SB Saturday: I Madonnari 2007

This year's Street Painting Festival was just as good as all the rest. It was a big more challenging this year than the others b/c little man is 2...and wild. We had to bribe, threaten and beat. Well...not beat but you get what I mean. I love this festival. It's probably our favorite of all the millions of festivals in Santa Barbara. Just the creativity and beauty of it all. This year my mom was here for it. My dad has been a couple of times in years past and last year Kevin's whole family was here during it. Oh, and Cara's first visit to SB was during this time. Weird. The past six years worth of I Madonnaris was marked by visits with loved ones!

Here are a few of our favorites. The tiger is amazing. Like you want to pet the thing! It's crazy.

Personally, I can't touch chalk. The fact that most these artists were literally covered in chalk dust gave me the heebie-geebies. Personal chalk predjuce aside, I am always so inspired by this event. I feel my creative juices flowing! Maybe I'll bust out the old scrapbook :)

One of our favorite artist is the man who created this masterpiece. Every year he chalks photos of his children. This year his plot had three columns each containing individual photos of three of his children. It's always a crowd favorite. So great!

You may have missed it this year but mark your calendar for next year! It's always Memorial Day weekend and totally kid friendly. http://www.imadonnarifestival.com/im.html

Grandmama

Brody doesn't get it yet but he will soon. She adores him. She spoils him. She hangs on his every word. She loves him way more than she does the rest of us! He's pretty taken with her too. This morning she was the first one he called "Graaaaandmaaamaaa!". He doesn't get the magnitude of her love yet and probably wont for a while. But he will. The adoration of a Grandmama. Huge. I love this picture. He's consumed with whatever he's playing with while she looks at him with a distant smile. Probably thinking how smart he is. And he is.

Honey Toes

I love Kevin's feet. Is there any wonder why?! Just look at them!
Yes, the outside toes tend to turn in...slightly. And yes, the toe nails tend to get slightly out of control. And there are times that Kevin cuts his big toe nail in an agonizingly sharp way (in a V shape!). But what you can't tell from the photo is that his feet are like silk. They are the softest, tastiest, most touchable feet on earth - with Brody's coming in a close second. Also, what you don't know is that the "pads" of his feet and toes are quite literally SQUISHY! Squishy in a good way. Not in an extra terrestrial-like way. But in a baby skin kind of way. Is that gross? It's not. It's fascinating and worthy of my obsession and I'll fight anyone who challenges me.

Love you, Honey Feet!

My Litas...my loves...

A tribute to my Litas: The beauties of my life.

I had the very good fortune of spending some time with my Lita Girls the other weekend. There were highs and there were lows but I at the end of the day I just love these girls with all of my heart. And they love me too! We've been friends for a long time...oh my gosh...so long. Our 'remember whens' could go on for days and days. And we can laugh together like it's nobodies business. Here are some things that you should know about these amazing women. Some things have been true of them our whole lives and some have developed with age and time. I adore everything about them and look forward to all the Lita Weekends to come. Even when we're 90 and our weekends turn into meeting in each other's room at the retirement home.

Tessalita con Mantiquilla de la Playa....truly my funniest friend. She can do impressions, she can time jokes perfectly, she can spin a mundane story into a 10 minute stand-up comedy routine. A voracious reader and amazing mother she constantly has a bag of stories in her hip pocket that make me double over in laughter. She is a design genius. She's a domestic goddess though step back if you dare to call her this to her face. She's a master organizer and a passionate instructor. She's never wrong. She makes a mean stuffed mushroom. She's tiny. She has a glorious hair - always perfect. She's one of the very few women I know who is able to look just as pretty without a stitch of make-up on her face as she does full blown done up. She is ferociously loyal. She's easily frustrated and yet remarkable patient. She loves with all of her. She's very popular. She's a talented choreographer (I still want to see the Devo act! YouTube?). She makes absolutely gorgeous babies. She's extremely independent and opinionated. She loves babies. She freaking builds houses. She has an amazing eye for color. She gets along with everyone...that she wants to.

Rachaelita con Naranja de la Manana....even today the most beautiful person I've ever known in real life. It's just true, people. She has an ridiculous body. And she works hard for it ("Do you think this just happens, Sophie?"]. She's a guys girl and a girls girl too. She's committed. She has an awesome sense of humor. And she can be funny too. She's down to earth. She's come to believe that she's almost as pretty as people have always told her she is. She's a tortured soul. She's incredibly driven. She's a wicked smart business woman. She's girlie. She loves hard core. She's a devoted friend, wife, mother and daughter. She just wants to be happy. She digs deep. She studies what she believes. She's secure with who she's become. She's MUCH more intelligent than some people give her credit for being. She too has magnificent hairs. She is really tall. She has a pretty enviable looking life but doesn't take it for granted. She knows her limitations. She's a bit of an overachiever...uh, twin girls!?! She wants to take care of people (and she secretly wants to be a nurse). She's vocal about her beliefs and philosophies. She shops at Target just like the rest of us. She has so much to offer this world. She's a force, for sure. She encourages those she loves. She's the definition of 'great friend'.

With out them, I could be considered attractive. Among them, I'm sheep dung. But whatever. They tell me I'm great so I'll keep them around as long as I can. We used to daydream about being neighbors and raising our children together and growing old together. The reality is that we're hundreds of miles apart from each other and our kids hardly know each other. But who knows what the future holds? So, until we can holler at each other from our kitchen windows...we'll have to just keep looking forward to our Lita Weekends! And no...I wont tell you where the "Lita" nickname came from.

Mommia!

My Funny Little Man has given us nicknames. After nap, he can be heard calling "Mooooommia!" or "Daaaaadddddia!" and sometimes even "Raaaah Rahhhhia". [Side note: he just woke up from nap and in addition to the nicknames he just yelled "Miss Heather!"] I am a big "nicknamer". Everyone special to me has at least one nickname. Bubba has about 50. It really warms my hear that my little funny man has created his own nicknames for us. And in Italian of all things! Oh, Bubbia. I love you.

Birthday Girl...er...Old Lady!

Exactly how did I become 34 years old? I was 27 like....a couple of years ago. Right? I like to think that I'm still young. Especially when I look at the media and see women over 40 having babies and looking amazing and starting businesses and saving the world! And then I think that when my mom was my age she had a 6 year old and a 16 year old and....WOW! But I feel young - except for my aching back, strained neck and ever-failing memory.

The exciting thing is that we have SO MUCH life left to live! We laugh about the thought of taking Brody to Six-Flags one day and having to ride roller coasters which make us both want to vomit. But we'll do it. Because we're young. Very young. Believe dat, yo!

Santa Barbara Saturdays: HIT THE BEACH!

We don't go often enough but when we do it's always wonderful. Over Easter weekend we had such a blast hanging out at East Beach with Grandmama, MorMor, PaPa, Aunt Tammy, Uncle Jon and Cousin "Lena". Brody was much more adventurous this time around. Our little Beach Baby has always been a tad skittish around the ocean waters but this time was different. He let his feet get wet and let the waves chase him up the beach. And he had a blast running around with Daddy! It was a special time and as my in-laws would say: a "very special memory" (I love that).

East Beach is our favorite beach in town. There is a great little toddler playground and lots and lots of open beach. Also, East Beach Grill is here located in the Cabrillo Arts Center. It's for sure our favorite beach eatery.

Other SB Beaches include:
* West Beach -- busier beach with lots of activity
* Ledbetter Beach -- great beach to spend the entire day enjoying
* Hendry's Beach -- gorgeous, more secluded beach
* Butterfly Beach -- across from the Biltmore this beach is great for 'celebrity watching' (we saw Mr. Miaggi at this beach once)

There are a ton more nearby beaches but these are a few of our favorite local spots. So, grab your sunblock, beach blanket and a playkit and HIT THE BEACH!!

We love Uncle Nooch!

Bubba's latest prize from Nooch. We always get excited we get a package from Paul. B has received some really cool gifts from him including a personalized Louisville slugger bat, a Star Wars ship and the Totoro movie!

The latest is this blue, plastic Tick doll and DVD. How randomly wonderful! Thanks, friend. You are by far the best gift-giver I'll ever know.

My Little Boob-Tube

What on earth can entrance a 2 year old like this? It can only be one thing: Finding Nemo!



1st it was CARS
Now it's NEMO
What next?

Kevin worries that B might have A.D.D. because he's so all-over-the-place when we go out in public. But I assure him that kids with A.D.D. do not sit thru an entire hour & 1/2 movie. On our lap no less.

That's another thing, I love that Bubba sits on our laps. He's such a sweet baby. This morning I reached my arm in front of him and he leaned over and kissed my arm. Can you imagine?! So precious.

My First Gig!

Hey! Did I mention yet that I had my first photography gig?! I did! For a local real estate team: The Zia Group in Santa Barbara. It was so much fun. Of course they're all so great looking that it made it a super easy shoot but I must say, I did a pretty good job. Thankyouverymuch.

Edited: 100% of my earnings went to support our friends Matt & Heather Richter

Brody Bday!

Some of my favorite crafty bloggers always show pictures of their kids' birthday party supplies and favors so I'll follow suit and share the details of Brody's 2nd Bday Party!

We had the party at Chase Palm Park so the kids could enjoy the Santa Barbara Easter Egg Hunt. We have been practicing 'egg hunts' for a couple of months now so Brody got it right away! He took off and collected a ton of eggs and consumed a ton of chocolate. He even shared some eggs with other children. Very sweet!

Then we and the other 25,000 SB children who were participating in the hunt headed off for the play ground. It was a bit manic but the kids were having a blast and that's really what it's all about right?
Kevin set off for the carousel park to set up for the party. All 25,000 kids were headed to the merry-go-round about that time too but fortunately, they got right in line and didn't take over the lawn area where we were.

We bought this really rad bubble machine (the green thing in the pic below) at Coscto a couple of weeks ago and it was a HUGE hit! We had no idea! We hung out on the lawn, played with bubbles, ate food, opened a present or two and just enjoyed being around friends and other babies. It was great!

After lunch, cake and bubble-enjoying we all headed to the carousel for a whirl. By this time the line was gone and we were the only ones on it! Most of the kids loved it and the pictures came out great! The party bags (hand crafted by Rah Rah) included a money egg for the carousel plus some candy, a toy, bubbles, and play-do.

At first I was thinking, "Man. Who's idea was it to have a morning birthday party!?" but afterward I couldn't be more pleased. It was bit crazy but then it was nap time and we had the whole rest of the day still. All-in-all, a great day and a great celebration.

Brody loved playing and hunting and eating too many sweet treats all in one day! He also loved having so much of his family here. Thanks to Grandmama, Mor Mor and Papa, and the Mathi3 for making the journey. And to our dear friends the Wolds and the Hulseys for making the drive. We love you all so much and wish we had more time with you.

Happy Birthday, Bubba. You are such a prince and a such a joy to know. This year is going to be great!

Reflections

My Baby Boy is turning 2. How can that be? Weren't you just born!? When I see women from my PEP group with 2 year olds I always have to sort of stop myself from saying, "How can your baby be walking already?!" or something insane like that. Because in my mind, their baby is still a newborn! In my mind, my baby is still a newborn too. But he's not. He is a full-on two year old. Mr. Independent (commonly heard phrase: "Buhdoit" translated "Bubba Do It"). He throws tantrums - tho usually pretty short lived. He's becoming more cautious with his tantrums. Now instead of sitting down and throwing himself backwards and screaming from the pain and shock of smacking his head on a hard surface, he gently sits down and takes a few seconds to lie down on the floor....and then screams for a few minutes in protest. So silly. He talks constantly and usually in the first-person! Some popular phrases these days include: "Bubba open shut it"; "Bubba push Gabe"; "Dada at work in Hank" [Hank is Kevin's truck]; "Turn it down!" [to the passing by teenagers who turn their base all the way up...no idea where on earth he got that. Ehhem.] and something with the word 'dude' in it? He's been saying it a lot lately and the only thing I can think of is maybe he's saying a line from Finding Nemo. You know the surfer sea turtle? We love that part.

I could go on and on. For now, a quick list of my favorite things about Brody:
* his feet
* his voice
* spontaneous kisses and 'i love yous'
* his cheeks (both sets)
* when he says "hi" to any passer byers
* his run
* when he says "Bubba kared" [Bubba scared] b/c he is playing "boo" with someone
* when he plays hide and seek
* his laugh

Oh there are so many...maybe I'll add to this one or I'll keep posting new ones. Man, that kid. I just love him.

Fun Day, Good Friends!

One of my best girlfriends came for a visit today! Summer "Zoom" Mc. and her trio are in town visiting her 'rents in Manhattan Beach and they actually drove up to SB to see me!! It was so fun spending time with one of my favorite women. Summer and I have been friends since jr. high. We went to summer camps and Mexico missions trips together in high school. We smoked cigarettes together in college. We were in each others weddings. We have husbands and children and are officially grown ups. Ugh.

Truth be told, of all my girlfriends, I've always wanted to be most like Summer. Growing up, she had this rad house with a secret room right in her bedroom! And a pool. And had a cute brother with cute friends who swam in that pool :) She was a Homecoming Queen nominee in HS. She went to Baylor and was a sorority girl and dated really cute boys college (one of which I also dated later in life) and then she went and married the best of them. She has three gorgeous babies, a great house near San Antonio and a lot of other fabulous mommy friends!! Zoom has about the most enviable life ever. But the truth is that what I love and appreciate most about Summer is that she has faced her own share of anxieties and issues just like the rest of us. But thru faith and obedience has exhibited what being a woman of God really is. She is not afraid to talk about her limitations (her words) and makes a point of sharing what God has done and is doing in her life. She is strong and opinionated and adorable and wonderful. Love ya, Zoomie. It was so fun seeing you!!

Some of my favorite things about Summer:

* The way she pronounces her 'inging's - you have to know what I mean to know what I mean...youknowwhatImean?
* Her right eyeball
* Her handwriting
* Her amazing figure (very inspiring!)
* Her dedication to running and working out
* Her skills as a mother
* Her dry but very sharp sense of humor
* Her wisdom
* Her loyalty
* Did I mention her body?!?

Nightly Routine

Last week my scrapbooking hero Ali Edwards issued a little challenge for us - her loyal followers - to record our nightly routine. I love this idea as I'm really focused on enjoying every minute of Brody's toddlerhood (even thru the tantrums and blatant disobedience!). On a good night, here is how it goes...

5:30 - 5:45PM Kevin comes home and he and Bubba play while I get dinner ready. I look forward to this time all afternoon! The whole process of cooking dinner relaxes me. Yes, even the clean up!

6:00PM - Ideal dinner time. Dinner varies from pasta to chicken to homemade pizza to meatloaf. Traditional stuff. Brody usually dines on mac-n-cheese but recently has been eating what we eat. After dinner we enjoy some more play time and really try to get him active so that (1) he might get tired and (2) in case he has to poop!

7:00PM - Bath time! Brody's bath tub has a removable shower head. It's perfect for bathing toddlers. He loves spraying it everywhere and it makes washing his hair a little less traumatic. The bucket of toys include various bath books, little sea animal figures, empty bottles, balls for a basketball net that hangs in the shower, plastic cars, etc.

7:30 - 8PM - Brody likes to run around naked for a while. The other day he pee-peed in the potty for the first time! It was a big deal to Kevin but Brody sort of shrugged it off like, "No biggie". Sometimes we'll play Easter Egg (an attempt to get him familiar with the hunt game so that he gets it during Easter!) where I'll hide various animal figures all over his bathroom and he'll find them. He's REALLY good at it!

{the picture below is of Brody's 'Big Smile'. For some reason, his 'big smile' translates into a serious scowl. I thought I'd give it try!}

Sometime after Bath & Before Bedtime - Brush Teeth. He doesn't spit yet but he sometimes does a really good job of brushing his little baby face teeth.

8:00 - 8:30 PM - Read Books. When I put him to bed it's about 8:30pm. When Kevin does it, Brody is usually in bed by 8PM sharp. I love this time of cuddling and reading books. He's started rebelling against bedtime a bit but most nights he goes to bed pretty easily. Typically we read between 1-3 books/night. Then we'll turn off the light or let him do it and spend a few minutes saying nighttime prayers and singing songs.

8:30Pm (at latest) - Bedtime. There are two bedtime buddies Oso and Coco. We all give each other hugs and kisses and if necessary....tickle time. It can be traditional tickle time or involve the itsy bitsy spider (ee-bee-pie-dur) or the little piggies running all the way home. As long as it involves crazy laughter, we're good.

I'm only speaking for myself here. I think Kevin's book - bed process is slightly different. All I know is that when K puts him down it's usually quick and quiet. For me there is often about 5-10 minutes of screaming. At very rare times we'll have to go back up and calm him down.

8:30 - 11:30PM - TV, Surf, Read, Bed....we spend this time watching our favorite shows (we love you, DVR!) and checking/answering emails and catching up on our fav blogs. We go to bed as early as possible without being early enough every night and do it all over again in 24 hours.

Good times. Great times. Even when it's rough...it's all about the now. We wont have these times with Brody forever. In fact, when other babies come along...we'll never have these times with Brody again. Wow. So thankful for the routine. So thankful for the time!

Booger Story

You know that rubbery adhesive gook that they use to stick credit cards to paper when you get them in the mail? Well, last weekend in a moment of total insanity I showed Brody how remarkably they resemble actual boogers. To do this, I balled up the previously mentioned gook and stuck it to his face just under his nose. We laughed and tricked Daddy and then I thought it was over. Too bad Brody was shoving the gook as far up his boogie nose as possible! I realized the gook was missing about the same time I noticed his look of worry. I reached my finger as far up his little nose holes as possible but only got snot (as he had a cold at the time). Kevin was sure it came out but I was super concerned and kept bringing it up throughout our movie night!

Later that night during bath time Brody was crazy sleepy and something set him off into a crying fit. All wet and slippery he lurched out of the tub and cried into my shoulder. When he pulled his head up he left a huge gloppy mass of what we thought was mucus on my shoulder. For a moment, very disturbing but ultimately a total relief!

I learned two things from this event: (1) I have to always trust my Brody instincts and (2) teaching my child to shove things up his nose is very not good. To my defense, the day before Kevin taught him to eat lemon grass...something that lead to him picking and tasting all things green and leafy. Honestly....poor kid.

My Green-Thumbed Hubby

BEFORE (ABOVE)
AFTER (BELOW)

Check out our cute new garden! Kevin knocked this puppy out in one afternoon. [Edited: The image on top is how it looked when we moved in almost 3 years ago!]. This area used to be an over-grown jungle of weeds and ground cover and a huge lavender bush (bumble bee magnet). Now it's a lush and lovely area that reminds me just how amazing my husband is. Thanks babe, for your hard work!

Brain Wrinkle: "COol BikES"

Apparently....'nice' bicycles don't have kick stands. Whell.

Last weekend we went for a family bike ride for the first time. While Kevin was wrestling to get Brody in his bike-seat I innocently asked 'Where is your kick stand?'. He laughed embarrassedly and sort of glanced around to see if anyone heard me and said, 'This bike doesn't have a kick stand." Well. Well. Well. Excuuuuuse me! He went on to explain that typically the more expensive bikes (unlike my $53 mountain bike from Target) don't include this convenience. If I paid $400 for a bike it damn well better have a kick stand on it! I don't have time to be holding up my bicycle. Pah-leez. I'm all for kick-stands. I'm PRO kick-stand.

New Brain Wrinkle

Tonight I learned how to do this in Photoshop. I'm very pleased with myself to say the least. I've always wondered how this is done and wished I knew how! I'm a little annoyed at how basic a skill it is but I'm glad to know the skill nonetheless. Very clever. Very clever indeed.

Resolution Update

At the first of the year I made a few resolutions. One of them was to LEARN things and another was to do things that SCARE me!

I am learning a lot these days regarding photography and some photoshop so I tend to think that fulfills that particular resolution. However, today I learned something that I hadn't known before - rather than a skill. I learned that a female fox is called a VIXEN. Did everyone know that? Of course I'm familiar with the word 'vixen' but I always have only known it to refer to a bad-guy-sexy-woman. And one of Santa's reindeer. So that was a new brain wrinkle!

Our dear friends the Richters are full-time raising support so that they can serve with Athlete's In Action in Ohio. I think they are so amazing. Heather has really blessed my life this year. I am inspired by their desire to serve and especially by the humility they have to have to ask people to support them financially (and spiritually).

Ok - now for the scary part. During a lunch date with Heather I realized that I needed to introduce them to my boss (W). He and his family have such a compassion for missions and support many organizations financially. I committed to Heather that I would speak to W about meeting with them which was easier said than done. I was very nervous about how to approach the subject. Exactly how do you ask someone to meet with and/or give money to your friends? I did pray about it but I wish I had rehearsed (another story another blog)! Short version: I asked him to meet with Matt and he graciously agreed. I was way out of my comfort zone doing this but by God's grace I was able to connect two people who might be able to do great things for each other. Feels good.

Again with OPRAH!

I don't care what you say - Oprah is truly inspirational. I'm watching the Building A Dream: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy. "When you change a girls life it's not just that life you effect. A family, a nation. I'm telling you...women are going to change the face of Africa." She's not the first to make this statement about women being the catalyst of change in the world and she certainly wont the be last but she is the loudest, strongest, most powerful voice in the nation right now and what she's doing in this world is absolutely historical. Our values and beliefs are often different but I find her immensely inspirational. I believe that one day I can be a part of bringing change to a life or two along the way. This is my prayer.