Happy Halloween!

The Cowgirl and her cow dog Aspen

The Dead dog (missing in this picture is her best friend Adri - a Dead explorer. Get it - an explorer and her dog?)

Superman!

It was a weird Halloween. David and my costume did not arrive in time for our party, we didn't make it to a pumpkin patch (and barely found a pumpkin from Safeway!), I had a hard time reconciling the fact that my daughter wanted to be a dead dog (but I have to give her credit for making the entire costume from head to toe!) but I must say that today was a successful Halloween! The 2nd graders didn't throw up at my severed finger treat, we had our traditional Halloween pancakes for breakfast (in the shape of a bat, pumpkin, and witch) even though the kids had to be at school at 8:30, I made my dinner in a pumpkin, and the kids got so much candy they could hardly carry it home. Karsten's candy was literally falling out of his bucket it was so full. Success! We had fun trick or treating with the Dullum's and thoroughly enjoyed Marianna's homemade carmel apples after our hard work of walking around with the kids.

And yet at the end of the day am I left wondering, where are all the Almond Joys? Is that not a popular candy anymore?

Happy Halloween!

Bridge School Benefit Concert

David called it the best concert ever and I agree. Seven hours, 8 bands (including Jack Johnson, Norah Jones, Sarah McLachlan, Death Cab for Cutie, Wilco, and of course Neil Young who organizes this event), tons of yummy food while hanging out on a blanket in the grass at the Shoreline Amphitheater with great friends - you can't beat it! David and I went for the first time last year and

loved it so much. All the proceeds from this concert go to this school that has a program for the communicative and education development of children with severe speech and physical impairments. The scary moment of the night came when we're piled into the car with our four friends (it was just like back in the high school days when everyone piled in the car to go somewhere - luckily with less making out this time...), cruising down the highway when I realized I forgot the tickets!!! I thought David would be happy that I remembered then rather than when we got there, an hour away. He didn't quite see it that way but he did forgive me AND he was able to hear the opening song by Neil Young himself. All in all, a truly great night!

Voted

Yes, that is votED as in the past tense of the verb "to vote" as in I'm finished! Please no more phone calls or fliers. I mailed in my ballot today. Prop 8 was a big one this year. I had the hardest time knowing what to do. I would make up my mind and then hear an ad on the radio and change it. I flip flopped a lot. There are people I love and respect on both sides of the arguement and I wish so much I felt strongly one way or the other. But after much research and discussion and attending a presentation on the legal ramifications of this proposition, I finally got to a point where I could feel good about my decision and I voted and it's now out of my hands. I feel so much better. My mind can focus on other things now. (Like the 34 mile hike I'm doing this weekend!) I plead the 5th on disclosing how I voted. That way my friends and family on each side of the issue can feel like I did the right thing. And I did. I voted!

Domesticated

Yes, I am Mrs. Cleaver and I'm loving it! My mom bought me this darling apron for my birthday. I was quite surprised I must admit because I don't really wear aprons. Well, apparantly that's because I've never had such a cute one! I put it on and I feel transformed. In fact, today Karsten and I made cookies and in truth it was because I just felt the need to be in the kitchen wearing my apron. I've worn it every day since I got it. It's kind of defeating the purpose of an apron though because if I have something on my hands that I need to wipe off, I wipe it on my jeans rather than my apron. It's too cute for that!

David may just start coming home to dinner on the table and a chair with the evening paper in it. Except I don't do foot massages. Even a cute apron won't help with that.

37, who me?

Yes, my birthday was Saturday. Can I really be that old? But I did not have time to feel old because my wonderful family kept me so busy and spoiled the entire day. It started with a special breakfast at Toot Sweets and ended with the most delicious food I've ever tasted. Here's my day...

After breakfast, we went to Obama headquarters and did some phone calls to Colorado which was really great since that's where I grew up! Sierra helped me call 50 people - 49 of whom were not home. It must have been a nice day in Colordado. Skyla and David were focused on New Mexico. Quote of that experience was from Skyla. She drew a poster for Obama and told me, "I didn't know how to spell his name but then I looked around and it's written everywhere!"

We rushed to our next appointment which was PEDICURES! Adri gave Sierra a gift certificate for her birthday a couple of weeks ago and so Marianna decided we should join them. It was so fun being with our daughters getting our nails done. It was funny how quiet Sierra and Adri were. They are usually non-stop talking when they are together and yet they sat there quiet as statues. Welcome to the world of being pampered girls!

Next, pizza and cake! I don't even have to tell you how yummy this cake was - Marianna made it for me. She's the BEST! So we had a picnic in the park. But not before I opened my presents! I am now the proud (proudest!) owner of a GPS!! Do you know what this means? I will tell you. 1. No more fights with David when we're travelling somewhere. 2. I will no longer bite my nails as I'm driving. (A bad habit I have when it suddenly dawns on me that I don't know where I'm going.) My disability (David calls it being directionally challenged...) is now erased! Thank you honey!

To top the night off, David and I headed on our big date (another HUGE THANKS to Marianna and Nathan who took our kids!) which was an amazing hour at Albany Sauna and Hot Tub. Wow. If you need some good quality relaxing time with your spouse, I highly recommend this place. It was wonderful. We ran back and forth from the sauna to the outdoor hot tub (all secluded). But did our date end there? No, it did not because my wonderful husband also got dinner reservations to the most famous restaurant in this area, Chez_Panisse. Not only is this restaurant the #1 restaurant here, it's listed as one of the top 50 restaurants in the world! I was excited to be going to this place, but how good can it be, right? Oh my gosh. All I can say about it was it was simply amazing. Truly the best food I've ever eaten. We started with a salad (they roast their goat cheese!) and beets and leeks. Who eats beets and leeks first of all, but who serves them and charges $10 for them? Chez Panisse and I would pay it again in a heartbeat. It was so delicious. For our main dish David ordered a rib eye roast which just melted in our mouths and I ordered a fish and shellfish ravioli which I cannot describe how good it was. It's the kind of food where you just slow down and eat slowly and really chew your food because you want to savor each bite. We topped it off with a Bavarian cream and strawberries dessert. I should have done a separate post on this fabulous restaurant alone. My mouth is drooling at the mere memory of this food. And the crazy thing is, we had reservations for 9:45 at night which I thought we must be closing the place down, but as we were leaving at 11, people were just being seated! What time does this place close?

So that's my birthday! Makes it seem not so bad about turning another year older.

MVP

At Sierra's game on Saturday, her coach awarded her the Most Valuable Player of the game! Wow!! I'm so proud of her and the serious hard work she's put into soccer this season. Poor Sierra has inherited my "short" genes and she is tiny compared to the other girls she's playing against - many times they are almost twice as tall! (See picture above and check out the girl in white for proof. Watch out Sierra!) She doesn't even flinch. She knows she can get the ball and she does!

Way to go Sierra!!!

Girlfriends

I love these girls! These are some of my friends who make up my "base." They know the good about me, and unfortunately the bad parts too, and love me always. We all were living in Berkeley nine years ago when we met. We were new moms trying to figure out how to raise our ONE child and keep our sanity while our husbands were in school. We all ventured onto baby #2 together and with each other's help, continued to maintain our sanity. And then school ended and so we went our separate ways - to San Francisco, Alaska, Texas, and Australia! And yet here we sit together at The Brazil Cafe (which was SO yummy by the way), with our oldest children in 4th and 5th grades. They continue to inspire me, push me to be better, and help me burn calories the best way there is - by laughing our heads off. Thanks Marianna, Jenny, and Michelle!

Christmas Shopping

Yes, I know it's a little early, but I'm going to UT for a wedding in a few weeks and I WILL have all my Christmas shopping done. Here are some things I'm thinking about getting:


A motorized cooler for my Dad because he's not suppose to lift heavy things anymore.



A sarcastic ball for my friend Laura.


A smart finder for myself. It consists of a small remote control-like device and little color-coded receivers. Basically, you lose your junk, hit the button on the remote and it guides you to your wares, provided it's within 25 meters (82 feet) of your current location. No more lost keys!!!

A toilet night light for Karsten




A head spa for my brother who just had baby #4...







And last but not least, for David - the Hilary Clinton nut cracker

Christmas shopping is so much fun!!

Karsten and playdough

What do Karsten and I do now that the girls are in school you might ask? Here's one example...

No, he wasn't doing footprints in the play dough. This is just a typical clean-up. It gets everywhere. I bet my vacuum bag is half way filled up with play dough. Good times!

Sweetest Thing

Sometimes I just can't believe how sweet this girl is! Not only did she miss her soccer team photo so she could cheer for me a few weeks ago at my triathlon (when I told her it was ok - she didn't have to come, she said, "But mom, who will cheer for you?!"), but she also secretly folded and put away all of Sierra's clothes just to be nice. And she brought me breakfast in bed. I was actually already up, but she came up to my room with a tray and some waffles and water on it. Just because. She doesn't need a holiday to show she cares.

They don't come any sweeter than my Sky.

Party or Adventure??

As my girls got a little bit older, I started offering "adventures" instead of birthday parties. Last year instead of a birthday party for Sierra we went camping in Yosemite. Skyla chose horseback riding. This year Sierra wanted to try kayaking! And not just any sort of kayaking, but one where she could see wildlife. That could only mean one place - Monterey. So we made it a weekend with the Dullums and had one awesome weekend. I love that my kids want to try new things, and I love getting a break from party planning.

We had the bluest of skies and perfect kayaking conditions. It was so much fun. Karsten and Owen even did some of the paddling. We saw sea otters, harbor seals, and lots of noisy sea lions. Thank you to Marianna who was brave enough to bring her camera out on the water so we could have these pictures. Now the kids will always remember this day!

It was a definite hit with Sierra. Today after school she told me what she wants for Christmas...

A wetsuit and a kayak.

Baby Love

My little girl is 10! That means double digits for the rest of her life. I can't believe it. For her birthday I blew up 10 balloons and put a picture for each year on the balloon to decorate. As I was taping each picture on I could so vividly remember each year and I swear it couldn't really have been 10 years! It was just yesterday when I was laughing at her silly shoes (she would wear one sandal and one tennis shoe) and potty training her and pulling my hair out because we couldn't get her to stay in her bed. And now she's 10! She makes her own choices (she became a vegetarian 4 months ago) and can disagree with me intellectually ("But mom that doesn't make sense because...") and sometimes she doesn't even care what I think. What?!? That really scares me how quickly that went because that means in another blink of an eye she will old enough to go to college and eat cookies for breakfast and even drive!

I am so proud of this girl! She is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. She is thoughtful and kind. One of her teachers told me that lots of times Sierra had to sit next to kids in class that were harder to deal with because she was always so kind and patient that the teacher knew she could trust her. She's such a good example to her brother and sister. They both adore her. She's curious and so dang smart. I could go on and on. I'm so lucky to have her as my daughter.

So Happy Birthday to you my 10 year old! We love you!

Pictures: Sierra with blue (her favorite color) cake

Sierra enjoying traditional birthday breakfast in bed

Treats for her class at school

Sierra and Aspen