12 Years

Yesterday was our 12th wedding anniversary! Wow, the time has flown by. I am so lucky to be married to my wonderful Jay.

We celebrated on Saturday by going downtown for dinner (we took the Metro "for fun") at the historic Hotel San Carlos, and then to see the hilarious Brian Regan in concert! We had such a blast! Brian Regan is great, and so was his brother, who opened for him. I love laughing with Jay. We were exhausted after so much laughing!

Today was a typical Sunday, but tonight before bed, we looked at our beautiful wedding photo album with the kids, and then watched our wedding video, produced by the amazing and talented Marshall (see his wife's blog here).

Here is a clip from it, below. Holy cow, we look so young!

WARNING: Do not watch this video if you are allergic to "cheese."

Seeing Double

Jay thinks I'm weird for taking these photos, but how many times have YOU ever seen a double banana!
The kids discovered this at my mom's house the other day. We didn't know what it would look like inside, but sure enough... siamese twins.

Weird.

"T"

Jack finished his first season of T-Ball.

He was only in it for the Trophy... and the Treats.

Jack and his buddy, Bryce

Mother's Day

I had a nice Mother's Day weekend. On Friday, I had lunch with the kids at school. Here they are together on the playground.

Collin sure enjoyed showing-off Jack... especially when he realized that he got a great reaction when he approached a group of cute girls with his little brother in tow; "Oh, he's so cute!" "He looks just like you!"

Saturday was a busy day, but Sunday was nice and relaxing. I got to take a nap (!) and Jay made a delicious dinner... with a little help from the kids.

Jay wouldn't let me lift a finger, so I took photos.

We were all impressed with his creation.... his own version of a chef's salad, with blackened chicken. It was delicious, and it was plated beautifully too! The kids were pretty shocked... "Dad, I didn't know you knew how to make dinner!" :)

After dinner we visited my mother, and then with Jay's mother. We both have awesome mothers.

Gettysburg Address

This morning while I was driving the kids to school, one of my nephews (who is in our carpool) was practicing "The Gettysburg Address" in preparation for reciting it in class.

I have heard/read it a number of times, and yet for some reason I felt like I was hearing it for the first time. It touched me profoundly, and I was really choked up. If you aren't familiar with it, or haven't read it for a while, please do.

Image of "The Lincoln Address Memorial" erected at the Gettysburg Battlefield in 1912.

Easy Awn

I forgot to tell you where I got this great awning. I bought it from EasyAwn.com and had a great experience; ordering was simple, the price was great, they shipped it right away, delivery was free and FAST, the product was exactly as advertised, and it was easy to install. I am very pleased. So, if you are looking for awnings, I can definitely recommend them.

These guys won't be ruling the world anytime soon

Jack and a couple of friends are here right now, and they are playing Monopoly. I use the term "playing" loosely. All three of these boys are 5 years old, and none of them knows how to read.

They didn't ask me for help. They just got out the game and went to work, trying to explain it to each other. I guess they are making up their own rules. The "preschool" version.

It goes something like this:

"Hey, I'm at Hawaii, at the beach."

"You have to pay me $92."

"I get some more money."

"No, you have to pay some money."

"Whose turn is it?"

"We forgot to push the middle thing."

"I get to roll the dice."

"What does this say?"

"That's a mystery mark."

"You mean a question mark."

"Oh, yeah. A question mark."

"You put it in the wrong one."

"We aren't playing the real way."

"You can be the dad banker."

"Who wants a guard?"

"That's not mine. I'm rich."

"Wow, 60 hundred three, twenty nine dollars."

"No, 15.... uh, 15 five hundred. Five."

"Good luck."

Happy Birthday Collin

Today is Collin's 10th birthday. Double digits! Holy cow! He is pretty darn excited.

Collin is such a good boy. He is a joy to have in our home. I am so grateful to be his mother.

"Before" and "After"

My boys' bedroom, which is at the front of our house, has always been really hot because of the sun shining on this big window. We had shutters installed years ago, and that helped some.


On Saturday, Jay installed this awning. It helps A LOT! Plus, I love how it looks. BONUS!

"The Invention of Hugo Cabret"

What do you get when an award-winning illustrator authors a book? A wonderful story partially told through drawings.

After reading a small blurb about this book in the Wall Street Journal sometime ago, I checked it out from the library for my son to read. I had no intention of reading it myself, but after I flipped through it out of curiously, I ended up spending the better part of the afternoon reading it from cover to cover. Don't be put off by the fact that this is a book for children (or it's length... yes 500+ pages, but many are pictures, or contain little text)... it's a great story and a very fun read!

Said Jack the other day......

"I wish we had an ewok. They're so cute."

Mom: "Ewoks aren't real."

(pause)

Jack: "Well, then I wish we had a hamster."



Sorry, we don't do pets.

Playing "Catch Up" Again

Surely you aren't surprised.

Here is Jack on little league opening day. This is his first year playing T-ball and he really enjoys it. His buddy Bryce is on his team.


Collin won the Pinewood Derby! He worked really hard on his car... under Jay's direction. I thought it was cute that he publicly thanked his Grandpa and "my Grandpa's neighbor, Art" who let them use some of his tools. :) He was a very gracious and humble winner, and went out of his way to cheer on the other boys.


Last weekend (Easter weekend) we had a family reunion on Saturday, and dinner at my parents on Sunday. (No photos... oops.)

This weekend Christian and the kids were here for a visit. Mary and Jack were so excited to play with their cousins. On Saturday there was a benefit concert... it was very well attended (every seat was filled as far as I could tell) and very professional. Thanks to all the wonderful generous people who organized it, performed, and bought tickets!

Our school had a "Family Fun Night" last week where we were entertained by the amazing Craig Davis. So much fun! I have seen him perform 6 times now, and I enjoy it every time as much as the first time.

Did I tell you that for Jay's birthday I bought us tickets to see Brian Regan in Phoenix next month? I'm so excited! He is clean and hilarious! (watch him here) OK, yes, that's the kind of gift that's for ME too. But I can't send Jay to a comedy show by himself! :)

My book club read "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" this month. Great book. We met last night, and one of the ladies brought her father, who grew up on Guernsey Island in the 1930's. He told about his experiences being sent off to northern England as a 13 year old just before the Germans arrived (leaving behind his parents and two younger siblings, who were later sent to an interment camp in Germany), then joining the Royal Air Force at 17. Amazing story.

Some Photos

I am really bad about uploading the photos from my camera to my computer. It takes me a while to get around to it. Now that I finally did it I realized that I forgot to post about our trip downtown to the Public Market at the end of February.

First we went to breakfast at District at the Sheraton. They have a wonderful breakfast buffet, with everything from sausage, bacon, eggs, fried potatoes, french toast, biscuits and gravy, steel cut oats, cold cereals, granola, fabulous fresh fruits and yogurt, and of course, breads and pastries.

We walked around the hotel afterward. (Looking down on the street from the... I don't know what to call it... Jay calls it the "Outdoor Pre-function Space," whatever that means. It's outside the ballroom.)
Then we walked down the street to the public market. It has grown quite a bit just since we were there in October. It's doing well and getting bigger all the time. (On the way back from the market.)Then we walked around The Arizona Center, which is across the street from the Sheraton. It's always fun to walk around there because the outdoor areas are very nice. And it will always be sentimental for me and Jay because on one of our first dates we sat on one of the benches there and talked for a long time. Just talked.
And here are a couple of other photos that were on my camera. Did I mention how much Mary loves the roller skates she got for Christmas? She wears them as often as she can.... even while doing her chores. She would wear them to school if she could.Last week I went to lunch with my mom and my two older sisters for one of their birthdays. That is also my niece in the front. And no, I'm not in this photo.... that's just my sister who could be my twin but she's not.

Jay's Birthday - Part 2

To complete the celebration of Jay's birthday, we went to dinner at Lon's at the Hermosa Inn. Both our meals were delicious. I had the most wonderful salmon with a blackberry glaze, and Jay had a beef tenderloin that absolutely melted in your mouth (seriously, almost no chewing required) and the most incredible macaroni and cheese, of all things, with white truffle oil! It was amazing!

And yes, we went to Last Chance afterward. Jay usually has good luck and comes out of there with some great finds. This time he only got socks.... but they were $10 socks, brand new in the package for 75 cents, so... not bad. Me? I bought 3 pairs of shoes. Well, they were 35% off! When you are talking about 35% off $18 shoes that would have sold originally for about $100 each, can you blame me? (And I used the Nordstrom gift card my mom gave me for my birthday, with some leftover!) Besides, new shoes always make you feel good even when you feel fat and clothes don't fit.

And of course I made Jay's favorite cake. This is the ONLY cake he ever wants. One year, early in our marriage, I made the mistake of making him a chocolate cake instead. He didn't say anything, but I could tell he was disappointed. I've always made this one ever since. It is really good. This is what his mom always made for him I guess.

Here is my version of her recipe:

HULA HULA DREAM CAKE

Cake:
1 yellow cake mix
1 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
3/4 c. water
3/4 c. canola oil

Disregard the instructions on the cake box. Combine ingredients; pour into 2 round cake pans (8 or 9") coated with cooking spray. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven; let cool 5 minutes; remove from pans to wire rack and cool completely.

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 c. cold milk
1 large pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1 large can crushed pineapple, well-drained

Topping:
12 oz. Cool Whip*

Beat cream cheese with electric mixer for about 30 seconds. Add milk and pudding mix; beat a couple of minutes, until smooth and thick. Assemble cake by topping first layer with half of the pudding mixture, then topping that with half of the pineapple. Repeat with second layer** and remaining pudding and pineapple. Frost entire cake with Cool Whip. Chill at least 30 minutes. Keep refrigerated.


* I made the mistake once (long ago) of trying to substitute real whipped cream, but it was a disaster. If you can make stabilized whipped cream that should work, but I have never tried it.

** At times I have made 4 layers by slicing the 2 layers in half, and then dividing the fillings into 4, but that was too much work. If you are feeling ambitious, go for it!

The last of "Some Stuff I Want to Remember"

- Guilt is a thief of time and energy.

- There are some friends you can't trust when it comes to movie recommendations.

- "Bigger" is not necessarily "better".... and neither is "more."

- Good listeners learn more and are in a better position to teach.

- A college degree is important even if you don't specifically use it.

- Having a lot of stuff hanging around is oppressive.

- Just when you think life is finally going smoothly, something will start leaking.