sissy spacek's daughter...

My favorite movie of all time is Coal Miners Daughter...from the first time I saw it on my dads lap to the 23rd time, approximately, when Matt proposed to me (sorta, for those of you who know the story) while watching it. So for some reason I just love this girl, Schuyler Fisk who looks so much like her mom. Mac likes her too because she was in the movie "The Babysitters Club" when she was 11 or so. She was also the girlfriend in "Orange County" ...a very sweet and unaffected actress. Anyway, you may remember this song from a couple of years ago with Josh Radin...I like it because she sings it!

it's too hard to blog in this house in summer...

...constant activity...even during Silas' naptime, what used to be a peaceful hour or so during the school year, is now BUSY... I am either reading outloud or playing boardgames of sweeping up sand or watering or picking up the endless little flecks of cut up paper that litter the floor for some reason...and cooking or snack prep ALL DAY...no blog opportunity ("bloggortunity?")....here's a video of the level of energy in the house in just the last few minutes. (pretty damn cute actually) To get a little quiet time I have been staying up until 12:00 every night and the baby still gets up at 5:30. Definitely not enough sleep....(Matt, I feel your pain after all these years !!)
Summer is the best and it just might kill me!

Bebe Time!!

We did so much in such a short time...it went so fast...we miss you already!

Here are just a few of the pictures...of course there are none of Bebe and 

me watching it all with silly smiles on our faces.

after hours of the pool and the sun...

...Silas passes out!

Bebe treated us to an awesome day and night in a hotel on the bay with a beautiful pool and room service and it was just great! The kids were fish and I was a bit of a pig and in the end were all as snug as bugs, watching movies! I felt completely spoiled and loved every minute of it!
Thanks BEBE!
(I didn't really take many pics because this little guy was all over the place and I couldn't take my eyes off him until he collapsed! He is most definitely a bit too free around water...almost gave me a heart attack!)

Happy Fathers Day !!

May

All

Your

FATHERS DAY
wishes come true Papa!!!

(we know one wish came true...Nappy-Time...he really knows how to fill up a king size bed, doesn't he!?)

WE LOVE YOU!

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER !!!!

What a year! I am exhausted! I really love our school community and will miss hanging out there every morning. I will not miss making lunches and getting us all out the door by 7:45 however. Hurray for summer. Mac and Emmett have expressed concerns that they won't see their school friends much this summer...that's happened in the past...well not this year. Expect a phone call to hang at the beach, sleepover in our backyard in a tent or go on a day hike. We will be avoiding the word BORED if at all possible. WAAAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!












Great teachers and great friends! (I took one of Mac's class and awesome teachers but it was completely blurry. I need a camera lesson...Lydia? Lauren? Cami? Emil?)

Silas update, for the record...

Things that have changed:
Silas now has FEAR where their used to be none. It just hit him all of a sudden and I remember this with M and E...after swinging for 15 minutes he'll suddenly realize he's up so high and freak out...Also, fear of being alone... He'll be in one room perfectly contented and when he realizes he's by himself he'll yell, "HELP! HELP!"

Silas sometimes ASKS to go to sleep but sometimes just can't seem to get there. He'll be exhausted, basically begging for help in this area but his active little brain won't let him. Poor kid. This problem runs in the family. So, of course, lots of singing and dancing is involved.

Silas now calls Mac "SISSYMAC" ...one word.

Silas says in the morning to nana , "Nana, take a shower?" This is his greeting for her.

Silas doesn't like baths. Bummer.

Silas can turn "MINE" into a 3 syllable word.

...there's more, I know, perhaps I will add to this post as I think of it. One thing is for sure. He is uniquely Silas and quite hilarious.
This is a very long video...mainly for me and the grandparents. (And I just can't stop apologizing for the narration.)

a poem or lyrics, can't decide... (for Emmett)

Collection

Fossil of a beetle
Manzanita waxed and polished
Leather satchel full of treasure
Feathers from a stellar jay

Cigar boxes filled with beads of glass
Moss growing in a jar
An old weathered compass
In this marble, fleck of star

Painted buttons in a coconut husk
Ink made of dragons blood
A lock of pilgrim baby hair
The nest of a hummingbird

Six pointed shark teeth
Twisted braids of velvet ribbon
Magic stones and celtic runes
This nail from the desk of Lincoln

Seven years, this collection
See this tarnished cup from long ago?
It might just look like water now
But it once was snow


(I made a museum in my room, buy a ticket, come and see
No wait, for you and only you, it's free.)

Obama!!!!!!!

I was talking to my mom last night, watching bits and pieces of Obama's speech ...we were saying that for the first time we actually felt that this candidate represented us and seems to be truthful and ethical. Can it be true?? Can he really be intelligent and clear? A man who doesn't pander or get into dirty tricks yet stands up for himself...A man who writes many of these great speeches that inspires so many ...
Thinking back to his speech at the John Kerry convention I remember thinking, as did many...wishing that "that guy" was our candidate. Incredible that it's true!!

(If you google image "obama" you can't believe all the insane pics...like this one that I rather like but I am sure it's part of the problem, not the solution...obama as superstar rather than president...but I had to do it anyway!)

June 3rd...time to VOTE!

Mike Copass is our man...Democrat for US Congress, 53rd district.

No more Susan Davis...voting with Bush every chance she got when it came to Iraq!!

camping '08

We had a great time! It was freezing at night which made the whole trip a bit like one of those Alaska experiences...ok not really, but we were really, really cold at night!!
Kids had a blast running around in the woods. I barely even got a picture of Emmett...he and Indie disappeared for hours at a time....every now and then we would hear them laughing or shouting or they would check-in to hydrate and sneak sugar-cubes.
Food was great, music was too.
See you next year, same time, same place!








...and we're beat! (you must click on this picture for the full effect!)

Had to include this video...it was the only one I
took...the volume should probably be turned way down.
Silas and Ry (especially Silas) can really hit some
high notes in this one!

"CUTE!"

correction...

In the last post I mentioned warm and sunny weather...well, yes, during the day it will be a lovely 70 degrees. But at night it supposed to get down to 32 degrees. So, folks, bring your gloves, scarves, hats, uggs, hot water bottles and extra blankets. And lot and lots of wood!

Last year ...

We are getting ready for the re-enactment. I hate the packing and figuring-it-all-out part but hanging-in-the-woods, playing-music-and-hiking-around part I like. Let's just hope Silas likes it too. At this stage in his development we often feel like we are at his mercy much of the time. But he is a nature boy and spends much of the day asking, "outside? walk?" (and of course, "boo") so we should be ok.
It poured rain at Mt. Laguna last week and even snowed a bit but the forecast is for warm, sunny weather so it should be green and all the creeks should be flowing. And we've got hats and mittens for cold mornings!

Happy Birthday Finley!!

We love you Finley and we are soooooooooo happy to watch you grow into this super-sweet
one year old! Have a great party...we expect video of some cake eating. Love all around!!

favorite new silas word...

...."shampoop" .....as in "I wash my hair with shampoop".
Gets me everytime he says it.

Remembering last year right about now!!

Cami was going in to labor... We lit the candle. Little did we know that we would need 10 of them!!....I keep thinking about how excited and anxious we all were,
waiting to hear word from Craig about how Cami was doing...
and the best part is that NOW WE KNOW...
All is well and that little baby is just the best!!

Flowers in Marron Valley

I figured since we have a lot of garden friends some of you might know the names of the flowers I found in Marron Valley (halfway between Otay and Tecate Mountain).

These next two are from the top of Otay.


You can't imagine the crap I took for taking pictures of flowers...........
Matt

more great mural pictures...

....over at Poppy heart. Check it out!

reading room...

Sometimes the collection of books sitting toilet-side perfectly represents our families current intellectual pursuits ...this is not one of those times...afterall there is no "Hobbit" for Emmett or parenting-your-spirited-child books or WWII books for Matt or Emmett's other fav, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" (hilarious to hear him laughing on the pot hysterically) ...not even a Harry P or Artemis Fowl for Mac.
The addition of Silas' potty reading material, "Grovers 10 Best Ways to Help the Earth" and the low-brow but hilarious "Curiously Compelling Bathroom Book" and especially the Judy Blume sitting up top...well, these are the reasons for this post.

"Are you there God? It's me, Margaret. " is well rifled through and I perused it the other day...it's been 27 years since I've done that...and all those pre-teen issues came flooding back. It has been a hormonal hurricane around here lately. Lots of feelings and changes and...late night snuggling conversations about every little thing. Growing up is hard. I forgot about a lot of it. Judy nailed it in so many ways.

As for Silas' on the potty...we are no where near the goal, not even trying yet really... it's still diaper on, sitting and reading. And occasionally I will catch him pulling out the little potty bowl and wearing it as a hat. That is a sure sign he has no idea at all what's supposed to go in there.
And here's a fact for you from "Compelling..."
did you know that King Tut was buried with 145 pairs of loin cloth underwear...
and...the shortest complete sentence in the english language is "Go."????