Alex can shave now…

I got Alex a little pretend shaving kit from Target and he loves it.   Now he is kissably smooth…

I have a 9 year old…

I can’t believe it, but I now have a 9 year old.  Here’s a couple pictures from Santi’s birthday.  Lego theme, of course, so we had a Lego building contest and the cake was shaped like Lego bricks.

the fabulous cake made by Stephen...

the building contest...

here's me sneaking a kiss from the 9 yr old...

Overheard little boy conversation…

“Okay, lemme smell your butt now.”

A Not-To-Do List

Instead of doing homework I goof off. Here’s my attempt at an anti-to-do list inspired by “52 Projects“.

• · Do not Twitter
• · Do not balance checkbook
• · Do not put a load of laundry or dishes in
• · Do not check the mail, paper or email
• · Do not pick up Legos
• · Do not rearrange furniture
• · Do not stare into fridge
• · Do not go to Peet’s
• · Do not go to Trader Joe’s
• · Do not drink 8 servings of water
• · Do not browse iTunes
• · Do not go to Target
• · Do not play make-up
• Do not sort through make-up to throw out old stuff
• · Do not organize closet
• Do not google “cute wedge sandals”
• · Do not make a ‘donation pile’
• · Do not Yelp under pseudonym
• Do not try and create a “clean workspace”
• · Do not paint toenails
• · Do not go to IMDb, Amazon, Craigslist, Wikipedia, or Ebay
• · Do not charge various electronic devices
• Do not decide to burn a cd
• · Do not make a shopping list
• · Do not sort recycling
• · Do not make myself a lovely salad
• · Do not make cupcakes
• · Do not change wallpapers on computer or phone
• · Do not make an Evite
• · Do not allow updates on computer
• Do not clean out purse

The New Digs

The boys and I moved to Tom Sawyer Island in Frontierland, Disneyland.

Ok, not really, but there are some similarities…and we love it, see below.

On any given day we see things like turtles, frogs, fish, clams, crickets, cats, dogs, ducks, and ducklings (see next pic), and that’s just on the way to the mail box.

The boys spend hours everyday just hanging out in the creek. Our new place is just right for us and the boys love it.

Alex Vocab

spider fu (noun):

“it’s like, it’s like, kung-fu, except it’s called spider-fu.”

Good news – Alex is home from the hospital

After 4 nights at Santa Theresa Hospital Alex is finally home.

Last Sunday Alex complained of a sore throat and by Sunday night had a very stiff and swollen neck. He cried all night, and couldn’t talk or eat. Monday a doctor at Kaiser said he had 3 separate things going on – a sprained neck (what?!), a fever/cold, and pink eye. Wrong. By Tuesday afternoon, thanks to my Mom being proactive and really there for me and the boys, she talked me into bringing him back in, this time to the E.R. The E.R. sent us over to pediatrics…pediatrics sent us back to the E.R. This is after Alex kicked a little Dr. that looked like Freud right in the crotch. Freud said he had an abscess in his neck.

Anywho, after another 9 hours or so involving a blood draw, an x-ray, a CT scan, 3 tries to get an IV in, and some morphine, Alex was admitted to the hospital with an abscess behind his tonsils. They started him on 2 types of antibiotics. By the next morning we (we = meaning my Mom and I) found out he had strep group A which caused the abscess, spread to the tissues around his neck, and into his blood (this is called “scarlet fever”). Jesus.

I have never seen Alex so sick and not himself. He is normally so active, and loud, and impulsive; it really must have taken a lot to knock him down. He was so brave and I’m so relieved to have him back. Now if I can just get him to take the oral antibiotics that taste like crap 3 times a day for 6 more days…

On a related note – Thanks Mom, for caring about us and not being afraid to do something about it.  You would think most people would act this way, but it’s actually pretty rare.

It snowed in Seattle!

Among many other awesome things about the trip to Seattle a couple weeks ago – it snowed! It’s been at least a decade since I’ve seen snow falling from the sky. It was really nice.

“My body fills with love when I touch you.” -Santiago

I am a lucky mom.

Good Article

Here’s a great NY Times article a friend sent me…the only thing they left out was the mid-life crisis tattoo for the younger set.

If you’ve seen Juno it also has a great quote in it that conveys the same message. “Grow up, you’re never going to be a rock star, and your t-shirt is stupid.”