Happy Halloween!

Porter woke up this morning and asked if it was Halloween after I said yes he said "but it's not dark out". This morning I was trying to clean the house so I let Porter watch Dora's Halloween show two times. He wanted to keep on watching it but we had to get dressed to go to Jason's work. Jason's work was having a party so the kids and I put on our costumes and went down there. The food was really good and we had a fun time.

The kids both took a three hour nap today and when they woke we carved pumpkins. My parent's came over with a pizza, salad, pie and ice cream for dinner. It was a little crazy around here trying to get the kids in their costumes but we did go trick or treating for a few blocks. Porter was so excited that I could not get a picture of them both looking at me.



When we got home Porter just wanted a red lollipop so I found one that our neighbor gave us that was organic and good. He wanted this bright red one but I convinced him that the other one was better. Liesl ate a lolly pop as well and then they both ate a little ice cream. After ice cream they took their bath and I put the great pumpkin presents in the laundry room. Porter was excited and liked his block and Liesl really liked her little doll. It was a good day.

daddy song

A few weeks ago when I was driving Porter home from school I turned the radio on and Gewn Stefani's Holla Back Girl was on. I asked him if he liked the song and he said "no I want a Daddy song". I changed the station and Marilyn Manson's Beautiful Prople was on and he was all "yeah this is a Daddy song turn it up". When I turn on the radio now I ask him if it is a Daddy song or a Mommy song. The funny thing about it is that Jason and I listen to the same kind of music and I have no idea where he got the idea of a Daddy or Mommy song.

never again

I did something today that I hope to never have to do again. I went to the funeral of a 3 year old girl who pulled a dresser on top of herself. My friend Sara was over this morning and I was still not sure if I wanted to go but she offered to watch the kids so I went with my mom. I am happy I went and my heart aches for the family.

Imagination Stick

This evening Porter pointed a pen at me and said his imagination stick was going to turn me into a bear. He then turned me into a parrot, fox and dinosaur and we ran around the house acting it out. Liesl stopped coloring to join in on the fun and Porter said he learned about the imagination stick at the art studio at his school. I have been feeling lately that I don't want him in school but he is learning so much more there than if he was at home with me.

The fires got really close to my parent's house last night but they were not too worried about having to evacuate. My brother called them at 3AM because he was in the area for some reason and they all stood in the back yard watching the fire.

Saturday night we went to my friend Sara's 30th birthday party. It was a prom themed party so I wore my prom dress from 1995. It looked really bad on me and I was not feeling that great in it but oh well. We had a fun night and Sara had a fun time too.


I told Porter earlier in the evening that the babysitter was going to come and he told me that he did not need a babysitter because he was not a baby. I told him that we could call her the kid sitter and he was okay with that. Sunday morning Porter told me that he had ice cream and asked me if I was mad. I asked him why and he said that when he asked the sitter if he could have ice cream she asked him if I would be mad and he said no.

Saturday I went to JoAnn's for some fabric and when I got there I turned around and looked at Liesl and she just started throwing up all over herself. I did not have a change of clothes so I just took off the dirty ones, put a jacket on her, put her in the sling and went into the store. We met up with Jason and Porter at the Mexican restaurant up the street and Liesl threw up a little bit more but that was it. Yesterday my stomach was feeling bad and in the evening I threw up so maybe it was the same thing that Liesl had.

Sad Day

My sister called earlier today and asked me if I had talked to our mom. I said "no, why" then she asked if I was sitting down and told me that an old friend's 3 year old daughter died on Thursday. Niki and I were really good friends in High School but I was a year older than her and we lost touch after I graduated. The last time I saw her was at Porter and Henry's 1st birthday party. Her daughter Kendall was so cute and looked just like her dad, a friend of ours from youth group. My mom ran into an acquaintance at the store who told her about it so the story I have is that Niki put Kendall in her crib for a nap and a shelf fell on her neck. When Niki went in to get her she was blue so they think she died instantly. I can't even begin to understand the kind of pain they are going through right now. Shauna is going to come down and we are going to try and go to the funeral this week. I have to figure out what to do with the kids because I would not feel right bringing them with me. All day I have been hugging the kids a little more and just hoping that noting ever happens to them.
We have done a lot this week but I just don't feel like writing about it right now.

Beana the bunny and the pumpkin patch

Last weekend we took Liesl to Build A Bear to use a gift certificate that she received for her birthday 7 months ago. Liesl picked out a bunny and Porter helped fill it with stuffing and three hearts. Porter was really good and only asked a few times why he did not get to have one too. Before we went to the mall I told him that Liesl was going to get a bear and he was going to get some clothes so he was alright with it. Anyway, after the bear was stuffed and ready to go Porter decided to name the bunny Rabbit. Liesl started calling Rabbit, Beana her version of bunny so that is was we call it now. She loves Beana and will wake up in the middle of the night saying Beana until she finds it.

Liesl and Beana ready to go to the pumpkin patch

Our little family

corn maze

Looking for Porter

Porter said he would only smile on the fence

train ride
Porter and Liesl also went on the pony ride and Porter had fun but L was a little scared. Porter was asking about the horses and if they were fast because the last time he was on a horse was at Griffith Park in LA a few months ago. We need to go to LA again but now that Porter is in school it is a little harder to make it work. I guess he could just miss a day or we could drive up right after school.
This week we have a spaghetti social at Porter's school and I am part of the clean up team. Yay!

sick

The kids and I have been sick for the last two weeks and I just want to be 100% again. I have not written in a while because I get kind of bummed when randoms find this site and post stupid comments. I removed the posts but anyway on to other things.
Last weekend we went up stairs to hang out for a while because Letty was cleaning the house. I turned on the Karaoke machine and we all started rocking out.


Later we went bike shopping again but did not have any luck. My Mom, Dad and Shauna's family came over Saturday night for pizza and had a nice time but our clean house was not so clean when they left. Saturday night we went to the Ken Theatre to see the musical Buffy sing-a-long. It was a lot of fun but it went late and we did not get home until after 2AM. Sunday we spent the day at my parent's house celebrating my Mom and Miranda's birthday.

Jason had Monday off so we went and got both of the kids hair cut in La Jolla. While we were up there we tried to go to a bike shop but it was closed so I was a little bummed but oh well.
Not much went on this past week but I did meet up with some friends and we checked out this new restaurant The Commonwealth Cafe. The food was good but we were not all served at the same time and the food was a little cold but I will definitely go back. One thing that kind of bother me was that my veggie burger was served on a really small plate and there were no condiments other than ketchup and mustard. It was nice to get out with friends and talk so it was a good night.
Last night we went to the new Cafe Zia on Adams but they were not really ready to open so just got a few pieces of cake and we went to Dao Sun with some friends.
Today we went to the North Park Library and then I took Port to a fun birthday party.

Engine Turtle

At school yesterday the kids were talking about what they were going to be for Halloween. Porter said that he and Tanner want to be Superman, Harrison is going to be a fireman, Athena is going to be a rabbit and Owen and Bruno are going to be Engine Turtles. I think he was trying to say Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I thought it was a bruise

Sunday I was at my parents house and my mom said to me "you have a varicose vein" I said "what, I thought that was a bruise" I have had a bruise on my leg for months and I never could remember how I got it. My mom said "well you know Natalie you are getting older". Yay, I am 30 for a week and I have a varicose vein. There is someone on my kombucha yahoo group that has treated them with kombucha cream. I made some kombucha cream but I ended up throwing it away after a day because it freaked me out.

When we were living in Golden Hill we never had home improvement solicitors but we get them at least once a week over here in NP. They usually come in the early evening when I am feeding or bathing the kids and I can't help it but be a little rude to them. This evening Liesl was eating at the bar(where she has fallen off the chair at least 5 times) eating and I went to the door and the man said to me "is a homeowner around" WTF do I look that young? I said "yes and I am not interested in any home improvements" the man tried to give me some flyer but I just said no thank you and shut the door. He left mad and I felt bad later because he is just trying to make a living.

I was really rude on Monday night at knitting and I kind of feel bad about it. I bought one of my favorite desserts, a lemon bar and I ate it all without offering it to anyone. What made me feel bad is that my friend(who I was sitting next to the whole time while I was shoving the yummy bar in my mouth)bought one when we were leaving.

School is going well for Porter and he has some friends so things are good.

best gift ever

Projects

I am sick and I can't remember what I was going to wright about so I am just going to list the projects I am working on.

I am working on this top for Miranda's first birthday present. I decided to knit it in the round instead of flat like the pattern said and I think it will turn out cute.

I am working on a pole warmer that is made up of a bunch of single letter wrist warmers that you can take off. The idea would be that you could come up and rearrange the letters into a new word or take a wrist warmer to wear.

Porter told me he would like to be Superman for Halloween so I am going to have a costume made. I could just buy one but the store ones are so cheesy with the fake puffed out chest. I could do it but I just don't have the time right now and am lazy.

Thursday evening my friend and I went to Urban Solace for dinner. The food was excellent and I had a really nice time.

Friday night I went to the Casbah with some friends and had a good time. I wish that Jason was able to come with us but I was not able to find childcare.

I think we are going to go to the Adams Ave. Street Fair for a little while in the morning. I hope I feel well enough to go.

mensa baby

Liesl was siting at the bar playing with cars while I was doing dishes this afternoon. She started to cry so I gave her a bowl, put a car in it and said one and she took the other car and said two. My 18 month old can count what can yours do?

Last night

Porter woke up around 10:30PM so he watched the last part of Heros with us before Jason took him back to bed. About 6 months ago when I would put Porter to bed I started telling Porter true stories about when Porter was a baby. Porter started asking Jason for stories and Jason would make up stories about Porter being on adventures and stuff. So last night when Jason took Porter back to bed he wanted a story. Jason told a story about how Porter and his friend rode their bikes to the grocery store and when they were coming out there were these big boys who said "give me your money" and Porter said "and I had a knife and I cut their heads off" Jason just started laughing and told him no you went back in the store and told the manager. Anyway I was cracking up when Jason told me but it was a little disturbing to me that he said that.

30th Birthday Party

I spent the first part of the day laying out by the pool, reading and drinking. I was on one side of the pool and everyone else was on the other side with the kids. It was nice to just sit and relax for a while. Jason went and picked up some food for us and it was so good. There was a lot left over because three families ended up not coming but we ended up eating it all in the evening.

Liesl has a cool new trick.

Jason bought me a kerioke machine and we had so much fun with it! Some memorable moments were my two costume changes and a fall that left me with many scratches. It was so much fun and I really enjoyed me birthday weekend.

Palm Desert-day two

We woke up and went for a nice walk on El Paseo. Jason and I both got a new pair of flip flops and then we went to Trader Joe's. After all that we went swimming and just hung out waiting for our friends to arrive.




Later in the evening we went to a little bar not far from our hotel.

I went up to this character and asked for a photo with him.

Palm Desert day 1

The drive was just two hours and the kids slept the whole time. We settled into our room and then went out for some food. When we got back we went in the jacuzzi because Porter kept on asking to go swimming. Liesl and Porter both had a great time in the water and it was a nice first day of vacation. The weather is nice and comfortable! I can't wait for all our friends to start arriving tomorrow.
A view of the pool from our room.

countdown

Today is the last Sunday I am ever going to have in my 20's. Thursday we leave for a weekend birthday celebration in Palm Desert. 19 adults and 14 kids are going to be there to celebrate with me. I am going to spend the whole time sitting by the pool drinking, reading and swimming. In that order.

First day of school

Porter had so much fun at school today he cried when I came to pick him up.


Porter and Daddy walking up to the school.


Porter at his classroom.


Porter wanted to ride this bike when we were at the school on Tuesday.


After school we met Jason at his office in little Italy and took Porter for some ice cream.

gym and school

Yesterday I dropped Porter off at Kim's house and took Liesl to a mom and tot gym class. Liesl was not that into it and wanted to nurse when we were warming up and stretching. Most of the other kids look to be around two so they could follow the directions a little bit more than Liesl. After a while Liesl got into it and during free play she just wated to go down the little slide. If another kid walked toward the slide she would say "no mine". She is so cute it is hard not to laugh when she says that but I did take her off it so other kids could have a turn. I went and picked up Porter and took him to meet his teacher. It was a really short meeting because we were the last one of the day and I think she wanted to get home or something. Porter and Liesl had fun playing and Porter was not happy to have to go home.
Today we stayed home because I was expecting a package of clothes I ordered. We just played at home and all took a nap in our bed at 12:30. Porter slept for 2.5 hours and I finally had to wake him up because I wanted to go to Target. I bought Porter some new underwear in a bigger size so he can pull them up easier at school. Porter was a little off today and I wonder if he is getting sick. I hope not because I would hate for him to have to miss school tomorrow.

bloody nose

Porter was playing in his room this evening and he came out with a bloody nose and said "different colors were dripping out of my nose". There was not much blood and it dried up pretty quickly.

Tonight Jason and I went to Parent Night at Porter's preschool. It was a little weird and I am not so sure I want Porter to go to school. We are going to see how it goes but I am not 100% sure it is the right choice. Tomorrow I am taking Porter over to Kim's house so I can take Liesl to her parrent/tot gym class at 10AM. That is so early for us I just hope we are not late. At 12 we have a meeting with Porter's teacher so Porter can get to know the classroom and her. I hope it all goes well.