Take me out to the ball game...

Go huskers.

I was able to go to M's game today for the first time. (I worked the last 2 Sundays we were home). He made me so proud. What a difference from when he played soccer. I think he was just too young then... had just turned 3. It surprised me how much he pays attention to what Coach Dave says and tries his best. He loves the hitting part and today he also did really well at getting in front of those grounders. Today the wind was howling and blowing sand in our eyes so they decided to move the game over to the grass (my eyes are still burning from all the sand). I was concerned because 30 minutes prior to the game I accidentally closed a window on his finger and he said he didn't think he could play. I mean hard too - why did he put it there? Then we went outside to practice a little and he whined about how windy and cold it was. I gave him a talking to on the way there about how Major League players are out there rain or shine and they don't complain. Seems like he really enjoys it and he is smiling the entire time. I loved every minute. He asked me to go out on the field like Brian does to help but I said I wouldn't know what to do so I would sit in the stands and cheer for him. He told me not to yell "go M or go huskers" or anything like that but said it was OK for me to give him a thumb's up. He's growing up so fast. Thank goodness Dyan watched K for me today... she would have been miserable in the wind.

Brian chose the number 22. That was our dear friend Matt's hockey number who died 3 years ago in a motorcycle accident. M wore it proudly. He doesn't have a bottom does he?

He's ready.

Coach tells the kids to do "alligator hands" to stop the ground balls.

Big throw.

He hit the ball near short-stop on the first swing... then forgot to run he was so surprised. Luckily he got on base anyways and eventually made it home.

I got an interesting phone call last night from my credit card company wanting to verify recent activity. What? Turns out someone tried to use my credit card number 2 days ago for $1700 purchase from a place called Tactical but luckily it didn't go through. My card is still in my purse and I hardly ever use it so where did they get my number? Kind of freaked me out and I told them to quickly close my account.

Off to watch Desperate Housewives. It's getting good again. Brian's working OT tomorrow. Bummer.

Washington DC and kid funnies.

The big news is................KYLA IS POTTY TRAINED!! She finally just made up her mind and while we were in DC she went in the toilet the entire time at my moms. At first, poop was a little tricky. It seemed like she was holding it in until she got a diaper on for bed or a long car ride but now she's got it and is so proud of herself. It is easier except she keeps taking ALL of her clothes off each time. That's a little frustrating but we'll work through it. The best part of it... now when we go to Ikea she can go in the childcare area which means an hour of free childcare for Mommy!

Well, Brian and I got back from DC on Sunday... met my mom to pick the kids up on Monday morning. We've spent the last week catching up on laundry, unpacking, crossing off items off on our very long list of things to do and hanging out with the kids. They were so excited to see us. K repeated, "I love you Mom" over and over about 10 times in the first 2 minutes. My mom said they started asking for us and missing us on Sunday. (It took that long!! - 6 days) They had a great time... playing at the park, McDonalds Playland, John's Incredible Pizza and doing many craft projects. They spent time at my sisters as well. They love their dogs (English Bulldogs) and can't get enough of Lacie (my niece). They are home now... back to their old ways of fighting with each other ALL day. We get lots of "M called me poop" or "M said he doesn't like me." It's absolutely wonderful to be back and exhausting all at the same time.

Washington DC was amazing. We were able to get a vacation and also reconnected with my friend Rebecca. Why can't I ever make friends that are staying in Sacramento? We met while working together in the ED in Woodland. The second day she and the kids were able to go sight-seeing with us. We went to Arlington National Cemetery (my favorite part of the trip) and then headed to a very quaint area of town called, Georgetown. Watching the changing of the guards at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers was very moving.

We must have walked 20 miles during our vacation. Even with The Metro (subway) there is a ton of walking. We spent our first day walking down the Capitol Mall started at The Lincoln Memorial and ended up at the Washington Monument. Then we headed to the Metro Station and went to the small town called Alexandria in Virginia. It was St. Patrick's Day and Mike (Rebecca's Hubby) told us it was a cool area to hang out in. That day we were in California, Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia. We found a pub with an Irish Band and had a great time. Luckily we had fantastic weather... with only one drizzly rainy day and one cold day. All the rest of the days got into the 60's. Sweatshirt weather. We spent the rainy day going on a tour of The Capitol and visiting museums. There are 22 Smithsonian Museums (all free). My personal favorite was the Museum of American History. We did a hop-on/hop-off bus tour which was a good way of getting around also. I loved being able to stop at a cool looking pub/restaurant after walking around all day and relax and enjoy each others company. Whenever we're out an about with the kids, we see younger couples dining outside ... relaxing with nice cold beverages and good food (looking like they don't have a care in the world) and I think to myself... I remember those days. (excuse the very long, run-on sentence) Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change anything but boy, do I fondly remember those days. We just about saw everything we wanted to see. If I had an extra day, I would have gone out to George Washington's home, gone to the Iwo Jima Memorial (I saw it from the car- no pictures) and went back to The Lincoln Memorial. By our last day... we were just tired... especially tired of walking. We ended up just sitting on a bench in the Capitol Mall, near The Capital and watched a soccer game and relaxed. Then believe it or not... we went to the movies at Union Station which by the way is amazing. Yes, the movies while in Washington DC and it felt so good. That's something we don't often get to do at home.

I took about 700 pictures (but lots of them are duplicated because I'm trying to learn Manual Mode) so I'm including just a very small sample of my favorites.

Washington Monument in the background. Day 1.

Brian's turn.

The Tomb of the Unknowns.

The changing of the guards and the Tomb of the Unknowns.

The Lincoln Memorial at sunset.

The White House. The rear view. Right after this picture the Secret Service made everyone move back so I'm glad I got it when I did. I saw on the news that evening that the First Lady was planting vegetables with elementary school students in the rear lawn. I took this with my long lens.

Another one. The front view.

The Capital at night.

The Capital rotunda.

The National Cathedral. Wow, was it beautiful. The pictures don't do it justice.

Inside the Cathedral.

The Jefferson Memorial.

Distant view of the Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin.

The World War II Memorial.

I just like this one.

M funny. The other day we were all at Petsmart (the kids love it) and there was a 3 legged dog in shopping with it's owner. M just couldn't resist asking the guy, "how come your dog only has 3 legs?" The guy replied, "he was in an accident." M was satisfied with the answer so on we went. I told M that the dog doesn't look affected at all and that it wasn't slowing him down. He looked at me with the cutest face and said, "that must have taken aaaaalot of practice!!" Just cracked me up.

He's also on this gum kick now that he's learned how. He chews the piece for about 5 minutes. Well, we were at Michael's the other day and because he'd been good I told him to pick out a pack of gum. He looked at all the different kinds and said, "I'm going to have to use my sense of smell" and proceeded to sniff all the packs.

K told me she wanted a White Chocolate Mocha the other day. I wonder where she got that!?!?

Off to rest. Melissa

Miscellaneous

Dyan gave us these beads. As you can see... M loves them and is ready for Mardi-Gras. (These are actual beads from Mardi-Gras in New Orleans)

He decided to hang these as "art" around the house. On every light switch, cupboard, etc. We had to leave them on overnight.

Is he ready to work on The Price is Right?

Dance class pictures. I think this is Week 3. She loves it.

Will write more and post DC pictures when I get time. I'm trying to get caught up. She is doing well in class but definitely needs to be in the front row so she doesn't daydream. It is so cute, I wish I could figure out how to post video on here.

Mel

Photography Class

Well, I went to class last week and was informed that she was giving everyone 2 weeks for one of the biggest creative/photo assignments we'll have. The problem is... I'm not going to be there in 2 weeks (vacation in DC). I'll miss the critique and can't make that up but I need to turn in the assignment BEFORE I leave. I have been seriously stressing about this. Brian let me go to work early and scout around for photo ops on Saturday and Sunday. He also came up with some of the ideas and took me to a fire apparatus junkyard to snap pictures (while driving 2 fussy, whining, loud kids around). Thanks. The assignment was to take pictures of 10 scenes. Each scene should be as close as possible to using one major color...about 90%, though it can have many shades of a single color. Each of these images should be a "found" scene in real life, not fabricated. She wanted several "layers" for lack of a better word. Some of these aren't great but I had a time crunch and it was hard to come up with ideas/places/time. It didn't really matter what I photographed... it was all about the color and even the sky counts. I'm sure the one at the State Capitol isn't 90% White but I love it... so I'm turning it in.

The first 6.

2 more.

Last ones.

I'll try to have time tomorrow to blog about the kids. They've said and done some crazy things lately. I also have a few more of K at dance class.

Also, these are all shot in Manual Mode... who-hoo.

Yummy!

Brian left a surprise for us on the porch on Tuesday morning. He told me before he left (for a week-long class) to look out there when I woke up. I excitedly opened the door and found a Starbuck's Coffee for me and 3 chocolate doughnuts. (one had a bite taken out of it... I wonder who did that!) Geez, M was so excited he couldn't stand it. Brian woke up early... ran to Starbuck's and went out of his way (in the wrong direction) to drop it off. He sure knows how to win me over.

Well, I'm a little stressed today. The blog book that I've been working on for a month (tons of hours) crashed last night and now I can't get it to re-open. I was all the way up to August!! I've e-mailed tech support... the first thing they told me to try didn't work! I'm going to be so bummed if I have to start all over again.

Chocolate face and sleepy eyes.

Look at that wild 80's hair! I had already cleaned her up because she ate the chocolate off the doughnut and had it ALL OVER her face. Then gave the rest to Roscoe.

He's trying his best to make her smile for me by tickling her. Yes, she smiled but refused to look at me. Stinker.

K knows all of her colors and can recognize most of her ABC's. She is also doing very well with opposites. She's a quick learner and so lovey-dovey. However, lately she's been very whiny... and scared of everything.

K went potty in the toilet 2 times today and was sure proud. I stopped buying potty treats because I kept eating them all. Maybe I should get some more, I need to keep it going.

M has been a stinker also. He seems to be better and much more patient with K. Me on the other hand... if I ever say no to anything I get "I don't like you (over and over)." GGGrrrr! It makes me so mad... I'm just about ready to get the bar of soap out. Tonight he had the nerve to tell me he never gets to do anything fun! I said, "are you kidding me!?!?" He said that we never take him to Disneyland and he wants to go tomorrow. I should say, he also tells me he loves me about 10 times a day.

After I put him to bed I was sitting on the computer and he yelled out, "mom, who's Granny's Mom and Dad." I told him that they passed away. Then he said, "what were there names?" So I told him and he said, "if you say so." Makes me wonder what goes through their little minds while falling asleep at night.

Boy, am I ready for Brian to be home. Yeah, tomorrow!! We're meeting Dyan and Monte at The Club tomorrow evening for Bingo and cocktails. Should be fun.

Miscellaneous

Well, I'm sleep-typing right now so bear with me. I worked last night... finally fell asleep at 1:30 am and had a little cuddly girl in my bed by 6:30 am. AND I also work tonight. Brian is in a class all week out of town, we didn't realize that until last week so this weeks schedule for child care is tricky. Sure would be nice to have family close-by.

I haven't had any time to blog lately. My photography class is keeping me rather busy. I have one or two shooting assignments and readings to do each week... plus practicing with Photoshop CS4 (which is awesome by the way). I'm trying to learn how to take 10 pounds off my figure with it! I've also been busy working on my Blog Book - it's going to be upwards of 300 pages when I'm done and is very labor intensive. BUT oh so cool when I'm done... I'll post pictures. Hopefully by next year there will be an easier way. Every spare second I get, I'm running upstairs to see if I can get one of two posts done. I think I'll have it done in a few weeks.

The kids are feeling better and back to their feisty selves. They either love each other or hate each other. The other morning I woke up to both of them yelling at each other, "I don't like you... no, I don't like you...you're stupid!!... no, I'm not stupid" and on and on. I didn't realize there would be so much fighting this young. I'm not sure if it's because they are boy/girl or their individual personalities or what. K's become a little stinker too. When she gets into something or does something she's knowingly not supposed to do and I ask her why I just get "because I want to!" If I ask her to do pick her toys up or something, I often times get a mischievous grin and a "no." M is listening better and growing up more each day. Don't get me wrong... he's still a bit of a challenge and very high energy but it's getting easier.

Brian and I are excited for our trip... 16 days away. I can't wait to see you Rebecca! We've got a lot to do around here before we go though. I want to get K's birthday invitations out before we go. Her party is going to be April 11th. She can't wait and talks about her party often.

We'll know today at 5 pm whether or not M gets into the Westlake Charter School. Their curriculum "focuses on diversity and appreciation of different cultures, while promoting academic excellence and foreign language acquisition." It's a lottery system so I'm not getting my hopes up. He is #319 and I'm not sure how many they take.

M being silly...

Abraham Lincoln's Cabin. He made this at school.

More when I get time.