Sun-kissed..

We had a busy weekend. Yesterday Lily went to her bff's house and had some pool time, played tether ball and ate bbq. When she got home around 3 a few of my neighbors , a crap load of kids and Jack, Justin and myself were in the the pool. We played water volleyball (which is great exercise) and then we bbq'd. Justin blew up the magical dragon floaty thing for the kids. We were out there for a long time..I dropped Lily off at 11:30am and then Jack and I headed out around noon. Justin was in and out..he didn't stay the whole time..you know cause he is somewhat anti-social..What a terd..he came out when the food was ready..haha but he did hang out with Jack and successfully pushed me into the pool when I wasn't even ready. Payback is a bitch..I splashed him good!
I smothered sunblock on Lily, but I guess it should have been re-applied..her poor little face is burnt. She was in tears last night and Justin put some Calendula on it..I think some aloe too. She's fine this morning...you can't even tell she was sun-burned.
We never did take her to her 'audition'. She wanted to go to Katlyns house instead. Probably a good thing..there would have been tons of people there and Jack would have had some difficulties..you know with his anxiety and all. :(
Well off to deal with Lily's Monday whining and all that..so fun...

Family Ties...

Justin's youngest sister came for a visit yesterday. She moved back to San Diego from Washington. It was great to see her again..and the kids were so excited to finally have some family here. One day I wish everyone else would come back.. :)We played Rock Band and ate some good food. Fun was had by all.In other news, Jack had a play date the other day and he had a blast...Bri came and played for a few hours. They 'went to work'..built a house with his tools and gobbled down fruit and yogurt. After awhile Jack came to me and asked"Mommy can I be done now..I don't want to play.." I asked what he would rather be doing..I should have known what he would say. So much like his papa. He said "I am done playing and I am ready for some video games ma!" haha
Here is Jack with his new playmate

Jack is continuing his cooking odyssey and daily meanders in the pantry grabbing random ingredients and hoping to concoct something. Here he is in the kitchen backing some chocolate oatmeal muffins..we were going to make that lentil loaf but I forgot one ingredient at the market. Oh well..who doesn't love muffins anyway?

Movie Star Mania

Last night I went to Target to get a few things..I was with my friend and her daughter..Lily's best friend. As we were walking along the housewares department I heard a woman's voice say "Excuse me" I turned to see a woman pointing at the girls and asked if the were sisters. We informed her no. She asked which girl belonged to whom.
She is an executive talent scout,she wanted the girls to come audition for a commercial and a small role on Malcolm in The Middle and Zach and Cody..
My friends mom said no..her daughter would be way to shy..but of course Lily chimed in said how glad she would be to audition and she would do her best. The lady laughed and said I bet you would do a great job. She gave me her business card and told me where and when the auditions would be.
Tomorrow between 1-4. Lily is so excited to audition for a role..especially on Zach and Cody..the scout also mentioned the commercial would be for Mc Donald's. The pay is phenomenal she let us know. So we will be taking our blossoming actress to the hotel tomorrow to meet up with Jessica..(the scouts name).
Stay tuned! You may see Lily on the next happy meal commercial..hahaha

Complex Chaos

As I was savoring my steamy hot cup of joe this morning, I heard a huge shattering sound. I always have my front door open in the mornings to get fresh air, regardless of the temperature outside. I told the kids to stay put and lock the door behind me. I also heard some screaming. One of my newest tenants lives right across the way and the boyfriend was there and threw some thing out the window shattering it to a bazillion pieces. I saw him leave with a big bag. my first concern was for the baby..she has a small infant, maybe 4 months old. I helped the young girl clean the mess. Glass everywhere outside. He did some damage inside too, shattering a dinette table with glass flying and landing on the baby while he was nestled in his swing. Motherfucker. He broke off cabinets in the unit and other items. He is NEVER allowed to set foot on this property again. I was afraid he was going to come back and hurt her or her baby so I had her over to my place for a cup of coffee.
What a morning...
I am off to help her out as much as I can.

I heart Thursday

I love Thursdays. Especially today. Lost is all new tonight, not to mention Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy. I won't let Jack nap today,(I mean I won't put him down, if he falls asleep at his on will, well Se la vie!) that way he falls asleep early tonight. Justin and I can have some quality TV viewing time, haha.
I may go back to the market, I forgot to get some lavender and cheesecloth. I like to make little herbal bath soaks. I cut a piece of the unbleached cheesecloth and fill it with lavender, oats and powdered buttermilk. Then all you do is wad it up in a ball and tie a string to close it up, with the other end of the string you tie it to you bathtub facet and run the water.... poof, relaxing herbal soak. :)
The kids and I got alot of veggies last night at the market..kale, asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, etc. I still have the spaghetti squash too, although Jack and I are the only ones who like that. Lily hates it and Justin won't go near it.
We were all out of apples. I always buy organic apples, that is the one thing my kids have everyday, and sometimes a few a day. The last time I bought a 3lb bag they were $3.99. That was fine I aways buy2 bags. Then a month ago, the price went up to $4.99. Ouch! Still bought them.
Last night i told Lily to get 2 bags of organic apples and I glanced down at the price..still 3lbs..and they are now $5.99! Oh c'mon. I did get two bags, but that is utterly ridiculous!
I try to buy mostly organic for my little family but it is getting so expensive. I would probably save alot more money if I just make a vegetable cleaner, just like Julia Roberts did on the Oprah show that aired on Earth Day. But what about the meats? Last night whenIwas at the meat counter I was looking at organic chicken breasts. They had a few packs left and there was 2 in a pack..for 11 freaking dollars!
I ended up buying four packs of chicken breast tenders for $3 each. Apparently eating organic is only for the wealthy. And many of the people who do have lots of money could give a crap about what food goes in their body, not to mention and environmental issues. Sigh..maybe I should just become a Freegan.
This weekend should be pretty busy. Lily was invited to a sleepover, then Saturday Justin's sister is back in town,ya!! She's over for a visit. Then Lily was invited to another friends house on Sunday. And we are suppose to have a pot luck with my tenants at the pool that day..so we'll see. I also wanted to squeeze in some strawberry picking at the chemical free garden. We did that awhile back when Lily was homeschooling and those were the best berries we ever had. Still warm from the sun, they were juicy,sweet and delicious!
I am thinking about going back to the Bikram studio. I have been to a few classes and I love it. So maybe next week. After a class I feel like I have done a complete detox because I have sweat at least 2 gallons! ha ha After the first session I swear I lost 5 lbs!
Things are going good, I feel happy. I have talked to a cousin through email that I haven't seen nor spoke to since we were children, and that's exciting getting to know her.
Justin's other sister and her family may come for a visit from Washington this summer. hopefully it all works out (fingers crossed!) We miss them terribly!
I am off to figure out the weekly menu.. I may try to attempt bread..again, but as you can see here, I am no baker!

Yoga...

I am hoping Jack tires out today (I took him for a long scooter ride while walking Salsa) and when he does I am going to do yoga. I am going to unplug my phone, turn off my cell, and have some peace..and do my much needed yoga.
Jack made some muffins this morning.Too cute. For supper I plan on making some vegetable curry and jasmine rice. Its so good..it has potatoes, celery, onions, carrots and apples cut up in a thick, savory, exotic curry sauce. I am sure it won't be a winner with the kids and the hubby, but hey, some things I just have to have. Just like vegan Shepard's pie...yum-o
Off to meditate...
Namaste yo!

Activities...

Its been a long time since I blogged. I miss it. Its hard to find time to do that with little ones around.
We finally took Lily to the optometrist last Thursday..(well Justin took her, I stayed home with Jack). She had been getting haedaches..alot..twice a week sometimes and that was just to weird. We thought it could be her eyes because she was doing squinting and blinking alot.
20/20 vision for her! Yeah! That's great. The doctor had said she had children who had similar issues with the headaches that occurred in the ladder part of the day and she told Justin that most of the time that was do to low blood sugar..and just to give her some juice or a light snack before bed. Thank goodness all is well with her vision.
Today Jack and I are going to cook a lentil loaf..its a fabulous recipe from the hippie community over at The Farm..I love it and its been awhile since we had that. He is so excited to cook.
Today is Earth Day and I want to do some activities with the kids to honor this day. But Lily is in school..blah. I want her home. I miss her home and doing fun things..especially now Jack is older and he can participate too.. I was thinking about homeschooling again when Jack is old enough for school. I am not sending him to pre-school. We do that here. I have alot of material already. However I think Lily is not too fond of that idea..maybe she will warm up to it soon. We'll see.
We finally got our vanity updated in the kids/guest bathroom, its beautiful granite counter top and nickel faucets..I love it.
We watched Gone Baby Gone the other night and it was so good. Finally a movie that we didn't turn it off half way through. :)
Happy Earth Day!

The Eye Saga

For the past week or so, my eyes have been seriously screwed up. One day one eye is totally bloodshot..looks like I am either high or have pink eye. Then every other day it switches..first my right eye, than 2 days later my left and 2 days later back to my right. Its ridiculous. There is no discharge or anything and they are somewhat itchy and weepy.
So last night before bed out of nowhere there was something in my eye.(mind you it was lefty's turn to be all wicked red inside so of course that's the eye that received an object of unknown origin.) For a freaking hour I struggled. I looked, examined, pried, washed, rinsed, rubbed..all that jazz and it hurt like a sunuvabitch. Literally I could not look up and down, left and right without that thing screwing everything up with my vision. Oh hell, I was too tired so I just closed my eyes and went to sleep. Upon waking this morning the piece of whatever exited my cornea..and left me with a fucked up, retarded, droopy, sagging, red and teary eye. Oh I should mention now that when I woke and tried to open my eyes, that left eye was literally glued shut with whatever.
After cleaning it up..there has been no more crap but my eye still looks like I have been visiting with a bong.
Pink eye? Coincidence? WTF?

Reflections...

I read a friends blog entry a while ago and it made me feel happy. I am not a religious person at all. Honestly I am a agnostic, borderline atheist..possible pagan, perhaps Buddhist..who knows...but I think we all need some spiritual moments in our lives. We get so caught up in all the jibber jabber of life we forget to take a moment for ourselves and soak in all the goodness that is this time. Whether you refer to GOD as a holy being or a innate feeling that is inside..or maybe both..
Point being..we all need to take time to reflect on all the good things that surround us in this earth. All the positives.

Saturday Night Stillness

Tonight we watched Sweeny Todd..well the first 20 minutes or so of it. I guess Justin and I are not huge fans of musicals. We were trying really hard to enjoy it, but not our cup of tea.
Its so quiet now, everyone went to bed early tonight. Its nice to have some down time alone. I should be tidying up..but I think I would rather have some tea and finish some knitting.
I really need to make time for some much needed reading. I still have 2 books that I want to finish..
The Art Of Simple Food.. and Home Safe Home..the second book I mentioned is really interesting but god after reading just a little bit, it makes you so freaking paranoid of every little thing. I mean we try to live green and simply, but I am not going to make myself crazy worrying over everything. According to that book...EVERYTHING is toxic...sheesh I think all the stress of being paranoid and worrying would do much more harm than some weird ingredient in some mass produced hand soap...
Anyway,, tomorrow we are going to Jerome's to pick out a new TV stand. We bought one awhile back but it wasn't in stock..and it won't be until the end of May, so we are going to change our order and get something else and have it delivered Monday. Then we'll probably head to the park with the kids and Salsa in tow. Jack got a new mit and ball at Target yesterday and Lily loves to play 'birdie' (which is what she calls bad mitten).
I think I will make herbed chicken tomorrow. I just bought some fresh organic asparagus too. Justin wanted me to make clam chowder, but the smell makes me want to hurl, so he'll just have to wait. Its tasty and all but the fish aroma is so overpowering. Not to mention it lingers in the house days after..even if every window in the house is open.
Well I think I will go and work on my scarf...if I want to get it done by winter....!

The Science of Anxiety

Thursday my neighbor friend and I took our kids to kids science museum in Balboa Park... they had all kind of cool stuff and its really hands on. She has 2 kids a girl one year younger than Lily and a boy one year older than Jack.

We all had a great time...

Except Jack.

There was way too many people there for his liking. And the noise level was upsetting him beyond belief. He was not interested in anything except putting his fingers deep down in his ears to block out any sound. He has some social anxiety..when he wasn't plugging his ears he was picking his fingers..til they bled. Its so awful. He doesn't like loud sounds..wait I take that back..he despised anything louder than normal talking and loathes to be around more than 4 people at a time. So you can image what its like around here during fourth of July.

There was only one part of the museum he fancied. There was a playroom upstairs with a miniature grocery store, complete with shopping carts and gobs of fake food. Jack finally found some comfort in this chaotic day. It was quiet in there with maybe 2 other children and there parents there.

We want to take the kids to Disneyland soon..but I think that will have to wait until Jacks older..

More junk food...

Kick ass hot wings...

Funny I took the picture after we gobbled' em' up...

classy aren't I?

Margaritaville

Saturday afternoon...enjoying some margaritas and Rita's Mexican Food...(the beer was for hubby, and no I didn't eat those carna asada nachos all by myself..although I probably could have there are so freaking good!)

Oh so good....