I let him in the pool without his ring on. 

he did it! i'll spare you the photo of his look of utter disgust at having actually gone all the way under the water. but at least it was just a look, and not screaming panic. progress!

I am being tried beyond my patience. 

not by this little guy, who gets impossibly cuter every single day.  oh my heart! his older brothers have dubbed the toy "huggy bear", because "he's always hugging it!"  Naturally. 

but by our miserable-nasty weather which seems determined to hang on for an extra millennium  or two.  the pier is looking like this most days:

when it's supposed to look like this:

and for two boys who have swim lessons at 9:40 in the morning, it can get chilly! June gloom has lasted for nearly 8 weeks now. We had a gorgeous weekend - hot and sunny and perfect. Then I woke up this morning and it's clouds, and damp, and gray again. 

If you see some lady in Los Angeles shaking her fist at the sky and swearing, it's probably me. 

Preschool Graduation: because 5 graduations in one lifetime just weren't enough.  I was rather smug that I didn't dress him up. There were 2 other kids who were not dressed up. Almost all of the girls had floor-length satin numbers and several sported tiaras. He couldn't have cared less, and I was glad. Hi sweetie!

we needed to trim his hair for swim lessons, so the goggles would fit right. just a trim.  but he insisted on using the buzzer (he hates to stand there while I slowly snip away). We argued and argued and he won. I told him that it would make his hair super-short. He didn't care. 

Until he saw himself in the mirror. Then his little face crumpled and the tears came instantly. 

"Oh no Mom! Not this short!" 

sigh.  Oh my sweet boy.  I had to call Daddy and warn him to say nice things about it when he got home (last time Daddy saw his hair all cut off, he actually cried). 

and, thus begins our summer! sheesh!

this is the last week of school! i'm so glad!

we have lots of things planned - swim lessons and trips to the hollywood bowl and classes at the aquarium.  in between i'm sure we'll go to the beach as much as humanly possible.  On top of my list is getting a beach umbrella to protect sweet little baby's sensitive skin!

what are your plans?

My apartment feels very empty today.

The Case for Barbie

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Recently in the news and magazines, articles have been popping up about Barbie's 50th birthday; which is being celebrated this year by Mattel and by collectors everywhere.  However, her birthday does not come without it's share of opposition. For years now people have railed against Barbie as an unhealthy and unrealistic role model for our daughters.  

Mothers and psychiatrists alike came out against the impossibly-curvy-while-being-impossibly-slim (according to sources, her real life measurements would be 39-21-33) doll, stating that she was largely to blame for the rise in eating disorders and heightened sexual awareness in young children. 

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I have to disagree. My mother, single until I was 8 years old, allowed me to play with Barbies.  My mom is not a girly girl. Sure she likes herself some fancy heels and she curls her hair before she goes out, but she's more likely to be seen in cotton and flannel in her free time and I could probably count on my fingers the number of times she has allowed makeup to touch her face. She has caught her own fish, killed her own deer, changed her own tires and helped build her new house after she got married.  

I am a girly girl. I love makeup and fashion and the one time my dad took me hunting I humiliated him beyond description. I had several Barbies and boxes full of clothes and a Ken doll for all of them to fight over. My 3 younger sisters also played with Barbies. They range from "almost as girly as me" to "touch me with that curling iron and you die". 

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Last Christmas my friend, who had previously been opposed to letting her daughter play with Barbies, allowed us to buy her one as a present.  Her husband had decided it was high time his little girl get some fashion sense. (heh) My sons picked out "Barbie for President" Barbie. Score one for females around the world, I say.  Barbie now has had so many uniforms and held so many positions, a young girl can hold this doll and see before herself a world full of possibilities. 

And about those eating disorders: What has happened to women, teens, and young girls since Barbie began to be ostracized a couple of decades ago? We have gotten fat. The term "muffin top" has been coined and it does not refer to anything so warm and delicious as a freshly baked blueberry breakfast food.  

The last time I saw a Barbie with workout clothes on, it was 1984.  Is it possible that having an impossibly beautiful and curvaceous icon to look up to (down upon?) helps us to see the possibilities in ourselves? Helps us to make goals of beauty and health that have been tossed aside in favor of a milkshake and french fries? 

Happy Birthday, Barbie. May your youth, beauty, and impossible curves last another 50 years!

my boys have been spending days on end reading these fabulous books.

fletcher will go up to connor, holding this book half as big as he is, and beg him to read it out loud.  i love listening to them laugh and laugh. 

thanks Bill Watterson. Anytime you feel like coming out of retirement is fine with us!

one of connor's friends from school told us about the Natural History Museum's yearly bug event. naturally, the boys were eager to go and let giant bugs crawl on them. naturally, I made daddy take them.

they got there early, which is good because when they left the line was nearly all the way across the park.  I should have known that they could not attend such an inspiring event without coming home with some.... souvenirs. 

now we get to find some appropriately sized shadow boxes for display.  woo hoo!