El Camino and El Dorado

Saturday night we hired a sitter and went out. We met some friends at the El Camino for a bite before we headed out. We had tried to go to the El Camino the previous Saturday after Art Walk with my MIL, but they don't open until 4PM. They have this great patio in front of the restaurant where we waited for our table. Jason and I shared the nachos and mahi-mahi fish tacos, both were tasty. After dinner we went over to the El Dorado to meet up with some friends and dance. We parked in the lot next to the bar and tried for 10 min to pay the meter, but were unsuccessful. An acquaintance walked by and told us that they don't check the lot, so we just went into the bar. Later we found out that they do in fact check the lot and have a nice $30 ticket to pay. So we got in line for the bar and had to wait 30 min to get in. We were on a list to get in for free but, by the time we got to the front of the line it was a little after 11 so, we had to pay to get in, rad. We did have a fun time once we had a few drinks and ended up dancing most of the night.
Jason and I waiting in the line. I don't really like this photo that much.

Liesl singing

This afternoon I found Liesl singing to herself in the mirror. The song was mostly about the pink nail polish the baby sitter had put on her the night before. I have never painted her nails because I don't own any polish and just don't really like it. Anyway, the sitter brought some pink polish, painted her nails and didn't ask if it was okay or tell me about it when we got home. I am not mad, just mildly annoyed by it.

school performance

Today Porter's school was having a lunch and raffle fund raiser. At the end of the lunch all the children come in and sing a song. Last year Porter just stood there and didn't sing, so I was anxious to see what he would do this year.

Redwood Circle

Last Sunday we packed up the Croquette set, grabbed some bagels and headed over to Redwood Circle. We spent quite a few afternoons there last year and always have a great time.

a visitor from the north

Jason's mom Sharon came down for a visit last Monday and returns home tomorrow. We have all had a fun time with her here.

zoo trip

Porter has been asking for months to go to Fern Canyon at the Zoo. I usually have the stroller with me and don't want to leave it unattended, so I just tell him we will go next time. Well, next time came and we had nice time exploring a part of the Zoo we had never been to before.

Urban Kite Flying

Porter decided to fly his kite yesterday on the side walk. The kite hit the trees, my mom's car and was right under the wires, but it didn't stop him trying over and over again.

knitja

check it out yo
knitja.net

Lykke Li

i just can't get enough of her. I can't wait to see her on Monday at the Belly Up

cold day

After I picked Porter up form school I had this plan that I was going to take them over to Balboa Park for a picnic and to check out the MoPA. When I go to the park it was really crowded and I hate trying to find parking and dealing with crowds, so we left. We went to another park and it was freezing, but we sat down for lunch anyway. I think we lasted about 15 min before we left.
Porter was so cold he had to lie down.

I drove around for a little while trying to get Liesl to sleep, but it didn't work. It was 1:40 and I could not take the kids home for the day, so we went to the Children's museum. We ran into some friends there and had a really fun time.

i need some sleep

I went out dancing both Friday and Saturday night and I am exhausted. I can't believe I used to go out 5 or 6 nights a week. With kids you can't sleep in and I am older now, so I need my sleep.
Last night at El Dorado.

Garden Fresh

Saturday morning I woke up feeling good. It had been a week since I felt normal and decided to make a new area in the yard for vegetables. My box was full and I had a bunch of seedlings that needed to be planted, so I just started working on a new area. Jason was not happy about the fact that I didn't line up the new area with the planter box. The whole design and flow of the dirt rectangle(our yard)was messed up, but I think he is over it now. It is not a permanent box or anything and can go back to just being dirt when I am finished growing my vegetables.

I have planted way more this year and I really hope that I get some good produce.

hit me baby one more time

i lost a week

I started to get sick Saturday night in Vegas and ended up crashing at 10:30PM. I was in bed or the car all day Sunday, in bed all day Monday and part of Tuesday. On Wednesday I was feeling better, but still took it easy and then today I woke up worse again. I took a nap and felt better, but I still feel like shit. Jason, my mom and friends have all been really helpful with the kids, so I can rest. It is no surprise that the TV has been on quite a lot this week. Yesterday at my mom's house I noticed that Porter was whining a lot. My mom and sister would say that my kids whine all the time, maybe they do, but I don't notice it. This evening I realized that all of the whining is probably because of all of the TV and change of routine we have had this week. We will have a TV detox week starting Monday and see if the whining stops or not. I just need to get better, I don't do sick.

Legoland

My mom got us free tickets to Legoland that were only good for Saturday. I had free tickets to Thomas and Friends LIVE! – A Circus Comes to Town that day too, so I was a little bummed that I couldn't take Porter to both. Legoland was a lot of fun and perfect for little kids. Liesl would have liked to go on more rides, but she was not tall enough. Porter could have gone on more rides, but he was too scared. It was a fun day and I am happy we were able to go.

visit to LA

Tuesday we headed up to LA to visit my sister and her family. We stopped at Griffith Park on our way up because Liesl has been talking about riding the ponies. She tried to ride them a year ago, but said the saddle was hot and didn't want to go. This time she picked out the pony she wanted to ride and loved it. She wanted to go again, but Porter was anxious to ride the train, so we did that. The train ride was fun as always and after we went to the park for lunch before continuing on.

Wednesday we went to Placerita Canyon where the kids were able to play in the stream. They were wet when we left, but they had so much fun, stomping in the mud and building a dam. Wednesday evening Henry told my sister that he wanted to have a fun day the next day, so we made a little map of the complex. The next morning I took the kids on the walk while my sister buried envelopes of money that they used at Target to buy a toy.
Checking out the map.

Saturday

Saturday we had a little birthday celebration with my family at my parent's house. My dad heated the pool, so the kids spent a lot of time in the water.

Liesl got a bike from her Grammy and Papa for her birthday. She liked it, but does not know how to ride it yet and is not that coordinated.




Here is a video of Porter swimming. He spent about 4 hours in the pool yesterday and another hour today. He just taught himself how to swim and was so proud.

i want to ride my bicycle

Last Sunday we took Porter to the park to try and teach him how to ride his bike without training wheels. I think Porter was more interested in the removal of the training wheels that actually learning how to ride the bike.

Here is the video of his second attempt. It is on the grass and he did well, but not so well on cement.

Birthday Girl

Today was Liesl's 3rd birthday and we celebrated it with our playgroup at the park.

Showing off the birthday dress I made her. I was so happy with the way it turned out and I think I was a little annoying telling everyone "look at the dress I made".
I can't believe that my baby is 3! She is such a sweet little girl and brings so much joy and happiness to our family.

army men take over the gnome village

We have been on a one tv show a day schedule for almost two weeks now and it has been so much easier than I thought it would. The kids are not as whinny and I think they are happier now. In an effort to try and get the kids outside in the yard more, Porter and I built a gnome village. Porter was having fun playing with it for a while then Jason said he needed some army men. I told Jason that I would make some army men and the brick could be the tank. Porter played with my little men for a while, but Jason went out and bought some men anyway. Porter loves them and plays with them all the time.

Golden Hill Park

I confess

My kids watch way more tv than they should and it is all due to my lazy parenting. It is one thing to tell my friends that, an another to share it with the world. I have used the tv as a babysitter for as long as I can remember. I really suck as a parent and I really don't want my kids to grow up and remember me as the mom who was there, but not really there for them. Sure, I get up in the morning make them breakfast, turn on the tv, take care of their needs and then go back to sleep. I take them to the park or a museum, I take them on adventures, but when we are at home the tv is on. I decided today that we were going to have a no tv day and told Porter this. Porter turned the tv on twice in a 30 min period before he went to school, but quickly turned it off when he remembered. After school today he asked me a few times to watch a show and I just told him that it was a no tv day. He played outside just for a little while, we played battling cards, read books and he played in his room by himself, something he rarely does. I was honestly shocked that he did so well and I got a lot more done and played with my kids more. I remember when I used to babysit and I would tell myself that I would be the kind of mom that sat and played with their kids and watch movies with them. It is sad to me that I have chosen to use the tv as a replacement. This is really hard for me to write. I want to be a better mom, I want them to remember me as a mom who was there with them actively engaging in their lives. I say to you my kids, my husband, my family, my friends, my readers that I am going to make a change and be a better parent.

neighbors

Yesterday Jason was outside with the kids watering the trees and some neighbors stopped as they were walking by and introduced themselves. They invited us over for breakfast this morning and to come check out their chickens. We didn't make it for breakfast, but we did stop by for a little while. They have three chickens and are planting the yard with fruit and vegetables. It was just this really awesome space with cool people hanging out. Some people were eating, some were starting seeds, some were working on a new planter bed and some were just chatting. It was this great community of people living together in this apartment building that Jason now calls "the hippie commune". It was so fun and inspiring. When we got home I cut down a tree that was shading my planter box and started some seedlings. I want to take out a grass strip by the sidewalk and plant vegetables. My neighbors have a weekly mostly vegan potluck that I am going to try and go to. I am just so happy this in on my block just a few houses down.

Busy Day

While Porter was in school today Liesl and I went to the school where my good friend teaches to read a book. My friend teaches third grade and every year her school celebrates Dr. Seuss' birthday. This is the fourth year I have done it and I really enjoy it.

After we picked Porter up from school we went home, ate lunch, then walked up to the Science museum. We were meeting some friends later in the afternoon in Balboa Park for a walk, so I thought it would be a good idea to walk there instead of drive. The kids had a great time at the museum and the walk was nice. It was getting dark and I still needed to go to Whole Foods, so by the time we got home it was 7:30. I ran part of the way home because even though it is a busy road there were no street lights on this short stretch and I was a little freaked out. Now I have a pain in my lower abdomen from the running. I am so out of shape it sucks.

Mission Trails

Last Friday we went to Mission Trails to check out this program called Ant Sized Adventures. It is a talk, hike and craft for preschoolers. The talk was a little too long and the craft was a lot of work for the parents, but the kids had fun time.
Liesl loved the caterpillars.

At the end of the hike was a special surprise. Mr Horse rescued an opossum that his cat attacked. The opossum imprinted on Mr. Horse and is now his pet. Crazy.

Park with Grammy

After I picked Porter up from school last Thursday we went down to my parent's house for lunch and to visit. We went to a park close to their house and had a really fun time. Porter has been asking to go back to the park he had so much fun there.

Liesl sat in this spot and said "take a picture of me"

My mom.

and the winner is.....

Valentine's day Brunch at Lei Lounge

I am on the mailing list for Lei Lounge and get a buy one get one free coupon every week for the Saturday brunch at Lei Lounge. The last time we went was for my birthday in September and I really wanted to go again. We met some friends there on Valentine's Day with the kids and had a really nice time. The food is good and the booths are big, so the kids have lots of room to move around. I think it is one of the best places to take a kid because of the booths and it is so loud the other guests are not bothered when your kids start screaming.

composting and valentine dots

My dad made me a composter and I am really excited about it.

My sister sent me this post for valentine dots, so I decided to make them. The store I went to didn't have Valentine's colored M&M's, so I just used the regular ones.
Porter watched a ridiculous amount of Spanish PBS today and is trying to speak Spanish now. It is cute.

Disneyland Ticket Giveaway!

Disneyland gave us a free Resident 2fer, but we will not be able to use it by the expiration date of 6/03/09. So, if you would like a chance to win a free ticket please leave me a comment. You will receive an additional entry for linking this entry to your own blog, let me know if you have. The giveaway closes on the 18th and the winner will be chosen at random and announced the following day.

Disneyland

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to got to Disneyland and preview the new "it's a small world" before it reopened yesterday. Jason and the kids had never been to Disneyland before, so I was really excited to take them. We left our house at 6AM, so there was no traffic and it was really easy to find. We got to ride "it's a small world" a few times and each time we saw new things. I loved the ride as a kid and it was so much fun to see our kids experience it for the first time. The whole feel of the ride is the same and it is really fun to find all the new Disney characters in the different scenes. Liesl loved to find Ariel and Tinkerbell and Porter like Peter Pan and the hula dancers. After the third ride Porter wanted to go check out the rest of the park, so we did. The kids loved the roller coaster in Toontown and running around checking out everything. We didn't go on a ton of rides, but we did go on Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, Autopia, Astro Orbitor, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage and Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin where both kids were so scared, Porter even cried after it. We had such a fun time and the kids just loved it. I wish we could had stayed longer and into the evening to see it lit up at night, but we had to leave in time to make it to watch my niece and nephew perform that night.

Check back soon for a chance to win a free ticket to Disneyland!

"that's impressive"

Today I tried to make some gluten free bread from a recipe that my sister sent me. She used to make this bread all the time with great results. I started making it and realized that I didn't have an xanthan gum, so I added some arrowroot powder and potato starch instead. I also just remembered that I forgot to add the salt and the combination is probably what made this bread fail. I put it in the oven to rise and it stared to overflow, so I put the pan under it to catch the drippings. Soon it was just a huge mess, but instead of taking it out of the oven I just left it in to bake on to the rack a little more. When Jason saw it he said " that's impressive, I don't think you could do that if you tried"

The beginning of the mess.

The final results.

fun weekend

We had a great weekend up in LA. We did two fun things, one I will write about later in the week. Saturday night we went to see Amelia and Henry, my sister's two oldest kids,perform in the Music Man. It was really good and my kids enjoyed it, but they were tired and Liesl fell asleep at the end. The kids always have so much fun with their cousins, I wish they lived closer to each other, but it is better than New York where they were before. They had another performance today at, so we had to say goodbye to them at 12 just before we left ourselves to drive home.