Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Halloween Party

Lily get's the big one

We had our first annual Halloween party on Saturday night and I think it was a hit. We had chili and cornbread and caramel apples for dessert. The kids dressed up and the biggest hit of all time…who would’ve guessed it… bobbing for apples. When did this little gem go out of fashion? Probably during the genesis of being politically correct and attempting to keep our children away from the unsanitary saliva infested bobbing bucket (not as gross as you might think). At any rate…we brought it back and with a vengeance. It was, by far, the most popular and exciting thing at the party…it even beat out the piƱata. Of course the most popular for the adults…yup—four square.

We’re now gearing up for the REAL DEAL and brushing off costumes for the costume parade at school and then trick-or-treating at Grandma Laurie’s. Happy tricking, I mean treating, everyone!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Mom's Out



Well, I’m home and beginning to recover from my annual girls’ weekend. We go to a friends’ cabin, and when I say cabin I mean 6,000 square ft of luxurious lodge, up in the foothills off of highway 88. We had a great time. Daisy and my friend Krisanne flew out on Thursday…and the weekend began. I had to take Jane, of course, but 25% of being mom is better than 100%. One of these days I’ll be able to go sans children. We spent the weekend eating amazing food (including caramel apples, panini sandwiches, lots of chocolate, and plenty of diet coke), hanging out in the hot tub, listening to the rain, going on walks, enjoying beautiful fall colors and weather, watching “chick flicks,” oh, and did I mention the apple stuffed croissant French toast? Needless to say…it was a dream. This year we decided to really indulge ourselves and brought up two massage therapists…they spent the day on Saturday giving everyone massages—it was delish.

However, upon my return and through cryptic conversations the other women had with their husbands, I found out that our house was the host of the largest and first annual “Mom’s Out” party. It included…and I’m not exaggerating: a free for all party in the barn with hot-and-readys, a bouncy house, baby chickens, very little adult supervision, and a four square tournament. Let me explain, because I understood this incorrectly the first time I heard it…the four square tournament was a four hour extravaganza and competition between the DADS. In fact if any child, no matter what age, stepped a poor little foot in one of the four corners of the four squares…they were immediately whisked away; threatening the validity and seriousness of the competition. The “Mom’s Out” party didn’t end that night, oh no, the next day they reconvened at the park where big Derek, u-tube worthy and Jones crazy, jumped an 8 foot span, 10 feet up from one swing set to the next. Not only did he live to continue taking care of his 2-year-old daughter for the weekend, but it was caught on several phone videos (If I can ever figure out how to post it…I will). You think that this self-indulgent Mom’s Out party is over? No. Next is the hours on the back lawn throwing footballs through a target that they so carefully made out of plywood: painted and marked for points. I believe that most of the responsibility of watching the kids fell on Lily & Kaia, who under the circumstances did extremely well.

I’m happy that they had a great time and were able to fit in just about everything no self-respecting wife would allow in an indulgent 48 hour timetable. We also…had some good times and are all looking forward to next year.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

October: THE BARN


I’m sort of behind, I never got a blog in about the deHaro family reunion, which was a lot of fun. We had a great time visiting with Caleb and Wendy and their kids, Arthur, Edith, & Ruby. Also it’s always great to see Grandad, Ricky and the kids, Uncle Bill & family, and Aunt Dona. We had some great meals, music and food in the barn, and a trip to the pumpkin patch. Anyway, it was a great time had by all—and I think we should do a Reeder family reunion next.

The Barn IS AMAZING. We LOVE it. Last night we had 30 Logan High fieldtrip kids and chaperones over for dinner and it was raining. No problem. Move everyone out to the barn. We had a good time visiting with the LHS peops and I think they had a great time just hanging out and relaxing after a helter skelter week of trying to see as many great things in the bay area as possible. I still need to post a picture of the barn and will as soon as I have a spare moment. Right now Tami, Derek and Ella are visiting and in a few days Daisy and Krisanna (& Sophie) are on their way to girls’ weekend at the cabin. All in all we are having a great October.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Boston, MA


So this morning at swimming I made a little general announcement that my sister qualified for the Boston Marathon and instead of the congratulations I expected I got:
-Your sister?
-Yeah.
-You came from the same parents?
-Yeah.
-Huh.
I guess they were surprised that I could be related to someone so talented. Anyway…it’s about Daisy, not me (even though, a little bit, I was trying to take some credit—I mean we do come from the same parents). CONGRATULATIONS Dais.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Breakfast


We had chocolate chip cookies for breakfast.