Frisco: Day 2

I'm realizing that some of this might be repetitive - I forgot that Dan actually blogged about the trip when we got back, so this will just be my version.

We finished up Day 1 by checking into our hotel, the Sofitel (which we ended up calling the "Snot-fitel") and heading to a Navy Pier-ish type place called Pier 39 for dinner. Nothing too exciting, but we were hungry and the food was good.

We stayed in the aforementioned "Snot-fitel" because it was across the street from where the conference was being held (at the Oracle campus) and all the attendees and speakers were staying there. And it was being paid for since it was a work trip for Dan (at $275 or whatever it was, we definitely wouldn't have chosen it!). It was fancy. And as fancy hotels go, the more you pay, it seems the less you get. No free stuff...not even a coffee maker in the room! And, I love french things and all, but this was just a little too stuffy, including the staff. Thus, "Snofitel."

Anyway, Dan went to his conference and I slept in, took my time getting ready, did my nails and pampered myself a bit which was nice. Then I headed down to the lobby for breakfast. No free continental breakfast here. But it was vacation, so I decided to treat myself to a proper French breakfast. I ordered fresh berries with creme fraiche and a pot of French pressed coffee. I will say this was the BEST part of the stay at Sofitel. Though extremely overprices at $18 for berries, cream and coffee, it was superb. Each berry was huge and perfect, and if you haven't had creme fraiche it's sort of like a mix of yogurt and sour cream - delish. And the coffee was perfect. I sat there for a quite a while enjoying my morning and the paper (something I rarely do).

After that I packed up, checked out (since check out was during the conference) and then headed out with my laptop to find some wi-fi and spent most of the afternoon at Starbucks. Soon it was time to pick up Dan and head to our next destination - a Marriott we had pricelined for $55 / night. We spent the next 3 nights there and it was perfect - good location and super nice with friendly staff.

OK, enough about our hotels. I'm starting to ramble.

That night we decided to check out Fisherman's Wharf. We had heard it was a bit of a tourist trap, but wanted to check it out nonetheless. It was definitely a little touristy, but it was fun to peruse the seafood stands and partake in some of the cuisine - crab cakes and fried shrimp...yum.








We also visited the Boudin bakery there, and picked up a loaf of sourdough to take with us. I saved the paper bag it came in, because the story of the bread is fascinating. You can read it here, but this is the part I found interesting:

"In 1849, the Boudin family struck culinary gold. Wild yeasts in the San Francisco air had imparted a unique tang to their traditional French bread, giving rise to “San Francisco sourdough French bread.” Today, the Boudin family's initial recipe lives on in the hands and hearts of our expert bakers, with a portion of the original mother dough still starting each and every sourdough loaf we make."


From there we headed to Girardelli Square, which is the original Ghirardelli factory that has been turned into a cute shopping / eating area.



We looked around and I fell in love with the little shop I blogged about here, Crown and Crumpet. And we had the BEST cupcakes ever at a cute little shop called Kara's cupcakes. So, so good.






Then we had to have some Ghirardelli chocolate. We went to their little cafe for some drinking chocolate and were able to watch some of the original machinery on display, still making chocolate.





It was another lovely day in San Francisco!

Wishing I were in San Francisco

A year ago today, we descended on sunny San Francisco. And since I never posted about our trip, why not on the one year anniversary. Quite frankly, I'm wishing I was back there right now! And I was inspired by Christina's posts about their Hawaii trip to get these posts done and officially memorialized.

Last year Dan was invited to do a session at a mentoring conference in San Fransico.  He had done a session here in Chicago on building free websites, and someone in that session coordinates the San Francisco conference and asked him to participate.  So, since his half was paid for, I decided to tag along and we made an nice Thursday - Monday trip out of it.  The boys stayed in Rockford with my mom and Joyce; it was the first time we'd been away since Gabe was 15 months or so.

When we landed in San Fran, we couldn't take in enough of the warm, sunny, 65 degree air.  We were instantly refreshed, having come from the cold Chicago winter.  We hopped off the plane, picked up our rental car, and headed out to explore.



We weren't quite sure where we were headed. We felt wild and free, and decided to drive in the direction of the ocean. We drove until we saw this:



The sight, sound and smell of the ocean was just what we needed. The ocean always makes me stop and thank God for the beauty of nature.



We decided to take our shoes and socks off and enjoy the beach.





There were surfers!



There was so much scenery





Dan always loves the wildlife:







We stayed to watch the sunset...











It was the perfect introduction to San Fracisco. We were in love at first sight.

LOVE

I'm having some fun with the new Valentine's tools at Picnik (instead of doing something productive, like cleaning my house).

Seen and Heard

I've been meaning to do an update post on the boys for a LONG time now, and I was inspired by Erica's post to do it today, before I forget more than I already have.

So, here goes...

Gabe



My baby boy is almost 5. The thought of him going to kindergarten in the fall seriously brings a tear to my eye. No more jammie days during the week. No more lazing around in the morning. No more (or at least fewer) carefree, homework-less evenings. I think I'm exagerating a bit, but that's how my mind works. But, there are always the summers....right? School and education are a positive thing, right?

On a lighter note:

He has been, and still is, on a serious super hero kick, loving all things related - toys, books, movies, video games, costumes - anything. He was HULK for Halloween and can transform into Hulk whenever he dons his costume and giant, green Hulk hands.

His latest love is Star Wars. I'm not quite sure how this love started, I think it might have been with Dan's old Darth Vader action figure case that came up from the basement, but he is TOTALLY into it. For Christmas all he wanted was a Darth Vader costume and a Star Wars ship. And he has started a little collection in his room for all his Star Wars things (happy meal toys, action figures, his ships, etc.). Occasionally he'll quiz me: "Mommy, do you know who this guy is?" "Ummm, Luke Skywalker?" "NOOOO! It's Annakin!" Oops. I need to study up.

He really enjoys his three-day preschool and is making some friends. So far Camille and Joshua are his best buddies. It's been great to see him develop friendships with other kids. He's always enjoyed chatting up adults, but hasn't always been inclined to interact with other kids his age, so it's nice to see.

His most recent favorite movie is Napoleon Dynamite. Truly. He totally gets the humor and will watch it start to finish. And he's been quoting it regularly ("Whatever I wanna do, GOSH!" and "TINA! Come eat your ham!"). Like father, like son - 'nuff said.

He plays well with his brother. BUT, they definitely have their moments. He can be super sweet and kind with Caleb, but also knows how to push Caleb's buttons! We're also getting into this phase where he feels like he can "parent" Caleb - "Caleb, that's enough whining." or "Caleb, if you do that again you're going to have a timeout."

He still loves playing music on his CD player and dancing. And he loves you to dance with him. Long time favorite is "Sadie Hawkins Dance" by Relient K from an old CD of Dan's (they both LOVE dancing around to this song). Gabe still calls it "cracky pants" i.e .kahki pants). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9MRlAAr6BQ

He is insistent on your FULL attention. If he is trying to tell or show you something and you are not paying 100% full attention, he gets super frustrated. Even if there's a movie on - you MUST be watching with him (usually). Sometimes if I get up for something he wants me to pause it so I don't miss anything.

He's been a bit of a Daddy's boy lately, and refers to Dan as his "best buddy." He's say things like "how's my best buddy today?" or "how 'bout a hug from my best buddy?" (like when Dan gets home from work).

He's definitely all boy. He informed me several weeks ago that he will no longer be called "baby" or "sugar" or "cute." I still call him those things, but it makes him crazy sometimes. Because now he is just "cool" or "awesome" or other non-girly descriptive words.

It seems that almost every sentence contains the word "poop" or "pooper" in some way shape or form. I'm not sure why it's so funny, but to him, it is.

He's still got a sweet, cuddly spot, despite the aforementioned resistance to "cute" stuff. He still loves to cuddle on the couch and at night when I'm putting him down. And he still loves to play with my hair as he's falling asleep.

He keeps us laughing - he loves scaring or suprising us or playing jokes on us.

He loves his veggies (particulary sliced red bell pepper and "big" carrots - like Bugs Bunny) and is still resistant to anything with frosting (trust me, he came up with that all on his own).

Caleb


It's hard to believe Caleb is 2 1/2 already. He is now about 3 months older than Gabe was when he was born - that's crazy for me to think about.

Some "baby book" type updates:

He got his last molar, I think right around Thanksgiving.

He's hit-or-miss on naps. After our vacation last September, when he hardly napped at all, we sort of gave it up in favor of an earlier bedtime. When he was napping he wouldn't go down until maybe 8:30 or 9, so now we put both of them down most nights around 7:30-ish. But there is the occasional day when he still naps.

He can count to maybe 5 or so on his own, and he is pretty good at naming letters. W is his favorite letter. :-)

He has become totally anti-milk. We try to do yogurt to get the dairy in, but having trouble with the milk.

He is definitely our sweet tooth. LOVES candy and sweets of all kinds.

Other updates:

He totally mimics Gabe at every opportunity. A lot of times he's like a little echo...Gabe will be talking and Caleb is in the background trying to say everything Gabe is saying. It's really sweet actually. Gabe gets frustrated sometimes, but I tried to tell him that imitation is the highest form of flattery. :-)

He LOVES his DBDB (mini Fisher Price DVD player). He mostly loves to just put movies in, start them, take them out, get another, etc....also insists on being able to push the button on the big DB (DVD player) when we are watching a movie on the big TV. This one needs some work, as he is a little too attached to DBDB.

He still loves his "day day" (blanket). He carries it around occasionally during the day and definitely needs it at night. He hangs on to the ears (it's a hooded blanket with little bear ears) - one in each hand - and is not settled until he finds them.

He's a little quirky - really always has been (in a cute way). Things like open drawers and doors make him a little crazy and he'll always stop whatever he's doing to shut them.

He loves buttons and things that make noise. Loves his remote controlled car.

He can still be pretty attentive for long spans. He is really good at the wooden alphabet puzzles we have and is getting pretty good and saying the corresponding word that's under the letter (like "b for butterfly").

He can pretty much say whatever he wants, but he still has to think about it sometimes as he pieces sentences together. It's really sweet to listen to him articulate a long sentence.



I know I'm forgetting LOTS as usual, but I feel better at least having jotted some of this down! I'm so thankful for each of them and their unique personalities. I pray everyday that I can be the mom they need me to be, one that loves and encourages and nurtures them in a way that will help them grow and develop into healthy and well-rounded people. I'm definitely needing to watch my tone lately - I feel like I get easily frustrated sometimes and I know I need to work on that. But, one day at a time, right?

Christmas Eve Morning (a.k.a. Our Christmas Morning)

I wanted to finish posting about Christmas before I forget!

We had our Christmas morning with the boys here on the morning of Christmas Eve. Remember with me back to the cute matching PJs, which are partially intended for adorable Christmas morning pictures. Well, both boys had to be changed in the morning - Caleb had soaked through his, and due to their tight-fitting (albeit adorable) nature, Gabe had a little trouble going potty in the morning and peed all over his, too. Thus the unmatching PJs in the pics below. But they're still cute. :-)

We decided to start with stockings!



I found some fun stocking stuffers this year (if I do say so myself), including these crazy straw glasses from the Paper Source. They were fun, for a minute. And now I don't even know where they are. And Caleb's are still in the package. So maybe "fun" was an overstatement.



Then it was time for presents:



Lots of presents:



I was totally on board and excited for the Want, Need, Wear, Read approach and got COMPLETELY overruled by my significant other. I will just leave it at that. :-)



We even had a present under the tree from Gabie that he made at school - homemade ornaments. He was so proud and so were we:



It was a big Star Wars year for Gabe. Before Christmas, he told me the "the one thing he wanted and would definitely not say no to" was "a Darth Vader costume." And then later added that he also wanted a Star Wars ship (like Grandma Sandi's). So, Star Wars it was. Dan ordered the costume from Amazon and it came just in the nick of time - our Christmas Eve Eve. Dan had it shipped to his office, so he brought it home and when we went to wrap it at 11 p.m. that night we realized a crucial piece was missint - the MASK. Sort of an essential piece of the Darth Vader costume. So, Dan did what any parent wanting to grant their child's only Christmas wish would do - went to Toy's 'R Us to find a replacement. Thankfully they were open until 1 a.m. and THANKFULLY they had 2 Darth Vader costumes left. And then on the way out, Dan saw a whole cart of them waiting to be restocked. It was our little Christmas miracle and it was worth it to see the look on Gabe's...I mean Darth's.... face Christmas morning.



Caleb got his faves - things with buttons that make noise and things that move:



And after all was said and done, the house looked like this:




But it was a wonderful morning. I was thinking how there really are only a few years where Christmas is so exciting and magical for them and I'm cherishing each one.

Good Friends

Last Friday we were able to have a playdate with my high school girlfriends and all of our kids....probably the first time in a year we've been together with all the little ones! It was great seeing everyone, though my boys were SUPER grumpy at first. :-) Sorry!

I know I've said it before, but it's so nice to have close friends that have known you since you were a kid and still like you (I think? ha!). :-)

And speaking of good friends, I also had lunch with my college girlfiends Anne and Val this weekend. We have a quarterly (more often if we can manage) lunch at Sweet Tomatoes in Schaumburg. All-you-can-eat salad, soup, pizza and several hours of chatting and catching up (sans kids). This weekend we seriously laughed until we cried - I haven't done that in a long time! So good to have other moms to relate to. I need a picture of us next time, girls!

Love all you girls! Thanks for being my BFFs. :-)

Congrats, Holly and Matt!

On Christmas evening we were able to stop by the Hodges family get-together and were happy to hear that Matt had proposed to Holly that morning! The ring is absolutely beautiful...this picture does not do it justice. I wish I had taken a few more!

Congrats, Holly and Matt! We are so happy for you.

It's a Start

One of my goals this year is to be better organized about planning our meals, and to make healthier food in general. My sister got me this amazing cookbook for Christmas, and I'm loving it. OK, so I've only made two things, but both were super simple, super good and pretty healthy, too.

Here's something you might not know about me...unlike my husband, who loves to just "throw something together," I need serious guidance and direction when I cook. I need a recipe, and I follow it exactly (usually). I even follow the recipe from my red and white Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for scrambled eggs and hard boiled eggs (except now I have those memorized).

So I love that these recipes are simple (5 main ingredients, 15 mintues or less prep), and really good. I made these mini meatloaves tonight, and was a little doubtful when I put the four large clumps of meat in the oven, but they were SOOO good.

{picture via www.cookinglight.com}

I'm hoping I can be disciplined enough to plan things out and pick up the stuff I need for a week's work of meals using this cook book and some of my others, and probably some from Kraft for good measure. We'll see!

Would love to know how you plan your family's meals. I'm always looking for ideas!

Fresh Start

This picture really has nothing to do with this post, but I like it (it's from when we went to Lake Geneva for Dan's birthday), and heaven knows I can't post something without a picture! :-) I guess the freshly fallen snow could tie into the "fresh" theme....anyway...

I've been thinking long and hard this year about changes I want to make, and how I want to approach them. I've seen several folks out in blogland using the "one word" approach...things like "discipline," "intentional," "celebrate." All great words to describe a particular focus. I think if I went with this approach, my word would be "habits." I need to form more positive habits in my daily life:

-More organized housekeeping habits (finding a good schedule)
-Better eating habits for me and my family (researching what is really healthiest)
-Exercise habits ('nuff said)
-Shopping / meal planning habits (better lists, menus, etc.)
-Reading habits (reading a stinkin' book...it's ridiculous that I don't!)
-Hobby habits (making time for learning more about photography and sewing)
-Spiritual habits (prayer and reading)
-Financial habits (better system for bill paying, use quicken, etc.)
-Better beauty routine habits (like moisturizing at night!)

I could add a lot of things to that list, and most of them appear on my list each year, but the idea is that I just need to get in the habit of doing certain things, and break the bad habits I've developed over the last few years (or lack of good habits). It's a daunting goal, but I really want to do better.

On a more general note, I was listening to Moody radio on the way to the grocery store the other night. Dan always listens to Moody, and I usually change it to the Mix (shameful, I know), but the show that was on caught my attention. It was a pastor and his wife who wrote a book called "30 days to Live," and apparently they had sort of compiled a lot of thoughts and lessons from their interactions with folks who were in the final stages of life. I didn't listen for very long, but picked up a couple of things I wanted to remember:

-People who know the end of life have immense appreciation for small things...like a cool breeze or a drink of water.
-They found that a lot of terminally ill folks said that one of the first things they did after learning of their illness was to forgive others. Bitterness can drain so much from a person, and prevent them from focusing on and appreciating more important things.
-Those in the final stages want others to understand they should stop living with the "someday mentality."

That last one really stuck with me. I am totally guilty of that. I'm truly grateful for my life, but I do find myself thinking that life will somehow be better or less stressful "when things aren't so hectic" or "when we finally get the house the way we want it" or "when we have a bunch of extra money in the bank" or whatever it might be.

All the thinking about "someday" totally wastes "today." Today is my life, right now, and there may always be a reason that I'm looking forward to something, someday, but I want to enjoy each day as I'm in it and appreciate it for what it is.

Sorry, that was a little heavy, and I probably am not articulating it the way I'd like, but it makes sense to me and where I'm at right now.

So, this year, I really want to focus on forming better habits and leaving behind the "someday mentality." So, say a prayer for me and I'll do the same for your as you resolve to do whatever it is you'd like to do this year.

Here's to a happy and healthy 2010!

Our Christmas "Eve Eve"

We are blessed to be able to spend Christmases with both of our families in Rockford each year, and because we are usually there for Christmas day, we have traditionally done our Christmas Eve on the 23rd and Christmas "morning" on the 24th.

Three Christmases ago we started the tradition of a nice Christmas Eve Eve dinner for our little family - candles, Christmas music, sparkling grape juice and...take out. I wish I could say that I MADE a wonderful meal for my family, but I don't. :-) Actually, I don't even wish that I could say that....I thoroughly enjoy picking up a wonderful meal that is all ready to go! :-) Our tradition has been to order from a middle eastern place in Oak Park called Grape Leaves. It's delish. Both Gabe and Caleb enjoyed the sparkling juice this year, and Gabe immediately lifted his glass and said, "Cheers!" and then we all proceeded to clink our glasses together (multiple times throughout the meal :-)).










I really enjoy this time every year. It just makes me stop whatever I'm doing in my hustle and bustle of getting ready for Christmas and just sit and enjoy the time with my husband and boys. I really get that "feeling" that I imagine when I think of the holidays, but that I rarely feel.



Then we do our traditional Christmas jammies. This year, we tried to prepare Gabe, because he was SUPER excited to be able to open a present, but I knew that when he saw jammies he'd be disappointed. So, we said something like, "Gabe, it's not a toy. It's a sleeping present." Strong hint toward PJs, right? Wrong. He opened them up and said, "oh, I was thinking it was gonna be a sleeping bag." Ha! But he was really sweet about the PJs and he and Caleb actually didn't complain at all about putting them on and posing by the tree for me. And I thought they were just too cute!









Dan and I exchanged PJs, too, and then we all got into them and read the Advent Book. This has also been a tradition of ours for the past few years. Dan actually worked with the folks who created and illustrated the book. Each day starting December 1, you open up one door that reveals a part of the Christmas story. This year Gabe memorized a good portion of it! The first line says, "And his name shall be call Immanuel, which means God with us." Caleb was trying his best, too, and everytime Dan would leave a blank for someone to fill in, Caleb would always say...no matter where we were in the book, "God wif yus." It was sweet and they both really love this book - we have to referee taking turns to open the doors.



And then it was time for bed, but not without a family photo of us all in our jammies. I'm still not great at setting up the camera with the timer - you can see the first shot didn't turn out very well!





I was going to include our Christmas morning in this post also, but I think I'll save that for another post...