A Paone Thing

All those disney cartoons about prince charming, marriage, etc. put thoughts in my little girls head that should not be there yet. Violet told me today who she plans to marry. Nic and Sherry’s little guy, Daren, apparently “looks very nice and is a very good friend.” She went on to say she wants to marry him when she’s older.” I told her she’s too young to even think about such things, but she told me “Don’t worry, mommy. I won’t get married now. I want to marry him when I get older.” Heh.  They sure laugh and giggle a lot. Ah, well…

Justin and I just got back from enjoying Avatar for a second time. It really is an awesome movie in 3 D and, if you watch it in Mexico, it’s half price. Heh. I just wanted to see it again in a theatre as the 3D feature is 90% of the experience, well, that and the amazing scenery and concepts for Pandora. Anyways, if you haven’t seen it in 3D, you really should check it out.  Of course, now that it’s apparently the highest grossing movie of all time (thanks to ticket prices being doubled for 3D) I’m pretty sure it’s the wave of the future and there will be plenty more such experiences for me to feast my movie junkie eyes on.

Ah, someone commented about my blog and how they used to read it. I am sure I’ve lost most of my readership with how unfaithful I’ve been. The thing is…. okay, to be honest, what took over is Shutterfly photo books. They started sending me these deals I couldn’t resist over Christmas. (Justin’s not allowed to comment). I ended up making photo books for Christmas gifts for some folks, which is fun, but slightly time consuming. Pretty much any free moment I would get was spent building, tweaking, editing, checking, changing - arg! And just when I thought I had enough, I had to go make a few for myself and catch their new years sale. I am a total sucker for deals, I’ll admit. So… that’s my real excuse for being absolutely absent from BOTH Face book and blogging. Well, that and helping to plan Christmas events. That always swallows up any available time at this time of year. Anyways… I plan to get back to blogging soon.

In other news, my good friends Nic and Sherry arrived last night. I still can’t believe they came back to San Diego. I thought they were gone forever, but here they are with 3 beautiful children to show for their time away. Violet spent a good part of the day being insecure, overwhelmed and shy, but she had a blast tonight, pulling out every toy she had to impress Riana and Jude enjoyed having Daren around, a little boy to be rowdy with. He gave him the “i’ll see if you still like me after I beat you over the head with a tinker toy stick.” and Daren, after a few tears, did pass the test and was rewarded with a sweet, I’m sorry hug afterwards. Let’s hope Daren survives.

We had vacation and got to spend time with friends — Steve and Linda, Feli, Michael and Amy, Phil and Paula. Phil and Paula have a cute little apartment. I didn’t get to see the college crew’s pad, but I hear it’s equally cute. Oh, one major highlight had to be the Munchkin game Justin and I played with Kenji and Jer. It’s a very silly take off on games like Dungeons and Dragons. Anyways, the big news is I actually won. I’m feeling very proud of myself considering Jer and Kenji (and Justin) are all very intimidating to play with. I’ll probably never repeat that, but the feeling was… priceless.  We spent quality time at the San Diego Wild Animal Park on a number of days. I’m going to have that place memorized, but the kids love it.  Going through their pine tree botanical gardens made me miss Yosemite though.

The kids are doing well. Jude is understanding a lot these days. He does very well at shaking his head for “no.” He has a whole sentence that means “yes” though. Like “voovooovooo dadadad dididibabia” or something like that. He shakes his little finger at you if you tell him “no”. I haven’t figured out if that means “I get you. I heard you say ‘no’. Now excuse me while I do it anyway.” or if he really is just sassy and saying, “don’t tell me no.” It feels more like the former, but hey, I’m the mom. Don’t we all give our kids the benefit of the doubt on everything?

Violet got a few more cavities filled and did just great. She’s now the proud owner of a few “Aurora” teeth and a Cinderella tooth, I think. She looked a little like she had a lipo job on her lips for a few days though. She’s still growing like a little weed, or beanstalk? I think she may be growing out of the princess dress phase. She doesn’t seem to care about them all that much anymore. Ah, well. I think the tom boy phase may follow. She’s started wanting to take pictures. I’ll have to post a few when I get a chance.

Have you seen the new books Activated Ministries just got in? I bought a set for Violet and Jude last week and they’re Violet’s favorite books for now. They’re created by Daniel Miller and his company, Golden Quill in England. I was very impressed. You should check them out if you get a minute. Jude loves their Baby Bible and Violet’s favorite has to be “the Camel’s Nose.” We’ve had a little war going on when we have to choose a book to read. My favorite is the “Rock in the Road.” They are well done, good art, funny, simple text, are stories I’ve loved growing up, and they keep my kids’ interest.Very nice

We made it to Houston. We’re here at my parents’ for the next week, chilling and catching up. The trip went much better than I expected. We’ll see how the trip back goes, however, now that Jude knows the drill.  The kids are enjoying meeting the Grandparents. Next stop… thanksgiving day.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you and pray and wish for the best for you this year. I’m a zombie tonight. I’ve been up way too late making those “bedroom slippers” for you and dad for your birthday and christmas gifts. Heh. Okay, so don’t be disappointed when it not slippers– It’s a surprize, I have been burning the midnight oil on this, so am not altogether here right now. I love you a lot though and wouldn’t be here today (in more ways than one) without your love, faithfulness and dedication. I’m going to be a flat failure as a mom compared to you, so could you just raise my kids. Nyahaha. Just kidding. I really do admire you all the more now that I’m faced with juggling kids, work, marriage, friendships, family. How does anyone do it? Well, you did it very well, in my humble opinion and I’ll be picking your brain for tips when I see you in a few weeks.

Love you and hope you had a blast for your birthday!

Happy birthday, honey! Sorry you’re feeling sick. Hopefully that delicious hot chocolate and those pancakes Violet made you this morning have made you feel a little better.

We love you! Thanks for being a great dad and a wonderful, patient husband.

Jesse, Justin got your text message this morning. He was very touched. He wanted to call you yesterday for your birthday, but was pretty sick.

Justin and Jude are both October boys and we’ve been having fun celebrating in anticipation of each of their big days. We celebrated Jude’s birthday at Oma’s Pumpkin Patch with a bunch of his little friends. The kids loved the hay maze, the cotton seed slide. Jude was in Heaven getting to ride on all the big farm equipment. He was a little horror on the hayride, but that was my fault for not following my instincts that he was still a little too young for that. Violet is a pro at milking cows and Jude’s good at terrorizing the baby cows in the petting zoo. For Justin’s birthday celebration, we teamed up birthdays with Maria of Sam (Doehler) and enjoyed beer and sausages (and real beer floats) at the Stone Ale Brewery Gardens and Bistro in Escondido. I fell in love with that place and can’t wait to go back. I haven’t seen anything quite like it, the mix of modern architecture, beer and gardens. If you’re ever in Escondido, ask me to take you there. I’d be happy to oblige.

Tomorrow is Justin’s big day. He’s been a little sick with sinus problems, but hopefully he’ll be up and around tomorrow enough to party just a little.  Jude, meanwhile, yep… he’s still teething. Another molar just broke through, poor baby. Violet is a happy little clam…. er, mermaid these days. She’s just being her princessy little self. I scored a few princess dresses and a some cute outfits for her at the annual Parent Connection swap meet. So, be on the lookout for Belle or Snow White (with a real red bow) walking around our home next time you’re over.  You’ll score extra brownie points if you can name the princess right and comment on her dress when she looks down and pats it timidly.  Jude, meanwhile, is busy practicing with his dragon gear. Apparently he’s got a knight or two to take out with some firey breathing in a couple weeks at the kids dress up party.

Here are a few pictures at the Pumpkin Patch

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To keep this from being my absolute worst posting month, I’m sneaking in one last September post. — just a small update. I can’t give any major excuses for my absence from the blog, except maybe really bad internet.  The two constants in my life these days — bad internet and Jude teething. Heh. He just got his first molar this past week. He walks, talks, reads… okay, fine — he just walks and shrieks all throughout the house all day. Other than that, he’s about the naughtiest kid on the block at the moment. We were joking about needing to make him a special play box with plugs, a fan, some extra electric sockets, sprinkler heads, small rocks, a spoon to bang on things, a cell phone and IPOD to throw in the garbage or flush down the toilet the second you’re not looking. He rushes out the door every time it opens and God forbid you try to sneak out of the room without him. He will walk up and bite you on your toes and feet if you’re not paying attention — or give you a nice bear hug followed by a little bite on the shoulder. Ahem. He turns one on October 24th and will celebrate his first birthday (weather permitting) at Oma’s Pumpkin Patch with a few friends. So… that’s the 411 on Jude the Terrible.

Violet is my fairy princess. She’s going to her first official fairy party this coming weekend. Her friend, Carly, is turning 4, so that’s the occasion. She’s decided to be the Christmas Tree fairy. She has also decided that I can be no other than Poppy and Jude must be “little white clover.” Hmmm… We should have a few pictures to post in  a few short days. Violet is still learning to speak clearly, but her vocabulary is quite extensive. -She made her first real trip to the dentist last week and I was so proud of her.  I was nervous of having her sedated unless it was absolutely necessary and she ended up doing fine with the laughing gas. She was so brave and didn’t make a peep. She goes back in in few weeks to get her other two cavities filled — yep, she had 4. The dentist said it was from not flossing.

Justin and I celebrated our 5th anniversary by getting to go have a nice dinner sans two little ruffians. We enjoyed a few hours to dress up and go out to a fancy restaurant for some grown up time. That was fun! It’s been an exciting 5 years. I feel bad I didn’t do a anniversary post this year, but the good news is we BOTH remembered our anniversary in plenty of time to plan something nice together. Progress!

Well, that’s the midnight report. I’m tired and off to bed to wake up tomorrow morning in October, the month of birthday boys, time changes  and holloween parties. :)  Good night!

I posted on Facebook on time.

I love you though, Tim, and wish you a wonderful new year ahead. Come out and see us? You have a niece and nephew to get to know.

Happy birthday from all of us.

The Parent Swap Meet is on October 11 this year and is again in the parking lot of the Canyon Crest High school.