Oh My! It's Catch Up Time Again, Halloween, Birthday's, Memphis

So sorry dear blog, life has been so busy. Lots of fun stuff including a trip to Memphis to visit my dear BFF, prepping for Aidan's school Halloween parade/party, and Miles and Liam's Birthday - Halloween party. I'll give you the quick cliff note version once again:




Starting with my trip to Memphis. My dear BFF, Karen, and I try to see each other at least once a year. So I made a trip to visit her, 4 days of girl time fun. We a great time catching up, mani/pedis, dinners out, and unfortunately with all the fun being had I kept forgetting to pull out the camera. Does that ever happen to you, so caught in the moment you forget about the camera? Ahh, next time.




Then it was Aidan's school party. I was amazed at the amount of parent involvement and all the really amazing costumes that you know parents knocked themselves out making for their kids. True Halloween spirit...but in the name of privacy I'll just share a photo of the treats I put together some Halloween worksheets, a pencil and a lollipop.



We had some pumpkin carving fun, up until the boys thought the pumpkins smelled icky and they ran off to let mom and dad finish the job.






We had Miles and Liam's Halloween themed birthday party which we celebrated indoors due to the wet weather. Despite the chaos of 18 kids and 15 adults in our small home we still had a great time. Games, chili & hot dogs and cake to be had by everyone. Aidan said "This was the best party ever!"







And of course, Halloween. We went with a group of friends, 6 boys total, to a nearby neighborhood that really does it up! Not only were there treats for the kids but adults too. One house was handing out Merlot to go, another had a projector with the world series game on for everyone to watch, and lots of fun and scary houses to enjoy. My astronauts and Sir Aidan Knight had a great time. Hope you all enjoyed your Halloween as well.

HK Reunion For Max

Goodness time has passed me as we've been recooping here from a cold. Can't seem to shake it and it's really hard to accept the fact that we're down and illin' in the middle of July?? Thankfully I'm at the tail end now and I managed to pull it together for a dinner party we hosted. Max's friend is visiting from Hong Kong with his family so we had them over for dinner with a couple of other old HK friends and their families. We sure had a nice time, lots of good food and good company. The true marker of a successful event is when the kids have a good time too with no major meltdowns, yay!

Did I mention we had good food!? We started with appetizers,

Tuna Tare Tare on Wonton Squares and Shrimp Cocktail then moved on to


Tandoori Style Shrimp with Mint Chutney,



Yummy Ribs and a Prime Rib Roast,



Summer Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese Dressing

and not photographed but still yummy was the Roasted Asparagus n' Peppers, and Wisconsin Mac and Cheese for the kids.....and as if that wasn't enough, for dessert Cheesecake and Strawberries in a Brandy Chocolate Sauce. It's true there's a few foodies in the friendship circle so of course there must be a feast.

All photos were courtesy of Oscar, thank you Oscar.

Banana Split Boys

The boys had a fun-filled day today visiting Uncle Jimmy and Auntie Conny. The amusement started with some poolside play, then a yummy Korean dinner, and ended with a banana split. Uncle Jimmy can really turn on the silly in them.


As for the banana split that sure was a super special treat. Boys are already asking when we're going to visit again. I just love that the boys have delightful adults (besides their mommy and daddy 'wink') in their lives that play such positive roles, couldn't ask for better friends.

Freedom To Have Fun

It was a nice long holiday weekend, with lots of fun to be had. We had a BBQ with good friends to celebrate 4th of July and a belated birthday celebration for myself.


Lots of yummy food and drinks, Max sure was the drink master that day, with fresh watermelon agua fresca, watermelon-cucumber-gin coolers and the yummiest margaritas of which I may have had one too many (smirk). Everyone seemed to have a good time even the 13 kids that were there. Yes, 13 kids ages 7 and under. They were great, running around playing together with only a few small mishaps and tears which is to be expected when you have that many kids in one place.

Max was very sweet to bring out the desserts with candles for me and everyone sang "happy birthday" And even though it was well passed my actual birthday, I hadn't had a chance to celebrate with friends so this truly was a sweet moment. Something I really did not expect but really enjoyed. I feel so fortunate to have such nice friends, family, and neighbors. It's moments like these that remind me how blessed we are to have the freedom we do. The freedom to consume what we want, wear what we want, have as many kids as we want, the freedom to have as much fun as we want!


I do hope you all enjoyed Independence Day as much as I did.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, Sweet Friends

I can't tell you how nice it is to know we have such caring and loving friends. After Daddy's (Max) abrupt departure to Spain to help grandma I had so many friends come to our support. Daddy was gone for just a couple days shy of two weeks and it was the first time I had been home alone with the boys. It sure was a reminder to how helpful daddy is at home...and it sure was a peek into how difficult it is to be a single parent (that's a whole other post there). We don't have any family that lives near by but my dear sister did make the trek over to relieve me a bit on her days off. Thank you for that dear sis! Also thank you dear friends for all of you who check in on us, took us on play dates, and even relieved me of some cooking. Each and every one of you holds a dear place in my heart and is a reminder that friends are and extension of our family.

This Artful Thursday, I've just begun to make some small thank you gifts to show my gratitude. I started with this little birdie tag.









Simple large parcel tag that has been embellished with a page from a vintage atlas index. I used a stencil to add some pattern to the page, a few chipboard stickers, some ink, fun ribbon and there you go... a sweet one of a kind tag to add to any thank you gift. I'm giving a some friends a box of one of my favorite assortment of teas that I know she will enjoy too!

Spring Break

I haven't forgotten about you dear blog.... I know a week has gone by without even a quick note. So sorry for the absence, but we've been enjoying ourselves here during our spring break. Time goes by so quickly when you're having a good time, that it seems I never even had a chance to visit.





It was a week of house guests and dinner guests, with fun trips to our favorite parks, to the zoo, our favorite kid friendly restaurants and a little shopping. Boys enjoyed their stomp rocket, tried out their new parachute guys (the Easter bunny brought them) played with friends and shared special moments with family.
We ended Spring Break with a bang. Saturday we had friends over who we hadn't seen in awhile. I prepared a fiesta meal: Seared skirt steak with chipotle, tomatillo and garlic sauce, honey lime shrimp, carnitas, a mango papaya salsa, guacamole and a pepper jack- black bean nachos. MMMMmmmm we ate like champs. Sunday we had take out Chinese food from one of our favorite locals.




Cheers to you all. Hope you all have been enjoying yourselves as well. It's time to get back on track. We'll see you soon.

what we like wednesday: Dinner Parties

It's so easy to hunker down at home and just go through the motions of the ins and outs of our daily lives. I find myself doing this, especially during those dreary winter months. After awhile, you can get lost in this and forget how much fun it is to have friends over for dinner and a bit of social time. Well with Spring here, things are changing...it's time for some fun dinner parties and when the weather gets even nicer, we'll move those parties outside.

The boys just love it when we have friends over...and it really does draw out their personalities. Just watching them with their friends really demonstrates what social beings we are and what a positive impact time with friends has on children. We recently had friends over for a little play time and dinner (I was babysitting) and everyone was so excited. Liam was so chatty and it just made me smile to here him say to everyone, with much excitement "Come on guys, let's go play in my room!" Watching Miles bring out his favorite toys to show and share with everyone was just so telling of his kind and caring nature. And Aidan...well he loves to direct the kids and has lots of ideas as to what they should be doing ( yeah some might call it a little bossy).

Best of all is when we sat down for dinner. They all were so pleased to be having dinner together. It was taco night, a meal that allows them lots of Independence and choices. They all got to fix their own tacos and decide what they wanted on them. It was such an empowering moment for them all to be able to make choices and share and encourage each other to try different foods. Truth be told, my kids aren't the best eaters, they're picky but with their peers, they ate the best I've seen them eat in a long time. So there's something to be said about dinner time with friends.

A Lesson In Helping Others

A friend of ours was recently released from the hospital after a terrible case of pneumonia. To demonstrate our support and caring I delivered a meal to their home today. I took over turkey meatball soup, something I thought kids and adults would enjoy equally. I explained to the boys why I did this, that "Mommy had delivered dinner to their friends home in order to demonstrate caring for their family in time of need" Miles and Liam understood that their friends daddy was sick and that I had taken food over but I'm not sure they really got the connection. Aidan on the other hand truly got it. He demonstrated understanding by giving other examples of when we would help out, whether it would be with a meal, watching friends or giving a ride to someone. It really touches me that my kids are learning the act of caring and helping others.

Hot Pot With Friends

Dear Max was recovering from surgery and an endoscopy and would find nothing more comforting than a nice hot pot. I joked with him about being the elephant man because half his face was swollen creating a fold over his eye but this did not deter his desire to have friends over for hot pot. So we did and it was a good time. I think it was a nice distraction for Max in his current state of discomfort.

We had fabulous fixings for this hot pot, crab, shrimp, beef, pork, tofu and an assortment of veggies. We also had yummy sake to accompany the hot pot and finished the meal with Honey's delectable desserts. She made a persimmon tart and her famous chocolate chip cookies. It sure was a feast for all.

State of Confusion

A funny conversation between 5 yr olds:

Aidan had his friend Luca over this afternoon for a play date. During this time they had a conversation that went like this:
Remember, Aidan has known his states for quite a while now.

Luca: I'm going to my grandma's for Thanksgiving.
Aidan: What state does she live in?
Luca: She lives in Ojai.
Aidan: She lives in Ohio?
Luca: No, Ojai
Aidan, Looking very confused now: Oh, I don't think I know that state??

Just in case you don't know, Ojai is a town in southern Ca.

Doctor, Doctor

Parker stayed over for a play date with Aidan after the boys birthday party. They played well the whole time but, the sweetest moment was during their doctor play. Parker was the patient while Aidan, doctor, examined him. Aidan checked all of Parker's vital signs as they had this pretend doctor/patient role play down perfectly. There they were engrossed in this pretend play and I just thought it was the sweetest thing ever.

The Overdue Birthday Party or Miles & Liam Turned 3

As many of you know we had to cancel Miles and Liam's birthday party a couple of weeks ago due to the stomach flu. So, we finally made it up to them this Saturday. We celebrated their birthday in a very low key (and may I add low budget) fashion and yet, I think the kids had a good time. We served pizza, the frozen variety. Shoshana our next door neighbor was kind enough to preheat her oven us, so that I could bake 4 pizzas at a time. This worked out perfect, It was Digiorno all the way ;) Setting a side the small detail that Liam was crying and being clingy for about half the time, I think they had fun with their friends. They all sat around the table and had pizza in a very civil manner, another reminder to how they're all growing up. Before lunch, hanging out in Aidan's room around the train table was the place to be for the twins and their friends.


The older boys enjoyed themselves outside riding on the sidewalk.


Cake time came and it was a true surprise. Especially Miles who was so thrilled to see that darn blue train on his cake, it sent him into a stuttering frenzy "mama it's th-th-th-thomas". While, Liam decided to shove Mcqueen down into his cake, I'm glad I caught that before it got messy.



The true highlight of the day was the spontaneous trip across the street at Robin's to see our neighbors the chickens. The kids got to feed them, find an egg in their nest, and hang out in Robin's wonderful yard. (Robin's backyard is magical to me because it brings back so many childhood memories, but that's another story.) I just love seeing all the kids out there in the natural outdoor setting, exploring and enjoying themselves. It sure beat any jumpy house moment I could have caught and it really reminds me how grateful I feel to have such great neighbors.

It Was A Spa-tacular Time!

This past weekend I had the privilege of celebrating Rachel's 40th birthday with her and her closest friends. Her thoughtful and generous hubby provided us with a fabulous spa weekend in Calistoga that included massages and a facial or body polish for everyone.
We stayed in the cutest cottage and had a great time. When we weren't having spa time, we were either in the hot tub,


eating out, or hanging out playing board games and having fun girl time. It was really generous! almost felt like it was my 40th birthday (ha!) Mine is just around the corner and now I feel like the bar has been set really high on how I'm going to celebrate it. The other amazing thing about this weekend was that it was my first time away from the twins, yes I know they're 3 now and it was long overdue. I missed them and felt a bit anxious about being away, but there was something also very freeing about it....a sense that yes I do exist beyond my children. Thanks Rachel for a fabulous weekend hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

ps. yes Max we tailgated in your car lol! We stopped in St.Helena and did a little shopping..decided to have lunch.