Thursday, January 31, 2008

yes, we went again

it was my fourth trip this month up to the cabin. its such a lovely escape. Its been nice mellowing out on the pictures lately. Last year was crazy juggling the kids and "working". and its about to begin again this spring...ahhh...so , anyways..im enjoying these winter months of chillin at home with my babies just being a mom, and going to the cabin whenever i please! he he! life is good. heres a sweet video!

welcome little Carson!

first swim lesson for little man

well...ive done "mommy and me" lessons, but when you turn 3, you get to do it alone. hes not 3 yet (goodness..its not too far off) but they put him in the 3yr old class. heres his first lesson all by himself. its not much, but im proud!this was two weeks ago. they dunked him this week. hes not as stoked about lessons anymore. ha ha!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

snow

an adam video .thanks dude!!!


we miss you so much already!


Friday, January 25, 2008

its crazy

i dont recall my parents address book looking like mine..

so many addresses for everyone over the years..
the books become a jumbled mess.
and come the holidays, i can guarantee ill have a pile at least 10 high every year of people who have moved since the last.

peoples names have changed, theyve gotten married, divorced...

it sucks that life for our generation has gotten crazier. harder. more hectic.

i have a couple new address books lying around...and someday ill fill them in, but ..i know they will just keep getting jumbled up. at least for the next few years.

call me old fashioned...
i just wish we could all stay in one place for a bit and drink lemonade on the porch all summer long.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

playing catch up on cabin trip pics..

after our crazy weekend of baby showers and engagement parties... we took off to the cabin again.
while in eldorado hills sunday evening, after cassies lovely shower, it went something like this.
Brandon, "hey. i have tomorrow off, lets go to the cabin. its only an hour from here"
Me "ok"
ba ba Lorinda"HELL YES LETS GO"
Ba ba jules "Sounds great!"
so, we took off! another lovely part of my kids being older. you can just leave places! no diapers! no extra sets of clothes, no nothing! just GO!
so..we stopped at the store and got stuff for fondue. and tepura battered all sorts of stuff. it was great.
life is good.

i pulled an adam and deleated an entire camera. full of pictures...mostly all of which juniper took. i was so sad! they were so cute!!

a picture of a picture that was deleated. but not entirely. ha ha. weird......








good times, of course..

this last weekend was a glorious one...i turned 28 years old.
god i love all you guys more than words.

cheers!

my cousin is getting married!!! You guys are the best. love love love you both. Congrats yo! i cant wait for more little "Rivas" babies running around!!

i had to keep my eye on this one around the keg... this is him eating all the tops off the cupcakes.
love this girl...
aaahhh!! furry kisses from uncle dan!!!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

fancy shmansy showers galore part 2








avery won this bottle of champagne in the dice rolling contest

and juniper won the puffy paint t-shirt contest





teary eyed from a card "from" grandpa melvin

fancy shmansy showers galore part 1







i brought the cute cake!

Aloha!

Im going to Hawaii!!!!!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

im building a person

i was never the kind of kid who dreamed about my wedding day and having kids...(funny right?)
But juniper is. she has her babies names picked out. "Lily and Daisy". and more interestingly, she is going to marry aden and live here with him in our house. LOL!

She knows that babies come from a sperm "little polly wog looking thing" and an egg. and she knows they come out of...well.. you know.. vaginas! this i had no problem explaining.


but...today she , is sitting there telling avery about babies. and asks
"But, HOW do you MAKE a baby mommy? by eating healthy food?"

i stopped stirring , looked over my shoulder at the table where she sat
"um...."

and then she asked me a different question. not sure what it was. and then another question. so...i didnt really answer.


but, now im thinking. shit..i better go to the library and pick out a good hippie kids sex book cause this ones gonna be a little harder to explain when she asks again.



Last month sometime she asked me

"what happens when you die?"
Seeing the look in her face. the fear of the unknown. I was tempted to revert to my childhood beliefs and tell her about catholicism...
..to soothe this uncertainty of 'life after death' I saw in her eyes. My first instinct was to protect her from fear. Protect her from the unknown.

But, I gave her a tiny version of what I believe...

"i dont know honey. but i think you can be whatever you want when you die.I want to be a bird and fly in the clouds all day"
She looks at me
"can i be a unicorn? with wings? and fly in the clouds with you"
"yes" i say.
and that was that.

The fear was gone.

i will never forget the day i woke up and thought "I think you just go into the earth and decompose" (being the nature obsessed kid that i was).
but Im not ready to take hope away from her yet.
Hey!...maybe you can be a rainbow unicorn pegasus in the afterlife! who knows!
ahhh the soothing effects thoughts of heaven has on the soul.



Sometimes its scary..the weight of a childs whole being in your hands...

snow video

Sunday, January 13, 2008

storm chasin

last week we took off spurr of the moment, ditching several responsibilities in our way, disregarding our car on the verg of breaking down, and chased the storm up the mountain...





we had no power or heat or water in the cabin for the first 24 hours! it was coooold~ so we spent a lot of time above the garage by the gas heater. it was awesome. we played board games and drank champagne while the kids took a nap in the tent.





















avery trying to look at the tounge on his frog hat.