blog slacker again

It's never too fun to get behind on your blog, it becomes an avalanche of events, photos, and stories to tell. We've had lots of fun the past few weeks-hope you enjoy!

Joshua turned three! The celebration began with a special snack with his class at school. In an effort to promote healthy snacks, we decided to do yogurt cups with a few sprinkles and a dollop of whip cream. However I stressed for a week whether the healthy snack idea was ripping off the fun of his first classroom celebration because he didn't have cupcakes. The night before we presented the snack to him to see if he liked it. He got super excited and clapped. He started in on the whipcream and sprinkles. But then his smile turned to a frown and he started pouting with the announcement that he didn't like the strawberries. I had accidentally bought a kind with a small and occasional piece of real strawberry. So, I spent forty minutes of my life (that I will never get back) picking the strawberries out of two large containers of yogurt. The next morning I put the cups together and finally felt at peace about the healthy snack. Until I got them out of the fridge to take them to school only to find the whip cream had flopped. They no longer looked fun and special. Next year, CUPCAKES for everyone!
Next up Joshua had his first public performance. His Mother's Day Out program had a pie social for parents in which the kids sang us a song. It was pretty funny. I think 75% of the kids just stood on stage looking overwhelmed!Check out the performance here:


Two days later was Joshua's official birthday and the next day the celebration with a few friends. We did a firetruck theme and the firetruck with some real fireman showed up too. The kids loved it, and the moms did too ;) Engine 3 came which was perfect!

A few days after those festivities, my dad and brother showed up with Jeff's belongings to get him set up here is Austin. So, I now have family in the area! We are excited that he is here and look forward to lots of free babysitting!


Hurray for Uncle Jeffrey and for BBQ!













Poor Papa, this marks his third trip of moving someone to Austin (Me, Kurt, and now Jeff)








More November Notables to come...

Sad to say...

Back in 2006 when we visited California, we took a day trip to Santa Barbara. (You can check out my blog entry on the visit here.) My great grandfather owned property there in the 1920s and began to build a home there. When the stock market crashed he had to halt the nearly completed building and in 1947 my great Uncle Hobert sold the property to the Holy Cross Order of the Episcopalian Church. It has been used for a monastery and retreat center every since.

Friday I was reading CNN.com for the first time in a long time and saw there had been fires in Santa Barbara. The article I read specifically said the County Sheriff had flown over the monastery and it appeared to be completely destroyed. I feel very sad but so thankful that my brother and I were able to visit there with my dad when we did.

Back in 2006 on our visit.

My brother found a few pictures online on the ruins:

It sad to think of such a beautiful place being gone, but we are glad no one was hurt. Hopefully it will be rebuilt and continued to be used as a retreat for people. I'll end with the paragraph I wrote in the 2006 blog entry:

"It was a quick trip, but a great day. I thought about what could have been if only the family had held onto the house and the land. But it's great to know that so many people make use of the land and the retreat house. I'm sure not many who visit know the history, but I'm proud of my family for leaving a legacy of memories. For themselves and for the generations of families that will enjoy it in the future. I feel fortunate to have been able to go there with my Dad to narrate. And my brother to pick on. An my husband to hold my hand. Hopefully someday we can take Joshua there and hike up the canyon."

My Million Dollar Idea

Oprah has a show every few years in which viewers share their million dollar ideas. So many people featured have been stay at home moms that took an idea and made a living off of it. I'm always amazed and inspired to come up with my own idea that will launch enough success to hire a full time maid. These ideas pop up randomly a few times a year, but then I find someone else has already thought of it first. For example, when making homemade baby food for Joshua, I came up with a brilliant idea for a system of containers to keep the baby food in, freeze it, and warm it up all in one. Sadly I saw it in the One Step Ahead catalog a few months later. (I guess they really are one step ahead ... )

Well, the tides have turned and I think I finally have my million dollar idea: Electric Training Pants, or ETPs for short. I know, brilliant isn't it? I just can't believe no one has thought of them before. It's being designed for stubborn children who have the complete capability of going potty but are too busy playing, being stubborn, or are just a little on the lazy side. They will fit just like regular underwear but will have a component to it that will emit a little shock if the child tinkles in them. So you have a sneaky child? No worries, these ETPs can only be taken off if the child is sitting on the potty. Yes, we've thought of everything. I think the song for the commerical will be very similar to the Ren and Stimpy Don't Wizz on the Electic Fence tune. (Does anyone in the world besides my brother know what I'm talking about?)

I'm off to write Oprah!

La la la la, la la la la, Tobin's World (to the tune of Elmo's World)

(We sing that to him a lot)
Tobin's 8 months old today; he deserves a little Zeb Daily Grind spotlight!

We never quite know what his brother is going to get him into when we turn our backs for a moment...

We think he might be very competitive in luge. This is often his position for sleeping. He likes to rub his feet together when he's tired (strange- like his mommy does!) so he has them crossed a lot.

His hair has finally come in!


One of the few frowns I've caught in a picture.


The next generation in our playgroup came around the same time, so Tobin has a bunch of buddies now.

He's working hard on crawling...check out his moves in the video:

Trick or Treat, smell my feet...

Wig from Goodwill: $1.99
Red & Gold Fabric: $4.25
Gold sequins: $1.52
Gold thread: $.99
Hours of labor by mom: free
Getting to be the King of Rock 'n Roll for your first Halloween: Priceless














Cardboard from freecycle: free
Fan from freecycle: free
Blue paint leftover from another project: free
Hours of labor by mom & dad: free
Electrical tape: $3.29
Liquid nails glue: $4.10
Being tired of your costume 1.5 minutes after putting it on: Priceless

We hope your Halloween was filled with lots of treats!

crazy campers

We decided it was time for our annual camping trip and rolled out last weekend. Two other families went with use which meant 5 kids ages 3 & under. That way we could insure that someone would be crying at all times. It was a little crazy but mostly fun. Or was that a little fun and mostly crazy?

We are women, hear us roar! Esther and I built a magnificent fire. Then the rest of the crew came back from a hike and someone, whose name starts with a K, laughed at it and then started messing with it. Next thing I knew it had been completely revamped and there was no longer a flame. But I'm clearly over it. The important thing is we were able to have our s'mores so no one got hurt.

We packed up and said we wouldn't do that again; at least until next year when we convince ourselves it will be fun and forget the meltdowns everyone had once we got home.Hmmm, helping or pushing in this picture? We'll go with helping...

Pick a patch of pickled pumpkins

We traveled out to a local pumpkin patch last weekend for a hayride and to pick out our pumpkin.
Joshua got to use the port-a-potty-he's big time now!
Tobin was all smiles as usual.

Trying to get that perfect picture didn't work out so well. At least we have a lot of good shots of Tobin's bald head!