A Million Posts

No, this is not my millionth post (despite appearances), but I did just add a TON of posts.  Be sure to scroll down and click on "Older Posts" or I've added links to all the new posts below (for those of you basking in your summer laziness as I am!), so just click on the title to view!

- A Very Special BOYS ONLY Day with Daddy -

- Some Very Special Visitors -

- Strawberry Festival -

- Valley, Meet Jamen! -

- Totally Random -

- Concerts in the Plaza -

- Ma & Papa's Visit -

- My Baby's 7! -

- Happy Father's Day! -

- Baby Jamen -

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to this handsome dude:

(yes, I still think you're hot even with your stache!)

I am SO grateful for this man!  He is the love of my life and a wonderful father to our children.  I adore, admire, have fun with, and look up to him.  I am so blessed to have him and so many other wonderful fathers in my life...my dad, father-in-law, Grandpa, Opa, brother, brother-in-laws, and uncles...all men who I look up to and admire.  

Thank you all for being such a wonderful part of my life and allowing me to be a part of yours!  

Happy Fathers' Day to you all!!

Concerts in the Plaza

Friday night David's band played at Concerts in the Plaza (an annual series of concerts in the Mission Plaza - every Friday all summer long theres a different band that plays for 2 hours).  Its somewhat of a big deal - lots and lots of people hear their music which otherwise might not.  Its a big deal to David because our boys actually get to watch him play (most shows are only for 21+) and so do lots of his friends and family who don't particularly like to stay up late to watch.  In fact David's parents came over for the show and David's aunt and uncle came as well.  It was pretty cool.

It was fun watching these guys.

I made all 3 of the boys matching shirts in tribute to their dad (seeing as it was father's day weekend and all!).  I'm assuming most of you don't have any clue what this shirts about.  Its modeled after the Telefunken symbol...Telefunken is known for their awesome vintage (and new) microphones.  So I recreated it, switching the "TELEFUNKEN" with "RADMACHER."

Before we left for the concert, Jonah was adamant that he have a sign that read "Go Dad!"  And of course Jaxon has to have whatever Jonah has.  So they waved their flags in between songs!

The boys did a little dancing with Ma.

Jamen slept the ENTIRE time! (Don't worry, I DID put ear plugs in his ears!)

There were a lot of crazy old people dancing...some of which I'd rather forget all together.  Ma and I had a blast watching them all!  This couple was my favorite.  They were the first ones out on the dance floor and they were awesome!  They did a little fox trotting, a little mashed potato...and all the while he had the most perfect posture...amazing!  It made for some awesome dancing!  So cute!

Speaking of crazy (besides the lady to the left)...there was this guy...

Odd is the only word I really have to describe him.  He started off in the crowd playing harmonica to himself, then he upgraded to a red plastic flutey-recorder thing.  I think it may have been a child's toy...don't know though - it could have been a rare flute from South America...nope, definitely a child's toy.  He walked amongst the dancers, playing away.  To who?  I don't know, because you couldn't hear him unless you were close enough.  I know this because for some reason (I believe it was the camera in my hand), he ended up RIGHT in front of me - he kept staring me down while he played RIGHT in front of me (luckily there was a stroller between us!) like I was a snake in a basket or something.  Really weird!  I don't know, maybe he thought I could get him a spot in the band or something.  Sorry buddy, not a chance!  Very creepy!

These 2 were my other favorite dancers - Uncle Billy and Aunt Pam - they're awesome - I can always count on them to enjoy a good show!  Thanks for coming you 2...you're the best!

Papa and Uncle Billy were cracking me up...on one point I looked over at them sitting next to each other - Papa was bobbing his head to the beat and Billy was doing the exact same thing, just in triple time.  It was awesome! (I DID film it by the way boys...watch out, it may come out!) :-)

My dad and mom and little sister were there too.  My mom made David's night...she said, "wow, his mustache actually looks pretty good from down here!"  Coming from my mom (who hates facial hair), that's an incredible compliment - David was so pleased with his stache! :-)

It was a fun night.  David was incredible (should I expect less than incredible?) and the band was pretty good too :)  On the way home I asked Jonah what he thought and he said "Dad was AWE-SOME!"  Let me tell you, for David, that made the night ALL worth it!!

Sneak Peak

For those of you interested....here's a sneak peak of the new studio.

(that's my dad, David, and my dad's childhood friend, Guy, jamming)

It's been a LONG road, but we are finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. There's still a lot of work to be done, but the main room of the studio is for the most part complete. Woo Hoo!!! Whenever I get my rear in gear, I'll post before and after picts!

9 Years!!!

A couple weeks ago David and I celebrated our anniversary. I can hardly believe its been 9 years. In some ways it seems like its been much longer, like we've always been in each others lives. But in another way it kind of ages us. 9 years, really? With all of the ups and downs that have happened in our lives, our marriage has stayed strong and wonderful as ever. It is the one thing that is always stable and through all of our trials in life, we have grown closer and closer. I am truly blessed to be married to such a good man and my best friend at that!!

We celebrated by going to the Cracked Crab in Pismo Beach. David has really been wanting to go for a long, long time now, but its pretty pricey (um, hello, its crab & lobster) and I'm not a big seafood fan. So being the nice wife I am :) I told him we could go for our anniversary. I am SOOO glad we did!!! It was awesome! We had the most awesome crab bisque (oh man, it was REALLY good!), then for dinner I had halibut, which was good, but the highlight was David's Alaskan King crab. Oh it was good! You see I've come to realize that seafood really isn't all that bad when it is fresh and its cooked right. We'll definitely be saving up for another visit!

Happy Halloween!

We didn't do anything too exciting the day of Halloween. We don't get trick-or-treaters at our house (one of the perks of living in the country!) and we had too many errands to run during the day to stop by the Village and trick-or-treat the shops. But we DID make it to the Trunk-or-Treat at church!

We all dressed up this year. We even got an award for our costumes!

Can you guess who we all are??

We've got Sheriff Woody & his girlfriend Bo Peep (fyi-Jesse is more like his sister, NOT his girlfriend! That's Bo Peep!) Thank you mom for my cool costume! You did a great job! My absolute favorite were the bloomers!

And of course the (not so) Evil Emperor Zurg and (the cutest ever) Buzz Lightyear of Star Command!

The kids did a costume parade here too. Poor kid in front of Jonah kept getting his costume stepped on...watch where you're stepping Zurg! :)

Jax was just so cute and squishy in this costume! He loved carrying his candy bucket around. He and his little friend were so cute playing with Jax's Buzz & Woody toys. They didn't even care about getting more candy! We went home and I asked Jaxon if he had fun. He said "Ya, I play with Tommy! Tommy Doo-Boo!" (Tommy dressed up like Scooby Doo)

David...I mean Sheriff Woody...was such a good sport. I think this years costume wasn't as embarrassing as years past. Plus he knew my costume was much more embarrassing then his, so he couldn't complain!

David was in charge of handing out the candy. We didn't do anything exciting with our trunk, but we did have our Toy Story soundtrack playing in the background. I think Jonah likes giving out candy more then he likes getting it (thats a REALLY good thing!) and Jax just likes to sit their and eat it! :)

"You got a friend in me..." The best of pals, Woody & Buzz!

Trunk-or-Treat with Gramma & Grand Pa

Tuesday night my parents had their annual Trunk-or-Treat at church, so we headed down to, well, get some candy!! I got skimpy on the costumes this year. Jaxon's is store bought (I wasn't about to attempt making a Buzz Lightyear costume!) and Jonah's Zurg costume I waited until literally Tuesday morning to start on it. For those of you who don't know who Zurg is, he's Buzz's archenemy. He's mentioned in Toy Story 1, but doesn't show up until Toy Story 2.

The kids had tons of fun going trunk to trunk with Aunt Carina. I, on the other hand, was NOT happy! I locked my keys in the car and had to wait for AAA to come rescue me. That's the 2nd AAA call I've had to make in 1 month! Thank goodness for AAA, but I've got to wise up...I've only got 2 more free calls left until next August...ug!

So after the trunk-or-treating, everyone went inside for a little costume parade by the kids and some games and food. The boys had lots of fun and it was good to see old friends and their kids!

Woo-Hoo!!!

I have stuff I need to blog about, but then that would mean I'd actually have to get up, go to my car and grab my camera, which at this moment I'm just not willing to do. But I did want to share some VERY exciting news! We're SO excited! The red tag has been removed from the studio! Oh how happy we are! Things can FINALLY move forward on the construction of the studio! Oh happy day!

For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, let me try to briefly explain. Back in March or April we left the theater for a bigger, better building down the street. It needed to be earthquake retrofitted and needed a major inner face lift. So we (ok, not me, David and my dad) figured out what needed to be done to get things rolling. Well a couple weeks later, in came the stinky old grumpy, cocky, building inspector who decided that, oh yeah, by the way I've decided you need some extra building permits in order for us to be able to hang sound proofing on the wall and nail up trim, blah, blah, blah. So he red tagged us without any warning (meaning construction must come to an immediate halt, all but a few things anyway). So then the city decided to hold back our grant money used for the earthquake retrofit until the red tag came off (even though they said it wouldn't be effected...the poops!), which meant an even bigger delay. It was only supposed to take like 10 days, but pretty much 10 weeks later (or maybe even more, I've lost count), we FINALLY got the go ahead today. The red tag was removed, the massively ridiculous bill was paid, and the permits were issued. Phew! Folks, there may actually be an end in sight!

Rock Show

Thanks to my mom and lil sis, I got to get away last night and watch David play a show. He's so good. I'm not just saying that either 'cause he's my hubby...he really is good!

There's certain places he plays that are quite interesting. I get to do a LOT of people watching, which is actually fun for me. Every time I come to the same conclusion...I'm SO glad I'm not a partying, drunk, immature, attention-craving, insecure, single person. Don't people realize how silly there are?

Did I mention my husband is awesome?

So in my people watching, I saw this girl (well really it was hard to miss her) who was probably the most attention-craving human ever (okay, maybe not ever, but at least this week)! She danced all by herself all weird, then she sent her friend out to get a hula hoop for her. She came out and started dancing with it. You know kind of like the rhythmic gymnasts? I guess it takes talent, but it was really weird, especially at a music venue. At a park...possibly. As a circus act...definitely. But a music venue? Um no. This is where I made friends with the door guy. We both thought it was really weird. Then another girl (clearly not old enough) tried to get in with someone else's i.d. Silly girls!

The sound guy and I graduated from H.S. together and he and David are friends, so we were chatting and we both came to the conclusion that we're just too old for this. Not the music, just the crowd. Come on mature people...come out to the shows!

Then I got in a fight. Well not actually, but David likes to say I did...it sounds better I guess. :) I was standing by the door and this huge crowd of young immature guys came up. One of them said all loud to his friends right next to me, "This band sucks." The lame thing is he just got there and hadn't even heard 1 second of music. Big mistake buddy! I turned to him and said "Hey, zip it! My husbands in that band, so keep it to yourself." Do I sound like a geeky mom or what? He got this look on his face like, "Oh man, what did I just say?" and said "well they're just too mellow, they need to rock out more." My response? "Ya, well maybe you should have come earlier, like the last song when they were." Don't be messin' with the band wife! :) It was all in fun though...I really wasn't all onry. He felt dumb though and all his friends looked at him like "you dork!"

So it was an entertaining experience. The band was great, I ran in to a few old friends and acquaintances...fun stuff. Can't wait til next time!

Happy Birthday David!

David's birthday is only 5 days after Jonahs, so we've been in the birthday spirit.  Nothing particularly eventful happened for the big day, but he and I did get to get away for a few hours and go out to eat.  And of course he got his favorite...angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream.

For those of you who don't directly know David, you're missing out.  He is an incredible human.  He is the most generous person I know and is the best at lighting up a room.  He is very funny and loves to learn.  He's like a sponge - he sucks up so much knowledge.  He's kind of known as the "random facts guy."  He could seriously come up with a random fact for just about anything.  He has an incredible literary memory (I say literary because he can remember pretty much anything he reads or sees or hears when it comes to facts, but not so good at remembering every day things like where he put his shoes the night before). :)  He's also like a walking GPS and has a built in compass or something.  I think he has a map imprinted in his brain.  He can drive somewhere 1 time and go back 10 years later and know exactly how to get there without directions...its incredible!  David is an absolutely incredible musician.  He is so talented in so many areas.  He has an incredible talent for being able to pick up anything and be super awesome at it right away and without practice - sports, instruments, cooking...you name it.  He is incredibly creative in so many ways.  He loves history, technology, MMA, swimming, good weather, good food and he loves spending time with his family.  He is a good listener and wonderful to have a conversation with.  He is a wonderful husband and an awesome dad.  

David is an inspiration and motivator for me.  For those of you who don't know, David lives with chronic pain every single day of his life.  3 weeks before we were married, David had his shoulder replaced for the first time.  It never got better, only worse.  He had a 2nd shoulder replacement 3 or 4 years later and since then it has only gotten worse.  He's had "world specialists" check him out and work on him, but all they can gather is that they have no clue and tell him to learn to deal with the pain for the rest of his life.  He still can't lift his arm up more than 6 inches or so.  Being married to him, I have seen the true pain he has and continues to go through.  The simple fact that he just gets up in the morning, let alone functions fully is so inspiring.  He lives his life so much fuller than his body intends for him to do so and for that he is an inspiration.  I am so grateful for all of the sacrifices he makes for our family!

Happy Birthday David,

You are awesome,

We love you!

Happy Father's Day

I just had to give a (very belated) shout out to all the father's out there.  I know so many of them and so many of you have touched my life in ways you'll never know.  

I have a great dad who raised me to be (I think at least) a good person.  He was (and is) a strong musical influence in my life.  He would play his guitar and sing to us to sleep most every night - my favorites were "Christopher Robin," "Castles in the Air," and "Longer."  I think I was like 12 or maybe older before I realized that he didn't actually write those songs.  He will always be remembered for "Cows in the Kitchen," and "In America...Oo-Oo," and now "Sheryl."  He even taught me my first song on the guitar, "Yesterday" by the Beatles.  One of my fondest memories of my dad was when he'd pull us around the house on our blankets.  As a kid he had a knack for making sad things happy...probably 9.5 times out of 10 when he'd get mad at one of us for something, he'd start with his stern voice, then end up laughing saying, "what, I'm serious!"  How could either of us be mad after that?  Dad, you are a great dad...thank you for all that you do and continue to do for me and my family!

As well as having a great dad, I've got a wonderful husband who is a wonderful father to our boys.  He loves and respects both of them and tries his hardest to do what is best for them.  The boys love their daddy so much.  Every day without fail when he comes home from work, the boys come running to him, excited as ever, as if they hadn't seen him for weeks.  He has a knack for finding fun with them where ever he might be and whenever he can, he takes the opportunity to teach them.  He has an awesome talent for teaching and his children suck up everything he says.  He has a great imagination and is so creative (his son's daddy thats for sure!).  He is the best at bedtime stories and nighttime "talks" with Jonah.  Honey, you're the best dad and we all love you so much!

Rockin' Daddy

About 2 weeks ago David played another acoustic show - they were asked back after their last show.  So we thought it'd be fun to bring the boys, since most shows David plays they can't go to (either too late, or they're too young).  

Farmer's Market was going on too, so we did a little paroozing (however you spell that) before.  And of course stopped by Bubble Gum Alley (gross I know, but Jonah loves it...and he's sad because I wouldn't let him take a marble out of a piece of gum he saw on the wall...I'm SO mean!).  Then we checked out David's show.  I had to get fries to occupy Jax, but they really did have fun.  We sat front and center and the boys danced and all.  Jax kept trying to crawl on the stage, which everyone got a hoot out of.  

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Jax is the Condiment King...he doesn't really eat fries or chicken nuggets or anything like that, he just sucks the ketchup or ranch off of it.  Really if I gave him a bottle of ranch or ketchup, he'd be a very happy boy!

Thanks for a good show, Babe!

Waffles & Sickies

The following week after Christmas certainly was not as eventful (or even as close to) as exciting as the week before.  Since we've been back from Visalia, it's been pretty not fun around here.  Jonah was sick with the stomach flu...he threw up one day, was totally better the next, then the next he spent on the toilet.  He seems to be totally better now, but then Sunday David came down with it.  He stayed home Monday, but was better enough (not all the way) to go to work for a couple hours yesterday.  Thankfully he seems to be fine today.  Jaxy got sick around New Years and is still...he didn't get the stomach flu, thankfully, but has a really bad cold.  He seemed to be getting better yesterday, but of course today he was just SOOOO stinkin' cranky and made me carry him around everywhere...huh, I'm tired!

For Christmas my brother & his wife gave us a Mickey waffle iron.  It makes these mini-waffles shaped like Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, & Daffy.  So this morning we decided to try it out.  Jax helped me make the batter (he looks funny 'cause every time I tell him to smile or say "cheese," he says "eez" and squints his face).

And voile!  (the weird brown splotches are chocolate chips)

Jonah LOVED them!  He had firsts, then seconds, even thirds!  Jaxon hasn't had much of an appetite the last few days, so he just starred at them and kept pointing to the Pluto one saying "puppy, puppy."  Good work Brandaan & Melissa!  I'll do just about anything to get my kids to eat breakfast and so far this works!  Jonah's all excited that you can also make brownies & muffins.

Poor little sick Jaxy!  He seems to be getting these colds too often!  I'm really hoping he doesn't get an earache, but unfortunately he most likely will.  He's been pretty miserable...I'm just glad he's not miserable and throwing up too...I'll take caterpillar snot nose over barfs any day!  Anyway, when (if) he lets me put him down, he pretty much just hangs out in my bed watching movies...not great parenting, but it makes him happy for a little bit at least.  Let me just say, MY BACK IS KILLING ME...that boy is HEAVY!  I did take him down to see the cows yesterday - thought the fresh air might be good for him.  If I ever find my camera charger, then I'll post them (I had to use my video camera to take them this morning!).

Jonah has been obsessed with his new video game from David - Ratchet & Clank.  The PS3 usually stays at the theater, but since the boys have been sick, David brought it home for them all to play (or rather waste a LOT of time).  

I told David this morning that although I've enjoyed having Jonah home, I'm ready for him to go back to school so we can get back to our regular routine!

I Love This Man!

I feel like time is just flying by and I haven't had any time to blog about it.  Unfortulately I'm too tired to update you all and I left my camera at my parents.  But I did want to write about one thing...how much I love this man!

David & I celebrated our 8th anniversary about a week & 1/2 ago.  Life hasn't always been smooth sailing for us, but one thing has always remained the same, that we love each other more than ever!  I am SO grateful for him in my life and in my children's lives!  I would do absolutely anything for that man...he means the world to me!  What a wonderful man, husband, father, and friend!  He blesses the lives of all who know him and is just so incredible!

Happy (late) Anniversary, David,

I Love You!!!

Boys, Boys, Boys

1 Year Old + Tomato Soup = One BIG Mess!

That is why I love this so much!

For those of you who have kids and have never tried OxiClean...do it!  I'm their #1 fan...my kids are walking proof that it works!  Just so you know, that curtain and his shirt are now 100% tomato free.  It works wonders on all sorts of stains - berries, tomatoes, mud, you name it.  I almost WANT my kids to get berry stains, just so I can spray them with OxiClean...you can literally see the stains disappear in less than a minute!  Simply amazing!

These are our cute little snowman towels I bought at Target last year in their after-Christmas sale ($2 each!).  The kids love it when I sing "Once Their Was a Snowman" while they get out of the tub...Jonah's "tall, tall, tall" and Jax is "small, small, small."  Oh the little things that amuse our chillins.

Winter has definitely hit our little country cottage.  It has gotten cold!  Okay, for those of you living in Wyoming, Utah, or Idaho, it's nothin', but to me its chilly!  And of course we don't have central heating, so we get to use this beauty:

We really were trying to avoid using it, but after I woke up this morning and I could see my breath inside the house, not to mention lately I've been going outside to "warm up," I thought we'd better just swallow our pride and build a fire already.  We've been using an electric heater every now and then, but I know I won't be too happy when the electric bill comes.  David grew up always having stove heat and swore he would never use one again...oops.  I guess thats the price you gotta pay to live in paradise!  So I got my first lesson on how to build a fire (I guess Girls Camp and Camp Fire Kids didn't prepare me enough) and I'm pretty darn proud of myself...I officially feel like a full-fledged country girl now.

Last, but certainly not least (did you really think I'd make a post without mentioning something Christmas related?), I had to tell you a cute thing Jonah said when he got off the bus today.  

Jonah:  "Joshua [his friend] said that he doesn't love Jesus."  

Me:  "Well maybe he doesn't know about Him like you do."  

Jonah:  "Well he said that Santa was the best thing about Christmas and I said, 'No, Jesus is more important than Santa' and he said 'I like Santa more' but I know the truth, Santa's not as important! I love Jesus the most!"  

Its fun watching Jonah this Christmas, because he seems to be understanding a little bit more that its not all about presents and decorations.  He doesn't seem to be as interested in Santa this year, as he is with Nativities and stories of Jesus.  This is what I found in his stack of drawings the other day:

If you couldn't tell, its a Nativity with camels and cows (yah, that's what those things on the right are), wise men & all.  My favorite is the angel and star at the top.

Rock 'n' Roll!

I just have to say that my husband is the coolest guy ever and a rockin' guitar player at that!  

Last night was Adam Pasion's (formerly Briertone) c.d. release.  David has spent the last year at the theater recording and co-producing their new album.  I got to go with David to watch the show and I was lucky enough to get to see him play on one of the songs (he also played on the album - you can hear it here, just click on Awake on the playlist).  My husband is amazing!  I recorded a tiny bit of it, so if I can find the cord to connect my camera to my computer, then I'll post it.  I suppose otherwise you'll just have to leave it up to your imaginations.

(Briertone)