birthday cakes on the brain

I can't believe I am wasting time doing this but these cakes are fricken hilarious.

Matt...

...and the
awesome new
meditation bench
that Chris made!

While the GOP wants to put an end to the health care bill...

...the 18,ooo + Physicians for a National Health Program and I are still wishing it would go completely in the other direction...

(Check out some of the frequently asked questions.)

We Hope Finley Loves Pokemon

Here are some pokemon we think she might like...

Ledyba, Turtwig and Squirtle!

What she needs to know . Silas says...

"There are zillions of pokemon, like little animals that are caught and trained. They live in pokeballs until their trainers have them come out to battle.

They like to battle, it's a fun game for them and they are never really hurt in battle.

They each have special powers and strengths and the cards describe what type they are."

For Silas its really all about looking endlessly at the books and cards and having me read them.

He begs Emmett and Mac to battle him all day long and they do...as long as they can stand it. Emmett is the one who passed on this love and is proud that Silas is so interested in reading because of it!

So there's the deal-eo around here. All pokemon, all the time. We really hope Finley is into it.

If not, I make a mean fort and Mac is getting her American Girls out for some lovin'...and there's always the trampoline!

xoxoxoxo (Aunt Sugar Cookie and Silas;)

Migraine Relief

I haven't had a migraine for 3 weeks now. I am crossing my fingers. It seems that if I take 2 Valerian capsules (usually for sleep and anxiety) with one Excedrin within the first hour of a developing migraine it goes away! GOES AWAY! Unreal.

I even woke up in the middle of the night with a screamer and within twenty minutes it was gone.

It doesn't seem to have negative side effects, isn't addictive and won't make me fall asleep during the carpool and I only need to take 2.

It also seems to work for the worst migraines triggered by barometer changes. Oh my god. The only negative thing I have heard about is that over time it can stop working. So far so good! I only wish I had heard about it long ago.

Thank you NPR.

Head-to-Toe Flannel

Just can't seem to find the time to blog about the many, many things that have happened so I have decided to start small.
Here is one of my favorite Christmas gifts (left).
Worlds Sexiest Nightgown! Especially when paired with wool pancho and weird boots while taking out post x-mas trash.

Matt just loves it so.

Happy New Year everyone.

A Great Christmas!

Besides the technology inundation, I'd say it was a perfect holiday! Christmas Eve full of food and laughter. Meg and Crys, Cia, Larry and Larry Jr and Richard, laughing and singing right along with Matt, Nana, the kids and me. I always wish that I took better or more pictures on Christmas Eve but I guess I am too busy having fun.
Christmas morning is just always magic. I think its the cinnamon rolls and the feliz navidad chihuahua!

And now for the endless videos...I couldn't choose and I know Bebe and Cami and Feee will love them!
...the crazy kitty...

...fruits of jolly...

...christmas morning, 6:30 a.m....

...2 hours later, they forget to check the last day of their advent calendar!...

I am still freaking out that Mac has a cell phone and we own a Wii. Yikes. Both came with a lovely set of parent-rules...

All in all, a GREAT Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve Day!

December 2010



Emmett at his Class Christmas Party singing "Country Roads"
good friend Riley.


Merry Christmas everyone.
The minestrone (for Nana) and potato soup (for Mac) are on the stove.
We are stocked with olives and dips and crackers and salad and cider and pies and cookies.
The kids have made an actual CHART of how many presents each person coming to our house is getting and they have made most of them! Silas every now and then will wrap up something random and add it to the pile.
We've made the gingerbread house and we are almost to the last day of the advent calendar (today was a slip of paper that read "lets make SUGAR COOKIES"...so we did).
Last night Nana and I took the kids to see "Little Fockers" and, oh my god, was it inappropriate for Emmett. Oops! (He's been telling jokes about it ever since. I am cringing!!!)
Papa is working until 2:00 today and it won't feel quite right until he's home...but this is a lovely Christmas so far. (Despite the December pitfalls... the flooded heater under the house, the broken computer, the branch that fell on our Valentine Apricot Tree, the leaky cabin roof, the handyman that jipped us for $240, the little leak that turned into a nightmare and last weeks flat tire- the 5th this year!! Yes, we will be completely happy to say good bye to this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
But this moment is magic and I am taking note (or taking blog).
I love all you beautiful people out there. May Your Christmas be
Peaceful and Cozy and full of LOVE!

School Pictures, 8th and 4th grades!

(I know I'm not supposed to say it but, dang, they are cute!)

While I was dealing with an online banking issue....

...doing this....

...Silas found my camera and decided to do this.

Cam, remember when we were talking on the phone about the power of words?!

Well, here is some Saturday morning reading that has some truly brilliant parts.
It is by George Lakoff, a professor from UCBerkeley who has written extensively about "The Political Mind" (his most recent book)!
Here's the entire article.
I visit the website Common Dreams quite a bit. Check it out. Great writing, interesting progressive perspectives every single day!

Perspective and Love

Hey Darrin....

...lets talk trees...
THIS is the kind of tree I think is just sososososo beautiful! Like an Ent!


I like these too. They look like they came out of the woods.
I don't think they sell trees like this in California! I wonder if these are live trees or
fake...hmmmm.

OUR TREE!!!!!!!!!!

WATCH ALL OF THIS VIDEO!!

Bernie Sanders gives an amazing speech.

political reading. always important.

Read these two articles. One an opinion that I, sadly, happen to agree with. And the other, from PRI's 'The World'.


OP-ED COLUMNIST
Freezing Out Hope
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: December 2, 2010


After the Democratic “shellacking” in the midterm elections, everyone wondered how President Obama would respond. Would he show what he was made of? Would he stand firm for the values he believes in, even in the face of political adversity?
On Monday, we got the answer: he announced a pay freeze for federal workers. This was an announcement that had it all. It was transparently cynical; it was trivial in scale, but misguided in direction; and by making the announcement, Mr. Obama effectively conceded the policy argument to the very people who are seeking — successfully, it seems — to destroy him.

So I guess we are, in fact, seeing what Mr. Obama is made of.

READ THE REST HERE

And here is an article with a little perspective about the deficit and how we ARE NOT comparable to what's happening in Ireland or Greece.

By Jason Margolis from PRI's The World

President Obama’s deficit-reduction commission is trying to dramatically trim federal deficits in the coming decade. But how does U.S. debt compare with other nations? The U.S. public debt is north of $9 trillion dollars.

On its own, it doesn’t say much. But that number does mean a lot when it’s put in context. Economists like to measure what they call the “net debt to GDP ratio.” That’s basically the amount of money we, the taxpayers, owe compared to the size of the economy. That figure is about 60 percent. (we owe 60 cents out of every dollar, that is)

“At the end of World War II, America’s net debt to GDP ratio was 113 percent, and the equivalent ratio for Great Britain at the end of World War II was more than 250 percent,” said Economist Lee Branstetter from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “Even if you compare our current net debt to GDP ratio to other advanced industrial economies that are not fighting major wars like Belgium or Japan, it’s still not particularly large.”

Today, the United States is somewhere in the middle of the pack when it comes to debt ratios.

But at the simplest level: What does this figure really tell us? And is running up a big debt such a bad thing?

Read the rest of the article here.

The Goodness

It's been busy, as usual. And there has been a whole lot of goodness along with a decent amount of dealing with the regular old day in and day out grind... but when I think of this family and of Thanksgiving and Christmas...this is what comes to mind. Making things, being outside, reading, eating, snuggling, listening to music...even if it's Frank Zappa . I realize that these little video snippets make it all look picture perfect awesome which we all know is never the case in real life. But the fact that we can have so many delicious moments, many more than I could or would ever capture in a picture or video...well, that truly makes me thankful!!!
A whole lot of gooooooooood.






("thank you universe for most this amazing day and the leaping greenly spirits of trees and...")

It's True!

We
are
officially
the
same
height!!

(but Mac's legs are longer!)