Gotta Have It

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If you have kids (and an iPhone) you need this app:
"Talking Carl" repeats anything you say in a funny, squeaky voice and yells at you if you poke him in the eye. (thanks Christian)

and speaking of iPhones... Maisie cracked my screen last night- dropped it on concrete and shattered the glass. I went to the Genius Bar at the Apple store this morning:

They replaced it on the spot- and the very nice "genius" didn't charge me the $199 replacement fee in the end, he didn't want me taking it out of Maisie's savings account. I was so thankful! It made my day- and Maisie's. She says "No, THANK YOU! Apple."

and very unrelated but... if you have hair- you need this Shampoo.
It was invented by MIT scientists and it REALLY works. I'm only slightly obsessed with it. (thanks ABA)

Lunch with Uncle Bob and Aunt Francy

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Friday we got a visit from Opa Bob and Aunt Francy who were flying into San Jose and heading into the city. They took the train into Menlo Park and we all went out to lunch at Crepe's Cafe right by the station. Jannie met us there too. Of course I forgot to take a "real" picture of Opa Bob and LaLa with the girls though! Next time. We had a great time catching up- they are so much fun.

walking down to the MP train station

Something tells me this could end badly.

waiting for the train

here it is!

"Mom do you SEE what is over there? Stop taking my picture and look at the train!!"

Opa Bob is so funny

"and so are you little Maisie Moo"


Crepe's Cafe has great toys and books to keep the monsters entertained

Chatting over wine, beer and a long lunch- my favorite kind of day :)

Movie Night

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Friday night our fun neighbors hosted a movie night in the backyard for all the kids- it was such a great idea! They hooked up a giant screen on the side of the house and had Nemo projected with speakers and everything. We walked down with our blankets and jackets loaded up in the stroller and snacked on hot dogs, nachos, beers and popcorn.

I was all flustered since Heff had walked the girls to the park in their stroller and sun-dresses and he just wanted to throw jackets and layers for them in the stroller and "roll." This is not how I roll :) I need to dress them from the ground up for a night outside but I tried to get over it. The girls kinda looked like raggamuffins but I had to admit when we walked home he was RIGHT (always hurts :) and they were just fine with their sweats-under-dresses-with-uggs-and-warm-jackets wardrobe for the evening.

The Dads in the Dad corner :)

Francie's first Finding Nemo experience- she liked it until the scary shark came but helped herself feel better by hiding next to Maisie "Look Sharkie, there is a big shark just like you"

Moms gabbing behind Baby Bella- the sky looked so cool, it was the warm/calm before this huge storm that is blowing in today

Maisie crawling up to touch the huge fishys

Francie asked this big kid if she could sit next to him for a wittle bit. He obliged.

Thanks Tate... Talan & Tristan too!

Wedding Madness

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If you read this blog you know my brother AND my sister are both engaged right now! Ann & Pat will be married in October 2010 and James & Emily will be married June 2011. I feel pretty lucky to be getting a BIL and SIL soon- both of whom I really like! I've known Em for longer than my brother has :) and Pat is a really great guy who makes my sister really happy. It's fun to be talking wedding plans and looking forward to the festivities!!

They both have wedding websites up...

(and James & Em's... to be launched soon!)

and I am excited to be the Matron of Honor in my baby sister's wedding and a Bridesmaid in Emily's wedding! This is what Ann wrote on her website :)
"Mary is my older sister by eight years. She was an easy pick for my matron of honor because she is my only sister (haha) and she has been my best friend since I stopped stealing her clothes and she started borrowing mine."

I was soooo excited to have a baby in the house when I was 8 years old- and even more excited to be getting a SISTER

I carried her around everywhere with me, woke up early before school to feed her a bottle (which is REALLY big for me considering I used to sleep in my uniform so I could sleep-in for 5 extra minutes) and loved Baby Ann - just like "Edebody" else did!

well... ok, maybe not ALL the time

She was a sassy little kid with a big personality

I came home from college and realized she was a real person now- not a little kid anymore :) I loved being around for her high school years and helping her go off to college. It hasn't felt like she's been 3,000 miles away for the better part of the last 6 years either. No matter where you live Baby Ann I know we'll always be close!

I love you Baby Ann and I am soooo excited for you- thanks for sharing this fun time in your life, even if it's over IM/chat/text/phone/skype/WordsWFriends! and some visits thrown in along the way :) SIX months to go!!

Disobedience Tax

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Last night at dinner Francie was trying to leave the table before we were all finished eating. We told her if she got out of her chair she'd get the dreaded "Disobedience Tax"- a quarter/penny/dime taken out of her jar. She paused- scooted her chair back and said... "Wellllll. I'll just earn it back!" and off she ran.
Looks like we need a new mega-threat!!! Stinker...

and just because I can't post without a picture of Maisie- here she is on her changing table in a cute little pink smocked dress our friend Lacey from Texas sent to Francie when she was born. Good thing she is still too sweet to talk back!

Easter at The Beach

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The culmination of easter events was our family get-together Sunday afternoon at the beach. My Uncle John and Aunt Kim rent a beach house in Rio Del Mar every year and they invited us all there to celebrate easter this year. We just didn't plan on the stormy monsoon! It's a great beach house right on the sand- but it was a tight fit to keep all 25 of us inside! Somehow it worked out just fine and was a loud, boisterous, delicious, typical family event :)

The big contest this year was the "easter bonnet" competition. James, Joe, Marla and Emily always take it up a notch!

My mom made felt bonnets for the girls- and a matching one for Jannie!

Aunt Kim and Uncle John in their "bonnets"

Luke and his LaffyTaffy sombrero

Entertaining

UJ and MM

Big-man-to-be-on-campus Connor sporting Baby Jackson's eggo-head

Spoiled with treats and candy from Allison and her mom (thanks!) and in Sunday easter best (or best for the cold beach weather- thanks again Kerri!)

Allison raided the Fresno Target when she was there for work for some Liberty of London duds for the girls- everywhere around here sold out of the cute stuff! (we saw one lady with a shopping cart FULL of it on the first day- going to sell it on on eBay. Target is genius)

How many family members can you fit in one beach house?

Playing in the loft with Luke and Ella

Andy and John manning the BBQ and trying to stay dry (nice work pawning it off UJ!)

Big Jerry and Little Maisie!

We sure missed Emmy this year- It's not a family function without her :) But she is off having the time of her life with friends in Australia! So Johnners, Connor and I tried to channel our inner-Emmy and made this just for her.

and then my brother joined us and the boys found another purpose for hard boiled eggs


Connor, Heff, John and Jerry

Torturing my 11 month old- trying to make her make her "wind in the face" pucker up outside! And yes this counted as my hat submission. It says "happy easter" in ghetto fabulous.

James and Em staying dry

Ella taking good care of Francie on the bunk beds

Story telling

Funny Baby

my first attempt at embedding picasa video. did it work? I( think you have to click on the image if you actually want to watch it.

Mimi and Claire

sooo cute

Drew and James taking a break

"Why is it raining?!"

Aw is that a pout Maisie Moo?

some of us venturing out to watch the birds that came in

We thought they were after our eggs but they just flew in to give us a show!

and then awarding prizes for the bonnet winner

Ella and Kim made me a cute bunny cake for my birthday!

Thanks Ella :)

"Lemme tell you somethin..."

HAPPY EASTER from the whole bunch at the beach.

*side note. I left my computer open on a bench while I was getting the girls bathed/dressed this morning and the subjetct line of this post magically turned to this: >[.\M P|er at The Beach'\' : :3eZQS. I'm pretty sure it was Maisie since Francie's typing looks more like this "FFFFFFFFFFFF." Maybe Maisie's friend B has been trying to teach her to write code or something?! ;)

More Easter-ing

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Still catching up on easter posts- Sunday morning we found the baskets the Easter Bunny had left out (chocolate bunny included!) and then went over to our neighbors' for a kids hunt and Mimosas. It was a good morning :)

Easter morning following the trail of plastic eggs to find their baskets

Someone is still waking up

Bed-head girls ready to dig into those Peeps

"Oh I LOVE you Mickey" (The Easter Bunny had to have the guy at Walgreens climb in the front window display for this one she'd been eyeing for weeks) Maisie is wondering why she got jipped with such a little Mickey.

Then after 8am mass (yup- Heff talked me into leaving the house in the SEVENS) we went over to the neighbors for another hunt. Thanks Ben and Sandra!

On the move.

Emma helping Francie find all the good ones

Maisie happy to sit and play with the one she found

The kids were thrilled to pose for a photo op

THRILLED

They all went over to say hi to our nice older lady neighbors Florence and Alice

Are we done yet?

Great Birthday :)

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I had a great day celebrating my 32nd birthday today! I took zero pictures so here is my day through my iPhone. I woke up to "OOOOh MOM!! We got you a sprinkle doooonut and some caaaards and a pink and a white and a puuuuuurple ballooooon!" :)

We went to Stacks for breakfast with my mom, Aunt Mimi and the girls and Heff met us too- my favorite breakfast stop. Then lunch with Christian and friends at Marche, a restaurant on The Cruz that just started serving lunch today so we figured we had to go! Naps at home then Heff kept the girls entertained with a "recycled egg hunt" so I could have some uninterrupted computer time. We were going to go out to dinner but watched the game over at Jannie and Grampa's instead! Jannie gave me this pretty vase with tulips and Grampa came through just like every year with a battery of funny cards.

My sister sent me a cute package too and the funniest card of the bunch (actually an Easter card for Francie) ~

HAHA! Thanks for all the emails, notes and Facebook messages! I am lucky to have friends and family who are so nice to me on my birthday! :)

 

Eggs

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I love dyeing eggs every Easter and I take it very seriously. My mom and I usually get the real-deal egg dye packets in almost every color and lay out our spread. My dad went to Costco Saturday to get flats of eggs- white and brown- for dyeing. We set up at my parents house Saturday night and only made a little mess, but ended up with a fridge full of colorful eggs!

From this.

To this.

Luckily, Francie took this job just as seriously as I do and was "allowed" to help

excuse the jaundice look, she liked the yellow dye best ;)

Even the clean up is pretty. I couldn't just throw away all the dye so we tie-dyed a target t-shirt and tank top- I hope them don't make it to our wash but they look neat!

Finn's Egg Hunt

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Our friend Finn sure knows how to throw a party! We went over to his house on Saturday afternoon for an egg hunt and Francie got redemption after her 1-egg-experience at the Burgess Hunt! The REAL easter bunny was there and there were enough eggs and treats hidden to keep the kids hunting the whole time. Mom and Dad enjoyed the good food, full bar and cupcakes :)

Francie made a bee-line for the bunny. Aunt Mimi told her a story about cousin Connor and the Easter Bunny when he was little- not wanting to sit on the bunny's lap and then yelling as they left "I want a chocolate egg!" so Francie had something to prove. SHE wasn't scared! She sat right on the bunny's lap and said "I want a chocolate bunny please."

I mean who wouldn't want to hang out with this bunny handing out all these goodies?!

Maisie was SKEPTICAL and only okay as long as the bunny didn't touch her

Coloring bags for hunting time

"You missed one over there sis."

Baby Jack was there too with his Mom and Dad

Thanks Finn!

"Bye Easter Bunny. Remember I want a chocolate easter bunny ok?"

Easter Eve

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We had a full day of fun Saturday on the day before Easter. Heff was busy with a Rebuilding Together project in the morning so I braved the Menlo Park Egg Hunt with both girls by myself- luckily we talked my Dad into meeting us over there but it was INSANE. Too many people and too little eggs! Francie was all excited to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap...

(not like LAST YEAR!)

but the line was about 200 people long so we bounced a little with our neighbors and made a run for it. Lunch at Jannie and Grampa's after some easter-egg-omlettes, then long naps, then our friend Finn's big easter egg hunt, then back to Jannie and Grampa's for dinner and egg dying! Heff and I planned to go out for a pre-birthday bash but fell asleep with the girls at 9pm. Whew. I am worn out.

Grampa and Maisie at the MP Egg Hunt

Because some days you just want to wear your rain boots with your dress

Alexa and Francie

Maisie and Grampa watching the big kids in the bouncy

Wear-her-out-part-1

Parts 2, 3 and 4 coming next!

(but speaking of last year- it's crazy to think we didn't even have our little Maisie and Francie was such a baby still! I was 2 days past due last easter and hoping Maisie would make her debut any minute- little did I know I still had a week to wait!)

Holy Thursday Tea

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We went up to the City last Thursday (April 1) for tea at Lovejoy's with the Coogan girls. The emails scheduling lunch wondered if it was sacrilegious to meet for lunch and some girls gossip on Holy Thursday- but we decided since Lovejoy's is on "Church" Street it would be just fine.

Jannie and the girls walking to Lovejoy's

always a treat

Our favorite round table in the front window



Always looking up to the big girls - Francie was SO excited to see her friend Hannah

Time for tea sandwiches, scones and sweets!

Happy Little Ladies

Sarah (in town from NYC!) Mary and Maisie

Anne keeping Maisie happy until she see's Jannie's lap is free and she makes her move

Big girls with their Birkins (or at least one Birkin- there is a GREAT story behind this bag!!)

The girls after lunch

Hannah offered to take a picture so I could be in the shot. Thanks Hannah- so thoughtful!

and after Tea we went over to Hannah's house to meet their new PUPPY! A yellow lab named Gertrude - Heff would DIE if he saw this dog :) just like his old dog Sage. not a chance in hell we are getting a puppy anytime soon either! (and yes I said hell on Holy Thursday- I'm that serious!)

Maisie loves dogs but wasn't so sure about Gertie's sharp little puppy teeth

sooo cute.

Thanks for such a fun afternoon Hannah

Mickey & Minnie

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Who loves Mickey?! FRANCIE sure does. It's pretty much all she talks about. She told me she has a baby boy in her belly and she is going to name him Mickey. (Which is kind of ironic since my cousin Jimmy and his adorable wife Erin just had a baby boy last week and named him MICK Mullany Simonson! Congrats you guys!!) Then she is going to have a girl and name her Minnie. And still wants to go to Disneyland desperately with cousin Isabel but parents are NOT allowed- she told me again it would be better if I stayed home with my husband. Subliminal 1950's housewife/shop disney messages in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse?!?! Maisie knows her sister is crazy :)

Happy April 1st!

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I was trying to think of a good April Fool's joke but came up short. April looks like it will bring lots of exciting things for our little family- Easter weekend, Mom's birthday, Maisie's BIG 1st birthday and the sun coming back for playing outside. So in honor of April 1- here are all the pictures from March I forgot to blog/upload! I know... sooo exciting :)

Francie likes to play mom/teacher/student/restaurant and Maisie gets to be whatever her big sister tells her to be

But she sure has fun being the baby/student/food eater!

Not sure if she will survive the "ride" from point A to point B- a look of shock on her face when she did.

We took a trip up to Hidden Villa one Sunday when Dad had to work (he's been so busy this month- not complaining just saying!) so we met some friends up on the farm to check out the new baby animals

loving the am-i-nals

Did you know... "Cows have boobies called Udd-hers under their bottoms to feed their babies?" She was kinda grossed out by this.

"STOP! No photos Mom- the cow spelled it wrong!"

That's not a very good name for a COW.

Chickens (Red Neck and Queenie's "Uncles" she tells us) No offense James, Jerry, Mark, Craig, Donald, Doug and soon Pat. UNCLES play the role of anything in Francie's stories that fall a little lower on the totem pole of worry. Like the infamous story she re-tells: "One time Jannie's grandma and grandpa we're driving on Highway 17. Jannie was little and a deer ran out of the woods on the road and their car hit the deer and the deer died. It went to heaven and the tow truck had to come take the car away. It was an Uncle deer though- it wasn't a mommy or a daddy deer or a little sister deer." Just to be clear.

She's got opinions

Gardeners on our way home from Hidden Villa

Little artist - Francie begs to do art projects all the time. Most of them end up scarring the table/wall/outfit but the masterpieces go to Dad or Grandpa's office

like when this turns into THIS (don't look too closely at how I had to blur the edges so you couldn't see HOW dirty our floorboards/walls are!) Thank God for 409

and she is very proud of her 3D Mickey Puzzle both Jannie and Emmy gave her. Good thing- now we can't loose any pieces and will have to keep it forever. She's getting decent at putting the pieces together but gets frustrated enough it's not my favorite activity ever :)

Self portrait going out on a date!

Maisie still looks like a gummy-smile baby to me but if you tickle her upside down you see 8 going on 10 teeth

Still not walking at 11 months but sooo close (I thought she would beat Francie)

Moodle in the Middle

and Francie insists on brushing her teeth a few times, taking her vitamins and eating well- but ONLY when she is at her Jannie's house!!

"Here Soph, I'll brush your's too. You need it."

What a big girl

Frat boys have nothing on my lounging Tom-boy in her "Francie Hunts" t-shirt, camo pants and beer coozie on her milk

This game never gets old

and in our usual fashion of being such fantastic parents- more evidence of our late night walks to Willow Market for dinner provisions- after dark (may or may not have even been AFTER daylight savings in this picture) to get home, make dinner and feed our children at 9pm.

Can't wait to see what April has in store for us!