fire pit

Drew has been wanting a fire pit for ages, and finally got one yesterday. We sat outside, gazed at the flames, and ate chocolate chip cookies. Tonight, roasting marshmallows! Can't wait to have some friends over to enjoy it with us.

Xmas day

I forgot to put these here--put 'em on Facebook, but not my blog. Thanks Kate! ;)

Day-after-xmas with friends

On Friday we traveled to Willits to visit with our friends the Francis family, and then spent the night with Charles & Denise Raasch. We played with the Franicses' new Wii, visited with their sons who now live on the East Coast, and Elsa got the royal treatment at the salon where Denise works. Groovy!

Some 2008 pics

Some pics from this past year. Enjoy! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

snow pics

Blogger was being a

pain today, so here are the pics that were supposed to accompany the post below. Enjoy!

Snow day!

We took the kids up to the snow yesterday. We were a bit worried, as it continued to just be rain almost the entire way up the mountain, but when the temperature fell to 36 degrees, it turned to snow! The kids were totally excited, since they had never seen snow actually falling before. My poor California kiddos!

We had to stop and put on chains, which was a big pain in the butt for for Daddy, who had to crouch in the slush and dodge big rigs and people from San Francisco who were also pulling to the side of the road to install chains. Once the chains were tight we were on our way. The max speed limit with chains was 30 mph on highway 80, but since Drew spent about 30 minutes cheating death to install them, he was bound and determined to drive through a bit more slush, dammit!

Finally we reached our favorite (and secret!) FREE snow play area, and it was playtime! We even brought the dog who, as far as we know, may have never seen snow before. She loved it! Drew and Elsa did a fair bit fo sledding, and Emma spent the entire time throwing snowballs at "Daddy's tushie." She thought that was hilarious. Evan was not super impressed with the snow play, as we awakened him, pulled him from his carseat in the nice warm car, and he was thrust into 32 degree weather and shoved down a hill on a sled. He took a while to warm up to the idea...poor little guy!

Anyway, we had a good time, until the kids got totally wet from rolling around in the snow. Then they got all crabby and mad. Note for next year: the kids need real snowsuits.

Cindy's party

My hairdresser, Cindy, had a party at her new house in El Dorado Hills on Saturday night. The house was fabulous, and Anne', Maria, and I had a great time. Check out the pics. Check out Cindy's closet!! I tried to take a picture of the amazing view, since we were basically at the top fo El Dorado Hills, but the camera wasn't going for it. You get the idea, though.

Thanks Cindy, for a great evening out!

Girl scouts

We'll be selling cookies soon, y'all! Brace yourselves! I'm the "cookie mom" meaning I'm in charge of cookie sales for our Daisy troop. AAAACK!!!

Another tragedy in the CHP

OfficerJoseph Sanders 18781 CTC II-07 was at the scene of a disabled vehicle. There was a 2 car T/C behind him and 1 vehicle hit him. He was air lifted to county USC hospital where he was pronounced dead. Officers at the scene were performing CPR prior to transport. He is married with 3 children 7 and under with another on the way. His wife is being taken care of by the Dept and Assn and other family is on the way from Nor Cal. I will post details of memorial fund and funeral when I have them.If your husbands were in his class or work SFS please remember there is an employee assitance program available to officers and their families. I will post the details later on it.

The above is copied and pasted from the wives' group I belong to. Just pray for this officer's wife and kids!

I have been tagged

Kate tagged me. Now I have to post an entry with 7 facts about myself. 7?!?! I may not have 7 interesting personality points...hmmm....

1.) I am loud.
2.) I am addicted to the internet.
3.) I am overly helpful. :)
4.) I have been married for almost 12 years.
5.) I love science.
6.) Sometimes I give my kids popsicles for breakfast.
7.) My personality outweighs my looks.

There. Not so bad. Now I'm tagging Stacey and Carolina... GO!

Dinner with grownups!

On Saturday we went out to dinner with Chris and Stacey. NO napkin dispensers! NO clown-themed dining areas. Wow! This is very likely the first time we have gone out without our kids since all became parents.

We went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse at the Galleria here in Roseville. Pricey, but worth it! Possibly the best meal I have had in a long time, made better by the fact that we were kidless. :) And, I introduced Chris to the "Ask A Ninja" comedy program--Stacey and Drew are now convinced that their spouses are big dorks.

I must be crazy

Have you been to the Roseville Galleria lately? Neither have I. I tried to go yesterday with Evan while the girls were at school. No luck--no parking. So I went to the Fountains and hit an awesome sale at Anthropologie. Yay me!
Tomorrow the girls and I, along with my mom, are driving to the Bay Area to visit my friend Jenn and do some shopping. It's supposed to rain. We will be shopping at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto.
Palo Alto, folks.
On Sunday.
11 days before Christmas!!
Hence the title of this blog entry. Thank goodness I only have to score a few iTunes cards, and maybe something for Mom.
Pray for us. :)

Are these my REAL hormones? Well, they suck!

Any men or squeamish women may want to leave the room at this point.

I have been on birth control since I was 17, and basically pregnant or post-partum since 2001. Needless to say, I have become a stranger to normal-fucntioning female hormones. Well, they're ba-aaaack. It's awful.
Now, I am perfectly healthy, and for that I am absolutely grateful. No major complaints or issues, just knit-picky bitching on my part.
My skin is breaking out like never before, my period has turned from light and predictable to HEAVY and on its own crazy schedule. A week swing in either direction is not what I call "convenient." The little "teaser" spotting that I have for about a week before the real thing hits is driving me bonkers. My PMS now has its own time zone.
A lot of my friends report similar changes after having children, but that doesn't make it any easier.
I'm done now. You can all go back to your lives!'
:)

myPod

Okay, so, I just ranted a couple of entries ago on how I hate iTunes. I still do. It is very clunky to use, and nothing is as it seems...it's an Apple mystery!
Well, that didn't change the fact that I am, at heart, a gadget geek and when Drew got his new car I went right online and ordered the Project Red 8GB iPod nano. I LOVE IT! I have it all working properly with iTunes on the new computer, I have gotten Drew's iPod Shuffle sorted out, and I am in love with all the free video podcasts. G-E-E-K.
I still take issue with how the commands and prompts on iTunes are phrased, and searching could be a little easier.
The video podcasts come in handy--I have children's stories, horse videos, rodeos, Discovery Channel, etc.--for the kids while we are waiting for our food in restaurants, or waiting at the doctor's office, or whatever. The girls can work the iPod quite well, and they're at the age that I don't think they'll smash it into 100,000,000 pieces.
I love being able to watch my horse stuff on it, and I like being able to see the music videos or album art when I listen to music. I do wish it had a shuffle-like clip, but I'll just have to get an arm band.
So, I still am mildly annoyed with iTunes, but I love my new iPod.

My new hero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPdllcnn_Dk

Clinton Anderson is my new favorite sexy Australian horse guy. *sigh* Anyway, this is a video of him riding his horse Diez WITH NO REINS, and no BRIDLE. Like, seriously, do not try this at home! :)

Drew's new new car

Black Friday deals, what can I say? :) I can't decide if I'm going to start calling Drew "Steve McQueen" or "Frank Bullitt."

iHate iTunes

Yes, I know tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I should be saying how truly thankful I am for healthy kids, a good marriage, and great friends. Really, I am grateful for all those things. But trying to do anything on iTunes just riles me up.

Let's get one thing straight, however. I love iPods. I love them! I am, at heart, a gadgety girl and if I could own one of every blackberry, iPhone, palm device, MP3 player, iPod, video camera, digital camera I WOULD! Alas, time, space, and money do not allow. So, I must be content with one blackberry (whom I am in loooove with) and one shared iPod "teensy" that I got for Drew two Christmases ago. (Hint to those who care: all I want for Christmas is my own iPod.)
Anyway, did Apple make iTunes difficult to use on non-Mac computers? Like, on purpose? I installed it onto my new computer, and POOF! all my old music was not there. Just like that. What technology can do these days! And, all the tutorials on iTunes are for much more technical issues than just simply finding my stuff. Or, how to get iTunes to even come on. That is itself a miracle.
So, I love the concept of itunes, and I love that it gives me an excuse to buy more little electronic devices for which I really, frankly, have no use. I wish the darn thing were easier to use and understand.
So there.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Ballet class

Miss Jenny's free ballet class at the church has ended--Miss Jenny is due with her third child in February, and she's going on "maternity leave." We have enjoyed taking her class; she's a great teacher and a nice lady. Emma's friend Belle even went with us a few times. Very fun! I snapped these pics last night at the last class. Check out Miss Jenny (at 6 months pregnant!) doing her big jump!!

Christmas parade

My parents and I took the kids to the Roseville Christmas parade this morning! Their favorite parts were the police motorcycles, and the fire trucks. Emma and Elsa enjoyed seeing all the girl scout troops--they start Daisy Girl Scouts in December. :)

Carrie's way

Okay, so I was reading another blog (Crazy Aunt Purl) and she blogged about getting a ticket. It made me think of a funny story:
My friend Carrie got pulled over as a teenager, for speeding. Thinking quickly, she turned off the radio, rolled her window down, and proceded to pretend she was deaf! (Carrie is now, and was then, fluent in sign language--her best friend since early childhood was deaf.) Of course the cop stopped in his tracks. Her signs and "deaf talk" utterly bewildered him. He shouted "Slow down! Go home!" handed her license back, and left in a cloud of dust.

Now, I'm not condoning this type of behavior, and neither does Carrie (now a mother of three!) but every cop to whom I have related this story agrees--run for the hills seems to be the only course of action.

Good luck out there during Thanksgiving travel time! Stay safe, and keep that radio off.

What they do when I'm not home

I had to go to a meeting at the school, so Drew was "in charge." Apparently they had guitar lessons. :) And, yes, that is my husband ironing a sheet.

This is the kind of stuff I come home to.

Halloween 2008

We went trick-or-treating with the Burns family. It only rained a little bit, and Drew was able to come home early and join us! Thanks to my mom and dad for staying at my house and handing out candy. I painted the girls' faces, but Evan wanted none of it. He went as a two-year-old boy. :) We missed a few houses in the neighborhood because my girls thought they looked too scary, but we still ended up with a ton of candy!

Elsa's b-day

Elsa turned 5 on November 2nd! With the wait for the new computer, I was delayed in getting photos up. She picked her friend Jessica from kindergarten, and we had a little riding lesson the night before her actual birthday. Then, on her birthday, my parents and Drew's sister and her kids came over for cake and ice cream. Yum!

Today's ride

I had a make-up riding lesson today, because Hank was being a butt head yesterday and ignoring me--and Krystin. Not a good boy! But, oh so handsome.

Today Hank was totally filthy when we went to get him from the pasture...he had rolled in mud. Lovely. Krystin rode Francis with us, and that seemed to help Hank be more confident and relaxed. He responded quickly and calmly. We had a great ride! Until...

Hank saw some poles lying outside the arena, poles which we had already passed about six times, but they were on the other side (we had switched directions) so now they were scary poles. I was riding along, not paying attention, grooving on the fact that I was riding a horse and having a good time, when WHOOSH! Hank sidestepped, tried to turn, and tried to back up all at once. I lost my balance a little, hunched forward which is a big no-no, and squealed like a little girl. Also not a good idea. It took me a couple of seconds to get myself together and tell him "whoa" and sit deeply in the saddle. When I did, he responded quickly and calmed down. So, partially my fault for not responding quickly enough in the right way, and partly Hank's fault for being a big sissy. Of course I felt like a complete moron. Sometimes I get frustrated with taking only one lesson a week--seems like it will take forever to get any skills at all. Family budget be damned! :)

Then I went to Whole Foods for groceries and got myself a big candy bar. All is well. :)

Its' fall!

Finally! Finally it feels cooler, wetter, and windier outside. Yay! I made a pecan pie for myself the other day, and some pumpkin pies for Drew. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and it's one of my favorite holidays. It's centered around food--how awesome is that? Sounds tailor-made for me.

We're still riding the horses, I'm getting much better. The girls, too. School is going well for the girls. Emma is reading so well it astounds us, and is proving to be very good at math--she did not get that from me. Elsa is still adjusting to the afternoon kindergarten schedule, some evenings falling asleep on the couch before dinner and sleeping until 6 the next morning! Her reading and writing continue to get better! Evan is being, well, Evan. He's taken to climbing up the drawer fronts to get on top of my counters and destroy things. He's also talking up a storm, his favorite phrase being "Stop it mommy!" seconded by "Emma, Elsa, c'mon!" I need a drink.

Drew is still at the capital, and still enjoying his new car. No motorcycle yet, since all his time is being eaten by the construction of ManLand. *sigh*

We ordered a new computer (laptop) from HP, should get it by the end of the month. I can't wait! It will be quite a change from the dinosaur laptop we have now.

Have a great weekend!

Henry's roofing to the rescue!

Our roofer, Richard Henry, came by last night in the dark to save Drew's bacon. :) We met Rich last summer when he put the new roof on our house. Drew called him and asked for advice when we built the first shed in our yard, and Rich responded by coming by, giving a lesson, and loaning some expensive roofing tools to Drew, along with the shingles needed to complete the project! Then, yesterday, after another call, he came by around 7 p.m. last night and instead of helping Drew roll out the roofing felt on Manland, he just did it. In about 10 minutes. In the dark.

If you need a roofer, call Rich! I'll post his number later. :)

Trunk or Treat

Last night we went with our friends the Heyward family to the trunk or treat at their church. Melissa cheated by wearing her work outfit! :)

And, no, I cannot figure out how to rotate the picture of my girls! Help!!

We survived!

We did it! Thanks to Dina Brazil, and all our parent and community volunteers, we pulled off a great Fall Family Festival! And, to my knowledge, no one suffered a nervous breakdown.
Thanks everyone!

Tomorrow!

The Fall Family Festival is tomorrow! It should be a lot of fun, and I will be there dressed up as a cowgirl. Who wants to miss that, right? It's from 5-9 folks, and promises to be quite a good time for the whole family. Thanks to my friends and neighbors whom I forced to volunteer. :) Love ya!
See you all there!

Fall Family Festival

This Friday is Kaseberg's Fall Family Festival! Carnival-style game booths, clowns, great food, awesome prizes! It runs from 5-9. Drew will be there with a CHP car, handing out goodies and info packets. I will be there going bonkers trying to organize volunteers.
Hope to see you there!

Hank 1, Mattie 0

I rode Hank for my lesson yesterday. I love Hank! He's so pretty! He's half Thoroughbred and half Paint. And he's huge! He tried to test me the whole lesson, just as Frances did the first time I rode him. "Oh, her? She's new. I'll just ignore her and maybe she'll go away." Little does he know. Anyway, I'm looking forward to riding him again.
The girls rode Frances yesterday, and Krystin's mom Sheri (who is working with my girls right now) brought some washable markers. Frances is conveniently white, and the girls were allowed to draw all over him with the markers! Hopefully the Prop 2 people don't hear about this!

Manland

Here are the much-anticipated pics of Manland. I'm expecting the city inspectors to order us to tear it down any day now. :) He started putting the plywood on the roof yesterday, has put the front windows and siding on, and got quite a bit done this weekend. Hopefully he can get everything weather-proof before we start getting rain.

I need a vaction from Drew's vacation!

Actually, it's great having him around, but he's been working so hard on this second building that he's constructing in our back yard that we've hardly seen him. He goes back to work on Monday after three weeks off. It's wonderful to have him around for every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, our back yard is a mess of construction materials, power tools, sawdust, etc. So, my days are spent keeping Evan from removing his limbs with a large saw. Or, helping Drew load 8-foot-long pieces of plywood or siding onto a cart at Home Depot with Elsa and Evan in tow. "Here, have more M&M's and stay in your stroller!" I wish I was strong enough and tall enough to really help him, but I do what I can by having his meals ready and bringing him water and Gatorade.
Sunday we are going to spend the day with the kids, and then he and I are going out for an early dinner together. We usually just end up going to Chipotle and splitting something, so it's not very glamorous, but any time by ourselves is awesome, and we don't have to spend a ton of money. Being happy with the simple stuff is so important!
I'll post pics of this building, or "Man Land" as we are calling it, as soon as I can. Drew is building it like a real house; he's framed it, wrapped it in the Tyvek homewrap stuff, put siding on, and is working on the roof. It's quite something. It'll be really pretty when he's done. He's polled the girls for color ideas. Elsa wants rainbow. We'll see...

My first riding lesson!

I did it! I rode Frances today! I had such a good time, even though Frances and I spent most of the lesson figuring each other out. I am doing English riding; there is considerably less equipment in this style--less saddle, less reins, less stirrups, but it encourages horse and rider to communicate with body language, since the thin saddle lets me feel exactly what he's doing...or about to do. Like stop. He kept stopping, even when I was telling him to walk. :) Krystin says he sort of "tests" new people, but he was very gentle the whole time and by the end of the almost-two-hour lesson we were at an understanding. I understand that I need more lessons.
The teensy little English saddle really forces you to hold on with your legs. My thighs are totally sore! And, uh, horses are tall. It was surprising how high up in the air I was. I also realize why people ride in full seat breeches--riding pants that have the whole ass area covered in either synthetic or real suede--no slipping around in the saddle. Krystin said I had a naturally good "seat", though, which is the term for how one sits in the saddle. Hey, at least I got something right! (Gloves would be a good thing, too.) I'm also just riding in my plain old western-style boots until I have enough money for some paddock boots and half-chaps.
Wish me luck! I'll keep you updated.
Have a great week!

Vacation

I'm still here! Drew is still on vacation and he's building a second shed/cottage in our back yard. Very busy! I have been helping with that as much as possible, mostly by keeping Evan away from all the fun loud power tools. ;) I hope to have some pics of this new structure up on the blog soon!

Camping pics!

We got back last night from our camping trip. Oregon is beautiful, and we saw a black bear crossing highway 101 on the way home! Halfway there we realized we had left all our meat in the freezer at home, and then when we stopped in Eureka the battery on the van died. The kids did have a great time, though, and the van pulled the trailer just fine!
Here are a few pics.