kids stuff

This is what Marea wore to ballet the other day as it was "a little chilly"
Why not? What is the point of having your favorite things so special that you never use and enjoy them. This made EVERYBODY smile at Costco.



We went to Balboa park on MLK day. Caught a reggae concert and enjoyed the beautiful day off.


Had to get the car seat shot because this is where the poor thing spends all of our outings. But she loves it. She is just happy to be a part of our tribe. Love her.

Flashback Friday

March 19th 2004

Happy New Year

I loved getting everyone's Christmas card. And despite what all the TV show portray, I even love reading all of the Christmas letters. We had a fun vacation. Here is a little of what we did.
The Travers came over for an "early Christmas".
We caroled and delivered fudge to our neighbors.
We visited my 97 year old great aunt Erma.
Enjoyed our first Christmas in our new home.
Drove up to Pleasanton to stay for a few days at Pergrossi parents
Drove up to Tahoe and played in the snow.
Jonah and Naomi went to snowboard and ski school while Deon and I went snowboarding with Melinda and Danny.
Countless hours sledding and snowboarding in the backyard.
After a couple of runs I was actually feeling like a pretty decent rider again (havn't riden in 4 years!)
Celebrated New Years with the kids (on east coast time) Deon and I went to bed at 11:50 p.m.
Celebrated my sister Melinda's 27th birthday. baby
Drove 11 hours home from Tahoe.

Jumping Jonah
Below is Jonah on Christmas Eve. The wooden board is set 8 feet away from the jump.
I had a video of him hitting a jump on his snowboard but it wouldn't load. He's awesome.

Six months

First pig tails

Still a little snuggle bear

Eyes are still blue, with a hint of brown creeping in. Check out me in the clouds in the reflection. I love the symbolism of that.

The fastest six months of my life just flew by. The busiest, most exhausting, most rewarding, and most precious. I wouldn't trade them for anything.

happy girl

Doesn't she have the most perfect teeth?
Naomi has had a loose for a few months. She has been thrilled. She has wanted to lose a tooth for 2 years since Jonah lost his first tooth. She's been wiggling it but it hasn't been loose enough for me to want to work on it yet.
Then Naomi sees that Talia has lost her 4th tooth. She came home from school the very next day with her tooth in her hand and a very big smile on her face.

Me: How did that tooth come out? It was barely even loose.

Naomi: I bit on my red pen really hard and it got looser and I kept biting my red pen until my tooth came all the way forward, then I pulled it out, then I went to Nurse Netty.

Nothing like a little peer pressure.

Now the tooth fairy has a tooth for Lily.



And this is what happens when you have three older siblings. You get "cool" at a very young age.

Ladies and "gentlemen"

Some morning TV show had a segment about gentlemen. Do they still exist and has the definition of a gentleman changed? It was interesting to hear the difference of opinion between the men and the women on the issue. The women expressed that gentlemen are disappearing and they want them back. The men insisted that they were still out there but you can not spot a gentlemen just because he is in a suit and tie. The men argued it was about self confidence and presence, while a gentleman to the women is someone that gives respect to others and is courteous and thoughtful. But apparently each group believes the gentlemen is there for them.
It made me wonder, as I am trying to raise a gentleman, what is a gentleman to me? Here are a few things I hope my son learns.

Treat everyone with respect. Not just people of influence and authority but the sales clerk, children, street people, and of course women.
Respect yourself enough to take care of yourself (hygienic, health conscious)
Cover you mouth and say "excuse me" when you cough, sneeze, or yawn.
Keep all forms of body gases for the bathroom.
Learn a firm handshake and look people in the eye
Open doors for females of all ages
Never curse in front of women or children. In fact, never curse.
Be honest.

I was just interrupted by Jonah who came in and said, " ladies and gentlemen? I thought it was gentle men and feisty women."

Well said my boy, well said.

So bloggers what is your favorite gentleman trait, or what do we need to add to our list?

UGH!

When we first moved into our house we often found dog poop on our front lawn. Once it was in the middle of our driveway, and once it was right in front of our front door. "oh hello, good morning" : (
The #1 reason we don't have a dog is because of the poop. I certainly don't want anyone elses. We have kids that play out there! So I staked it out and found out who it was. Our neighbor across the street just let her dog out off leash to go take care of business wherever she wanted to (as long as it wasn't her yard she didn't have to pick it up?) For a few weeks we tried to scare off the dog when she came around, it helped but I can't be guarding the house all day. I also need to mention that the dog has a SERIOUS flea problem. The poor thing has chewed off half her hair and neighborhood gossip is that the house is pretty infested too.
Finally I just approached our neighbor and said, hey, we are finding a lot of poop in the yard, and I'm not blaming anyone but would really appreciate it if you would walk you dog on leash. Of course she let me know that she usually does walk her dog on leash (NOT) and it wasn't her dog.
So the poop stopped landing in our yard yea! And our neighbor stopped talking to us. She wouldn't return a wave, wouldn't even look at us. Who cares as long as the poop is gone right? No, I'm just kidding. For the next 5 months I made sure I smiled real big and waved everytime I saw her and finally she melted and would wave to us again.
So we are back to normal, eveyone likes us again. One day after Deon had just come home from work the neighbor comes over and wants to hold Lily. Deon said "sorry I just got home I need her for a little while." He felt a little bad, but not really. Are we going to get the cold shoulder?
The next week she comes over with a baby gift. Yea we not gettng dissed again. She got Lily the cutest little pink Ugg Boots. So to make ammends Deon says "would you like to hold her?" We pass her off and the neighbor oohs and ahhhs and enjoy it.
Deon and I later hi-five each other for keeping our neighbor on our good side. I was feeling really good until the next morning when i found A FLEA on my baby!
So bloggers what do I do? I don't want to let her hold my baby again, or come in my house again. Am I overreacting or justified? What would you do?