happy birthday emmett!!!!!!!!!

today this great guy is six!!!!!!!!!!! we love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the first of many celebrations!

Tomorrow Emmett is 6!!!!!! Miss Morgan is the best!!!!!!!

food blogging...(for Caroline and Lauren)

'
Caroline often has great pictures of food and recipes on her blog and Lauren is always talking about sharing recipes for quick foods that kids
like...well, my kids like yellow rice, black beans and pepper steak.
And for Emmett's b-day for his class I made banana bread...plain for Emmett and then with
Nutella cream cheese frosting for everyone else. Yes, I felt very domestic yesterday. It was a perfect day for it too. Silas slept, it was off and on rainy and chilly.
Today, no cooking!!
Recipe for banana bread...get the Trader Joes Mix!!
Recipe for the frosting...cream cheese and Nutella.
Recipe for the pepper steak...get steak and peppers and onions. Cook it.
Recipe for Rice... buy Mahatma Saffron Yellow Rice...follow directions.
Recipe for Beans...oh please.

name that baby!?! part two

#1-#7 answers in the comments tomorrow
(nana, you can't play until later...you know too much!:)

chalk drawings!

This guy sitting on top of the world is Julian Beaver. Check out more of his perspective sidewalk drawing at greensboro.com

first day of February 2007...

one of the most beautiful places I've been...

I have been thinking about this place over the past couple of days, and then I had a dream about it so I decided to share it. I visited Lamu, an island off the coast of Kenya, when I was 20 for a month or so and really loved it. I have wondered if it could remain so untouched, as it seemed then...apparently it has...still no mode of transportation other than donkeys and dhaus (a kind of sail boat).
the waterfront looks like this but the town is all narrow passageways

stayed in a place kinda like this on (a smaller budget!)

a surprise discovery...

www.plumtreepottery.com
I googled plum potter and came up with this...one of my all time favorite potters, John Glick. I guess we share the same aesthetic as well as a similar name. For some beautiful pots, look under "the work". I especially love the glaze surfaces of the bowls, plates and trays section. The cups are great too.

impromptu beach day...

...this is exactly how it felt...

mellow beachy Silas

this is an awesome sideways angel...


what a fun day with our good friend Benj

the next best thing to snow angels...

a change of plans...

...so, we were supposed to be driving to Idyllwild today with our friends but even colloidial silver couldn't prevent this sickness from delaying the whole adventure...Today at the grocery store I bought Theraflu, Cold-eze and the movie The Great Escape..."sick husband?" the lady asked... "yeah, how'd you guess?"
So now the kids are watching that movie classic for the first time with their pa while Silas and I unpack. But the great thing about California is that later I am taking the kids to the beach!
Feel better Isabel and Papa!!

Mac off to Paris, "Taxi!"

Mac got a bunch of cool stuff for her birthday and enjoyed posing for her European Adventure Tour with her new suitcase and her doll trunk in tow...new skirt, earrings, nail polish and attitude! An accent goes along with this persona.

a long video for a saturday morning...

gotta love these kids

happy 9th birthday mac!!!!!!!

This is Mac today on her 9th birthday...I can't believe it!
What a girl she is! Today will involve banana bread cupcakes with Nutella frosting at school (her favorite) and a surprise dinner. Her official family "party" will be Sat. night when papa can be home with us. We LOVE YOU MAC!!!

the unveiling...(its a bit dark but the audio is priceless!)

before...

We are giving nanas room a makeover. It has always been cozy but
she deserves more...She spends
most of her free time working in her garden, taking care of her pets,
playing, teaching, and
hanging out with her grandchildren... She is a giver...

...so we wanted to give back!!!

after!!!

Mom hasn't seen her new room yet...

I hope she loves it...

because she really deserves it!
Thanks to Megan and Christopher for all their help!
And without Emmett , Mama and Papa it just never would
have happened. We Love YOU NANA!

babysitting co-op 2007

veggie dogs, fruit plates, popcorn, tofutti cuties and
"The School of ROCK"--I love that movie and these kids
are hysterical watching it.
"so get off your ath and do some math..."

I just can't stop laughing about it...

..."one: cut a hole in the box..."
HaHaHa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-5grqhj1b8

ballet sweetness

all in a thursday...

again, the daishikis and one sleepy dwarf

emmett took this picture of me and silas trying to keep quiet during piano

mac's turn at the piano, dressed for ballet

mac, indie and isabel in ballet class

back to school...in daishikis...

singing the classics in the shower...

name that baby!?!

Helicopter Accident

Hey all, I know a lot of you saw the coverage on the helicopter crash on Otay Mountain on January 2. To confirm, it was my unit. I was not on the helicopter but responded to the crash site and helped to direct the evacuations. As of this writing only three are still in the hospital, six have been released. The prognosis for those in the hospital is good. They are hurting but conscious, alert and improving. Thank you to all who called. We appreciate it! Keep your thoughts on those who are hurt and their families. If anyone wants to send get well cards etc. forward them to us and I'll bring them down to the unit

Matt

buddha baby

Ha!

New element discovered: Bushcronium

A major research institution has just announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element has been named Bushcronium."

Bushcronium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an Atomic mass of 311. These 311 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Bushcronium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Bushcronium causes one reaction to take over 4 days to complete when it would normally take less than a second.

Bushcronium has a normal half-life of multiples of 4 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Bushcronium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to believe that Bushcronium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass."

When catalyzed with money, Bushcronium activates Foxnewsium, an element which radiates orders of magnitude, more energy, albeit as incoherent noise, since it has 1/2 as many peons but twice as many morons.

roomba love

Oh my god I love my new Roomba. For an obsessive compulsive freak, this is gold...I sat peacefully nursing Silas while my Roomba (nickname; Red Meat) vacuumed my entire house! Really! And for some reason, watching it now and then has the calming effect similar to watching that old Atari game PONG--or just mellow tennis on Mute. It is very quiet too, kinda like the white noise of a dreyer. Santa loves me. (Santa IS me!)

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off we go to Idyllwild...see you in the new year

We are so exhausted after a very fun holiday month!
We need a vacation from our vacation. (and nana needs a vacation
from work!..its just wrong to work the week after Christmas!)
So off we go to sit and read and sit and watch the snow fall.
Much love to all of you out there.
(That means you, dad. And you Grancops and Bebe and you
Chris and Susan and Max and you, lovely female
fetus Dreyer...
and, of course, your parents... And of course all the San Diego
folks who helped make our Christmas awesome!
Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve in Pajamas

Christmas Eve tradition #1 new pajamas on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve tradition #2 Mexican Hot Chocolate with orange and cinnamon
Christmas Eve tradition #3 Minestrone Soup

we can't forget Kayla's new jams

The Holidays...

we finally finished this on christmas eve day!

nana!

This says: "Hi Kris Kringle. How old are you? How many shoe buckles do you have? You are the best. I love you. You draw a picture here."
Then: Why do people call you Saint Nick or Nicolas? Answer on back. Because..."

caroling with grandcops and ms morgan

merry christmas to all...

and to all a rowdy night!

The Tree

Emmett picked this one out... the fattest tree on the lot.

two great things...

silas has a killer smile


emmetts turn to put the star on the tree

"Freak me out, frank!"

Silas loves this thing...I think...
and I love messin' around with video.
Lisa and Richie have the kids and I
have some time before going to Macs
parent/teacher conference, so this is how
I pass time. First play, then blog.

oh christmas tree!

"don't go breaking my heart"

spoke too soon...

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...waaaaaa....burp.....WAAAAAAAA!

December Happenings...

Nana and the kids doing what they do best...playing Christmas Carols on the piano!
Here is an great picture of the first time Grancops and Silas met..sorry it is sideways. ( I am hoping Lauren will see this and call me immediatly to tell me how in the hell to rotate these pictures.)
Just look at these cute patoots (again sideways)...with pops in the background snoozing. How is it that grandpas can do that...drop off mid-sentence in the middle of our crazy, noisy house??

Silas, sideways and christmassy-cute.

(Craig and Cami, he is no longer colicky! Over night the phase passed and now he is virtually all smiles and happiness. Whew!)

Again, I have no idea how to turn this image around so
you'll all just have to turn your heads...really just wanted
to wish Christian a Happy Birthday. (and encourage you
to get your own blog so we can all chill in the blogosphere)