The "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" Continued...

I must start out by apologizing to Chipotle and Big Spoon Yogurt for any negative press they may have received due to Grant's food poison scare. Turns out, he had the flu! How do you know, you might ask? Well, Eli and I got it too! After rushing back home to take care of Grant on Tuesday, he began to recover and was on the mend by Wednesday, just in time for him to take care of us on Thursday! Eli was with Nana and Papa and I was helping a friend sew when it hit. Eli held out until after dinner but it got him too. With a team effort by Grant, Nana, Papa and their house guest Heidi, they managed to get us both home and in bed. Grant was Superdaddy all night long taking care of Eli when he got sick, cleaning him up and comforting him until he was back asleep. What a sad, sad sight to see him so sick and tired and not having a clue what was going on! Thanks to our wonderful "team" we are all getting healthy and happy again! Couldn't have done it with out you! Don't worry, we'll lay low until we are sure its completely gone...wouldn't wish it on anyone!

Grant's "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"

Yesterday I made a last minute decision to drive down to my home turf (3 hour drive) to visit some friends (and stock up on fruit!). Eli and I had a great drive down (I kidnapped my mom for the journey) and I stayed up too late chatting and catching up with my friend while our kiddos slept. This morning I called Grant to say "good morning" and was greeted with a less than enthusiastic "hi". Turns out he had gone to dinner with my dad and then out for ice cream and somewhere along the way gotten food poisoning! Poor guy, he was up all night being sick with no one home to take care of him. He even drove himself to the gas station to buy Gatorade at 4am!

After speaking with him and feeling helpless being so far away, our friend picked him up to take him to the doctor and I packed up, picked up my mom and headed back home. While we were on our way he called to say they were keeping him to give him fluids since he was soooooooo dehydrated! What a mess! We got home just in time to pick him up and he slept the rest of today away. Thank goodness he is getting rest and will hopefully start feeling better soon! I doubt we'll be frequenting either of those two establishments any time soon!

Boys Day Out!

As it always seems to go, Eli got over his "horrible ickies" right as I got mine! I struggled through on Tuesday and Wednesday (thanks for the nap, Nana & Papa) but by Wednesday evening I felt miserable so Grant offered to take a sick day so I could have a sick day! I got some much needed R&R and Daddy and Eli got to spend the whole day doing boy things! This included going to the gym, making a "Caw-Co" (Costco) run, stopping by Walmart, having some lunch and a much needed nap, visiting Fleet Feet to check on sales and trying on some shirts at Off-Side Soccer; where Eli was presented with a mini soccer ball by the owner. He came into the house proudly holding his new ball with a huge grin on his face! And what "boy day" wouldn't be complete without some playtime? Eli found all his balls, one by one, and lined them up on Daddy. What a fun filled day for my crazy Lads and a restful one for me! Thanks babe!

Valley Girl


"Like OMG, this fruit is totally awesome!"

Sorry, I couldn't help myself! :) I am a valley girl at heart, but not the kind who uses "like" before the start of every sentence; the kind that grew up in California's Central Valley. The kind who packed fruit for a summer job (yes this does actually exist). The kind who grew up loving the smell of rotting peaches on the ground and who drove down the street to buy fresh, super ripe peaches for only 99cents/lb. from the local packing sheds!

My parents made a trip back "home" last week and brought us a bunch of peaches, nectarines and plums! My mouth waters just typing the words. They are so ripe and sweet; unlike anything you'll ever get in the stores, no matter where you shop! I wouldn't call myself a food snob, but I definitely fall into the category of fruit snob. The problem is, once you've had it, you just can't go back. I'll admit, I get suckered into buying peaches at the grocery store every now and again, after all they look good, but I am always sadly disappointed. I bite into one, expecting the aroma, sweet taste and juices of "home", and instead I discover, yet again, fruit that was picked too early, has little to no flavor and is anything but tasty! I guess that just makes my summer trips to the valley more special. I can truly appreciate a good peach and I never miss an opportunity for a fruit stand visit at "home"!

Real Simple

For those Real Simple readers this will make perfect sense. For the rest...I'm sure you'll catch on:



Old Navy Flip Flops

Original Purpose: extremely cheap way to brighten up your summer wardrobe and gets you from point A to B.

Aha! Use: Learning tool for toddlers. Use your plethora of flip flops (cause we all know you have them in every color) for a matching game and endless fun with your little ones while you get dressed/ready for the day.

Eli: "Nah?" while handing me a green flip flop
Me: "Thank you!...can you get me the other green one?"
Eli: "Nah? Nah?" while handing me another flip flop (he doesn't always match the colors right)

Reward: By the time I've gotten ready, Eli has had lessons in colors and matching, kept himself entertained and I've had on 10 different shoes in about 20 minutes!

15 Months!!!!


Eli is growing so fast and seems to be getting smarter, more curious and more silly by the day!
His list of words include: Hi, Mama (still no indication he actually knows who I am), ball, goal, Costco (yes, that's right, a kid with priorities), uh-oh, no, and peas (please)
Latest Accomplishments: Can climb up the ladder and slide down all by himself, let's himself in and out of the screen door to play outside, mastered the stairs (up and down) and is getting very good at opening our pantry door and rearranging everything!

Biggest Milestone: No More Wrapping! I must explain. Ever since Eli was a baby, he had so much energy, literally, the only way to get his body to calm down to sleep was to wrap him tightly in a blanket (arms out; must get his claustrophobia from me). We did this for naps and night time. As he grew out of the receiving blankets his Nana kindly made him larger blankets to fit and as the weather grew warmer this spring we started dressing him in less and less so we'd still be able to wrap him without him roasting. Friends thought we were crazy but we were willing to do what it took for him to sleep well! :) I had visions of Eli in summer camp asking the counselor to wrap him up "like a burrito" when he was 10! A few days ago, during Eli's cranky, sick week, he would kick his legs and fuss every time I tried to wrap him so I gave up and put him in his crib unwrapped! And guess what? He managed to sleep just fine and we haven't had to wrap him since!

I asked my friend Sandy (an up and coming photographer) to take a few pictures of Eli. She did a fantastic job even with a not so happy, moving, 15 month old subject!


"Rain" Delay

The fog has lifted and life is looking a bit more sunny today. It is the first, in six, that Eli has felt his crazy little self and not been a complete mess. It started last week with 2 1/2 days of fever, one good day, and then three days of cough, runny nose, temper tantrums, melt downs, not sleeping well...and two tired parents! Needless to say, I have been a little delayed on posting, so here are a few belated pics.



We escaped the heat, 4th of July weekend, and hung out with our good friends the Runner's and family at their cabin. We found a great shady beach spot to play in and even had Tri Tip cooked over an open flame (a.k.a. the indoor fireplace due to an unsuccessful attempt to BBQ in the windy weather) for dinner. It was so nice to relax and get away.


Silly Monkey


Snack time

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Imagine that sound in a high pitched 15 month old voice and that, my friend, is Eli's version of a Fire Engine. Our dogs howl whenever a fire truck goes by (which is quite often since there's a station up the street) and Eli has decided he wants in on the fun as well, so he does his best impersonation right along with them. I am not actually sure if he is mimicking the sirens or the dogs!

Last Tuesday we had the opportunity to tour a fire station with my Mom's group which was quite fun. Eli got to see the fire trucks up close and personal, we met fire men and even got to see two moms go up in a ladder truck. I did not volunteer for this but the little boy of one of the moms who did, cried the whole time his mom was up "so high"! Poor little guy, he probably thought she was never coming back!


The fireman showing us his gear so we wouldn't think he was so scary!


Eli decided that this was the day to start brushing his teeth...the whole tour!


Self portrait by all the gadgets and gizmos


Couldn't get Eli to smile, if only they'd turned on the siren!


Fireman Eli and his buddies


Our friends Sandy and Haylie


The brave moms in the ladder truck...up, up and away!

My Favorite Time of Day

The absolute best part of each day, hands down, is the five seconds it takes to stand up from the rocking chair, cross the bedroom floor, kiss Eli's cheek good night and lay him in his crib! And not for the reasons you might think...end of day, tired, kid in bed, time to relax, etc.

It is the pure pleasure of having an otherwise active, talkative, "move outta my way" little monkey turn into a sleepy, sweet/clean smelling, milk drunk little boy nuzzled into my neck and heavy against my body.

Turkey & Peppers

No, this is not a new recipe, but random things I wanted to share! :)

The other day I got home from the gym with Eli, and Grant tells me to look at our neighbor's yard. There was a wild Mama turkey and her baby just wandering around in the front. I quickly grabbed Eli and the camera and went to take some pictures. While we were watching, the Mama flew up to the roof and I was feeling sorry for the baby when all of a sudden it flew to the fence and then to the roof! What a strange sight!



This spring, I decided to plant a red and yellow bell pepper plant because we were eating so many and they were getting expensive at the store. The tag said it would take 70 days till harvest. I thought that was probably on over estimation...what do they know anyways?! Well, days, weeks, months passed and I was thinking I would never see any peppers and then the other day I noticed I had four! I guess the horticulture specialist know what he's doing after all. :)