March Forth

My friend Bethany pointed out to me recently that my birthday is a special day, because its a date AND a command:

March 4th.
March FORTH!

First of all, how adorable and creative is she?, and second of all... from now on, I'm going to try to think of it more that way instead of the emo-dysfunctional-manic-depressive-unbalanced sort of fashion I've been in the last several years.

Maybe not-so-coincidentally, I had a GREAT birthday (again) this year. Possibly my favorite ever.

Highlights included FOUR (yes, four) different birthday cakes... THIS tasty little treat was custom made by my brilliant neighbor and cake goddess extrordinare Alissa Bright, who is an artist and a cake humanitarian and always makes thoughtful things for any and everyone she knows. Isn't it pretty? And deliciously bite-sized... I swear it looks bigger in the picture... (PS- Dawson shared his Hershey kisses on top. How cute is that!?)

He also helped me eat it. I should be thankful for the calorie rescue, but sharing cake is never cute to me.... I KNEW he had an angle when he put that chocolate on top, how could I say no after that!?!? ;)

Speaking of calories, I have tasted heaven. Kari (who knows my love language is food) arranged for a mid-day feast on the divinely inspired decadence of ColbyJack Cafe (which I've heard amazing things about, but never actually tried).

We sat out back with the daycare pack and everyone feasted in the brilliant warm spring weather. How about that!? Rain and nastiness all week, and the sun came out on the day I was born. I feel so special! Almost as special as that slice of Snickers cake masterpiece we managed to polish off at the end of our lunch. Burp.

Lucinda and Aiden also spoiled me (without making my love handles any bigger!) with these little beauties:

I can't believe its almost garden time already, what a happy thought for this spoiled little birthday brat. ;)

The day ended with a collection of a few of my favorite people at a new ahhhhhhhmazing sushi joint here in town.

This place is going to be dangerous for me, particularly because its RIGHT down the street, and not all that expensive (listen to me rationalizing the addiction already).

How adorable are my two pregnant besties right now? And awe.... they still know how to party for the sake of little not-so-old me. ;)

If this last picture looks like the most painful part of the day, its probably because it was my fourth and last birthday cake, and I was stuffed to the brim with birthday joy and food and cards and kind thoughts galore.

And in just eleven days... the party continues in the great state of Washington (thanks, Obama!)

That's right! The McDermotts are going on their first EVER 'official' to visit our beloved Aunties in Seattle. Technically, just outside Seattle.

We are wayyyy excited, especially to be visiting the family we always miss! We.are.SO.outahere. I already can't wait to put that in my pipe and blog it.

So thats a birthday wrap... 2010 is ruling my world so far, even though I happen to be getting older in the process.

Thank you, friends and family, for always loving me, and encouraging me to "March Forth."

Even on March 4th.

xo

Sweet Child(ren) of Mine

My daughter is hilarious these days.

Here are a few of her latest crack ups:

Yesterday Tyson picked her up and was snuggling her and she perks up and squeals "DADDY! You smell JUST LIKE Mr.Jerad!" She giggles in her girlish fashion, and Tyson said "Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" And she said it was a good thing... phew. And aweeee, she loves her Mr. Jerad, how adorable is that?!?

This morning, she spotted a fly on the living room ceiling and shouted "Wha-oh, Mom. We got flies in the house... better go get the bug spanker!"


A coupe days ago, I heard her lecturing away in the living room, so I came out to see what was the matter. She was talking to the cat (of COURSE!) who she had strapped into the baby swing which was turned on the fastest setting, and who might or might not have been threatened with a spank if she tried to escape...


Recently she is very in to the whole wedding thing. She and her bff Addie talk on and on about who they will marry, and when they are grown up, and what they will wear, blah blah blah. One night at the dinner table she announces out of nowhere "When I get married I want grandpa to walk me down the aisle." I asked her which grandpa, and she said "Grandma's grandpa" (which means my dad). She was so cute and matter of fact about it I told her she should probably call him and ask him if he would be up for it, which of course he was. But then she kept talking about it, and I finally said "You know, Anabelle, you might hurt your Dad's feelings if you dont let him do that job... most daddys really like to be the ones to walk their little girls down the aisle to their new husband..." and she goes "but if Dad walks me down the aisle, how will I marry him?"


Today in the back seat of the car, her Addie was hacking her lungs out (recovering from pneumonia like the rest of the town). Anabelle goes "Oh, poor Addie, that doesnt sound good, but MYYY cough is all better! See?" and then she threw her head back and opened her mouth as wide as it would go to prove it. Yep, I see its definitely gone.

She was sitting at the breakfast table the other day with Dawson and they were eating cereal and I was encouraging them to eat quickly because we had somewhere to go. Anabelle looks over at Dawson and goes "Ok, Daws. I already know its NOT a contest, but Im just saying... MY breakfast is almost gone, and yours...ISNT!"

My recent most favorite is still the fact that she COMPETELY mortified me when she felt the need to taunt the two criminals in handcuffs on the curb outside the grocery store at the top of her lungs..."You're BAD GUYS, and YOURE GOIN TO JAIL!!" as I attempted to tiptoe past the crime scene as inconspicuously as possible. Luckily I don't think either of them spoke much English... but I know the cops watching us sure did!

And lets not forget the man who came to clean our carpets recently who was, shall we just say, not a people person. Especially not the little-kid-loving kind of people person. In his defense, he was there to clean my carpets not babysit... but Anabelle coudnt wrap her mind around the fact that he didnt exactly think it would be a fun idea to teach her what every detail of his day job is, or see the inside of her barbie dream house, or know what she had for breakfast yesterday morning. Finally, in a desperate attempt to get her out from under his feet without crushing her hopes of an invitation to be his apprentice for the day, I said "Why don't you go sit at the table and color while the worker man does his job?" She thought that was a fantastic idea... so she busied herself for all of 30 seconds at the table scribbling away furiously before taking off to present her new best friend the carpet man with a picture of her... holding hands with him... and shall we just say, this was quite the honest picture. He was not a small man... and she really made sure his girth was properly drawn to scale as she handed him her masterpiece... SO embarrassing.

Oh, Anabelle.

And now, on to my sweet son... Dawson.


He is changing right before my eyes. He is a completely different kid from the one I dropped off at his first day of kindergarten just a few short months ago. All he does is eat, eat, eat. He easily eats more than me at any given meal (and I really, really like to eat, I know I've never said that before).

Its not just the inches he is growing... The boy is writing... reading... spelling!... telling me interesting facts about things I have long forgotten learning about. (Did you know penguins only have one mommy and one daddy? Do you know what nocturnal means? Did you know there are 10 10's in 100?...) The kid is a sponge, and he LOVES to learn and be smarter than me, and every other single moment of school. We got a report card for him recently, it was GORGEOUS:


And here is another milestone on the near horizon: he is all signed up and anxiously awaiting the opening ceremonies of T-Ball.

My heart could not be happier with these 2 beautiful, smart, rotten, witty, hilarious kids I ended up with.

How'd I get so lucky?

A Valentine's Carol

On a day like any other day, out of the blue... I found myself suddenly pulled into an alternate universe for a moment in time when the ghost of valentine's past came crashing into valentine's day present.

My sweet little boy loves to give me things. He loves to work hard for me, and create things that he puts special thought into just for me so I will feel loved by him, and be surprised and blessed. And I always am.

This part of him reminds me so very much of another boy I met about a decade ago, and fell madly in love with at the tender age of 16.

But that is ancient history.

...or so it would have seemed, until a couple mornings ago, when Dawson sat cutting and coloring at the kitchen table, reminding me every few moments not to peek at what he was creating since it was a surprise.

When he was done cutting and scribbling away, he presented me with this:

I thanked him and praised him politely like a good mother should, and then waited for him to be busy enough that I could "find a special spot for it..." (the trash needed to be taken out anyways. Lets face it... you can't save em all!).

He turned around and as if reading my thoughts aloud asked where I was planning to put it.

Before I could answer, he suggested I put it in my wallet.

My purse was in a convenient proximity to where we were standing, so I told him what a wonderful idea that was, and plunged into my goldfish crumb and crumpled tissue sack to fish out my designer knock off pocketbook (keep it classy, Atascadero~!).

I flipped to the very back, where I keep outdated business cards I never bother to sort thru, and pictures of my kids from so long ago you would never recognize them.

I irreverently folded the paper heart from my sweet boy and went to cram it in the least occupied spot remaining.

My fingers fumbled onto something already resting in that compartment, and I took it out and unfolded it in an absent minded moment for a closer look.

That's when history came screaming into the present where I stood.

Almost ten years ago, to the date... the first boy I ever loved had the same brilliant plan to remind me of his love for me. (*note the penciled date in the top right hand corner).

Like father like son.... what thoughtful, creative, attractive men I am lucky enough to call mine.

Here's to the brilliant boys in my life, and the next decade filled X's and O's... and many more to follow.

xoxo

"Belle" of the Ball

Anabelle had her first official date last weekend. Its hard to believe she's so grown up already... but since we knew she was ready, I wanted her to have the best. So I gladly loaned her my handsome prince for the night.



She made sure he had a red tie to match her dress. Classiest 4 year old I know!






I had SO much fun getting her all primped. I think she enjoyed it almost as much as I did... I can NOT keep that girl out of my jewelry and makeup to save my life. She told me she wanted a "Cinderella Bumpkin." I think she meant 'bun...' but I cant get old lady images out of my head at the thought of it, so I prom-styled her out to my liking anyhow. She didn't seem to mind... she could NOT stop staring at herself, it was hilarious.

Tyson came home from work and rang the doorbell with a corsage in hand. She acted like it was something he did every day... "Oh, is that for me?! Thanks."

I think she was pretty proud of it once it went on her wrist though.

Dawson and I headed out for our date, and Tyson did what ANY rookie prince would do for the maiden he loves... he took her to Le Golden Arches for the Happiest Meal on Earth. Juice boxes and white lacy gloves: she is KILLING me with cuteness.

Of course Ty was suckered in to the $20 photo op at the front door. What a pushover! (Not gonna lie, I can't wait to see the picture...)

The rest of the night sounds like it was filled with lots of twirls, and bottomless trips to the snack table (all the M&Ms and juice boxes you can eat... what more could a girl want?!).

So it seems the dance was a success, there were over 300 fathers and daughters there. Our dear friends John and Julie were supposed to be among them... but got sick in the hospital at the last minute! Even more to look forward to next year.

Tyson I think wanted the honor of blogging his evening... but he has been SWAMPED with working out of town and taxes in his down time that I decided I better make it happen before its old news.

I am so thankful for a husband who is willing to take his lovely little girl out for an evening filled with all the wonderful ways a beautiful woman should be treated. When she finds the man of her dreams one day in the VERY distant future, he will have some HUGE shoes to fill.

But for now, we aren't even worried about that... she says she's marrying Obe Wan Kenobi, and last I checked he's toast...

Fairy Berry Eifth

The baby of our family isn't that anymore... and she could NOT be more thrilled about it.

Our darling daughter is four years old on this very day.

I sat down with her this morning to take one final snapshot of her third year, so I could remember her this exact way forever and ever in the land of blog. Because she is just SO great right now, I hate that a single day passes (especially a nasty day that adds a whole digit to her age!).

Heres what her highness had to say:

Her favorite song is Baby Mine.

Her favorite color is pink.

She wants to be a baker when she is a grown up.

Her favorite thing to do in the whole world is play with Addie.

Her favorite place to go is America.

Her favorite animal is a kitty cat.

Her favorite movie is Disney Princess sing-a-long.

Her favorite food is M&Ms (she gets that from her mother... and grandmother...)

Her favorite game is 'tickle scratch...' which she demands of her dad and I any time she thinks she can get away with it (like before bedtime, or when we're watching a movie or reading a book...)

She wants to marry Obe Wan Kenobi when she grows up. Well, her first choice was Kaeden across the street... "but he said no."

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I would be so sad and lost without this lovely little jewel in my life. She is the very best parts of her mother and father, and then a whole heap of things I only wish we could be. She is pure love and joy, I absolutely ADORE every inch and every moment of her from the top of her sassy blond head to the tip of her chipped pink sparkly nail polished toes.

Happy Birthday, to the Beautiful Anabelle Lee.

X0Xo

Dapper Dawson Paints the Town

So I had a pretty wild night last night with the man of my dreams (and Tyson didn't even mind!).

My son took me out on the town.

A few weeks ago Tyson won tickets on the radio to a father/daughter sweetheart dance, and we thought it would be a perfect night to pair off and spend some quality time with the kids one-on-one.

I had SO much fun dressing them up, they looked even more delicious than usual, and we were all very excited.


Dawson could NOT have been more thrilled about the "real flower!" I got him to wear on his handsome shirt. He kept asking why you pin it on with an earring (the straight pin had a pearl at the end of it).

On the way there, he shared a recipe he had been thinking I ought to try: "You cut a coconut in half, and you put it in the microwave, then on top of it you add cinnamon, more shaving coconut, and rainbow sprinkles. Does that sound yummy, Mom?"

He got to choose what we did. We went to dinner of course (although I DID get to pick the restaurant... what a sweet man!),

and dined on an ice cream sundae and french fries from Good Times Cafe (yep, that's right. I ate ice cream for dinner! It ruled, im not even a little bit sorry).

We played "I Spy," colored pictures (he liked my ice cream cone drawing, then promptly one-upped me by drawing one with a triple humped scoop and THREE cherry's on top), and talked about all our favorite foods. He drooled whipped cream all over his tie and my dress, but I didn't mind one little bit. Everyone in the restaurant was looking at us (it wasnt a big place, and I heard them whispering. It was hilarious).

The 'real' part of the date that Dawson was DYING to do was go to Powell's Candy Shop. He was the most delicious thing there.

He thought these rubber chickens were SO hilarious, he is priding himself on his sense of humor more and more these days. Telling him he is funny is one of the highest compliments you can give him.

We had WAY too much fun goofing off in there, I'm SURE the employees were annoyed at how we played with all the merchandise without buying it (they weren't as romanticised as the people at the restaurant... what do THEY know, anyways!?).

And this last shot... I told him he exactly like Edward, only even more devastatingly beautiful.

We rounded out the night with a 7pm showing of the Tooth Fairy movie, which was surprisingly bearable to watch as far as little kid movies go. We feasted on our candy score (I found sugar free gummy bears AND sugar free sour worms! Just to help offset the ice cream dinner binge), and I WISH I had gotten more of them, I am sad to say they didn't last long.

When we got home, it was after 9pm. I was surprised he didn't pass out in the car on the way home, and when we got inside, he asked me to snuggle him till he fell asleep. Which I was more than happy to do, and he was dreaming peacefully in no time flat.

What a babe.

xoxo

When Running is Bad For Your Health

This is my ankle:



This is my ankle post-sprain:



Any questions?


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