9/27/2008

And the parking Gods really SHINED today...

...wow...this will probably never happen again.

Today we took the kids to the Children's Museum downtown. We're members and it's a really cool place, except for the parking. There isn't much street parking (and of those spots you have to pay the meter). They do have underground parking but it's $10.00. BUT, upon arriving at the very, very front of the museum, what do we see? A FREE parking spot for two hours. Literally 20 feet from the entrance. SCORE!!!

Then, after about an hour and 45 minutes we decide to head out to lunch at Corvette Diner in Hillcrest. Well, the parking there is NEVER easy and we usually either spend 20 minutes searching for a spot or park a mile or so away. BUT, upon arriving at the very, very front of the restaurant what do we see? A metered spot DIRECTLY in front of the restaurant. $1.00 in the meter and we're set!! SCORE #2!!

Lunch was so much fun there. It's been quite a while since I've been there, and we've never taken the kids, but it's really a fun place for them as well.

And bonus - Laura rocks at the Claw Crane game and won a stuffed lovey for Foster at the restaurant. SCORE #3!! Oh, and BTW, Logan and Seth did try their hand at the Crane game but the "Crane Game Gods" were a bit busy at that moment and we weren't so lucky...;-)

Fun Day!

9/23/2008

Wedding Pictures!






(Our wedding invitation is above)

Here are the long-awaited pictures. The montage is set to Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole's version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". That's actually the processional song we used in the wedding. I love that version.

Since there are no captions, obviously the first half are the pictures of the wedding. The second "half" are of our mini-moon at Paradise Point where we stayed and had a very relaxing and enjoyable time.

Enjoy!

9/20/2008

I promise the next pictures will be of the wedding...

...but until then...



This is Foster's latest drawing, I was quite impressed. He did it all by himself and was very proud of it. I just had to share.



Next up...wedding...

Oh, and yes, in the first picture he IS wearing his helmet. He had just come inside from riding his bike and scooter and didn't take it off yet.






9/17/2008

The bane of my existence

The kids' toychest.





I try to clean it out, oh, "every once in a while" (nope, not defining that) but I honestly believe that when I'm not looking - the toys in there are having, well, too much "fun" and are multiplying....rapidly.





Exhibit "A"













I'm scared.



I start to take all the stuff out.



I'm half way down. It's like peeling back layers of an onion - or discovering treasures in the earth strata...



Exhibit "B"







The ridiculous amount of plastic "stuff" on the floor...is...



Exhibit "C"







And finally, the newly cleaned out, rearranged and pretty-to-look-at-for-the-next-five-minutes is...


Exhibit "D"






The best part of it all is that this is my son's "treasure chest" - AKA: all things near and dear to him. Almost everything else in the toychest could disappear and he wouldn't care as long as he had these few items. All of them that take up, oh, like, 6 square inches of space........

Why is it that...

...my kids have to be woken up on weekdays but wake up themselves at "o-dark-thirty" on the weekends??

I mean really, c'mon, 6:30am on the weekend is just plain cruel...

Ahhhh, but ya gotta love 'em anyway right?

9/14/2008

Vote "No on 8" AKA: "No on h8te"

Well, one the best bumper stickers seen so far (kudos to Laura who spotted it):



"Can I vote on your marriage now?"



Love it!!



Because really, if my marriage to another woman undermines YOUR marriage (opposite sex) or your beliefs - well, then your marriage isn't that strong to begin with and your beliefs aren't that rock-solid either - because tell me...what harm is my marriage doing to you - and you personally. Nothing, right.



And I can tell you - by the show of wonderful supporters, family and friends that attended our wedding - we are blessed - and best of all --- people really "GET IT". They truly understand that two people of the same sex can love each other and have kids and create a loving life.



I got it.



Oh, and I'm turning off comments on this one, because I'm just not interested in entering into a debate - I know how I'm voting (and the hundreds of our 'supporters') and you know how you are voting - if you want to contact me and you know how, feel free - but it isn't going to be here.



And no, this isn't directed to any one person - you know me better than that - this is my belief and my opinion directed out to the blogosphere.

9/11/2008

Pictures from the first annual Stein-White Water Relay Race

Foster walking the plank


Logan walking the plank

Seth's turn

Getting the kids wet

Logan in a bucket

There were others but you get the idea. It was a hot summer day and the kids were asking to "get wet" so we decided to have them do all kinds of water activities.

They had so much fun!

No pictures, no problem

I don't know exactly what the problem was in linking to the picture album, but I'll try to post a few of the pictures here individually soon.
Thanks.

Some pictures I forgot to post...

See below for a cute "twinsies" picture. Note, I usually make it a habit to NOT dress Logan and Seth totally alike - but this time they both wanted to wear the exact same thing and luckily we had "two of everything" right down to their new shoes.

Anyway, please follow the link below:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=127fe5143e97d48e6cdd16a80fdf8c46

to view our fun summertime water relay race!

9/08/2008

We're baaaaaaaaaack

We're home from our wonderfully relaxing "mini-moon" - pic's to follow.

Wedding was everything I could have hoped for...

We are so proud to be making history...

I'll post details and pic's shortly...
...need to go to bed now....

9/02/2008

Four Score and Seven Years Ago...

Well, just the 7 years part...

My "baby" turned 7 years old today.

He also started first grade (again) today - what a bummer to start school on your birthday. But, in the end, he had a much better time than last year. He apparently has a really good teacher and he's much more confident this time around. He also started a new "before and after" school program, the formally "6 to 6" program which is now known as "Prime Time". He had been attending a private before and after school program and previously we didn't think he was ready for the "Prime Time" program because it was larger, had more kids and was (we thought) less structured. But - the "free" part of it drew us in. And the more we researched it, the better it looked. They recently restructured the entire program and it's much more organized and has kids grouped in smaller sections. They focus a lot on academics and 'movement' (music, karate, etc.). And, our neighbor kids go there too. So, in the end, Foster actually enjoyed his experience at "Prime Time" - and I'm so happy we made the switch - and yeah, it's free.

So, because it was the first day of school, I took the mandatory "first day of school" picture. And unlike the previous 2 years, the kid is smiling. See for yourself.


Kindergarten 2006



First grade 2007



First grade (again) 2008








After a very successful first day back to school, we celebrated his 7th birthday. Foster selected his "birthday dinner" - Carl's Jr. - and we all obliged. Following that we had ice-cream cake (his selection) and of course, presents. His party (for friends) isn't until September 20th - but that's okay - he doesn't seem to mind. This year, it seemed like the hints he had been dropping were mainly sports-related. He was very excited about all his gifts from his mommies, Bubbe, grandma and other relatives (money, gift cards to that THAT place, etc.).


Here are some pictures from this afternoon - we ate outside (picnic style) and that went over REALLY well too. Other neighbor kids joined in to watch Foster open his presents.



Opening presents





Bat, ball, mitt, frisbee





Scooter (and Logan and Seth looking on)






Hugging Gina (Logan and Seth's daycare provider) for her present (cash)




Panda hugs


Scooter love




Scooter time!

Make a wish baby!!!!