Saturday Birthday Celebration

On Friday, October 11, 2014, I turned 40. That's right, my dear aunts and uncles who read this blog. I am that old.

On Saturday, we drove to Mill Valley, dropped the kids off at mom and dad's, and Mark and and I headed into SF on an impromptu date. First stop was Fleet Feet for a new pair of running shoes. I ran around the block a few times trying on different pairs of shoes until I found the perfect pair for my big, flat feet.

Next, we found little deli on Chestnut street where we sat and ate lunch. The windows opened up to the street and brought in the beautiful breezes. We were able to catch glimpses of the air show from Fleet Week. Two police officers sat next to us, eating their food. Unlike us, they got to go behind the deli counter and direct the sandwich making process, rather than have to wait in line. 

After lunch, we stopped in a little bookstore, and headed right for the children's section--cuz that's what we elementary school teachers love to do. We picked up a couple of books for the kids. 

Then it was back to mom and dad's for some football, Tony Tutto's pizza, and chocolate cake for dessert. This little boy (who turned 3, 3 days before my birthday), and I have a lot to celebrate!

A Few of my Favorite Things: Isabella edition

Isabella came out of her room as some character in some dramatic scene she was playing out involving her graduation cap from Kindergarten, her pirate fairy sword, her medical kit, and stick horse (and she couldn't pretend to be on a road trip and play with a doll in an actual audition?! A scenario that was probably too boring for her). Sometimes I wish I could live inside this kid's head.

First grade photo. I love this one. That face is so--her.

 Tree swinger.

Death defying chicken decor.

Isabella likes to rearrange things whenever we visit my parents' house. My mom always finds her little surprise arrangements days after we leave. This though, is one of my favorites. She perched these two little chickens on the ledge of the upstairs landing, facing out over the kitchen table, far below. They must have been terrified.

Matthew turns THREE!

Matthew doesn't talk just yet, but if he did, I'm sure he would have said that he wanted to eat his birthday dinner at In-n-Out.

 Proof. 

(This is my favorite Matthew face and this is the first time I've been able to get a picture of it. )

One of the In-n-Out employees, sweeping up around our tables, noticed Isabella's artwork. "Wow!" he said, "are you going to be an artist?" To which she replied, "I AM an artist!"

 Proof. 

Crying Trees.

Of course, a birthday would not be complete (in our family, anyway) without a night time trip to the ER. Isabella accidentally closed Matthew's pinky finger in the bathroom door. She had no idea he was following so close behind and shut the door--completely. We didn't know if his finger was broken or not, so we headed out to Walnut Creek for an x-ray.

Luckily all that was required was some neosporin and a band aid. Love this boy!

Dinner...

 ...is sometimes a tea party.

Dinner is sometimes a galette made from a box of summer vegetables that were grown on the organic farm that is practically in our backyard. That's right. A local farmer, wanting to try his hand at farming, asked our landlords if he could use a bit of land to grow some vegetables. He has now turned it into a business--which is about 150 feet from our house. Sometimes I need to pinch myself to remember how lucky we are to live where we do!

Hollywood Called. I answered.

I became a stage mother...for about an hour. A casting call was sent out through a Bay Area Down syndrome parent support group for a boy with Ds between the ages of 3 and 6 to have a role in a short film. Even better, they said, if said child had a sibling under the age of 10. Check and check. I sent the filmmakers a picture of my two kids and with in a couple of weeks, got a call back for an audition.

The audition went something like this: We show up. Matthew immediately gets distracted by the train table, while Isabella gets lost in a book. The filmmakers gather us into a room with a few props, including chairs and more toys and books. The director is so nice, and so accomodating, but reveals a few minutes into the audition that she has never worked with young children and does not have any children herself.  She tries, desperately to get my children to sit in two chairs and pretend they are on a road trip, while playing with a "doll" (technically a stuffed Llama, wrapped in a blanket). It doesn't happen. Matthew gets up from his chair and dances and spins around to music he hears. Isabella is constantly distracted by the books surrounding her--so much so that she doesn't even hear the director when she is talking to her.

That's when my inner stage mother becomes unleashed. I want to scream at my children, "ACT! ACT! You love riding in cars! Pretend you like to play with stuffed llamas wrapped in a blankets!"

I want to scream at the director, "Eliminate the distractions, woman! Give them ONE prop!"

But instead I bite my tongue--hard--for 20 painstaking minutes, while my kids perform their own circus show.

The audition ends. My dreams of buying a mansion from my children's royalties, shatter. I suppose I will have to pursue other ways of creating my legacy, and I suppose my Hollywood-reject children will go on being authentic, adorable, playful, train-loving, bookworms.

I suppose I can handle that.

Somewhere Under the Rainbows...

This was a favorite storm...much needed and completely unexpected. The skies just opened up on a Friday afternoon in the Napa Valley.

Our side of town got thunder and lightning, and lots of it, which is not too common. We had heavy rain and a double rainbow.

The west side of the city got flash flood warnings, inches of hail, and I heard there was even an itty-bitty earthquake.

For the beauty of the earth...

 My kids curled up with books.

I made grilled cheese sandwiches and enjoyed everything about it.

Foodie Selfie

The funny thing about this photo is that it is the ONLY one I took at our family reunion celebrating my parents' 45th wedding anniversary, and I see these two people all the time. Where's the one of my cousin Kathleen who I haven't seen in 13 years? Or Uncle Tom? Or Aunt Elinor? Or Uncle Bob and his stuck-together fingers? Or the one of the couple celebrating their anniversary? Bad job, photog.

So nice to be together, even though I have no proof of it.