mama on the run

Kids Dialog

2011-01-19T07:29:00.000-08:00

Can I just say Love my children from the pure laughter they bring. Now ya all know I am just slightly sassy and forward. My two beautiful daughters are stepping it up a notch and I can't be more proud UNLESS of course it is directed at me. hahaha

Cute Kaitlin things this week.
I went out for a drink with my friend on Monday. Before leaving Kaitlin runs down the stairs with a note taped in half and a reeses peanut butter cup and smarties taped to the top. "Now mom promise me you won't open this until you get there." me, "I promise." her "really really promise." me "ok ok ok."
So I get to the wine bar, open the note and it reads

Look inside...
Dear mom, Have fun. Hope you get a good kind of wine. see you in the morning. Hearts, tons of xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo Love Kaitlin

The fact that she remembered I said I was going to Soif, assumed it was a wine bar and said see you in the morning knowing I would be out late was just too cute.

Now this morning..
"MOM this is really important tomorrow is library book day and I can't find Katie and the kittens."
me, "ok well was the last time you had it."
her, "in my bunk bed."
me, "well have you looked there."
her, "mom I have a really busy day! School and then a play date. You, well you are home all day and have more free time can't you just do it for me."

Guess where the book was? Yup the bunk bed

Now I think this conversation would have had me in a hissy fit a few years ago before I have fully submitted to being a stay at home mom and YES I am loving it. Who wouldn't. But I just love that she thinks I sit around all day.

Now Emma
Simple and sweet, my candy lover says at Marini's the candy capital shop of Santa Cruz.
"Ok mom what are my options." (very serious, looks me straight in the eyes, arms folded)
I state she can pick two candies
She says, "hmmm my options are x, y and z. Ok mom here are my choices candy corn and those little white things (mini jaw breakers). Oh and I want this lolly pop."
me. "Emma you can pick two things not three."
Emma, "DANG ITTTTT!!!! how about I choose these options, candy corn, little white things and and just 1 TIIINNNYY salt water taffy." (pinches her fingers super tiny and give me puppy eyes.)
me, "ok"
her, "YESSSSSS!"

Ok so I totally caved, but this sweet 4 year old using her best manners and the word OPTIONS was to precious.

Another Emma,
Mommy when I grow up I can be anything I want to be! I am going to me an animal rescuer, builder, and a doctor all at the same time!

And one more Emma
Chris and I were driving by a cop standing in front of a house looking inside. Gun in his holster.
Emma says, "what is he doing just standing there with a gun!."
Chris says, "police officers are always suppose to carry their guns everyday to protect us."
Emma, NO daddy police officers aren't killing us everyday with their guns, they are suppose to protect us from the bad guys."

Ok...so essentially when she heard carrying she thought we said killing. My memory doesn't serve me with the exact dialog. But I could only imagine what was going on in her little brain!

Pics, Pics and more Pics

2010-06-02T22:34:00.000-07:00

Ms. Claudia (Kaitlin's teacher) with Emma and Lucus (Rose's Boyfriend and Ms. Claudia's 4 legged child)

Kaitlin with a few of her girlfriends at the Brownie Bridging ceremony. Next year I'm the troop leader!!!! Super excited.

Each week a child in Kaitlin's class gets to bring Willy home. Kaitlin dressed Willy everyday in a new outfit

Date night with mom at Marini's

Date night with mom at Denny's

Chris and the kids fall asleep at auntie Maryann's house. Don't they look oh so comfy?

Kaitlin and her friend Lindsey get buried by Emma and Julie (Lindsey's big sis)

Emma gets creative with her monkey toes

On a windy day at Seabright beach in March the ocean brought in what we call "snow bubbles". The kids had a blast jumping and covering their bodies in it.

Let's try this again

2010-06-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

Mid March Update

2010-03-18T22:53:00.001-07:00

It's been a bit since my last blogging but two weeks of having sick kids and me being sick is really nothing to write about.
But last week we had a very productive week. My girlfriend Lesa turned 40. Her husband and I planned a fantastic surprise birthday party. Along side this fun activity I have been doing an art project with two first grade classes. Wooden planter box...I had the kids make flowers using their thumb print as petals. OMG..it is so stinking cute!
I was in both kids classrooms this week and last with a fun field trip to the Natural History Museum with Kaitlin's class. It was so much fun to see Kaitlin experience the same first grade trip I had many years ago. Although the little museum expanded a bit, for the most part it was exactly the same. Especially the big giant life size humpback whale in front that all the kids climbed on.
My other big project has been helping out with our annual spring auction. Gault's largest fundraiser. It is so cool to see how many local business are still donating even with all the crazy economy stuff. Of course to date the collections are lower than last year, but I think that is to be expected.
This week Kaitlin and Emma started swim lessons. Kaitlin is swimming like a fish and Emma is getting a lot more comfortable with water. 6 months ago she would barely get into the water without me and now she is the loud mouth laughing energetic kid in the class. I was cracking up today because I could hear her distinct shriek over every other child in the pool. I think she is a lot for the teacher to handle but that is ok by me. I use to worry about her shyness..not anymore!

Today I was in Emma's class with 20 little preschoolers. I had more fun today than ever before. All of the kids are so different. Their personalities are so unique.

As you can tell I have been at the kid's schools more than anything.

On a completely different note I bought a juicer with my birthday money. I am SOOO excited about using it. Oranges, apples, carrots oh so yummy. I even added an orange bell pepper and no one could tell. HAHAHA It's amazing..using the juicer I can actually say we have been eating the recommended about of fruits and veggies. So cool. Plus all this fresh produce has been giving me a new source of energy I didn't know I had.

It has been a fun filled few weeks, we are off to Sonora to visit Maryann and Dave this weekend. Woohoo! I'm excited to see them. I need to get most of the past few weeks pics off of Chris' phone. I'll upload them later.

oh my

2010-02-26T19:31:00.000-08:00

My future spa partner

This week has been CRAZY! Apart from a fantastic visit from Grandpa Steve Sunday night and Monday I would like to erase this week from my memory. Sunday Emma spiked a fever which then turned into pink eye, cough, and 103 fever. Poor kiddo. Since I'm all about natural medicine I tried a few remedies from www.earthclinic.com. Great site! Warm green tea bags did the trick after a few days (I think). This was the very first time we have had pink eye in our life and I don't wish it upon any mama (oh ya..or kid). I have done more laundry and cleaning of surfaces than I have in several months. Today alone 6 loads of house stuff. Anything they touch has to be washed. Yesterday Emma started to feel better (apart from 103 fevers still at 5pm like clockwork, thank you to who ever created ibuprofen), but then Kaitlin came home with a fever. Later that night Kaitlin looked like she had pink eye too. AWWWWW I could have lost my top at this point. Immediately I did the green tea bag treatment and it seems like after a few times of doing this it is gone. Outside of having a sick household our VERY DUMB dog decided to escape or do a VERY good job of hiding for 2 hours yesterday. Sick and sad kids who think their dog will never come home is NO fun. We walked all around the neighborhood after turning the house "upside down" to find no pup. Finally got a friend to watch the kids for a bit and came home to see the damn dog shaking like a leaf inside by the front door. I have to admit while searching for this 12 pound annoyance I was thinking it wouldn't be so bad to not find her as long as she was with someone who would be nice to her. Of course 2 hours later when I did see her I felt relief, but not as much as I should have. LOL....

On a me note, I got my hair trimmed and colored and my very first spray tan from my girlfriend who just started and needed testers. I love it! It's as if I went to Hawaii or Mexico without a burn. Super excited to try this again. I also got in my second sports massage. Jennifer you rock! I can tell with some strength training and your therapy I'll be able to run long distance again. I will I will I must.

With the kiddos being sick I've found that chips, pizza, sour dough toast, girl scout cookies, Ben and Jerry's along with any other snack I can find in the house bring much comfort to cabin fever. I've been feeling like we just had an earthquake and we're on lock down with limited supplies. No fun taking kids anywhere when they are sick.

Ok..so let's go back to last weekend. Fun trip to the city with a girlfriend and her friends on Saturday night. I was designated driver since the night before 2 glasses of wine at a crab feast made me feel dehydrated in the morning...yummmm crab dipped in hot garlic butter with lots of bread. Ok..side track, back to SF. This will be my 3rd trip to the city for 2010. More than all of 2009! We went to ChaChaCha's in the city. I've heard great things about it. Food was pretty decent but the sangria was top notch. I was a good girl and only had 1. Afterward we went to a club called Mr. Smiths. Might I say my cute top and jeans made me look like I was wearing a moo moo in comparison to the sluts..oops I mean young 20 year old girls on the dance floor. Being sober after 11pm is really quite funny. Especially watching the 3 inch heal stumblers. Fun time dancing until 12:30 or so before we decided to head home. As we left the bar a tall 70 year old punches a young African American in the face on the side walk. CRAZY! Then all of a sudden in 5 seconds all these guys started pounding each other into the pavement. It was insane! I couldn't figure out for the life of me what on earth had caused this abrupt argument but the surge of fear that I felt made me only care about getting my girlfriends and I to our car. Of course I called 911 but by the time I was giving the details 6 cops showed up and the guys ran in all different directions. The weirdest thing was that most of these guys were "men". Meaning all were at least in their late 20s if not 30s and 40s. It was the first time I haven't felt safe in the city so I think I'll be staying away from the mission district and 7th street and market. Besides..Union Square and Nob Hill bars are much more my style. haha..yes I am now officially and expert.

Last piece to my blog entry..a letter from my dear Kaitlin today after I yelled at her for throwing the remote over the fridge. How cute is this! Glad she feels she can show her feelings in a productive way.

Dear Mom
It was a asendent that the reamot went under the panchry wen you yeld at me i felt like you did not love me. I am very sorry and I mean it. It was verry mean to tell Emma to go to bed. Don't sey that to Emma ever agen and evrything will bee fin. Love Kaitlin.

On the back of the card is a heart, she said, "since you said sorry this means I forgive you."

Kids and Animals

2010-02-15T09:49:00.001-08:00

Ever since he was a kitten he loves boxes. This one fits him well but it is physically possible for a 15 pound cat to fit in a shoe box if you can believe it.

Say Cheese!

Not only is he a big fatty, but he makes a great pillow too!

Laziest dog in the world I swear

She really does this she's human

So our pets really are our kids as most pet owners would agree.

San Francisco and more

2010-02-15T08:44:00.000-08:00

Chris finds a new app on his iPhone to make my little prince look 12! Such a beauty queen

Boat ride under the Golden Gate Bridge, SO COOL!

Our little monkeys on our journey to Chinatown, SF

Girls eating nutella/strawberry crepe for breakfast

Chris and his mommy on V Day

really big snake at the Academy of Sciences!

Kaitlin had the day off of school Friday so the girls and I (along with a her friend Leo and his dad) went to the Academy of Sciences. It was amazing! The planetarium show of how a star is born and dies was mind blowing. There was an albino alligator, an aquarium, a rain forest with beautiful butterflies, geckos, and lots of snakes! See picture. As you know I am not a huge snake fan but these snakes and eels were so beautiful. I must admit though I was ready to see most of them until I saw the big anaconda. My legs almost dropped out from under me as he was only a few inches from my eyes. For the most part Emma was on good behavior. But man is she moody. I seriously dread teen age years with that child. On the way home I came up with a brilliant idea of going back to the city for the weekend assuming we could get a place and find a dog sitter. We originally planned to go to Santa Rosa with Chris' mom but I thought it would be so much fun for Arlynne and our family to spend a weekend together exploring the city. Once we got all our ducks in order (thank you Amanda and Eric for watching Rosie for us) we were off the next day.
I started out Saturday am on a good note, the gym! After getting packed and fed we headed up to union square to the Marriot. Our room was on the 27th floor overlooking Coit Tower. The sky was incredibly clear and the weather warm enough to be in tanks and jeans. Once Arlynne joined us we decided to take the mile long walk to our dinner reservations in North Beach and stop along the way. Our journey stared in Chinatown. We had no idea that it was the Chinese New Year's eve so there were firecrackers, poppers and stinky smoke bombs going off the whole time. I purchased the girls a few paper stars to drape from their ceiling. I'm sure you've seen these cool lights before, but of course as with everything in Chinatown they were super duper cheep. WHOO WHO. We stopped for gelato and tea and then ended up in North Beach at a great park where the kids could get their energy out on the playground. Dinner was at E'Tutto Qua, this incredible Italian restaurant that I had been to last month on a girls night out. The food is so incredible here and reasonably priced. Arlynne's capachino even had a heart made from the foam. Very cool. Back at the hotel we all watched some TV before Chris and I went out on the town. (thank you so much Arlynne for watching the girls!) We yelped all of our locations along the way. Started at Tunnel Top, had mojitos, then off to the Cantina, had Tuscan Sangria, then off to the Owl Lounge, had a few pineapple lychee martinis. At this point we met another couple. We had so much fun that we all got into a taxi and went across town to the Bubble Lounge. We danced until 1:30 or so before getting back in a taxi and heading to the hotel. Of course the girls were up at 6:30 so I was did my best to keep them quiet while grandma and daddy slept, but it only lasted for an hour before I hit the shower and went to SB to get us all coffee. Then we yelped a restaurant we had seen on our bar tour the night before called Cable Cafe and had amazing crepes. I had a pesto/turkey/cheese, the girls had strawberry and nutella. Arlynne had a breakfast ham/egg and can you guess what Chris had? hehehe, my peanut butter lover had peanut butter/chocolate/granola. Divine! At this point I was still feeling a bit tired..but more than anything I lost all my patients for the kids and was one bitchy mom for pretty much the whole day. But Emma was also testing her luck for the weekend. Her defiant nature drives me to the point of insanity sometimes! But I'm just going to pretend there weren't any bad behavior moments from either of the children and stick to the fun stuff. After breakfast and an attempt to get Arlynne an iphone from a REALLY dumb ATT staff member we took a taxi to Pier 39. Fed the cranky kids (again) and hit the aquarium. Small, but cool...you go on underground tubes with fish and star fish surrounding you. Then off to the touching pools where the girls spent most of their time. At this point several hours had gone by and I was too hungry to speak, or at least speak kindly to my kids so we ate and then went on the Gold something fleet boat on a ride under the golden gate bridge. This was probably my most favorite part. Kaitlin and I spent a lot of quality time at the very front of the boat riding the waves up and down as we journeyed under the bridge and back around Alcatraz. See pics. Just amazing! OHHHH very important thank you to Jamma for our city passes which allowed this whole weekend to be fun on a budget! The passes covered all our activities. We're going back up to the city to do all sorts of other things with the passes this week as they expire 9 days after use, but for anyone going to the city I definitely recommend getting them. Now we hiked the hills of the city to Ghiradelli's to find a line that was probably an hour or more long for ice cream. Seriously people? You would wait that long for 1000 calorie treat? We opted for Kara's cupcakes which were so so. But the girls demolished theirs so that was good. Then off on a taxi cab ride back to the garage. Emma was asleep in 2.2 seconds and Kaitlin read and slept the whole way home. Today we are off on a picnic up the coast with some friends. I'm hoping to catch a glimpse of the huge waves that Mavricks is experiencing. Here are pics to share.

Great month so far

2010-02-08T09:43:00.001-08:00

I know that I am mama on the run, but right now I feel like I am mama on the couch. LOL. After all the snacks I made yesterday, yummy artichoke dip, pigs in a blanket, deviled eggs, followed by potato salad and Dean's amazing ribs I am still stuffed. I should note I didn't watch a single minute of the Super Bowl, just ate the snacks with the Davidson Family and then Chris and I went to see Ova, Cirque Du Soliel. Great performance!

As for exercise, I need a jump start. With my injuries turned possible laziness at this point I've decided to join a group of friend on a 200 mile relay from Napa to Santa Cruz. 12 of us run 3 legs of 8.9 miles with a van and cheer squad. I'm looking forward to this adventure and praying my body just shuts up, gets better and runs like the wind. So wish me luck to then next few weeks of getting back in the game.
February has been amazing. My B day was fantastic. It started on a Sunday adventure in Monterey. Tidepooling and bike riding are the best! My actual B day was fantastic. Chris brought me the cutest personally made card EVER, filled with coupons including laundry being done, massages and foot rubs. Kaitlin LOVES birthdays. Whether it is hers or someone else it doesn't seem to matter. She gets SO excited! I opened my eyes to homemade Kaitlin cards two inches from my eyes at at 7:30ish....Kaitlin's smile...2 top teeth growing in with two big bottom teeth and a bunch of baby teeth surrounding them was just plain precious.
My girlfriend Michele took me out to lunch. For dinner we ate out at Carpos. Best burgers and fries. Emma was an ANGEL...asleep the whole time:) Kaitlin was incredibly happy about this because she didn't have to share her fruit punch/root beer concoction.

So far 2010 has been filled with reconnecting with people from my past. It's so neat to see where everyone is at in life. We are all just a little bit more grown up but still the same underneath. One of my girlfriends is in LA as an opera singer, another just finished her masters, and then one gal is working with autistic children. Our chosen career paths are different but we all have a positive forward thinking attitude. Again the core stays the same!

As Emma has grown more independent I've had more time lately to do my own stuff. Of course she is still with me all the time so I find myself on the computer all to much. At first following Haiti, then following the health care bill, then following the war... all very interesting but absolute downers. So I have decided to use my internet time for learning instead. It has been a great journey! 62 moons so far accounted for around Saturn, the Sun effects are climate to the point that international flights going near the poles have to correlate travel with solar flares, and the Dali Lama is one amazing man. It's been fun taking my own courses. I figure I might as well do this now because nursing school with be insanely busy and here before I know it.

Ok...off the computer for quality time with the munchkin.

Yeah! Pics to share

2010-02-02T09:53:00.000-08:00

Here is Kaitlin and her bff Max. These two get along so well. Gotta love all the different noses they were trying on for the camera.

I'm feeling rather internet savvy today! Here is miss Emma painting her nails pink and green. She also did mine and Chris' toes.

I'm Back I think

2010-01-19T10:04:00.001-08:00

Ok..this is totally embarrassing but I have been trying to remember my blog name along with my gmail password along with the name of my children (haha not really). Needless to say having a technologically advanced husband has made me be not very savvy in the whole computer world. Now...shopping with coupons, getting the best deal on a vacation, yelping, google mapping, emailing, facebooking and recipe finding are all my specialty. Part of my lack-o-blogging comes from the fact that I need to figure out how to get pics from my iPhone onto the site. For example, yesterday I took the kids to the park to let them splash around in a few puddles. Of course my bright and shiny Kaitlin always brings things to the next level right? In 2.5 seconds she is butt naked in a volleyball court turned pond. She proceeds to run her little heart out until she slips and is covered in mud. Of course I didn't get footage as that would have probably terrified my little modest one, but HAD I... it would have been a fantastic piece to blog about.
So it is 10am and my little Emma is still sleeping. You might say, wow you are so lucky she sleeps in so late. no no no no no... She and I were up from 3am until at least 5:30 listening and talking about the storm. But mommy saying, "it's just the winds having a dance party," didn't cut it. She is much to sophisticated for child like creations. "no mommy the winds do not have a dance party, they knock over trees, I want to know WHY we have thunder and lightning." Thank you lord for the google ap on my iPhone that gave me the scientific explanation for my little brainiac who just wasn't going to take a cute answer.
So today after school the infamous Max is coming over for a playdate. I was thinking I would take them puddle jumping but after yesterday I'm not sure I want to have 3 naked children and 1 adult to get them home so I'll settle on baking cookies.
On the note of baking cookies... why is it that when I get to the gym they have mirrors all around you so you can see your thighs jiggle while you are on the bike or treadmill? I do have to say looking at all the super fit people and my jiggling thighs as I ride the bike makes me say, "that's it I need to change what I eat." But then upon arrival to my house, all of a sudden my hour and a half work out just reminds me how many extra calories I've "earned". The meat loaf and mashed potatoes followed by peach crisp with a heavy maple cream sauce are demolished in less than 2 minutes. The problem is...hummus, yogurt, carrots, whole grain blah blah blah just doesn't cut it. Oh well, at least I have a healthy heart right with all the cardio?
Although my latest and greatest reason for not "dieting" comes from this great article I read about how moms shouldn't diet because then their children think they need to diet which then leads them to have self esteem issues which leads them to eating disorders. This mom went WAY out on limb but dang...I liked her justification!
Ok so what have I been up to since the last blog? In a nut shell, sold our house, moved to the beach and now we're loving life. Of course there are many details that go along with it but at the end of the day I'm super happy and my family is definitely benefiting from our low key community. I'm officially on the wait list for nursing! whoo hoo. Probably have 2-3 years of waiting but I am happy to be able to stay at home with my littles for the time being. I've gotten very involved in Kaitlin's school and participate in a coop with Emma. I'm back to fundraising for the school as it is my favorite thing to do. For those of you who didn't know me in high school I was the Fundraising Coordinator which means I made our school a lot o money. I'm looking forward to using my skills along with the other amazing moms to make a difference. I've met SOOO many cool moms. I'm knitting with some, drinking and eating with others, swapping kids with a few, and even checking out a cool sort alternative church with one in the next few weeks.
New years resolutions have been on target so far. I got a rockin Yoga DVD from my mom-in-law. Kaitlin and Emma really enjoy the power yoga session with me. And I have already signed up with a few organizations to do beach clean ups. Oh yeah..my resolutions were more yoga and more service if you didn't catch that. Cool beans though.... Disneyland/world has this give a day get a free day at the park going on. Shoot even if you just do it for the selfish reason of getting a free day at the park I think Disney is brilliant! And better yet if you don't like Disneyland or don't think you'll use the voucher you can participate and then donate the ticket to someone who wouldn't be able to go do to economic reasons. Win win for all! Ok..next blog I'll have some pics.

oh the funny things in kindergarten

2009-05-19T12:04:00.001-07:00

So yesterday the kindergarten teacher asked me to speak to her after school. My first thought was... oh shoot I shouldn't have let Kaitlin bring her soccer medal to school. Some kid didn't get one and cried about it.. but it was not the reason. Now.. if you could only see my face when I write this blog... as it brings tears of laughter to my eyes.

Apparently Kaitlin has been making a little boy at school feel very awkward by hugging him a lot and even giving him kisses on his arm on more than one occasion. Apparently she doesn't take No for an answer when this sweet little boy says back off. My daughter, nah? Now the mama of this little boy.. (oh by the way, this is her only child)... informed the teacher that not only did she want the teacher to have a talk with Kaitlin but that the teacher should also have a talk with me about Kaitlin's behavior.

What I find even more comical is the background story. Now we all know Kaitlin is betrothed to Austin. Yes I am reminded daily of her undying love for her friend in Alabama. There would be no way she would cheat on him... ok give her a couple years, but in her Kindergarten mind she is having 3 children with this little man and they have already had a practice wedding. They just need to be 18 to make it official.

Back in April Kaitlin comes to me and says, "Can you believe Tommy loves me, Kayla (classmate) told me that he loves me, but Bella told me she likes Tommy, so I told Bella that she's my friend and that I won't like Tommy." Of course I had to pry, "Are there any other boys who like you?" And of course, "oh yes.. there's Carson, Evan, even Alan likes me."

Now knowing my own devilish flirtation which I do remember starting very young my gut tells me Kaitlin is a little tease already. And yes I'm proud. I'm certain when she found out Tommy had a crush it gave her permission to dote on him in her mind.

Now on a completely different note, when did the good old fashion mom to mom talk stop? Or hello they're kids, REALLY? Did we already get a sexual harassment talk at 5.

So now I have to talk to Kaitlin, which I think is completely dumb as we all know Kaitlin is a huge love bug. But I do remember she has always by pasted that little word No when she doesn't feel the person really means it and she can be a little cuddle bug at times. So as I'm telling her what the teacher says.. mid sentence she interrupts me. "MOM why do two people need to tell me about this. My teacher already told me. I can't go near him, I am not allowed to touch him. I get it." And then I ask, "Did Tommy ever tell you no?".. and her response...."well he hugged me first."

Oh brother....

Up early and at them

2009-05-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

So today Kaitlin is going on a field trip to Alum Rock park to collect leaves and go for a hike. They are taking a school bus.... which is very exciting for her and somewhat terrifying for me. Just a few weeks back I chaperoned a field trip on the school bus. I'm blown away that in 2009 the buses still don't have seat belts. We raise our children to be so SAFETY conscious and then say.. but as long as there are 40 plus of you, no boosters or seat belts are need. Hmmmm...... interesting. But today will be a taste of what a full school day will be like without her next year. I'm SO HAPPY that this year was a half day. I feel like it will be a great transition in the Fall. Now I just need to find Emma a preschool part time for next year.

On a completely different and very happy note, my butt and thighs are shrinking! Yes my new jeans I bought a month ago are baggy on me. I'm looking forward to having them taken in on the waist. Vinyasa kicked my butt yesterday. But I feel so strong after taking this class. It's amazing how toned my arms are just doing this class once a week. I'm proud of Racheal who came and endured it with me. You go girl! Having Zumba on Wednesdays and Vinyasa on Thursdays is a great tag team on my body. But I need to get on youtube and figure out some of the dance moves as I'm finding a few of the foot moves are confusing to me.

Emma woke up in an excellent mood today. She's been super snuggly and happy. Watching Land Before Time with hot chocolate will do it any day. I made a new discovery this morning with Emma. She seems to feel that coming into bed in the middle of the night is FOR ME. Oh how sweet. Yes.. she said, "I'm so nice because I come and snuggle with you in the night." Hmmmm.... how do I explain to this wiggle worm that it's not snuggling, it's kick boxing. Something about getting punched in the face, stomach and back every night just has lost its appeal.

So I got up early and watched Grey's Anatomy. It was good, not great. I'm thinking they need to have something drastic happen for me to continue to next season. But was there not a new Private Practice? I'll have to check back on ABC later... this show has definitely peaked my interest this year. I was sad to see Dirty Sexy Money be cancelled. That was my favorite show for the season. Oh well..one less program to watch. I have to say though... canceling cable in March was a great decision. Everything is online now and thanks to Apple TV and Netflix we have everything at our finger tips.

please make the whining stop!

2009-05-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

I'm about to loose my mind today. Emma is at her peak whinyness. Whineeee bug, annoying, difficult, grumpy, bad attitude. The pitch along with the scream and constant annoyance is just ridiculous! How on earth did I give birth to such a grump? Grrrr... these could be a very long 15 years ahead of us if she doesn't change this aspect of her personality. I tell ya.. maybe people are born with the glass is half empty mentality. Chris and I sure do not run our lives that way. Please give me the strength not to seriously kick her out by the time she is 7. Maybe this is why parents send their kids away to boarding school? Always thought people were pretty messed up to send their kids away, but maybe they knew something I didn't. In her defense she is so very cute. I am a total believer in the science of cuteness. The cuter a little kid is the more a terror they are. The evidence is very convincing.

On a happy note I'm 25 minutes away from 90 minutes of freedom at the gym. Oh how I love to drop her off and work out. Even if she does scream. Why on earth do kids have to make such a darn big deal out of being dropped off when 15 seconds later they are totally fine.

So I am unofficially officially saying 2 kids is plenty. The days when I have a paycheck and can travel the world are actually in site. Oh.. and I am SOOO happy that we are inches away from being fully potty trained. The freedom! The extra 40 bucks a month who hooo... that we don't have to buy pull ups with. Man.. sad to say but this does make me want to do a little dance. Yes.. I truly am a mom.

Weekend away!

2009-05-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Sean and Jenna, Chris and I were able to get a full 24 hours away from the girls. This was the first time that I felt I could separate myself from the kids and enjoy my husband without being worried, wondering if Emma was going to completely freak out. I took every moment of peace and quiet and soaked it in. It was awesome! Needless to say Chris and I took full advantage of our 24 hours together. Each polishing off 6 cocktails, 2 beers, and a shot of patron. We have so much fun going to different pubs and bars in Monterey. I had no idea that downtown Monterey had so much to see and do. We talked and talked and talked. Watched girl on girl action in the bar. Yeah.. it was pretty crazy. Not to mention these girls came with spouses and the girls swapped guys for a bit of the night. Of course the night ended in spins. A great hang over in the morning. But what the heck we gotta live it up right? Breakfast was awesome. Oh how I love eggs benedict. Took a nap in the car while Chris had a photo shoot and then we spent several hours on the coast walking and tide pooling. I can't wait until Mexico when we have 6 days with out the kids! There is nothing like finding a connection again with your spouse where you can go on and on in conversation without having to stop from kid distractions.

School is less than 2 weeks from being done. I am so excited! It will be a great break for a few years while I wait to get into the nursing programs. I'm certain I'll find some hobby to do in the meantime. Ok.. step number one get into super good shape. I've been running 3 miles a day on the treadmill, rediscovered Vinyasa locally, and have just started Zumba. I can't wait to get better at this Latin dance class. I'm still 2 steps behind the teacher but I think by the end of the month I'll have her moves down. I am hoping that I can start back at Yoga Source at least 1-2 times a week once school is over.

My New Career

2009-04-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I have some wonderful news to share. I have decided to quit nursing school and start EXOTIC POLE DANCING. Did you know that this is a great form of exercise? I'm SO excited. Chris is really looking forward to helping me fine tune my skills. Unfortunately, the Valley is a little saturated with dancers right now. SO...the Schmauch family will be moving to Huntsville AL (right smack in the middle of the bible belt) to be near my bff, Erin. This area could use a little excitement and I plan on shaking things up a bit. As a courtesy to all of you, I will also warn ya that there are several clips of me "shakin' my thang" currently floating around on the net. IF you are actually interested, you can look me up under "Peaches Shoops It Up." Peaches is my stage name and I really work it to the song "Shoop" by Salt n' Pepa. You'll love it. I know Chris sure does. Thanks to all of you for your love and support.

Becky (aka. Peaches)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/images/2004/11/01/pole_dancing_1_300x400.jpg

Getting the Christmas Picture just right!

2008-12-04T08:37:00.000-08:00

Aren't they adorable. What you don't see in the picture is Chris and I grinning as I was yelling at him to keep his eye behind the camera while I tried to make the girls look at the camera for 10 minutes. What you don't know is that Rose is jumping because she sees Simon (our cat) across the street. It was a mad house with kids flying, running after dogs, scaring a very fat cat away. But in the end... we'll just remember the cute pictures. :) So I put a bit of foundation and lip gloss on the kids to see what it does for the pics and I liked the effects.

14 Million People!

2008-11-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

"This is our moment, this is our time." said by President Obama.
Isn't it incredible that 14 million more people voted this year then ever before. I am so proud to be an American. We as a country have come to a point where we will not stand for anything else but improvement and change. Obama is such an amazing symbol that our country can change and last night with his incredibly articulate and inspiring speech it has. I believe our President will be able to unite our country in a way we desperately need it to. If there is any man that can bring republicans and democrats (and everyone in between) together in a short period of time, Obama is it.

I actually cried this morning when I watched his speech. Given that I am a white woman who was born in 1978 I have not experienced first hand what the African American population has been through. It has always been a lesson in my history class. Old black and white pictures. Something I have honestly underestimated and put in the back of my mind. But today I actually felt the emotion, the growth, the pride.

"So now it is time we get to work." says Diane Sawyer. We get to work. That never occurred to me. I've been watching the debates as a cheer leader, maybe even more like a fan that smiles and doesn't get to involved. But WE do have work. I haven't decided exactly what that means for me personally but if Obama has a job cut out for him so do I. In fact each of us does. It is going to take change on all of our parts to make our new master mind really make history in a short time. So I'll keep you posted as to my actions but I encourage everyone one to make a commitment, make a stand, take a HUGE Leap for our community. I felt today that I could actually go and work for this man and his cause. Now I honestly have no idea how I would even begin to help, let alone which of the several areas of interest I would choose from as there are many on the table I am passionate about. But I definitely think the first is educated myself and more importantly educating Kaitlin and Emma. Pretty cool stuff I tell ya!

So I was out doing my official business until about 12:30am driving thousands of ballots from Morgan Hill/San Martin/Gilroy area up to San Jose. You should have seen the back of my trailblazer. There wasn't an inch to spare. Then I went to our local bowling alley bar to celebrate with a friend over an apple martini. (yeah it was literally the only place open in Morgan Hill, we live in a very family oriented community) Got to bed around 2:30 and woke up at 7am. I am in love with the new coffee mate flavor cinnamon vanilla. Yummy yummy yummy. But I'll tell ya what watching all of these rallies this morning on TV made me SO sad. I wish I had been there! The energy was seepingly cool. Is that a word?

Ok it is 5 minutes before we need to head out-o-here and get Kaitlin off to school!
Have a great day everyone!

It's election day!

2008-11-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

Daddy with his princesses

Sister Love

This Pic was from few months ago but it sure is cute.

Emma..so happy on a horse:)

I am so excited that today is voting day! This has been the most amazing election. You know what I am most excited about though? The voter turn out. I heard on NPR today that 80% of California will have voted this year. This is so amazing! Regardless of who wins for President or which propositions are voted on our country is fired up! It is so great to see that people are taking a stand for what they believe in. Yes there are millions of us voting, but each one of us counts just the same. It always blows my mind that my vote counts just as much as Brad Pitts or even Obama and McCains. Pretty cool that we are all on the same page.

So tonight my girlfriend Leah and I are helping out with the voting polls. I've done it twice before. It is top secret stuff. VERY IMPORTANT. At least that is what my bright orange jacket and super cool sign will say on my car. Basically I will be driving the ballots from Gilroy/San Martin to San Jose. And I get paid to do it! The first time I did it with Chris, the second time with a girfriend Ang. Really it was just an excuse to get out of the house and away from the kids. But this time around it actually means more to me. I do feel a bit a pride.

So on to life. Halloween was great. Saturday I had a test in Anatomy. I'm 1/2 way thru the semester now. I have been enjoying my Saturdays so much that I don't want them to come to an end. So far I have a 95% in the class. About a third of the class is not passing. Not to glote, but I do feel I've earned this A as I study like I should have when I went to Cal Poly. I also had my Human Development midterm last week. It went well. Just shy of an A on my exam but overall I am still carrying an A in the class.

Kaitlin, Emma and Daddy had fun Saturday building forts and watching home videos Saturday. It was super cute to come home to chairs, blankets and all sorts of fun things. He is quite the active dad on Saturdays. Last weekend he took them to the exploritorium in the city to go play and to see the Largest Blimp land in Moffett field.

Sunday we had some family time in the afternoon after I co-thru a babyshower for Ang. It was such a wonderful babyshower. She is having a boy and I have to say the boy things are far cuter now then I remember seeing before. It is so fun to be a part of someones pregnancy. But I have to say I AM so glad I'm done. Of course I still say anything could happen and maybe we'll have more later.

Kaitlin is excelling in school. She is REALLY into writing stories. And she wants to learn spanish. Chris and I are working with her with our limited knowledge. I'm looking into programs in the bay area to expose her. I wish we had a ton of extra money for programs like this. But I do have to say her Tae Kwon Do was the best investment we've made with her. I see her self confidence, self control and spirit. The only hard part to Tae Kwon Do is that it is 3 days a week so extra activies is a bit crazy unless we don't need downtime at home. And I am starting to feel like downtime is truly overrated anyways...

Emma is sassier then ever. She goes from sweet to sour in 2.5 seconds. It's just her age. In fact I've learned a new term in my class. Conservation. It is when a child can not escape an emotion. They fixate on it. It has to do with brain development. So anyways.. it has made me be a bit more patient. Oh yah.. given she is round 2 it also helps to say. "I remember this." But she is far more joy then sorrow. She is IN LOVE with princesses, specifically the barbie princess movies and horses. A few weeks back a friend let us go onto her ranch and ride horses which we will definitely be doing again. You should see her face when she gets on a horse. Pure heaven.

Halloween is FUN!

2008-11-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

Awww.. aren't we so cute. Kaitlin choice our pose. Sat us in our "spot" and had us smile on queue. Such a proud mama

Emma loves her pumpkin! Daddy helped her carve it after she drew pretty pictures on it.

Super Girls to the rescue! The girls were both super girl this year. They loved being twins. Pretty cute.. I figure it might be the last year where they want to be the same costume:) Halloween was a blast this year. I made a MONSTER Tamali Pie, cut up bell peppers and carrots for the face and hair. We went to our neighborhood parade, and then walked at least a mile or two and got a ton of candy. Chris and I brought our own treat. A bottle of red wine and two wine glasses. We polished off the bottle on the run. I definitely reccommend this trick-or-treating style. It rained off and on which made it even more fun for the kids.

Yum Yum! Nothing like slimmy pumpkin guts!

I've started a blog!

2008-10-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! I've started a blog thanks to my bestest bud Erin. I go on her blog all the time and love it! She's funny, honest, and I think it is awesome that she keeps us all up to date on life in Alabama. So I've decided the do the same brain download on the internet as she has:) Keep granparents up to date, get out what I have to say, show off my kids and more.

On to my day...
Today I have a midterm in Human Development which should be a piece of cake. At least that is what I'm telling myself as it has been 6 years since I've taken a scantron test. Besides there is nothing that can compare to 80 questions in a 45 minute timed anatomy lab practical at 8am on Saturday. OH yeah.. for those of you who don't know I'm back at school! It is so awesome.

So outside of studying like crazy this AM I have been..how do I say this.. COMPLETELY PMSing. Which usually just makes me get quiet because internally I am so passionate about EVERYTHING and therefore to save relationships that are dear to me and not say things I will regret I keep my mouth shut. But today I had a HUGE internal movement that just couldn't be stopped that I actually have to thank Judge Judy for. Strange huh? She said on Regis and Kelly something to the effect of, "if you don't stand up for what you believe in, then your not standing for anything." Our neighborhood is plastered with McCain/Palin and Yes on 8 signs. Now the McCain/Palin signs don't bug me so much as we all know who is going to win:) So put a sign your lawn to make yourself feel better. The second sign though has been eating at my stomach the last month and though I have been feeling super passionate that any church or political group would try to make it a law to discriminate people, LOTS of people all based on what they believe GOD thinks is down right ludicris. Back to the signs... I never like to "rock the boat" and yet the idea of actually plastering my own views on the lawn originally seemed tacky has become a fication in my mind. So today I put an Obama and No on 8 sign on my lawn. Amongst the many "other" signs in our neighborhood I felt SO good taking a stand. So thank you to my neighbors and town for inspiring me to join the club and stand up for what I believe in!

Oh... and granparents the kids are great:)