found photos & a bike ride

mothers day 2010
me + the kids
sleeping through the night in her crib, YES.
waking up confused... WHERE AM I??
happy lady

tonight i went for a bike ride.

i left around 10:00 pm, the kids were asleep, i looked outside, it was light out - the sun still setting. the streets were clean and sparkly with small puddles from the rain that fell earlier. i thought, get on your bike and go for a ride. so i did. it was awesome. it was crisp and quiet. i was alone. it was the magic hour. our house is down a road that has no real development on it yet. there is green-space, trees and ponds all along the road, no street lights. i decided to ride to chuck and sandras. they had a baby last night. a sweet little boy. i crossed the big main road and toodled through their neighborhood, got to chucks and had a chat. when i left it was a bit darker, the moon was out and full. i rode through the streets toward my hidden little road. as i crossed the main road and began down my street, i hit a wall of sound. the amazing sound of every little bird and frog and bug and tree waving in the breeze. i felt like i was in lenoir city, tennessee. i felt like i was in st. george, utah. when i lived in these two places, all i did was ride my bike. we would bike all day and into the evening on my mission. in college i took many a dusky bike ride through st. george, down the streets, along the river. the only thing i was missing was seeing some fire flies occasionally light my way {so, so many in the south *sigh*}.

i felt so good tonight. i felt like i was 20 again. i didn't want to stop riding. i didn't want to go home and have the experience end. i just wanted to ride and reflect and listen and remember. it was terrific.

i think i will take a ride more often.

borderline hoarder?

how's the weekend been?

we took a little trip up to edmonton over night. we thought we would have a snazzy shopping trip at the west edmonton mall {biggest mall in north america, 5th largest in the world} but ended up walking away with 9 pairs of socks for c.j., a cookie with a hair in it and a ride on the killer roller coaster. yes i said killer, june 14, 1986, google that. so yah, nothing too exciting or fancy.

tonight i watched several episodes of "hoarders". if there was ever any a time i thought my house was a "mess" and generally unacceptable, it went right out the window after watching what some people live like. WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!

the amount of crap that was stuffed, shoved, hidden, layered and brewing in their homes was jaw dropping. i just kept wondering where it was all was coming from. how does an empty bottle of beer sit there for 3 years on your coffee table? can't you smell the piles of dog poop? when the only empty seat in the house is the toilet, it is hard to play cards with friends... oh, ya, nobody has been in your home for 8 years, you probably don't have any friends. this all becoming perfectly clear now...

i found myself amazed and yet felt worried that that could happen to me...

you see, at the end of the day, i like to take my clothes off and get into bed. it drives c.j. crazy. he picks them up from my side of the bed and throws them in the dirty clothes. they are not necessarily dirty, which in turn, drives me nuts. i say don't "touch my clothes", he says "put them away then." can i not, in my own house, in my own room, next to my own bed, do what i want with my clothes? i don't hang them from the chandelier, i don't weave them down the stair bannister, i don't layer them in truck loads on the kitchen floor in front of the stove. but i do leave them next to my bed. that is where i want them. which makes me question myself. am i like the psycho hoarder that doesn't want their stuff touched? every time c.j. picks up my clothes and hauls them off somewhere i go mental, just like the hoarders! am i going to end up on some A&E special..."it all started with some clothes next to her bed..."

i probably am nuts. call in the hoarder police, they have a new case on their hands.

boldly going where no man has gone before, at our house

my little bat woman

out. cold. night 2.

i am laying in bed. alone.

ida is SLEEPING. IN HER CRIB.

this is night #2 of this arrangement, something that left me a bit sad and teary last night as i listened to her cry, peaked in to watch her fall asleep clutching the crib rails and found her in a face-down-pile snoozing away. i wanted to wipe her tears and snooty nose, lay her on her back, get her comfortable, pry her last remaining hand off the crib bars and just plain rearrange "the scene", but i didn't. i didn't dare bother the slumbering babe.

she did it. she went to sleep on her own.

now, i have to admit, i did check on her every 20 minutes to see if she was o.k. as we didn't have a monitor on her and she did wake at around 3:00 am at which time c.j. went and got her and brought her back into bed with us. {he complains about her sleeping with us, but deep down, i think he felt a little weird and melancholy going to bed without her there with us last night. come on c.j., admit it. it's not going to kill you.} baby steps, baby steps...

{this post may sound retarded to many of you. so?! ida is in a crib. big deal.}

i guess it is just something very different and a bit of a transition for me and things in general around here.

sooo, tonight when i put ida in her crib, she cried for 2 minutes, then stood and looked around for another 15 minutes until she made the slow sinking transition to sleep. {i set up the monitor to see how she was doing.} good girl. you're doing it! you're a champ!

update: 4:58 am, still asleep, going strong!

update: 7:58 am, continues to saw logs?!?! folks, i am shocked! i am in awe!

update: 9:00 am, Zzzzzzzz

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THE WEATHER. the weather has been absolutely insanely amazing for the last few days. the kind of weather that would be the weather in heaven. for real. can i get a witness?

daily affirmations...

this little lady will go places.

happy weekend!

mothers day agenda courtesy of eli burton

i hope all your mothers days started with "watching beetlejuice" and ended with a "kiss" today.

lady lunch

mothers day lunch 2010. {missing from the photo is lisa who resides in california.}
name: wendy, tendy

kids: 5

grandkids: by the end of august, 16

leader of the pack, motivator, occasional pole dancer {well, not really, but that is the running joke...}

name: jessica, cessica

kids: 2

queen of stupid faces, poor choices and pouting {can't you see it in my eyes?}
name: nena, jina, nen

kids: by the end of august, 3

fashionista, fashionista, fashionista
name: stacey, dee, big dee

kids: 3, in 3 weeks

card counter, breakfast burrito expert, arcadia-ite
name: sandra, sanva, chandra

kids: 5, in 3 weeks

sewing fool, crazy cook, labor and delivery veteran

today we chowed down for our annual mothers day lunch. snazzy restaurant in kensington, fancy pizza and cupcakes. 3 out of 5 of us were very pregnant. that is pretty good for their growing families. a batch of new babies on their way. ida will seem so big.

happy mothers day mum. i love you.

EEGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

taking measurements
nodes are almost all in place
ready to go
waking up, all done

approximately every year, eli has an EEG. he has benign rolandic epilepsy which was diagnosed when he was about 3.

the great thing is he hasn't had a seizure since a couple of weeks after ida was born. this hasn't been the first time he has gone for a long stretch seizure-free. he has had a few good stints, but we always have to be cautious and on our toes until we get a all clear from his neurologist. you see, he is supposed to grow out of this condition which makes us hopeful and we can't wait until that day comes.

today he had his annual EEG. he always thinks it is going to hurt, but of course it doesn't. the only goofy part about the appointment is the state in which he has to show up. sleep deprived. he has to stay up till midnight the night before and wake at 4:00 AM the next morning. he did great today. we should find out the results soon. we are crossing our fingers. would be soooo amazing to hear good news. we'll see.

any reason to eat mexican

ida doing some light reading before supper...

last night we had some tasty eats. i busted out a recipe that was really good and easy to make. thank you allrecipes for making cinqo de mayo a deliciously festive evening.

after supper we cleaned up to this diddy. it sounds the best really, really loud.

oh, and also this one... funny story, metric performed this on "morning becomes eclectic" at KCRW out of santa monica. when c.j. and i were living in l.a., starving students, living on my meager income and student loans, i donated some cash on one of their listener money drives to keep the station going. i don't think c.j. has ever let me forget that one. good times, good times. hey, i am a supporter, i think i got a mug or something....

anyho, this one also sounds amazing really loud. eli can belt out "BEATING like a HAMMMERRRR" like a pro. it's awesome and so so fun.

craftopolooza outakes

hi, my name is jessica, i tend to be cross-eyed occasionally...
also, in order to get an entire cupcake in my mouth i resorted to unhinging my jaw thus activating my triple chin. the eyes, they were just for dramatic effect. that's how i roll at family functions... that's why they love me. see how aunt mame is admiring my fancy work?

*thank you alysha, i stole these off your blog.

i want a blue mustache too...

the perfect blue mustache
done


5th place baby! boo-yah!
kub kar kousins
saunders ladies craftopolooza
sunday, before church
goofy goo


sunday, after church

sheesh. when was the last time i was on here? honestly, i was actually a bit rusty posting pics for this entry and i found myself doing it wrong. that is lame...

nothing particularly significant has been going on here. we have just been plugging away at life.

c.j. hurt his ribs by way of skiing and jumping out of a tree. eli came in 5th in the stake cub car rally. i finished a quilt for a young lady who is turning 13 in the next week. ida's vocabulary has grown and now includes: ALL done, i-da and yeah!

the grass outside is slowly turning green. our freaky snow storm last thursday dumped a lot of "moisture" which will certainly help things along. c.j. was hating it, but really you have to think positively about these things. the snow is now gone and spring is on it's way. no use boobing about it. complaining about the weather is for the birds and for people who like to complain about the weather.

2 months left of school. wow. how is this year flying by so quick? why is ida growing up so fast? why can't we find our DVR remote? why are they remaking every '80's film ever made? why did "shakespeare in love" win best picture? why is my driveway so narrow? why was supper so good tonight? where is the perfect place to live? why can't i say no to a brownie?

anyone?