Saturday Morning Gifts

Our first morning with the Mazzer, we had Kaytie and Cousin Jen over for coffee.

Cousin Jen busted out her long dormant latte art skills, which seemed quite superb to me, but then, you know the latte art I have had in my life recently.

AND Kaytie brought us a gift!  She noticed we were missing an album from our collection.  So sweet!

I snuck a few shots of Dr T, shh, don't tell.  He's quite camera shy lately. Luckily, his defenses were down, not having had his morning cup of jo yet.  Heehee.

Great sounding album and eye catching cover art too! *swoon*

February 16, 2013

Birthday Brunch

 

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"Went to Nick's on 2nd in Long Beach for a yummy breakfast. #thisiswhat40lookslike"

We made last minute plans, late Saturday night, to meet up for brunch on Sunday.  Long Beach is the half way point for all of us.  This was our first time to Nick's on 2nd.  Grandmere and I shared the fried chicken with waffles, yum!  There coffee is good  too.  We'll definitely go back.

Took pictures all around the table.  Beginning with the pint-sized people, who are all sitting together. They huddle as close together as possible, even though there was plenty of room on that side of the booth.  They like to be close, the closer the better.  Connor and Rett shared the ipad, while Delaney told me about her Irish step dancing.  Too cute!

A few more shots.  All good, except the one of Mere and Pere with the server prepping something in the kitchen, nuts!  Also, I've just realized, Uncle John didn't make it in.  He is in the boy-girl pictures below though.

All the girls in the family together.  I can't believe how tall my niece is getting!

Getting a shot of all the guys in the family wasn't as easy *snicker*.  Check out these faces.  Oh the torture of having to be photographed....you'd think we'd asked them to eat dirt or something.

I also got a special birthday shout out from Cousin Jen.  Don't miss it.  She even talks about my birthday back in 2010.

January 27, 2013

Video Log Debut

My very first video log entry.

(Cousin Jen is definitely to blame for inspiring this idea.  Check out her fabulous video here.)

I'm happy to report, execution of this project was much easier than I anticipated.  Little to no editing was done.  Personally, I couldn't bear to watch it more than necessary.  But I decided to do it because I like the idea that years from now, we (me, my family, my grandkids?) can have more than just pictures.  Especially since I tend to delete the less than flattering photos.  As a kid my parents took a lot of home movies and watching them later always gave us a laugh. My dad even had some from when he was little, the whole reel-to-reel.  When my boys were little we didn't have a video camera, well until cell phones came out with them.  So I have lost time to make up for and seeings how I'm never without something to say, this seemed to be a good fit.   

Today's Instagram

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"Standing in the kitchen, looking toward the front window, I see a little dog using the very expensive amplifier as a step stool. #tankthechihuahuastrikesagain "

January 8, 2013

What do you wear when you shop?

South Coast Plaza;  One of the finest, most high-end "malls" in the world. 

 

My child insists on wearing a fireman's outfit throughout the entire evening. 

 

We dined at Boudin's, he and Cousin Jen took a twirl around the carousel and we did a teensy bit of shopping.

 

March 23, 2010

A Divine Evening

Cousin Jen and her Divine friend Laura came over for dinner. 

We had the South of the Board Tri Tip salad from Stonefire, my favorite. 

When Tim got home we had him set up some tunes on the turntable for us.  Lots of fun singing along, especially with these two songbirds! 

Oh and Rett did some magical dancing...I really need a video camera for moments like those.

March 20, 2010

St. Patrick's Day

What a tasty St. Patty's day!  We started out by putting our corned beef and cabbage in the slow cooker.  We munched on green bagels for breakfast.  Then, when it was time for dinner we had Cousin Jen over and she made the us these tasty chocolate lava cakes, ugh, to die for, especially with the raspberries on top.

 

March 17, 2010

Dance Lessons

Dance Lessons
No pictures today.  Instead a sweet little video of Cousin Jen teaching Rett the WCS steps.
(fingers crossed I hope this works)

March 11, 2010

House Measurements

Went to see Kiki and John's new place.  They are planning on making lots of changes.  These will be refered to as the "before" pictures.

The midget tub/shower was my favorite.  Maybe the previous occupants bathed their dogs at home...or perhaps they were obsessive feet washers?

Say good bye to the kitchen.  It will never look the same again. This picture represents many decades.  See if you can spot them all.

Taking measurements in the bedroom.  This room has so much natural light.  It's really great in person.

Hardwood floor underneath.  One of the benefits of an older home. Yay!

March 6, 2010

Dance Lessons

Well, Cousin Jen convinced me to go to a WCS (West Coast Swing) dance lesson with her.  A local place in Irvine.  

I truly didn't know a thing about it.   Lots of fun learning the steps.  

After about an hour there was a mini break and then the open dance portion of the evening began.  

My favorite was watching the really good dancers spin around the floor.  The cast of characters was...entertaining. Think "Shall We Dance" the original film (Japanese with English sub-titles).   A mix of people.  

I did manage to step on a few toes, but overall no harm done.  It's going to take a lot of practice to make me a decent dance partner....we shall see.

March 4, 2010

Wood Art, Wahoo's & Street Fair

Chalk drawings and wood art by the pool today.

Chomping gum at Wahoo's with Cousin Jen.

Took two tries but we got it.

 

March 2, 2010

Zumba with the Postage Stamp Ballerina

My Facebook Post today
"Thanks to Cousin Jennifer I've already done the following today: Seen the Pacific Ocean, had a Hazelnut latte, chatted up a Rockette, stood in the pouring rain while holding MY umbrella over the dog to try to coax her to "go", sang the words "Apple bottom jeans...", met the ballerina who was on the 32 cent stamp, and Zumba-ed for the first time...not necessarily in that order."
I had to include the picture of the stamp even though I'm not the one who took the photo.

The rest of my day was spent stapling together my copies from yesterday. These are just revamps of Jog-A-Thon packets I designed years ago for the elementary school.  New name, new logo, a little bit of the information has changed, but the bones of it are the same.  The Tech-A-Thon packets are set to go home with students on Monday. 

 

My hand is going to hurt when these are done.

 

February 27, 2010

Cousin Jen's Garbage Cans

I did not take this picture personally.  Cousin Jen gets all the credit for that. 

It had to be included because from the second it was sent to my phone Rett wanted to look at it over and over and over again. 

He's fascinated with not just the cans themselves but the story that goes along with them...

February 13, 2010

Birthday

Dinner at PF Changs, Newport Beach

Rett asked where all my other gifts were.  

I told him when you're a grown up you only get one gift...but's usually pretty good.

January 27, 2010