Not So Wordless Wednesday

Posted on October 22, 2008 by carrievoris

I have only taken two photos this week due to the illness that has taken over the house. I forgot how pretty much the whole world just stops when one of your kids gets really, really sick.

We have been having some wee morning struggles with Addie since Nena left. Before Nena and Bill came to visit we converted Addie’s toddler bed to the full-size bed so that we could use it for company. So she slept wonderfully on the trundle in Em’s room while they were here, but now that she is back in her room? Not so much. Every night about 2:20am she sneaks into my room and tries to get me to “just sleep with me, Mama.”

So Monday morning when she was still sleeping at 7:48am, I was rejoicing. Trying to figure out how to get Em to school (J. had to leave early) – should I just run over there and let Ad sleep – but I was rejoicing nonetheless. Addie was sleeping!

She got up about 2 minutes before Em had to be to school, so I threw a dress on her and she walked over with us. And then I got the bright idea to do my workout. So I packed her up into the stroller with cereal, milk, pollys, blanket, bear and a big blanket to snuggle her all in – and went for a run. She seemed completely fine, chattering away about everything like always. It was a pretty uneventful run.

When we got home she curled up on the sofa while I did my strength DVD. I had opened a window because I was so hot, and I peeked up at Addie and she was sitting on the sofa, literally shivering.

I scooped her up and realized that she was really warm, took her temperature and proceeded to feel like the crummiest Mom ever. She had a serious fever. In my defense, I don’t think she had it when i was tucking her into the stroller, but I can’t help but feel crappy if she had it while I was out trying to squeeze a run in.

So I went into caregiver mode and tried to “baby” her all day long. It didn’t help that she refused to take any sort of medicine for the crazy fever. Every little bit I did manage to get into her, she promptly puked back up.

Mostly she just slept. Off and on, all day long. So I cleaned around her and took photos of her. Because even sick and demanding, she is so very sweet.

And another…

Yep. She is on a totally different sofa (the other one was being fumigated!) with totally different jammies (the others were being burned).

Tuesday when she woke up she was a little warm – her fever was gone but I wanted to make sure, so I kept her home from school another day. She was really not happy with the decision. And by 10am when she was running around like a little banshee, clearly feeling fine, I was cursing the decision as well. But, thankfully, she is feeling better.

Now please pray it doesn’t go through the whole household.

Crafty (Bake-y) Tuesday

Posted on October 21, 2008 by carrievoris

Well, hello there! Let me just dust the flour off of my hands and come out of the kitchen for a bit. It seems that I have been a baking fool lately. Last week I “volunteered” to bake for Ad’s school. Since we had a soccer game on Saturday morning, I was feeling a little guilty that we couldn’t help at the Pumpkin Patch. So instead, we baked. A lot.

Seven batches of pumpkin scones and a few loafs of pumpkin choco-chip bread later…I was relieved to deposit the goods and be done.

Well, until the end of this week at least. Apparently at some point I signed up to bake for Emma and her school carnival this weekend.

Here are the pretty scones waiting to be sold…

And here is the recipe card that we attached to the bottom.

Supposedly it is the Starbucks pumpkin scone recipe. I don’t think they taste exactly the same, and I couldn’t get the frosting as thick, but they are pretty yummy.

Now, I have a request for all of you.

I have been making muffins for the girls for breakfast. Neither of them really like to eat in the morning, but I have found that they will eat a muffin or two. I’ve been making banana muffins and pumpkin muffins and today I tried blueberry. What I really want is a sneaky recipe that they’ll eat that is good for them as well. I use whole wheat flour and organic sugar – but they still are not super healthy.

So if you have some healthy muffin-type recipes, send them over. If I make them and they pass the test around here – I’ll send some pumpkin scones your way!

Happy Birthday Wishes…

Posted on October 21, 2008 by carrievoris

Sending happy wishes to Aunt Amy today!

Hope your day is fantastic and you have a great year!

Love,
J, C, E & A

A Swing Moment ~ Best Shot Monday

Posted on October 19, 2008 by carrievoris

Lately it seems like the only words we exchange are repeated requests for you to do something, (those would be from me, of course) and whiny protests. (Yep, those would be from you.)

But tonight, because your sister did not finish her dinner in a timely matter, you and I headed to the park hand-in-hand. Just the two of us.

You chattered the whole way across the street about the Halloween decorations and what you should wear to school tomorrow and I was a bit distracted with the thought of my Monday morning calendar.

“Push me really high on the swing, Mama! Higher!” you called out to me.

And with every push, it was mesmerizing. I marveled at how long your legs have become. How when you are propelled forward, your head falls back and your hair sweeps the earth.

I sat in the swing next to you and just soaked you in. Back and forth. How high you can fly. You started to sing the song you had learned in Sunday school for me and then we just talked. Or rather, you talked, and I really listened. I learned more about you, your school days, your friends, and what is in your pretty little head in that 20 minutes we spent swinging tonight, than I have in the past four weeks.

It was my melting moment for the week. Thank you, my little bird for a much needed reminder to take a moment to swing in the present.

For more melting moments, visit Tracey’s today.

THE Week – Part I

Posted on October 17, 2008 by carrievoris

Sorry. Didn’t mean to leave you hanging for so long about Part I of our week (which was now nearly two weeks ago!). Part II seemed a little more exciting and pressing, so that got top billing. But there was some other chaos about last week as well.

For as long as I can remember J. has been wanting to go dive with the sharks. I think that was part of why he was so keen to get us certified as divers thirteen years ago. And I have always said, “Of course! Suuuure. Love to go throw myself in a cage with a TWO.TONS.OF.SHARK. lurking about.”

(NOT our photo – courtesy of www.dailymail.co.uk)

So when J. asked a few months ago if we could finally do a shark dive, I said, “Of course! Suuure. We’ll definitely go.” (Always thinking that it would get pushed off and we would never really go.) So when he came home a few weeks ago and said that he had found a dive company that he thought would be good, and they had openings, and…we were going – well, I may have peed my pants. Just a little bit.

But being the good wife and dive buddy – I said, “Of course! Suuuure. Let’s go.”

Thankfully we got to dive on the Monday that Debby and Bill were here, and they were eager to watch the girls for the night so we lucked out on the babysitting front.

So we got ourselves together and headed to the airport on Sunday. It was a wee little piece of heaven to travel on an airplane with no children, let me tell you. The girls are fantastic travelers, but only because I am constantly plying them with entertainment options and snacks. It was nice to eat my own peanuts and read an entire, un-interrupted magazine. Although I had a little bit of apprenhension. Some parents take separate planes when they are traveling together, so as to not orphan their children, you know. And here we are. Not only on the same flight, but going down into a cage with Great White sharks together. Just didn’t quite feel like responsible parenting to me.

But J. would just assure me that the company we were going out with had never “lost” a person.

Fantastic.

The dive boat left Emeryville (near Oakland – across the bay from San Francisco) at 6am. So we did not get to take advantage of a sleep-in. And poor J. had a crazy headache all night, so he didn’t sleep well. And I don’t think I did either, mostly because of that “irresponsible parent” notion that I just couldn’t shake.

So we got to the boat, and it is a long 2 1/2 hour ride out to the Farallon Islands. But it is cold and 6am and who is really hungry at that hour. So I sipped some coffee for the first hour or so to warm up and try to get psyched up for the diving.

And then spent the second hour of the boat ride over the rail at the back of the boat getting sick.

(Yeah, this sign really is on the boat.)

Yeah. Coffee on an empty and nervous stomach with the smell of diesel boat fumes. Plus, you know, the seasickness from being on a BOAT! It was not good. I had taken Bonine which usually works really well for me, and I don’t have any problems. But that day, was not one of those days.

It took me a few hours before I could move again. It did reaffirm the fact that Addie will never EVER be a big sister. Being sick is the worst feeling, I’m convinced. It was actually this crazy electo-watch thing that I used when I was pregnant with the girls that made me feel a million times better. Thankfully J. had the foresight to grab it and bring it along.

So J. when down a few times without me. And then I joined him when I got to feeling better.

(The Farallons Island from our dive site – foggy. Cold.)

The “cage” is probably 6 feet wide by maybe 8-10 feet tall. It sits just below the surface, really kind of just bobs around in the surge. There is a trapdoor in the top that you drop through to enter, and four people go down at a time for 30 minutes a time and then we would rotate out.

So I got all of the gear on and cursed the 58 degree water. I so hate cold water diving. Have I mentioned that ever? I really do. The gloves, boots, hood, and 7mm wetsuit does not really work in warding off the cold. I am usually cold before I even get started.

But I got geared up. Then you sit on the edge of the boat and the divemaster puts weights around your ankles and a weight vest that weighs about 40 pounds. So really moving, isn’t much of an option. Then you sort of roll down the bars to the top of the cage, turn around, and drop in.

The first time I went down I was holding on to the cage, since it feels a little like being in a washing machine might (or how I would expect it to feel in a washing machine, I guess), and I was trying to get my bearings, adjust to the COLD and not get tossed around or fall into the other people in the cage.

As my eyes were adjusting I looked down and realized as I was holding onto the cage. My fingers were OUTSIDE of the cage. And I (again) may have peed my pants just a little. I pulled them in quickly and settled in on my knees and waited. And waited.

“Oh hey…there’s a jellyfish! And another. Wow. It is very dark, murky, cold, and….this place is lousy with jellyfish.”

And then it was time to head back out and for the next group to go down. So far (we are midway through the day) nobody had seen any sharks. Just jellyfish, sea lions, and seals.

My second dive down (and J’s fourth) was…almost EXACTLY the same. Cold. Dark. “Wait! Hey, what was that? Hmmm…just the decoy seal.” Although, yeah, that decoy freaked me out a bit. And we saw some more jellyfish. Hrumph.

So you waited nearly two weeks and waded through this long, boring story to get this….

We did not see one darn shark.

I actually was very disappointed. Oh, I know if I had actually seen a shark – I would simultaneously pee my pants, stop breathing, and bolt for the top of the cage. But I was really disappointed for J. especially. He had waited so long and had really wanted to see just one!

I have a lot of photos of SF and the bridge on the way back in. I was not feeling optimal when we did see the Humpback whale breech, which was cool, but my camera was tucked away safely inside the cabin so I didn’t get a photo of it. J. used our underwater camera and got lots of pics of, well…jellyfish. And some fun videos of us being goofy since we were a bit bored after 20 minutes of staring into the darkness. I’ll have to get them and post them up, too.

The best part of the trip? Going under the Golden Gate bridge on our way back. I have never been under the bridge before, so that was cool.

Well, that and not leaving our children as orphans. That should probably be counted as the best part, right?

Fall ~ Theme Thursday

Posted on October 16, 2008 by carrievoris

Apologies to all of you East-coast readers who have repeatedly told me that you like to read Chaos with your coffee first thing in the morning. But I just didn’t get a chance to post last night since I was finishing up a project and J. got home from his trip. So instead I am drinking my coffee and posting in the peace and quiet of my house this morning. I have 26 more minutes before my silence is broken, so I better be quick here…

Stacy’s theme today is Fall and I have been drooling over everyone’s beautiful fall-colored photos and realized I don’t have any pretty leaved photos. Since moving to southern California, fall kind of takes on a new meaning. Don’t get me wrong – I have always been a fall advocate, the colors, the sweaters, the football, the warm, yummy comfort food – it is all good! But just like winter out here, you have to adapt a bit and find other things to like about fall.

Thankfully, fall here still involves football games (and homecoming parades!). I so love where we live. We can walk in one direction for a few blocks and be in the little mission district of a town, and walk in the other direction and be on the main street of an entirely different town.

So the girls and I walked last week up to the parade. Waiting….

There it is! (Note the still very green leaves on all of the trees.)

Emma seriously studying the cheerleaders.

Addie trying to figure out what the baton twirler was all about.

And of course, they zeroed in on the only puppy along the entire parade route, and had to make friends. (Note, a few leaves! They pretty much just get brown and fall off. Bah.)

I can’t remember what the name of this little guy was, but I guarantee if you ask the girls they can tell you. Obsessed. On our run the other day Addie was telling me the type of breed of each puppy we passed. It is pretty funny to hear your three-year old say, “Awww, Mama! Look at that beagle puppy!” (I know, I know! But puppies are soooo much work. Must hold them off as long as I can…)

Our weather did take a little turn this week, it has been chilly in the mornings which means I need to have a daily battle with Addison to wear sweaters, long-sleeves, and tights or leggings with skirts and dresses. It is not a fun fight. And of course, by afternoon she is peeling everything off again since the temps are back up into the high 80s.

But the cooler mornings and sub-100 degree temperatures also opens up other opportunities. Parks that we avoided all summer, are now cool and comfortable and playable again!

See…long sleeves.

Leggings.

Cool, fun days at the park.

We are all hoping that fall hangs around for a little while longer.

And we are heading to the pumpkin patch this weekend, so I should be able to find some more traditional fall photos. But for more traditional fall photos, head over to Stacy’s today.

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P.S. One other thing that fall brings to SoCal is the Santa Ana winds. Which brings a bunch of wildfires. They are thankfully a few miles away from us so we are not affected, but please keep the thousands of evacuees, those that have lost everything, and our firefighters in your prayers.

Left behind. No preschool for Bear today. ~ Wordless Wednesday

Posted on October 14, 2008 by carrievoris

More WW.

Crafty Tuesday

Posted on October 14, 2008 by carrievoris

I owe so much of my “craftiness” to my mom. I think I inherited some of her artistic genes and the rest I absorbed through osmosis by just growing up around her. Although the cake decorating does still allude me. I must have been doing too much of the tasting of the frosting – and not enough observing because I still cannot manage to decorate a decent cake.

But flowers, and putting together bouquets – that I do have “down.” My mom and I did the flowers for my wedding, my sister’s wedding, my brother’s wedding…and a whole bunch of other ones. Plus, I love flowers, and a chance to play with them? Yeah, that is really fun for me. When I used to work in San Francisco we used to visit the flower mart every few weeks and I’ve always loved having fresh flowers in the house.

Last week I got to visit the LA flower mart. Holy flowers, Batman! It was overwhelming, to say the least. But we found a lot of roses for cheap and put together some simple, elegant bouquets for Debby and the girls and boutineers for the guys. (This is the last of the wedding photos, I promise!)

For Debby’s bouquet we just used 2 dozen cream colored roses and wrapped them up with ribbon. The roses were (are!) stunning with just a touch of pink to them. They still look amazing on my dining room table!

And for the guys and the girl’s bouquets we used yellow roses with a little bit of baby’s breath. Did I mention that I really loved doing the flowers? Hmmm…maybe if this gig I have going on doesn’t work out, I could adopt wedding florist as a new career.

And for my next crafty endeavor…I will be attempting to make the girls’ Halloween costumes. We visited the fabric store today and it was so fun to watch Em and Ad – they were like kids in a candy store. Of course they picked out the most expensive, silkiest, glittery-est fabric for their costumes. Between the time I will be spending making these costumes, and the extravagant wishes of my “Project Runway wannabe” girls, these are going to be some seriously expensive costumes. So help me, they had just better turn out.

Anyone else have some craftiness to share today?

Two flowers ~ Best Shot Monday

Posted on October 12, 2008 by carrievoris

Our two “flowers” who continue to rock my world (for better or for worse) every single day – and my new favorite photo of them.

Stop over to Tracey’s to see some other rockin’ photos today.

Our Exciting Week – Part 2

Posted on October 11, 2008 by carrievoris

No, you haven’t missed anything – as in a “Part 1.” But I have just finished the photos for Bill and Debby before they left for home today, so I figured I’d write up about the wedding excitement (part 2 of our week) first, since I have the photos done already. (I posted all the photos up in our Flickr account, but you need to be a friend/family to see them – so if you are not able to see them, let me know and I’ll add you! The photos were a little hard since we shot most of them in the shade, and at 1:00pm, bright sunlight on the beach. Shesh…but there are some good ones, I think.)

So, on to the wedding…

Debby and Bill have been engaged for a few years, but they have been “together” for many years. In fact, they have been a couple since before J. and I got married, so quite a long time. We all knew they’d get married eventually, and they finally decided to “get around to it” while they were out here.

We were shooting for a simple, sweet, barefoot on the beach sort of affair – and I think we pulled it off. We found an officiant who recommended Point Dume State Park in Malibu, and was available for a mid-week, middle of the afternoon ceremony.

So we all headed to the only slice of shade on the beach, next to a big cliff (that you may recognize from several movies and commercials, Planet of the Apes perhaps?).

Nena helping her flower girl across the hot sand. Actually, the girls didn’t seem to mind the hot sand at all, it was the grown-ups that were complaining the most.

We ended up getting the girls’ dresses downtown near Santee Alley. When Nena asked them if they would be her flower girls, I thought Emma would explode, she was so excited. She wanted to wear her Belle princess dress, and the one we found her was actually pretty close. She is in love with it. I’m surprised we haven’t tried to wear it again today, in fact.

We shopped for the dresses and flowers in a two-hour window we had between dropping Addie off at school and when we needed to pick Em up after school on Tuesday. The flowers we found downtown at the Flower Mart. Lots and lots of roses – we just put the bouquets together on Wednesday morning before the ceremony. (I think you may be seeing more of the flowers, like say…maybe on Tuesday? It is the only thing Crafty I have done in weeks!)

My friend Michelle donated her craft to the ceremony and not only played amazing music for us while we were walking over, but also adapted (transcribed? Is that the correct musical term?) Pachabel’s Canon in D (a piece usually for string quartets) and played it at the beginning of the ceremony. It was incredible. The cliff gave the beach some pretty amazing acoustics and the cello music on the beach really was the perfect touch.

We gathered around Debby and Bill and witnessed the sweet (not too long, not too short) ceremony.

Emma took her role very seriously and tried to school Addie on the proper way to be a flower girl. (Where she learned this, I have no idea!)

She did a great job with Emma’s guidance and made us very proud.

Although there was definitely some monkeying around, Bill and Debby didn’t see any of it until we watched the video, so while it was funny and we captured it, it didn’t disrupt the wedding. A little light-saber action going on here, I think.

Then it was official! They are married!

And it was time for some fun. A little dancing…

Some toasting…

Much kissing….

And playing in the water…

Or hiding from the waves…

Nena taking the plunge (for the second time that day!)…

She was a beautiful bride and I think had a good wedding day.

She wanted sandy toes, and she got ’em…

After the beach we headed to Ruth’s Chris steakhouse and had an incredible dinner with some wedding cake and called it a day.

It was a pretty incredible day for us, and I hope it was for you (Debby and Bill), too. Thanks so much for letting us be a part of it, guys. We wish you much happiness and love for the rest of your days.

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(Stay tuned for Part 1 of our Exciting Week, which was also made possible by Debby and Bill! Gotta go get those pics downloaded now.)

BarelyControlledChaos

Chaos Controlled.Barely.