home pains

oh, i'm trying so hard to be content in my rental 

but the painter/re-doer/decorator in me is calling

and i'm fighting her

found this house and came within an inch of buying

but john talked me down from the ledge 

how could i say no to the right price & remodeled? 

i'm posting about it to relieve the pain

and patiently (kind of) waiting for 

the right time 

and the right house

but i can still look at wall paper in the meantime, right? 

neighborly love

nothing is more divine than a playmate next door

some of my best memories are running down the path in the woods to play with my pal, Barney (real name) 

you love them, you hate them...play, fight, play some more

my only real concern with purchasing a home in san diego is leaving these neighbors behind 

i'm lobbying for a group move

come on, how could we seperate these two? 

cali style

 

one long trolley ride to see santa

I have a San Diego To-Do List. I'm a first born. 

Cross one more thing off. 

Ride the "trolley"

(public transportation light rail train)

Of course, our destination was 10 minutes away by car and an hour by trolley. 

Super fun on the way to see Santa. Not so fun on the way back. Especially since we got on the wrong trolley and headed to Mexico. Seriously, it ends in Tijuana. 

Now he wasn't Nordstrom Santa, but his beard was real. And he was good enough for Lincoln to discuss his list with. 

The best line of the night was the guy we walked past on the street downtown who asked...

"Hey, are you guys Mormon, or what?" (oh silly man, 3 kids?)

Yacht Night

One of my favorite things about moving to San Diego is the ability to "re-choose" what I invest my time in. Getting to be involved in starting San Diego State Young Life has been one of those things.

Now it doesn't hurt when you get to spend an evening yachting on the bay. Nice. 

Check out these fun kids that are getting involved. Love them. 

And love being involved in ministry again with my husband. 

More yachting please. 

Thanksgiving in San Diego

first act

roasted garlic with blue cheese & bread 

center stage 

parmesan & cream scalloped potatoes

maple baked acorn squash

pecan & bacon stuffing

petite peas with basil & shallots 

autumn salad 

pureed cranberries with orange zest

rosemary & thyme turkey

curtain call

pumpkin pie with whipped cream

apple pie with figs & glace

football, family, friends & fun

till next year

Lincoln's First Love

i know he doesn't look thrilled, but lincoln was crazy excited all day to have his phoenix love, julie, come for a visit. 

we were all excited to have her as our first visitor! 

she was the first one to sleep on the futon 

be woken up at seven am by a bunch of little boys

we went for breakfast on the pier at ocean beach

hung out at the house and watched cartoons

took a nap before dinner and

sat in front of a warm, cozy fire before...

julie had to head back to phoenix

love you julie. you're welcome anytime.

 

Soul Mates

We moved to San Diego, and landed next door to 

Lincoln's soul-mate, Django. 

Very cool parents, Bestin (musician, check him out here) and Andi (attorney at the ACLU), Django is one fun kid. 

Lincoln and Django are like long lost brothers, 

one part crazy, one part loveable.

You rock Django. 

It's not all about the beach

san diego has lots of cool things 

but old friends are not one of them 

lexi and jackson...(he can say guitar)  

miss you guys 

(check out alexis' custom aprons. order one.)

More Beach Lessons

1. bring your neighbors with you to the beach. two boys collecting shells is better than one

2. borrow sand toys & apply sunscreen before placing Ben on the sand
3. never, never feed the sea gulls. they're bold. 
4. babies make a bee-line for the surf...but they cry when wet

what did you do this afternoon? 

Tag Sale Treasure - San Diego Style

What do you think of these treats? 

First time out...not too shabby. 

And I even found my way home after the hunt.  

Cave Man Instincts

They can't stay away from it...every man secretly considers himself to have mad fire-making skills.    

Reality can be tough. 

The Baby Adventures, Part Three

With the Linkster in all day school, the "twins" and I have been doing some serious park cruising. We have a sweet park that's perfect for the under 4 set in our neighborhood and went to a incredible park at Mission Bay the other day. 

The babies are obviously pretty excited to have more available time just about them. 

And I'm learning about being assertive with the other mommies at the park. It's like "happy hour" for moms. 

I'm thinking I should bring a few extra lattes if I'm really trying to make some new friends. Latte anyone? 

St. Patrick's Fall Festival

We took a family walk tonight to the neighborhood private school's fall festival. 

The boys threw bean bags, darts and bobbed for ducks. 

We had pulled pork BBQ and tostadas, topped off with churros and cherry pie. Definitely not the four food groups, but yummy. 

Ben and I painted a pumpkin and he got a sweet purple sweatband with his game winnings. 

We wore our fleeces and sweatshirts and got a little chilly on the trip home.

Home. 

Neighborhood Farmer's Market

I'm learning that Farmer's Markets are the thing to do here in San Diego...Hillcrest has the best one on sunday mornings, but North Park's is definitely up and coming. 

All three boys and I hit the North Park one this afternoon. I'll remember to bring cash next time and no boys. But we did end up with a sweet looking eggplant and some banana fingerling potatoes. 

I spoke with Dave, the BMOTM (big man of the market), about having a My Three Sons booth there, and he definitely gave me the once over, had to see my card, and said he'd give me a try. Oh brother. 

I tried to get info from him about the Hillcrest Farmer's Market and I got "let's see your display here and then we'll discuss getting you on the waiting list". 

Double oh brother. 

Post Kindergarten Cone

The wedgie master has a new love...kindergarten

He's really loving his new class. It's all day, but just 15 kids and a cute, young teacher, Ms. Mcintosh.

Bribery with treats helps me get some info out of him about his day. The one word "man" answers are starting already. 

Sweet 5 year old. 

Sand in every Crevice

We couldn't end our first week in San Diego without a trip to the beach. Being a new "beach mom", I forgot all of the essentials...

Sand Toys

Wipes for sandy hands

Sunscreen

Well, actually I had the sunscreen, but it was overcast, so I didn't put it on my very white boys. Pink cheeks all around. 

Lincoln ran around for two hours straight. 

Ben face-planted and chewed on sand

Harrison crawled around the blanket and acted like he was touching hot coals when he put his hand in the sand. 

John held his swimsuit up with one hand (looking good honey) and built sand castles with the other 

I played in the water and sat on my towel happily looking out at the ocean. Still feel like I'm on a vacation...

Adventures with the Babies

Harrison's newest trick...drinking from a straw. How do babies learn things that you don't teach them? I still don't get it. 

Hare Bear, Benners & I have been having mini-adventures around town in the morning after we drop Linc off at school. 

So far we've found...

1. Target (two-stories of treasure)

2. Drive-through Starbucks (they call my drink something different here...I'm trying to adjust) 

3. Home Depot (the garden center was like walking into the Garden of Eden)

Now that the staples are out of the way, we're going to explore some funky thrift shops and such next week. 

I'll keep you posted. 

Lefty's Pizza

Our first neighborhood outing to the local pizza joint, Lefty's...delicious. Met some other folks in the neighborhood, did some dog petting along the way and had our first taste of North Park. 

First Day on Dale Street

I left LA at 5:30am to meet our movers at 8am....waited, waited, finally arrived at 10am. John arrived with the boys a little later and they all checked out the place. Lincoln is in love with all of the house's nooks and cubbies. Harrison keeps looking around with wide eyes, wondering where the heck he is. Ben just wants snacks and toys. 

Adorable neighborhood...friendly neighbors...fun 4 year old, Django (d is silent) next door...

Strange thing though...heat wave came through, it was 100 degrees yesterday! We can't escape. 

Great old and new friends came over to help. Krista and Jordan were master un-packers and the Scofields brought us a delicious dinner to end the day. 

I think we're gonna be just fine.