Life on Q

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-09T12:24:00.000-08:00

Held Captive

2010-04-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

E and I have almost an hour of alone time each day, most of that is spent in the car. Since I was coerced into purchasing an iPhone, by my tech savvy husband, I have taken to snapping picture of E in his car seat.
I love capturing all of his different facial expressions and the best part is he can't run away.

Disclaimer:
I only take them when we are at a full stop, parked or J is driving so don't go calling CPS on me.

Here are a few of my masterpieces, again taken with the iPhone and not my XLR so forgive the quality.

"I Wanna be a Rock Star"
Taken during his "Nickleback Phase".

"My Friend Mingo"
Mingo has now been replaced with his imaginary friend Fido. Fido is now the fall guy for everything that goes wrong at home and at school. I have to contend with "Not me! Fido did it" on a daily basis, but that's another story.

"Indifferent"

"Bashful"
Please don't judge the Pajamas, we have to be out of the house by 7:30am and "OY VEY" the kid is not a morning person.

"Pooped Out"
as was his sister...
I love those quiet car rides!

"Cheesey"

"Livid"
I couldn't find his toy whale; it was a real travesty!
Notice the kicking feet?
Watch Out! Those things are lethal.

"Goofy"
This one was taken this morning at the gas station. He thought it was hilarious that the car had "GAS", if you know what I mean?

"Ears"

The dog is victim to my iPhone as well.

Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-06T14:55:00.001-08:00

Funny Faces

2010-01-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

I've always loved taking pictures of my kids.

I used to pull out a camera and they would pose with sweet smiles...

like this,

and this,

and this (which makes me melt).

I should be thankful that my children loved to pose
and I have so many beautiful photos from early childhood.

Yes they still love to pose,...

but these are the poses that have been making it onto my camera lately.

My kids have reached a new phase in their lives, they have become completely and utterly goofy.

To Paint or Not to Paint That is the Question?

2009-10-25T08:02:00.000-07:00

As we move closer to closing on our new house, I am spending many a sleepless night mulling over interior paint colors.

We are being given a blank canvas of fresh white walls and this ugly brick fireplace. I like brick don't get me wrong, but I much prefer it on a patio or on the exterior walls of a house.
Not standing out like a sore thumb in the middle of my living room.

I think I've decided to paint it, but I have color commitment issues. I want my house to flow and feel warm and inviting. I'm also trying to work with some of the existing fixtures in the house like the hard wood floors...

...the black granite in the kitchen and ...

...the tile in the foyer.

I love warm earth tones and I like traditional mixed with a touch of clean modern style.
My first inclination was to paint it white, but with three kids white is not the most practical color and it's, well BORING.
Then I thought black, or gray or creamy beige. I also have to keep the living room walls in mind.
Do I pick wall colors for the walls and then a color for the fireplace or do I pick a fireplace color and then choose the wall colors?
Since the fireplace is so large and is the main focus of the room and I want it to stand out, but not in a bad way.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Once I settle on colors the next thing I have to deal with is this...

Pink Week

2009-10-20T14:34:00.001-07:00

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness I Heart Faces photo theme is Pink.

This little pink face is T the miracle baby of my good friend B a breast cancer survivor.
B was diagnosed with Her2 positive Breast Cancer when my youngest son was not much older than T.
A mother with a young daughter, who had struggled for years with infertility.
Only to be told her chances of having a second were slim to none after the aggressive cancer treatments.
She mourned, but accepted the fact that her beautiful daughter would be the only child she'd ever have.
At the beginning of 2009 what she though was the beginnings of menopause turned out to be the beginning of life for this beautiful little guy.

T was born almost exactly four years after diagnosis and we are all tickled pink!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

On the Market

2009-05-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

We are in the process of selling our home, in order to find a more suitable one for our family of five.

we moved into our beautiful little house (and I do mean little) with a 2 year old and a newborn, and quickly outgrew the space. We have endured living in a little over 1000 sq. feet and sharing one bathroom for all of these years and it isn't getting any easier.
The kids keep getting bigger as do their shoes, clothes and messes which inevitably end up EVERYWHERE!

I need some private space. I need adult only space. I need space for the kids to spread out. I need to be able to sit quietly an read a book. I need to be able to shower in peace without someone knocking on the door yelling "mom, I've got to go pee!".
In the last year I've nearly lost my mind, we are on top of each other and I can't endure it any longer.
As quoted by E "I need space!"

My newest challenge is keeping or little home spotless with three kids. So far so good, but stressful all the same.

Take a look at my beautiful kitchen!
I do love my kitchen!
But it's small

...and, It hasn't been this clutter free since we moved in.

...and look no toys shoes, backpacks or jackets in the living space either!

We've found a few houses we like but nothing we love.
My biggest fear is that we'll sell our house and have nothing suitable to buy.

Hopefully everything will go smoothly as planned and we will be in a new home sometime this summer.

But... as we all know life is unpredictable and we can only hope.

I Heart Faces - Hats

2009-05-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

The theme this week at IheartFaces
is hats.
Heres one of E on the beach in
Gruissan, France.

"I know", not "No"

2009-04-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting conversation with my 3 year old E the other morning.

E: "Mama, can I have bwekfast, I want pancakes."
Me: "Sure can I finish loading the dishwasher?"
E: "I want pancakes"
Me: "I know, you need to wait a minute"

E emotions start escalating, and I'm not understanding.

E: "Yes, I want pancakes!"
Me: "I know that E, you already told me"
E: "YES!"
Me: "E, I know!"
E: "YES!!!"

The light bulb finally goes on.

Me: "Oh! OK, I'll get your pancakes"
E: "Thank you Mama"

E can be exasperating at times, but this little mix-up of words made my day.

Eggstreme Sunday

2009-04-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday full of Family, Friends, Food and Fun!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-01T18:09:00.000-07:00

Pouty Face

2009-03-30T19:54:00.001-07:00

O starts to pout every time I try and get her to wear her hair down.
In this photo she was upset not only because her hair was down, but because I brushed it out into a full fledged Afro as well.

Check out all of the cute pouting faces at I ♥ Faces-Kids.

Batter Up!

2009-03-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

Another Trip to the SF ZOO

2009-02-12T09:34:00.001-08:00

We took advantage of the warm January weather and took a trip to the SF Zoo with Uncle C. and Cousin A. We decided to use the trike instead of the stroller and it worked out well for the most part, except when our daredevil E would take off like a "Bat out of Hell". After a while he didn't want anyone to hold the handle on the back, and had many near misses (or near hits) with other Zoo visitors. He has amazing agility and steered his way out of trouble every time. I on the other hand spent the whole time on edge yelling E. watch out! E. be careful! E. pay attention!

HMMM, maybe the stroller's not so bad after all.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-11T17:57:00.000-08:00

Nine Years and a Reconcilliation

2009-01-22T20:44:00.000-08:00

We took a huge step in our lives on 1/22/2000 and nine years later on 01/22/2009 our first born took a huge step in his life.

Today we celebrated our nine year anniversary. Nine years ago we walked down the aisle and said our vows, promising our selves to each other and committing to a life together for better or worse.

Today we walked down the aisle with our seven year old son in celebration of his first reconciliation (confession). There was a feeling of nervous anticipation in the air, there were tears, and trepidation, but once it was over all of those feelings were replaced with joyous relief.

Although our lives have changed immensely in the last nine years I feel as if our life is starting to circle around and we can now celebrate life through our children and their accomplishments.

Although it wasn't a romantic anniversary it was a special one.
Happy Anniversary J. I love you!

The Wave

2008-12-29T20:31:00.000-08:00

M received a Wave Board from Santa. Something he's been asking for since last Christmas.
In case you're not familiar with one of these it's a two wheel accident waiting to happen.
J grumbled at me for two days, "why did you (aka Santa) get him that d@#$ thing", "he's going to hurt himself", blah, blah, blah...
We took M to the park yesterday to try it out, and he did pretty well!
Guess who wanted to try it out and loved it the most?!?!

The Scream!

2008-12-26T14:09:00.000-08:00

My youngest child E has a scream that can burst a persons eardrums. I believe the blood curdling screams I had while giving birth to him must have been ingrained in him while still in the birth canal
(but that's another story).

The center photo show E in the middle of a screaming fit while driving to our friends' house for Christmas dinner. It was a 50 minute drive, the first 20 minute of which we has to listen E scream.

To be in an enclosed car with him like this on a cold and rainy day can make your skin crawl, your teeth to clench and make you just about loose your mind.

See the picture of O and M in the bottom right corner? The poor kids were so patient, they just sat there in silence and endured it.

It was an exhausting drive!

Happy Screaming New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T13:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone, the kids were happy and appreciated all of their gifts.

Can you believe one of the favorite gifts this year was a dictionary received by M.

For the last year we have struggled with reading. To see him embrace a dictionary and dance for joy over it is Amazing!

It's one of the best gifts we've ever received.

LED LIGHTS!!!!????

2008-12-14T19:50:00.000-08:00

I DECIDED TO USE LED LIGHTS THIS YEAR.
I LIKE THEM FOR THEIR GREEN FACTOR.

2007

2008

I HATE THEIR LACK OF SPARKLE!
(I'm so disappointed)

Oh Christmas Tree!

2008-12-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

We went and chopped down our tree this weekend and were joined by family and friends.

We found out what happens when you let a bunch of urban/suburban kids loose on a Christmas Tree Farm?

They run wild of course!

They chased each other through the rows of trees non-stop for about an hour.

We found an chopped our tree within the first 10 minutes and spent the next 50 yelling:
"Where's E, O, M, P and A (the kids)? Oh, there they are! Then they'd disappear again.

I should have used the sports setting on my camera, because
I had to erase many a photo as they were just blurs of blues and reds whizzing past.

I am usually pretty paranoid when it comes to my kids, but this was a lesson in letting go and letting them just have fun.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T22:42:00.000-08:00

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

2008-11-28T16:26:00.000-08:00

E, O and I went to visit my childhood home.

An 1896 victorian in the heart of San Francisco. It is currently under remodel and is in a state of disrepair. The house is old, empty and worn but at the same time it's full of history. Walking in there brought back a flood of memories and feelings from my childhood and it was truly bittersweet.

Many of my favorite things are still there; the bay window, the original victorian woodwork and detail, the yard with its ginko, apple, lemon, magnolia and wisteria and those million dollar views from the front and back windows.

Seeing it again made me realize how much love this house and the city and how fortunate I am to have grown up there.

Although I've opted for a quieter life in the suburbs; SF and my childhood home will always have a piece of my heart.

E got a "Hairy Cup"

2008-11-25T19:33:00.000-08:00

Before

After

Updates on the Q Family coming soon!

2008-10-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of blogging lately.
When I gets overly busy I fail to see the humor in life and in turn have nothing to write about.
Now that I have a camera full of pictures and something to write about our home computer is giving us attitude. J worked on it and hopefully I'll be able to upload some photos soon and let you know what we've been up to.

Four

2008-10-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

I was sent this e-mail about a week ago and never got around to answering so I decided to post it.

Here are a few things about me.

Four places that I go to over and over: (So Exciting Huh?)
M & O's School
E's school
Work
Home

Four of my favorite places to eat:
Pacific Cafe
El Toro Loco (Our Friend's Peruvian Restaurant)
The Corral
Alice's (Chinese)

Four places I would rather be right now:
France
Mexico
The Caribbean
Hawaii

I think I need a vacation.

Four Favorite TV shows:
House Hunters
Extreme Home Makeover
Grey's Anatomy
Brothers and Sisters

Four of my favorite objects or things in my house:

1.My Kids (Duh)

2. My Husband J

3. My Picture Wall

4A and 4B. My Dogs (Gussy and Jingo)

4C. My Wine Glasses

I know, I know! I couldn't pick only four.

What are Your Four?

Do You Follow Through?

2008-09-29T12:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a whole lot to write about this last week, because I've been overwhelmed and parenthood has been kicking my behind. O has been a force to reckoned with (which E happens to be emulating) and I've been struggling. Everyday we've been in a battle of wills and I've pulled out every parenting trick I know, but inevitable ended up in a screaming match with my 5 year old.

Here is one of my typical daily conversations with her:

Me: "O put on you're shoes."
O: Just sits there picking her toes, adjusting her sock...you get the picture.
Me:"O we have toe leave in 5 minutes please put your shoes on!"
O: "I don't know where they are."
Me: "Well get up and look for them."
O: "I need help"
Me: "They are right there in the shoe basket."
O: "Oh"
Me: "I'm going to finish getting ready you need to have you shoes on when I get back."

Two minutes later

O: Sitting on the floor with the shoes in from of her
Me: "GET THOSE SHOES ON NOW!!!!"
O: "But, I NEED HELP!!!"(These are velcro Mary Janes by the way)
ME: "IF THOSE SHOE ARE NOT ON YOU FEET IN THE NEXT MINUTE YOU ARE GOING TO LOOSE YOU TV PRIVLAGES!"
O: "But I want to watch TV!"
ME: "WELL PUT ON THOSE SHOES THEN!"
O: Puts them on.
ME: "Get your backpack lets go, the bell is going to ring in 15 minutes."
O: "But I need to go Pee!"
Me: Grumbling Holy F-king Shit! I'm going to kill this kid!

This weekend I tightened the reigns a bit and told her if she didn't listen and cooperate she wouldn't be allowed to go to the "Princess Party" she had been invited to. Well as predicted '' she didn't listen and /or cooperate and I had to be the bad guy and say "No Princess Party for you". That is the toughest thing I've ever has to follow through on (I really wanted to go to that party as well).

I tell you I hate following through, because it makes life harder in the moment, but I don't want a bunch on spoiled, rude, ingrates running around, so I just grit my teeth and do it.

Yesterday we implemented the "chores/behavior chart". She and M get a sticker for doing everything they need to do on a daily basis. I put a separate I section at the bottom of the chart for Listening and cooperation (this is the area where they and earn and also loose stickers for behavior. I think we finally had a break through! This morning she was dressed, teeth brushed backpack on with minimal resistance.

Wow! I'm tired from just writing about this!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-24T20:44:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday O!

2008-09-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

Five years ago today you came into our lives, my easiest pregnancy and perfect birth experience.

At birth you were the complete opposite of your older brother, you were so small and skinny and BALD, but just as wonderful in every way.

You were such a happy baby, a joy to be around.

You grew into a toddler and there was trouble to be found!

You are funny, cleaver, and sweet natured with OTHERS.
(hey, I have to keep it real , you can be a total pill with us, but we love you all the same).

At One

At Two

At Three

At Four

Now Five!

How lucky we are to have you in our lives.

Sometime just looking at you takes my breath away.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY O!

The Eyes Have It!

2008-09-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

I've always been told my kids look "so much a like" and "they all have the same eyes".
I've alway just brushed those comments off, because I never saw it.
So, I decided to put it to a test. I cropped a bunch of photos down to just their eyes.
Truth be told I had to make a cheat sheet, because I kept getting them all mixed up.

Can you guess, who's who???

Stringing Us Along

2008-09-10T21:26:00.001-07:00

This evening E managed to get a tangled of a spool of thread. The spool was in a drawer that he was rummaging through under the WATCHFUL eye of M (Yes, he just stood there and watched!).

He managed to wrap it around his body, the handle bars of his toy motorcycle and in the Velcro on his shoes. He then wandered all over the house, creating a long line of thread that went everywhere!

I was in the kitchen feeding the dogs when I saw this faint line hanging off his shoe and trailing behind him across the floor. I eventually untangled him and began following the trail.

It went around the kitchen and hallway, around a dining room chair and table, through the living room, around the sofa twice back down the hall and into our bedroom.

This is what I ended up with

"What the_____!"

(fill in the blank)

How Do You Measure Up?

2008-09-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

To Celebrate the end of summer we took a trip to the San Francisco Zoo.

The kids ran around and had a great time.
Their favorite part was seeing how they measured up against a gorilla.

They measured up quite well seeing that they run around like a pack of crazy monkeys most of the time.

We saw many of our favorite animals all of whom were partaking in their daily siesta.

Finally the kids actually sat still for a minute and let me take a picture of them together.

Don't they look thrilled?

2008-09-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

The Funny Things They Say or Actually Sing

My kids love listening to the soundtrack from Shrek 2 which features the Disco song "Funkytown". The song contains the lyrics:

"Well, I talk about it, Talk about it,
Talk about it, Talk about it,
Talk about, Talk about,
Talk about movin,"

On our drives home, E now loves to belt out:

"Talk-a-potty, Talk-a-potty,
Talk-a-potty, gwoovin"

The kid just cracks me up!

2008-09-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Three years ago today you came into our lives you were so sleepy from birth you wouldn't open your eyes.

You turned 1 and were so much fun, you learned to walk and you learned to run!

You turned 2 you loved to jump, dance and sing; you had so much to do!

Now you are 3 and as busy as a bee!

Happy 3rd Birthday E!

1st Day of School

2008-09-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

M and O both started school last week, M in 2nd grade and O in Kindergarten.

O was a little nervous at first, but she put on a brave face, sat down at her table, let me snap a few pictures and than said " You can go now Mom". All the other parents were standing around with tears in their eyes and she didn't even give me a chance to cry!

I feel gypped!