Did he really just say that? ... Chris!!!!

This conversation just took place as I was trying to get Shea to pick up all the little red and white pins from Battleship that he'd scattered all over the living room:

Jenna : Shea, pick up every one of those please.

Shea: (nothing as he's ignoring me.)

Jenna: Shea, right now please, pick up all of those!

Shea: Geez louise woman. I am!

Jenna: (nothing as I'm too dumbfounded to respond.) (Chris! You are in so much trouble! You say this to me sometimes in jest, I know, but apparently Shea doesn't!)

Shea: Come on, that's funny!!

Jenna: (nothing, because if I speak, I'll start laughing and then you'll never stop saying it!)

Training

This has been the l.o.n.g.e.s.t week I've had in a l-o-n-g time! Chris and I were in training every day this week for our new job as Appartment Coordinators for UCLA housing. We're really excited about this job, its perks and really excited about the people we'll be working with - they are all so great. But Shea has missed us a lot! I forgot how hard it is to be a working mom and gone all day long. My house is a gigantic, enormous disaster, but I did get groceries and the laundry done and folded tonight. Maybe sometime this week I'll get to putting it away and getting the vacuum out. I can't wait to stay home every day this week and just do nothing but clean, sew and play with my babies!

It just snuck up on me.

How could I have forgotten to post that
SHEA IS FINALLY POTTY TRAINED!!!
It was so hard. So much harder than I had anticipated.
About a month ago he started asking to wear underwear again (we'd put him back in pull-ups after too many accidents) so I thought here we go again but we put him back in undies again. And sure enough, accident after accident. I think it was only 3, but that was apparently my limit - as back in pull-ups it was. Then all of the sudden, I realized that two weeks had passed and he had not gone potty one single time in a pull-up! So we put him back in underwear and never looked back. He still wears a pull-up at night, but has yet to need it - Mommy just really doesn't want to wash your sheets, so she's not taking any chances. Way to go my sweet big boy!!
(Posting our success had better not be the jinx it's been in the past, btw!) :-)

I feel sick.

I should have filled up my tank last week instead of whining about how expensive it was. Look now...


When, you ask, am I going to get over it and quit whining about the price of gas? To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure, but I'm sure it will coincide with when I stop feeling nauseous every time I drive past a gas station. Till then!! :-)

The Blue Jacaranda

Los Angeles right now is absolutely covered in one of the most beautiful trees I've ever seen. I can not get enough of them. They are breathtaking. So today, on my way to Beverly Hills I took a few pictures and then educated myself. Isn't Wikipedia wonderful?

The Blue Jacaranda (I think they're more purple than blue but...)

The Blue Jacaranda has been cultivated in almost every part of the world where there is no risk of frost. In the United States it growns in many southern states, California and Texas. The flowers are up to 5 cm long, and are grouped in 30 cm panicles. They appear in spring and early summer, and last for up to two months. Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, is popularly and poetically known as Jacaranda City because of the huge number of the trees which turn the city blue when they flower in the spring. People in Australia sing a Christmas song about Jacaranda trees, as the blooms are only seen in the summer time - as the song explains, "When the bloom of the jacaranda tree is here, Christmas time is near." And in Argentina, writer, Alejandro Dolina, tells the legend of a massive jacaranda tree planted in Plaza Flores in Buenos Aires, which was able to whistle tango songs on demand.
I'm pretty sure our Jacaranda's won't sing for us, but they sure are beautiful!!

The Zimmer

Another great, super fun place we just discovered in LA. (Thanks again Jean for organizing Field Trip Fridays!!) The Zimmer Museum is this little children's museum in the basement of a big Jewish center. There are all these little rooms where the kids can play: the cafe, the market, the synagogue (very cool), the hospital, the school, the house etc. Even with all those cool things, the hands down favorite was the water table. What is it with kids and water???

Shea and friends at the water table


Driving the ambulance


Checking out all it's buttons

The timing was TOO perfect.

We went to the Grove and the LA Farmers Market today for lunch. Some friends of ours from Utah were up here on vacation and were going to be there so we went to meet them. Hi Broccos!! (I had the two oldest daughters in their French I, II and III years and the third I had for her first year, the last year I was at Oak Canyon. We also were lucky enough to get to take both Tat and Katrina to France with us on two different tours. What smart, sweet, gorgeous girls they are.) It was so fun to see you all.

Anyway... We're sitting at the Farmers Market eating lunch and guess who walks RIGHT BEHIND ME????

NIGEL!!!!


Judge, from So You Think You Can Dance! My new FAVORITE show (see post below.) I was just ranting about him yesterday! I almost hyperventilated! Chris was laughing at me because I kept craning my head around to get more glimpses of him. I really wanted to talk to him but what would I say?? "Um, Hi Nigel - I love your show." Way too dorky! Plus I'm a gigantic chicken. So, I just left him alone. :-( (I'm sure he was happier that way!)

And then one minute later Steven Cojocaru sat down at a table right behind us to eat his Philly Cheesesteak and fries. Two celebrities in two minutes is definitely a record for me.

Three new loves

#1 -

I am not (obviously) a dancer. But I can't get enough of this show! I LOVE it!! I got hooked at the end of last season. I couldn't believe how beautiful and talented these dancers are. I'm excited to follow it for a whole season this time. Love it!!

#2 -

These are a miracle!!! The veggies turn out perfectly cooked, totally fat free and utterly delicious. The chicken takes 6 minutes and is tender and soft and juicy. Oh my gosh!! And the BEST part? Toss the bag in the trash when you're done. NO DISHES! Don't you love these??

#3 -

Seriously? All I do is add the water and shake it up. No bowl, no spoon, no hardened drips all over my counter? Delicious pancakes in a second? Good morning boys! Pancakes anyone?? :-)

Not a literal translation but...

much more interesting and funny!

Here was the conversation as we saw the Eiffel Tower on TV this morning when the French Open started on ESPN:

Dad: Do you want to go there someday Shea?
Shea: Yeah!
Dad: You know you have to speak French to go there.
Shea: I can speak French.
Dad: Oh yeah, what can you say??
Shea: Oui.
Dad and Mom: Good Job!!!
Dad: Do you know what it means?
Shea: Yeah, it means when you want to go somewhere and your car is "brokdend" and you don't want to take the bus then you take a taxi.

Mom and Dad: Um.......... Actually, it means yes, but ok........ :-) :-) :-) :-)

Early Father's Day Gift

Last week Jenna decided to buy my gift online... while I was sitting next to her on the couch. As for her reaction when I happened to unknowingly glance over and ruin the surprise, I'll leave it to the imagination those who have read about her freak-out when I accidentally, while trying to help take care of a diaper blow-out, turned the shower on without realizing that the switch was set to the showerhead and hand unit, thus slightly dampening her hair.

Anyway...

She got me something I've been asking for since I first saw it on TV about three years ago and since I already knew what it was, I got to open and start using it right away.



In the breakfast world, there are toasters, and then there are breakfast makers...

My life is now blessed by the latter.