Moving right along.....

The Wednesday before Eddie and I found out about the twins we had put our house on the market for sale.
We moved into our lovely home almost 5 years ago when Ella was only 2 a Liana wasn't even born. We love our neighbors, our house, our yard, everything except for our school district, which though filled by many lovely people, our district's focus seems to be directed at getting kids to meet the minimum in Elementary school, keeping them from dropping out in Middle school, and keeping them out of prison in High School. I applaud the hard working efforts of all concerned, but as we have the opportunity to move into a district where our daughters can be challenged to excel and not just survive, we felt like we needed to take the leap.

We tried (when I was pregnant with Nina) to sell our home two years ago, we had it on the market for 6 months and had only 2 people ever even come to see it. With this as our past experience we were a little hesitant to hope for much.

On the Friday we found out about the twins we called our Realtor and told her that the 3 bedroom homes we had been considering were not going to cut it, and we needed to look a little bigger. Of course bigger means more money, or a less nice neighborhood, or a fixer-upper. We looked at all of the above and found houses with cemented in rock-scape backyards, "designer" paint jobs that looked like jello pudding smeared on the wall, homes where thrifty evictees had taken everything from the toilet fixtures and wall moldings to literally the kitchen sink.

We debated the merits of the best schools and little houses over really good schools with bigger houses. We drove up to the model homes of new constructions and did some daydreaming. We talked about all of it and waited to see if we could even sell our home in the first place.

When our realtor called back she had good news, we had a full price offer already, by the next Monday we had several full price offers, we countered on several of those and got 2 back, more counters, and to make a long story short, by the following Friday, only 10 days after listing, we accepted an offer to sell our home.

The next morning after much soul searching, thought, and prayer we drove on up to the new constructions and signed our contract for a beautiful new home scheduled to be completed November 12, 2009.

For those of you familiar with the standard 30 day escrow yes, that means that we are currently packing cleaning up for the inspectors and appraisers that are coming, and we will be homeless for a couple of months, 2 months to be exact. We won't be on the streets, there are several short term rental condos etc. available in the area (this is the project for this week, finding our intermediate housing.)

I think I may be insane, because while I am stressed out, terrified and worried about moving twice, living in a short term rental, being pregnant with twins, and all the daily functions of life, I am also really calm about this decision. It really is the right choice for us, and come Thanksgiving, you are all welcome to come on by, because we will have plenty of room, and plenty of paint-brushes so you can help us decorate our new home! (if you don't paint, don't worry, you can rub my feet, unload boxes, or even cook my turkey, cuz I'm gonna be too pregnant to do anything helpful!)

Growth & Development

We recently announced that we are expecting again and with three beautiful daughters already here a lot of people ask "So are you going for a boy this time?" The answer for both Eddie and I has been "we just want a healthy baby" Eddie adds "another girl would be cheaper and easier, we already have all the stuff."

It's true, we do have all the stuff and we kind of have a handle on the diapering and emotional moods of girls, every baby and every girl has been different, but there are some things that are almost old hat for us at this point when dealing with little girls.

We have been anticipating the ultrasound that would hopefully tell us gender of this new little one, trying not to spend too much energy on that anticipation because with both Ella and Nina we didn't know for sure that we had girls till we saw them in person.

Pardon me for stepping back a bit, but when you see the ultrasounds from early weeks you realize what a marvel it is that we know anything at all about our babies that young in development.

Here is a scan of week 7 of our pregnancy,
basically we saw that there was indeed a baby, there was only one, and it had a heart developing.

Here is a scan of week 11,

now we see (sort of) that the baby has a face and little skeletal arms and legs.

So yes, not the clearest of images but they are pretty darn close to the original printout I have on my desk here, there is no HI-DEF clarity, but it sure is reassuring that the baby is growing and moving right along during those early weeks when the only proof I have that the baby is there is an overwhelming urge to purge.

So now we have come to week 16 , and because I am old (I turn 35 a month before my due date) I got to go see a Perinatologist last Friday just to make sure that everything was going well, and hopefully to find out if we need to track down the hand-me-down clothes in pink or blue.

Well, I won't hold you in suspense any longer, did in fact find out that one of the babies is a BOY!

Wait,.......what?........did she write "one of the babies?"

Why yes, yes I did, and now that I have had two days to adjust, I can type it without shaking, though I am still bursting into shocked laughter every few minutes.

When we first sat on the exam table, and the doctor set the scanner on my belly three big blobs showed on the screen, Eddie made the joke

"From that picture it looks like we are having triplets."
Dr. - "No, no, Isn't twins enough?"
me - "No, we're only having one baby"
Dr. - "You are having two babies, you didn't know that you are having twins?"
me - "No, it just isn't possible, we've had two scans already, are you sure?"

Jumping ahead a bit, she was very sure , here is a scan of our twins, or at least two round blobby things one on the left, one on the right, and the curly line in the middle is the dividing line where their two Amniotic sacs meet. They are measuring well and equally big.
Twin A gave us a lovely head shot,
and a nice view of it's spine, but not a money shot

Twin B gave us a nice profile, I think I can already see a resemblance to Eddie's full lips,
and he spread out a bit to enjoy the space and gave us this aerial view of his, well, his boy part
So we are happy, and in shock, and looking for a slightly bigger house, and we are now anticipating the gender of twin A, since I have to return every 4 weeks for scans now, maybe we will get the money shot yet.

I will post more info on due dates etc. when I get it, thank you all for you love and support, and prayers, we are going to need them all as we learn how to be a family of 7. Am I really going to be a mother of 5? it just seems so much more than 4.

Do you think I should get my co-pay back for the first few visits? maybe just half off?

Bounty is in the eye of the beholder!

As I wrote in my last posting, we returned from our trip in time to harvest the corn, that is the good news, the bad news is that we all came down with a virus that included high fevers for several days. Since it was in the upper 90's here, I couldn't let my little farmers attend to their harvest for a while.
This delay led us to a trio of "Good News/Bad News" stories

Farmer Liana's story
Good news - Liana's crop of "Ruby Red Sweet Corn" was still plump on the stalk when she recovered!

Bad news - the plump little ears were a maximum of 4 inches long.

Good news - the farmer in this case is only 4 years old.

Result= a happy farmer who was incredibly impressed by the bounty of her crop.

Farmer Ella's Story
Good News - Some of Ella's ears of corn reached the epic measurement of 6 inches long!Bad news - Some of Ella's ears of corn were less that an inch long and had only 3 kernals on them.

Good news - the kernals she had on the tiny cobs were very sweet

Bad news - most of Ella's corn was a bit shrivelled on the cob when we shucked it.
Good news - Ella is really excited to dry the corn all the way and grind it into cornmeal.
Bad news - she can't decide what she should make with her cornmeal.

Good news - she has a lot of recipes to choose from.

Result = A happy farmer

And little farmer Nina you ask? Well it is all good news to her, she got to go outside, pick things, eat things, peel things and throw things. Life is good when you are almost two!

Summer Break, or break down?

So Ella completed Kindergarten on the 10th of June and immediately we launched into the fun.

First, we announced to our family and now announce to the world that we are expecting our 4th child, due in mid-January (This means that as you read the following you may freely infer that I enjoyed all of the following with a side of nausea and over-sensitive gag reflex.)

We went to the LA Zoo,

We had lunch with a friend from college who I haven't seen in years,We started the library "Summer Reading Program." enjoyed summer family film festival movies and played at the park.

We packed for my side of the family's Bi-annual Reunion in historic Massachusetts.
We flew round-trip on airplanes with 3 children for a cumulative total of 12 hours air time plus another few hours in the airports. - Just a friendly reminder for those of you planning to fly with children, Southwest has good ticket prices, but no TVs!

We spent a couple of days with my sister and her beautiful family, in their beautiful home!
We visited the Minuteman National Park and walked the "Battle Trail" to the spot where Paul Revere was arrested after his "Midnight Ride".
We spent a week in the Berkshire Mountains with my parents, all 6 siblings and their families, where we spent much time catching up with cousins, swimming, eating, beading necklaces, watching videos, sampling local produce, and even managed a museum where we dug up dinosaur bones, saw some very bizarre frogs, and pet some starfish and horseshoe crabs.

We came home to an over-heated house, over-run with ants, and brought with us a fever for Nina, which she has passed to Ella, who has passed it to Liana.

So in all, it has been a stellar summer, one that we will remember all our lives, and we still have 3 weeks till school starts again! - Just enough time for us to harvest the corn and for Ella to take swim classes!

A Bright New Star !

It's spring and that means it's recital time for Just Dance, the studio that brought us Ella's sense of confidence and flair. Alas Ella took a hiatus this year to prepare her Polynesian dance skills and was not participating
---BUT DO NOT FEAR,
LIANA started class this year and I believe we have a bright new star on the stage of dance

In true independent girl fashion she didn't let me go to her dance classes all year long because she wanted it to be a surprise, I talked her into letting me watch the last class before dress rehearsal so I could help her practice at home, but it was still very hush hush.

She asked me to cut her hair and curl it (because I had explained on numerous earlier occasions that long hair takes a long time to curl and doesn't stay as curly as long etc.) and wondered if she could get some flowers "Because I remember that last time we gave Ella some flowers when she danced and now I'm gonna be the dancer and Miss "Ginger" says that I am "on fire" and I get to be in the middle because the little girls don't know all the steps!" - If I hadn't been planning to get her flowers already I certainly would have been swayed by that impassioned plea!

Call me cheesy, but when I get my daughters flowers, I buy silk. I know they are not fresh and don't smell nice etc. but this way they can be hot pink (no matter what season it is) and they can be used to play bride, or garden party, or "Bravo" a game where you take turns bowing and clapping and giving each other flowers- I think I might like to play this game sometimes. Also if you let the little girl in question choose from an array of old perfumes/body sprays she can put the fragrance on her flowers herself!

Liana did an excellent job, she held still while I cut her hair, fell asleep and took a much needed nap while I curled her hair,held still again while I got her dressed, ate her daddy's quesadilla when she woke up (poor Daddy to have to sacrifice so much) and bravely tapped her way into the recital and into the pages of stardom!

Congratulations my big little beautiful girl!

Be a Hero!

Today a Hero stepped up to the plate!
My brother-in-law (who I will refer to as Big J to protect his identity) has a Kidney condition known as PKD or Poly cystic Kidney Disease. Big J has known for a while that he would need a transplant at some point in his life. He and my sister have had to face the fears and concerns that this knowledge brings. They have faced it with courage, optimism and grace, and they are heroes to me as examples of faith in action, that said, I would like to share the hero of the day.

Big J's Mom (who we will call Momma D) is a beautiful caring and generous woman who takes excellent care of not only her family but friends and people around her. When J's need for a kidney became more immediate, he was fortunate enough to have a family of heroes step up and offer to share. When it became apparent that other possible donors would not be viable candidates Momma D up and flew across the country, taking the time and giving of herself to give her son life, for the second time.

Today was the transplant and as of this posting things are going fairly well, both operations are complete and both patients are in recovery. There are still a lot of unknown elements for Big J and family, but this much we know, Momma D is a hero.

Big J is blessed with family and extended family that were willing, and finally able to give him a kidney, there are others in the world, a lot of others who need kidneys and have no relatives in a position to donate. We cannot all be living donors, but I offer the suggestion that we can make a choice to be organ donors.

I know this is an uncomfortable discussion for many, none of us really likes to admit that we will not live forever or face the reality that sometimes tragic things happen. Things do happen, and we can't control it all, but we can choose how to respond to tragedy, let it overtake us, or let it elevate us. I believe in life after death and I don't think I need to take my kidneys and other organs with me, they are earthly things- our bodies, they are miraculous in their creation and function, but they are earthly things. I choose to leave my organs where they might do the best good, giving life to another.

If you make the coice to be an organ donor, write it down with a date and signature, and share it with relatives so that they know ahead of time and can respect your wish. Having that conversation may be awkward as well, but it can be as simple as "if anything ever happens to me I just want you to know that I am an organ donor." think of the blessing that choice might bring.

My personal point of view is this, I will fight with all I have in this life to grow old and stay with my husband and children, but if the point comes that I am no longer here, I want my children to know that their mother loves and respects life enough to give the gift to someone who needs it.

Be a hero, make the choice to be an organ donor, and share that choice with the ones you love!
(and while you are at it, donate blood if you are eligible!)

Rockin'-the-Luau

Pardon the journaling tone of this post, the day of the Luau warrants some description for posterity, not because it was so out of the ordinary but because is is indicative of my family's style of party and life at present.

We woke up and had breakfast, we (Eddie and I) tried to sleep in, but they (the girls) don't like to do that unless there is some early appointment we have to be at ten minutes ago. We took our time, and then it began, Eddie ran out the door to get last minute things done and drive over to set up for the party.

At home the girls and I were planning for every possible wardrobe disaster, hunting down every "Aloha" decorated item in the house, and trying to maintain some sort of schedule so that Nina would make it through the day.

Having been out late the night before setting up (late means the girls fell asleep in the car on the way home instead of their beds) the girls needed a tub and shampoo, they were disappointed that I dressed them in long pants, but I knew that the enormous bounce house that was being set up warranted leg coverings for at least the first few hours. Reassured that they would get to wear aloha dresses and lei's later, we had a little lunch, got into the car, made an emergency trip to the craft store and drove slowly to the party. We drove slowly so that Nina and Liana would take a little nap, but it was Saturday and traffic was light, so they still had less than 40 minutes of sleep when we arrived at 1:30.

We arrived at the party to find all well and in good shape, we had all been there the night before setting up the things that could be done early, and Eddie's siblings were there with their families adding the final touches. The girls made a bee-line for the bounce house - can you blame them?
I got to set up the welcoming table, the guest book was fun (at least I think it was) we had guests sign in on a paper flower with their name and the year that they first met my Father-in-Law, and then put the flowers on a time-line so that he now has a garden of his friends throughout the years.
We are not the Rockefeller's or the Hiltons, but I thought the party was festive, we had home-made oversize paper banners, fishing nets and lei's around the party perimeters, and small artificial hibiscus placed everywhere that didn't move (thank you Oriental Trading Co.) Our centerpieces were glass vases filled with sand (thank you Bolsa Chica Beach - I hope it wasn't illegal), miscellaneous shells and a votive candle. Eddie brought Red-Vines, Twizzlers and M&M's to keep us all in good humor as we continued in the set up process.

200 silk flower leis in every color were laid out, drinks were put on ice, pre-dinner snacks were presented, Music was started, and tiki torches were lit.....let's stop here for a moment.

On Friday we had been there to help set up and one thing that could be done was to affix the tiki torches to various posts around the yard. Once they were secure, we needed to fill them with citronella oil, Eddie and I worked together to fill them using, not a funnel, (there was not one on sight) but a cone made of tinfoil. Our method of filling did cause some minor spillage which may be partly to blame for what followed.

I am a bargain shopper but let me warn you, tiki torches purchased for a dollar are for decorative use only, when they were filled and lit (thankfully in a Friday test run, not Saturday night) they became engulfed in flames and whatever synthetic material was used to hold the "torch" in the "tiki" melted. The flaming posts were extinguished using a damp towel and with the aid of a helpful Brother-in-law (yes John you win in-law-of-the-year award... again), new and fire-worthy torches were in place for the party.

Guests began to arrive shortly after 3 and thankfully they were the close and helpful kind of friends who kept my children entertained and enjoyed full use of the bounce house. The next few hours are a fun blur of people arriving, and snacking, the weather was perfect, sunny but mild, slightly breezy, but not so bad as to blow off tablecloths or decorations. The guests were all charming and came in festive dress as requested.

The food was picked up, arrived, and or was cooked in a relatively timely manner and by all manner of relatives. We fed the children at the time appointed and the adults were either gracious in waiting or sneaky in eating, either way, everyone was fed to full.

Th entertainment was excellently started by my fabulous nephews doing a dance routine, but lest you start picturing in your mind "the Good ship Lollipop" or some other stagey Shirley Temple song, let me assure you they delivered a performance of "Electric Avenue", and "Funky Town" that would be welcomed on "So you think you can dance"

The lovely dancers from "Lei Kakala O' Fontana" began their show and during their costume changes the family filled in. The Grand-daughters (and some of us in the earlier generation as well) performed a dance to one of my Father-in-law's favorite songs, "Little Brown Gal"
Indeed He enjoyed it so much he got up and joined us half way through.
Eddie sang and played the Ukulele very charmingly, the is one of the first things I loved about him, there is something sexy about a ukulele.
Big Brother Alan DJayed and hosted, and sister Tammy sang "Where the Boys Are" one of her father's favorite romantic ballads, one he used to make her sing as a child.
Two of the birthday boy's oldest friends were called upon to tell how they met him and speak of their friendship over the years and the evening culminated with the birthday boy surrounded by hula dancers in his own dance lesson.
Happy Birthday was sung, taro cake and a variety other desserts were eaten, a good time was had by all, and Nina held out until after the cake before she finally fell asleep in her stroller.

So to recap, we have learned:
1- Test flammable objects the day before an event,
2- A bounce house brings sanity for all
3- Always bring a stroller if you have a child under the age of 2
4 - You can't go wrong with
adorable grandchildren!

Getting ready to hula!

My charming Father-in-Law turned 70 this year and to commemorate the event his children threw him a Luau. My Father-in-Law is a consummate party thrower, indeed the commemorative mugs given to his guests proclaim his title as "Birthday Party Animal"

The task of preparing for this event was a bit daunting as we all wanted it to be up to the standards set by previous occasions. Our secret weapon to insure the success of the event was cuteness. We relied heavily on the grandchildren to make sure the night was truly excellent and the grandchildren did not fail us, this following video is of my girls practicing for their portion of the entertainment.

A future post will cover the actually party for those of you who missed it, but I couldn't help but share some of the cuteness that gets me through the fits and tantrums of the week.

Time out hi-jinx

As parents of 3 small girls we have had the need arise for discipline. When the girls do something naughty or inappropriate, we usually offer a warning, try to redirect them to doing something better/nicer/away from the problem etc. and failing the success of those efforts, we give time out.

When Ella was small, she was attached to me 24/7, she hated to be in a different room from me and would follow Eddie and I around the house. Usually all I had to do was look at her with a sad face or have Eddie use a gruff voice and her little heart would break and she would do whatever was needed to get her snuggles and be happy again.

When Liana was smaller she would protest being taken to time out, but once she was there I would often hear her singing and pretending conversations with her little self. Sometimes she would just sit there and giggle, and when it was over she might choose to stay there. I still felt it was effective at stopping a bad situation but wondered if she felt rewarded for bad behavior.

Now Nina is entering the age of testing boundaries, and I think she got the memo read backwards or something,

last Friday Ella was sent to time out (for screaming at me when I told her to stop hitting Liana because she didn't do something she wanted her to uggghhhh! - but that's a different issue,) so Ella was sitting in time out, which in our house is a floor mat in the laundry room. Because Ella was crying and carrying on rather loudly (her heart still breaks rather easily) I closed the door to the laundry room while she calmed down.

Enter Nina, curious about what Ella is doing she tried to open the laundry room door, I said "no, Ella is in time out because she was screaming, you can't go in right now."

Nina looks at me curiously, thinks for a moment, and goes into the living room (scene of Ella's crime moments earlier) and without provocation starts screaming, at the top of her lungs, wailing and kicking her feet as Ella had done. I was a little puzzled until she stopped crying, walked over to the laundry room door again and pointed at the handle. Too curious to let this pass, I stifled laughter as I opened the door where she walked in and plopped herself down on the mat next to Ella and rather pleased with herself let out the phoniest cry I have heard in my life and then giggled.

Something tells me I'm gonna need a different form of discipline for her.

Eddie in the shower!

Sorry, no pictorial on this one, but the headline is the point of the blog, let me back up a little, ......(insert do-do-do-do-do-flashback sounds here)

My mother recently came to LA from Hong Kong for a visit, My Grandmother lives an hour away from me and so Mom can visit us both. Usually, she spends a few days down with Grandma and then comes up to my house for a while. This time, we all thought, why not bring Grandma up here too? She could spend some quality time with my girls and Mom wouldn't have to feel torn between us.

FYI, my grandmother is 85 and still lives on her own in her quiet single story house.
My house is full of noisy girls and all the bedrooms are up a flight of steep stairs.

Needless to say I had some concerns, but she came and she was a very good sport about it all, reading stories and singing songs, taking naps when the girls became too much for her. Other than her love of suddenly rolling down the car windows while on the freeway going 80 mph to "feel the wind on her face" she was amenable to any plans we made.

She let us guide her down the stairs each morning and back up the stairs each evening, and a good time was had by all. Understandably she was tired and sometimes a little disoriented in my home and she went to bed before the rest of us grown-ups each night. However, once she turned in we didn't hear much from her till morning......until...

One night, she had turned in, my mother and I were chatting downstairs, while Eddie went up to take a shower. Minutes pass and then I hear "OK Grandma here is your room and I'll get back to my shower" I realized what must have happened and fell to the floor laughing uncontrollably, when I came up for air I went up to find out the whole story, which I include here in Eddie's own words.

As I was showering I heard the sweet voice of someone singing and I thought it was Jannah bringing the baby in to say goodnight in before going to bed.

I toweled off expecting to greet my wife in "all my glory" when I instead see Grandma who's only comment was

"This isn't my room is it?"

"No Grandma it isn't."

Of course the capstone to this story is that while Grandma has short term memory issues and has probably already forgotten the whole thing, I will be able to share it over and over in the years to come and it will get funnier every time....until I'm the one with short term memory loss and disorientation.

Diagnosis Chinois

Last Monday I spent the entire morning and a bit of the afternoon in the Children's Eye Institute. Since Nina's birth, SOME PEOPLE have insisted that she is either cross eyed or has a lazy eye. A CERTAIN PERSON has been known to point out to others that she might be cross eyed, and so I asked the pediatrician to look into it and got a referral to be sure that all was well.

The appointment was for 9:30, I arrived at 9:00 because I wasn't sure how long it would take to find the place, by 10:00 we had been in for an initial assesment, by 11:00 we had been back out the waiting room and back in for an exam and to have dialating drops put in, by 12:30 I had seen the "Polar Express" 2 times too many and was about to go insane when we were called in for final exam and consult.

Our diagnosis? Nina is half chinese.

Of course, I kind of knew that already but now we have a technical name for her condition and an informative pamphlet on the subject " Pseudostrabismus "is the false appearance of strabismus, which basically means she looks like she might be cross-eyed, but she's not. According to Wikipedia, "Pseudostrabismus is more likely to be observed in Native American or East Asian infants due to the presence of epicanthic fold obscuring the medial aspect of the eye. "

I have never been so glad to have "wasted" an entire morning to find out nothing was wrong, and after all, now that I have a pamphlet, SOMEONE can't all her cross eyed anymore, of course now SOMEONE is looking up plastic surgery options to "fix the epicanthic fold"

12-25 Random and not so random thoughts

I am off of the sudafed and Nina let me sleep all night last night, and I have for a while been thinking about writing a bit of a shout out to lots of people, so Here goes,

12 - "Panda girl" I just emailed you but I thought I would add here that when I gave up on being Ella Fitzgerald I wanted to grow up and look like you, even though you were growing up behind me.

13 - "Mand E" I think you had a shot on biggest loser, as long as the chicken was grilled and not fried.

14 - "Big J" - I think you should name your new kidney and you could have a man shower for it, register for DVD's you want to watch during recuperation and maybe a remote controlled padlock for what ever room you recouperate in, to limit the amount of attention you recieve.

15 - "sports car girl" - I think when people ask you "when you are going to have that baby?" you should answer "Never, I'm protecting him from idiots like you who don't realize how annoying it is to ask that question."

16 - "CrisT" - WHy don't you want me to read your blog, why won't you let me in? Please, let me in, come on, we are blood related and sisters of the red elephant, please, let me back into the loop!

17 - "MarG" would you really take hula class with me?

18-Artemis - I think we should write a musical about motherhood, I think there could be a romantic ballad called "WHile the children watch disney shows" and an epic anthem called "cleaning up the toy room" I have one line already, "I used to have dreams of being famous on stage, now I have children I might like to cage."

19 - Speaking of writing, how about an anthology of children's stories by the "Sisters Ferg" Not quite the same as the brothers Grimm, but maybe in a hundred years or so it would sound natural?

20 - Kris10 - I'm glad you like the recipe but now you gotta return the fav, I need a new meal in my repitoire.

21 - mamamamamama - thanks again for one of the best gifts anyone ever gave me, a large piece of plastic swiss cheese is always appropriate but rarely found.

22 - "Joel B" I love your commercial where you play the trucker who decides not to fool around with the waitress, for some reason my daughters like it too, they think its a music video about a guy who misses his family - thanks for choosing to be faithful, every time.

23 - your ad here
24 - Coming soon
25 - Coming soon

25 random things about you

The facebook phenomenon has leaked over into my blog, but I would like to change things up a little and share random thoughts I have had about others this past week, Please read with the understanding that in this last week I have either been up all night taking care of sick children, been up all night because I myself cannot breath, or have been under the influence of Sudafed (the real kind that you have to ask for at the pharmacy counter, none of this “PE’ stuff.) In interest of protecting your identities, I am assigning some random nicknames, this has the added benefit that you can choose which random thought is about you as long as you can justify it.

1- “Ginger” - I think we should have a 3/4/5 year old kick line finale at the end of the recital this year, in order to accomplish this you put a red dot on each girl’s right foot and a blue dot on the left, then you stand on the side and call out “Red!” “Blue!” and so forth.
2- “MarG” – Maybe next year for preschool we could focus on real life skills, things like bargain shopping, food tasting and dramatic analysis (watch tv and try to figure out what is going on, and what will happen next.
3- “Red headed vixen momma” – I often wish I had the audacity to wear the lovely shoes you often wear,
4- “Van girl” – has anyone ever called you a “sri-lankan Barbie doll”? if not I would like to do so now, not only because you are stunningly gorgeous, but also because like Barbie you seem to be able to be whatever you need to be, One minute a mild mannered insurance adjuster, the next minute a raging party gal.
5- “Mary ma soeur” - if by a loralai kind of relationship you mean sitting around watching bad movies and consuming mass quanitities of multi ethnic food call me rory and let’s schedule it for this summer!
6- “Mee Ray” though you probably won’t read this I have been thinking of you and I hope you know how much love I send out into the universe for you and trust God to carry it to you if you ever should need it. - If you want a christmas card though, you should call me and give me your address.
7- “Diana” –not a very creative nick name, to leave out only one letter but for some reason (probably the Sudafed) I found it very funny just now as I typed it out. Oh oh oh, wait I have a better code name – Artemis - this may be the most random thought yet, but do you remember when you were dating your husband and he had given you presents that were marvelous and sort of random things that were perfect because they were things you loved, and you came too me and said “I don’t know if he really likes me?” - that was really funny, and I am glad it gets funnier every year you are with him. – Just think, if all prayers were answered you might be married to someone who eats chocolate bars with a knife and fork.
8- “Eminem” I know it was your birthday and I missed it, but I think it only fitting because I also miss you. – no disrespect to my other best friends, it is not an easy life to have my bestest friend far away and few between. That said, I am so glad you are still my BFF
9- Sean "duh" You make me feel a little silly being overwhelmed by daily life, or rather I suppose, you give me hope of what can be done.
10 Le T sha - is it really fair that you have 2 such handsome boy children and I have none? Of course I wouldn't trade my girls for anything, not even handsome boys, so I will just keep on admiring the boys from afar.
11- Summer Daze - speaking of handsome boys I need to meet yours, if only we weren't afflicted with our version of the plague, I would have already driven down there to snuggle him.

12- 25 aren't quite making it past my brain, that is probably just as well, and makes this all the more random.

My Hunky Valentine!

I have not always been the very biggest fan of this holiday, mostly it seemed like a lot of superficial commercialism – you didn’t know I remembered words that big did you?
This year, I am a believer, because my Valentine gave me the perfect gifts, a blow dryer, replacement blades for my paper cutter, and time off!

This may not sound romantic to you but when my blow dryer went silent last week I was sad, not only that I had wet hair when I wanted dry, but also because it meant an extra shopping trip complete with necessary comparison of price and features, I really don’t enjoy shopping.

I am a firm believer in the Fiskars paper trimmer, I use it almost daily for something or another (especially during preschool or sharing time seasons.) I have been needing replacement blades for eons and magically, they are now here and I didn’t even have to remember to put them on a list!

The third gift was the biggest, even though it was Valentines Day, he sent me off with only Nina in tow ...

to reconnect with my good friend from university days.

While I was having lunch and chatting with my sister friend, remembering good times and catching up on fabulous families etc., Eddie cleaned up my house, did our taxes and painted watercolour valentines with the older girls. He puts me to shame sometimes.Eddie my love, my Hero, my friend thank you for a fabulous Valentine's Day!

Daddy's Special Chicken

By popular demand, the recipe for "Daddy's Special Chicken"*

6-8 Drumsticks of chicken**

1 Cup Sugar

2- 2 1/3 Cups Water

2/3 Cup Soy Sauce

3 sprigs fresh Rosemary (or 2 T dried)

1/2 Tsp fresh ground black Pepper

1 tsp Sriracha (rooster) hot chili sauce

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil,

simmer until you can see the meat separating from the bone.

To thicken sauce (Which may well be the very best part of the dish) ,

1 T cornstarch

1 T cold water

Mix until all combined and milky in consistency,

add to boiling sauce

Serve with white rice.

Feel free to adjust the amounts of sugar and soy sauce to your family's tastes.

* (In interest of full disclosure, Eddie used to make "Shoyu" (or soy sauce) Chicken to woo women when he was in college. After we got married he cut down the amount of sugar and added more spice, I take full credit for introducing him to Rosemary, if you need some and you live in So Cal I have a very prosperous Rosemary plant and I am willing to share.)

** If you are one of those silly people who doesn't like drumsticks you can use any part of the chicken, even the white meat and it will still be tasty.

Handsome in my house!

Results are in, and
Once in a Blue Moon's
"Man of the Year" 2008 is.........
My husband Ed

The above photo (taken by Ella when she was 5) illustrates one of the reasons that he wins, he will pose for 5 year old photographers, and play hide and seek for little girls who hide when they hear the garage door opening to signal his return from a long day at work.

Another reason he wins is that he does the dishes, this would be reason enough, but he also cooks! That's right ladies, and not just chicken dinos or hot dogs, "daddy's special chicken" is a favorite of not only our family but neighbors and friends too.

My husband got me a gift certificate for a massage for my birthday this year and watched the children while I went.

He also happens to be a very sexy ukulele player, when he starts strummin it makes my heart happy, so thank you Mr Edward for being my man of the year - every year!

Six-year-old-in-the-house!

This morning I awoke to the sound of Ella coughing, not something I love to hear in any situation, but especially on her birthday.

She came in my room and I braced myself for her sickly cuddly mode to hop into bed and snuggle up, instead she leaned in and whispered

"Did you wrap my presents yet? and did Liana get me a present? cuz I got her a present for her birthday and I got Nina a present on her birthday.......(yadda yadda yadda-you get the picture)"

All year long when I tell her I will not be buying whatever new thing is being advertised during the Dora commercial breaks, she says to me

"Maybe for my birthday could you get me a _____?" And I usually take the chicken way out and say "Maybe, we'll see."

Starting in November she begins the conversations with "when it's my birthday I want to have sparkly bracelets for all the kids and I want to invite everyone I know and I want to have prizes and ...yadda yadda yaddda...!"

And I take the chicken way out and say "We'll talk about it when it is your birthday, we won't have everything, but we will have fun things."

This answer gets me through the other girls birthdays and holidays but it means that once the party is on the calander all bets are off, and my little diva must be tamed daily.

Don't get me wrong, she is grateful for everything and shares at the drop of a hat, but she just thinks soooo many things are fabulous that she can hardly contain herself when she thinks there might be one of the things she has been longing for wrapped up in ribbon for her.

So the party is scheduled and we have a plethora of sparkly, frilly things to do - the big thrill this year will be stringing their own candy bracelets. I am already anticipating the shrieking fun of a gaggle of giggly girls and mentally reminding myself to take ibuprofen before the headache sets in.

I ask myself why I want to throw a party each year, and I guess the reason is that I want her to feel special, I want each of my girls to be a princess for a day.

Growing up in a family of 6 children I never felt like my parents loved one of us more than the other, but it was sometimes a little too easy to feel a bit lost in the shuffle. My birthday was always a time where I did feel special, and I felt like people really did like me and that my opinions mattered. My Mom shared her birthday with me and only now I can really appreciate what that must have meant in self-sacrifice some years.

So thank you to my Mom who gave me the gift of life and the beautiful childhood birthdays that made me feel celebrated, even when my hairstyle and choice of eyeglasses weren't worthy of applause

And thank you Ella for reminding me what that feels like, and for the last time, I am not buying a Barbie that is taller than you! (But I might get a princess one with a horse!)