photo of the day...

Mac has been doing a lot of "babysitting" lately. She's great at it.

why does this remind me of emmett, craig, and matt ?? (in that order)......

Daytona 500

Drew Pearson drove a Torino at the 71 Daytona 500

Real stock car racing.

Emmett and I (Matt) were watching the Daytona 500 today and it brought back memories of when I was a kid. Look at all the Torinos in the back. Average speed was 141 MPH it was essentially a car you could buy from the dealer, plus a couple 100 horsepower. Richard Petty (The King #43) won that day.


Emmett and I plan to go to the races like I did when I was a kid

naked on the leather...

we went to the cabin this weekend and had a great time
check out caroline's blog for idyllwild pics
meanwhile, just look at silas
he's killing me with cuteness

all this with a touch of a fever too!

more blasts, this time from shane's archives...

I do believe this is Craig at
the famous "anti-christmas party".


Dan, Shane and Matt in Borrego Springs
right after Matt moved out here.


Matt and Annie , I can't even believe
this picture.


Craig and Matt, dig the outfits. We were all wearing shorts
and listening to beach music in the middle of winter, I think
the day before xmas eve, in open adolescent
rebellion of all that christmas stood for...oy..


Matt and Shane

for shane and dan, if you're out there...a true blast from the past getting your letter yesterday

here's one of Matt and Annie, 1988, and I am not flipping
anyone off intentionally...and that is not a cigarette kids!

Dan and Lauren, 1991
(now Lauren is a mother of 5 great kids and lives in
Maine with her husband Sean)
Hi Dan!! It was good to hear about your life from Shane!!

Dan and Matt in their "on the road" days...

Annie and Shane in Upstate New York playing quarters,
1989.

anyone for a little bocce ball?...

Papa bought a bocce ball set and we had a lot of fun today.
It's pretty great... all the stuff within a few minutes of our house.
Next we'll try the velodrome and , one day, archery
at Morley Field!!!!

new additions...

what does a house with three adults,
three kids, a dog, and three cats need?
three fish and a frog of course!!!!!!

just love this picture...

...and that's reason enough!!!!!!!!

blogging Lydia...

...it's great having her in my class! She's good too!

bowling, baby!!!!!!!!

The very fun, not-as-cheap-as-it-used-to-be, super bowl sunday,
birthday activity of choice for the Dreyers...with bumpers for the
kids to prevent gutter balls...however the highest score among us
was still only a 115!!!! A good time!

...and you gotta love the shoes!!!

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.