Fresh From My Garden

Yummo - organic arugula, I know not only because it is grown in my back yard, but because I hand cleaned each leaf rubbing off and rinsing the aphids.  So flavorful for lettuce, of course the girls didn't appreciate it.  They are not gourmet like me:(

If only that darned fence in MY backyard didn't separate me from MY arugula, I could have it any time I wanted :(  (BTW, thanks Michelle :))

Can't take credit for the tomatoes and carrots, those are courtesy of my friend Joe, our town Trader.

Sometimes the Truth Hurts

And sometimes it's hilarious:

Conundrum

Why, after doing all the laundry for a week, do the numbers of underwear per girl vary so much?  Here are the results for 7 days:

Elli = 7 pairs

Addie = 4 pairs

Amelia = 12 pairs

I'm not really sure how to crunch these numbers, being a girl and all, maybe I'll ask Jason to use his manish-math analyzing skillz. (said tongue-in-cheek)

"If I have a strawberry, my throat closes up faster than a girl in math class." - Kenneth from 30 Rock

Much Better

I must admit, I have been struggling the past 8 months to be a supportive wife.  Jason got tired of having the same haircut/style for 10 years.  His hairstyle when we got married my brothers affectionately called the "Zach Morris" and lucky for Jason all our wedding pictures have his blonde bangs blowing in the wind reminding us that we are old enough to have "dated" pictures, ouch!  It was within a few months that he cut it short and had stuck with it, until late last year when he started growing it out.  He gave a variety of reason for his decision, was he:

waiting for the housing market to recover to cut it, somehow willing a recovery the way a bowler leans to the right willing the ball to veer?

trying to look younger like those shaggy hair kids these days are wearing?

trying to look older, like Gordon Gecko from Wall Street?

seeing just how much I meant our wedding vows "for better or worse"?

or

just seeing what he looked like with long hair?

I did the best I could by biting my tongue, remembering if you don't have anything nice to say, yada, yada, yada.  His dad walked right past him in the airport when they met up last month, then upon realizing who the new Jason was, greeted him with a "We need to get you a haircut."

Jason decided last week the time had come, his longer hair took too much time and effort.  This experiment taught us a curious family trait.  My babies have all grown their hair in the back quicker than their hair up top thus displaying the very popular and desirable "mullet".  We now know they get this from their dad, who had this same growth pattern, very interesting!

before:

after - aahh, isn't he cute :)

Hippity Hoppity, Easter Came Our Way!

 

We had fun coloring eggs, making foam wreaths, eating jell-o beans, following clues to find our baskets, wearing our new swimsuit right out of the basket, wearing new dresses to church to learn about the REAL Easter celebration, and a yummy dinner at Grandma Joyce & Grandpa Kim's.

Diamonds in the City

This past weekend was our 2nd annual sisters weekend.  The rules are simple:

No children,

No husbands, (is that redundant with rule #1?)

No excuses.

Last year we had a beautiful weekend in Laguna Beach, this year we chose San Francisco where we all left our heart years ago.

Here is the quick & dirty of our weekend:

Friday - lunch at Nordstrom Bistro - yummy; the best/most relaxing pedicure ever at the Nordstrom spa - I'm pretty sure I dozed off for a moment or two based on the drool I had to wipe up (not really, but my sister did catch a photo op of me with my mouth hanging open,) and for the trifecta of Nordstrom, MAC did all our make-up.  We went to a seafood restaurant called Farallon where I tried my best to be adventurous but our nice waiter kindly insisted to replace my "one bite is all I could possibly eat" calamari. (It wasn't breaded and fried, which meant it wasn't going in my stomach.)

Saturday morning we went to breakfast at Sears Fine Foods, got ready for the day, and then shopped til we dropped.  We went back to the hotel and got ready for another tasty dinner at an Italian restaurant and then off to Grease.  It was a fun musical, even if Taylor Hicks was MIA.

Sunday we saw an early showing of Confessions of a Shopoholic, ate lunch at the restaurants inside Bloomingdales, then off to the airport.  

I am so lucky to have my sisters, we have so much fun together and I love being with them!

When you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear a flower in your hair.

Yes, Andra and I did buy matching outfits, but you will never see us in them together - I mean again.  There were a lot of repeat purchases this weekend, we all have at least one matching pair of new shoes, all three of us have the same hair accessories, and then throw in a few skirts and it is simply embarrassing!

We loved our charming hotel, the Kensington.

A big shout out goes to our dad who loves when "his girls" enjoy themselves!  And to Jason for taking great care of the girls with Chuck E Cheese, Monsters vs. Aliens, and Bass Pro Shop (I don't think they liked that one though) and a fabulously clean house when I got home complete with vacuuming and mopping.  Can't wait for next year! - who likes Paris in the Spring? 

A Tribute

It is the end of an era in the King house, as today we said so long to Jason's Saab.  We have been planning on selling it for a year and a half when Jason replaced her.  I nudged him to understand the harsh reality that Elli would not want to drive "her" when she turned 16, but although he was ready to replace her, he wasn't ready to say goodbye.  So she sat at Jason's mom's ranch up until last month when he decided it was time to cut the cord (that is the symbolic cord to his youth/glory college days/ independence from parents or wife/turbo lifestyle).  Last month he picked her up, fixed her up, and sold her - all pretty seamlessly.  She was good to us, although her repair bills will not be missed.  And Jason can no longer taunt me that she has been around longer than I have.  But I do need to admit the Saab was part of the "Jason package"  that I fell for 12 years ago.  (call me superficial, I was 20)

Good bye "born of jets," may your new owner be a "saab enthusiast" like Jason.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

At church last Sunday the lesson was on families, and "gifts" we get from our families like a grandfather's nose (luckily I did not get that Diamond gem) or blue eyes - you get the point.  So when the teacher asked what gifts the children had been given from their families Addie raised her hand and shared that she had been given her mom's singing voice.  Bless her heart, she thinks I can sing.  I didn't want to sadden her with the cold hard reality that her mom was the only student in all of sixth grade at Greenbrook Elementary who didn't make Mr. K's beginning chorus class, and for icing on the cake he asked my sister if I knew I was tone deaf.  And while we are exploring tragedy in my life, Jason made me cry once while we were dating when I asked him why he wasn't singing in church and his reply was that it was too hard trying to stay on tune while singing next to me.  The irony of this whole story is that at age 11 I was in the San Francisco Opera, so take that Jason & Mr. K! (I was a bald buddhist monk child in a red shroud that walked across the stage while the real SF children's choir sang offstage, but whatever!)  So thank you Addie for thinking so highly of me, but next time you tell me I look pretty, your judgment is a bit in question.

Flashback Friday: Addie's Night on the Town

Rewind 2 years ago and Addie was 4 years 8 months old.  We were still in Gilbert, Arizona, getting ready to make our move to California.  Addie had a best friend, Lizzie, and they were so cute and yet such trouble together.  They were always trying to get marathon playdates and never wanted their party to end.  They are both very assertive girls hidden behind blonde curls and blue eyes.  I would tell Addie before playing with Lizzie, don't play with nail polish, don't burp over and over, don't put ice down your underwear, and don't switch underwear!  The list got longer each playdate.  But I loved these girls together and saw how special their friendship was.

So one night my phone rang at 5:00 am and it was Lizzy's mom.  In her very upbeat, cheerful voice she asked if I knew where Addie was.  Of course I knew, she was sleeping in her bed, duh!  Um, actually she said she was at her house and had knocked on her door a few minutes before.  My heart dropped in my stomach and I felt like I was going to throw it up.  Then she filled me in on the details; that Lizzie was actually up waiting for her, that they had arranged this the day before since they had been denied a sleepover, that 2 little girls who can't tell time simultaneously wake at the same time, that Addie left our house shortly after 4:30 in pitch black and walked 5 blocks crossing 2 semi-major streets in her cheetah girl jammies, flip flops, and curlers to a waiting Lizzie who had tried to call Addie only minutes earlier but was told by her Grandma to go back to bed, and that the girls were actually discovered when they were overheard talking in the kitchen.  WTH!

(A re-enactment picture)

When Addie was driven home, I had such a mix of gratefulness she was safe, astonishment that she was capable of this, anger that she didn't see anything she did wrong, and amusement that she was capable of this.  Putting the pieces together, we remembered she had actually come into our bedroom and tried to get Jason's ginormous maglight, but when he asked what she was doing made a quick exit and we didn't think twice while we went back to sleep.

The following night, Lizzie attempted a dash from her house and made it as far as her corner, but the sun had just started to come out and a neighbor who knew her saw her and started asking questions.  She told him to just leave and go to work, but he escorted her grudgingly back home.  We had also barricaded our front door with our piano bench, we would definitely hear if that was being moved on the tile.  

2 years later and a state apart these girls still consider each other best friends, and I still don't trust them as far as I can throw them, but love them to bits!

I am Not Trying to Sell you Something

...because this baby sells itself!

This is my new super cool Williams Sonoma pineapple cutting tool.  Have your ever cut a pineapple in under a minute?   I didn't think so!  (Jason is using MY new tool, go figure)

For a limited time only

Act now

Cut it & forget it 

3 easy payments

Operators standing by

Must be 18 years of age or older

No C.O.D.

I do parties

Bump in the Night

Let's start at the very beginning - Elli.  Right before she turned 2, I was 9 months pregnant so it was time to move her into a big girl bed.  It was a breeze.  Every night when it was bedtime, we would tuck her in and that was that.  Nap time, same deal.  And each time I tucked her in I mentally patted myself on the back, what a good mom am I. 

Chapter 2 (short chapters)- Adeline.  Things went so well the first time, when Addie turned 2, out of no necessity, we thought how great it would be to have the girls share a room.  I remember how much I liked sharing with my sister, oh the memories of snuggling- even if it was one-sided, and jumping on our canopy bed (maybe we shouldn't go there...)  Addie isn't Elli and the next 2 years bedtime was hellacious.  She would get out of bed over and over.  We tried everything, locking the door (which scared Elli so she would fall asleep in our bed which defeated the original purpose of moving Addie to a big bed), 2 different baby gates which worked but it still wasn't ideal having Addie call for us for up to an hour from behind the gate, to watching Super Nanny and following her bedtime routine to a T, but it must be because I didn't have her accent, it didn't work.  We still have some difficult nights with Addie 4 years later, but it is definitely better.

So they say that those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it, and boy do I remember.  Baby Girl #3, aka Amelia, is 2 and a half and still in a crib.  She has a big girl bed waiting for her in Addie's room, but knowing her personality, it can collect dust for all I care.  I still depend on her 2 hour nap time for my sanity, and though she protests, it falls on deaf ears as I lovingly place her in her crib every day.  Until last night.  She wakes up each night about one time yelling "peepeepotty" over and over, she thinks it's one word.  It takes a few moments to register, I crawl out of bed and stumble to her room, take her peepeeputty, go back to bed.  But last night as I was coming to, I heard a loud THUMP.  I jumped up, ran down the hall, and found her curled in a ball on her floor crying, it was my nightmare come to life.  The epilogue of this story has yet to be written but I have tried everything today to keep this from reoccurring soon from fear (you could fall and cut your head and get blood all over your jammies,) discipline (You don't climb out of your crib!), commitment (tell mommy "I will not climb out") to shame (only bad girls climb out of their crib).  Just kidding, I haven't had to resort to shame yet, but I will go there if needs be.

You can tell by her eyes, she's up to no good

You Say It's (was) Your Birthday!

Jason turned 34 on Monday!

We started celebrating early on Sunday with friends over for his favorite coconut cupcakes.

(We wish YOU were there!)

All Jason really wanted on his birthday was to beat his friend Todd's AstroBlasters score (at Disneyland) since he told him the secret insider information that he learned from Jaime. Not all birthday wishes come true, but the reason why I got in a picture was because he wanted the camera in case he needed to document the high score, so it was out and ready.
Another of Jason's birthday wishes was for his daughters to become Pin Trader's! Okay, not really, I had to convince him to let them express themselves and not confine their creativity, even if he feels is crosses over to the uncool side. (Choosing my words carefully.) ((They are expressing themselves just as he is expressing himself with growing his hair out, it's not done yet so I just patiently wait and hold my tongue.))

Much Birthday Love to you, Jason - love Jos