Halloween Mayhem

Rowan loved Athena's costume, and thought she was a giant stuffed animal. He kept climbing on her and eating her fur.

I went around like crazy today. Toys r us, then Java Mama for storytime/trick or treating through the village, we drove through La Salsa for lunch because the baby was asleep and I didn't pack lunch and we weren't going home. We took our lunch over to the park and met up with some friends, then headed towards grandma's house. We stopped to buy a birthday present on the way. We got to grandma's around 3 and just played mellowly. I was tired and wanted the kids to nap before everyone showed up, but that never happened so we just kept playing until everyone got there. It was a lot of fun with family and the kids were great. Rowan was fussy because he was tired but he was happy as long as he was with me. Athena had a lollipop and a box of dots and tomorrow will wake up to a new doll that the Halloween fairy left her. I also brought her doll crib back out of the garage. It had been out there for about a month from a day when I kind of freaked out and started taking all of her toys away because she wouldn't stay in her room. That was a funny day. So, I think she is going to be so excited about the doll because it makes some noises like a real baby, or she might be freaked out because she doesn't like some talking toys (ever since we had the talking vacuum that malfunctioned in the night and has traumatized her for a year now). She told me she wanted a real baby, I guess Rowan doesn't count anymore so I need to have 1 more she said. The doll will have to do for now.
Athena and Oli carved the pumpkins at grandma's. They worked hard drawing the faces and helping cut them with knives.

Rowan Rocks

This is a little dark, but man, that Rowan can really play! I've never seen a baby that small go off like that!

Fun with cars

I was trying to do something special with Athena while baby Ro was sleeping. She and I had been fighting a lot and I wanted to try and have a positive interaction with her to start off our day (so my plan totally failed and we were screaming at each other an hour later, but it was a good attempt). We got the project ready together and she had so much fun. Plus, we used the finished project to wrap up some birthday presents for her cousins! We call it "car painting". Now go get some paint and a car and let your kids at it!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I made these over the weekend for a birthday party. They were so good. If you are ever in the mood for carrot cake, these will hit the spot!
Athena was my helper, listen carefully to the video my "vegan baker".

Vegan La Paz Day 5

View from "the square". I don't know what it is really called, I just heard it referred to as the square.

We went shopping in an open air market for souvenirs and also hit up "the square". I found a few treasures, but didn't go too crazy. It was fun walking around this area as there were more locals and lots to soak in. We went to another restaurant and ordered some guacamole for Athena so she wouldn't feel left out. Unfortunately, it had cheese in it, oops. Athena didn't care for it much anyway when we did give her a little taste we picked out. She was sad that she couldn't have rice. All her friends were dining on quesadillas, beans, and rice and she felt kind of left out. That is the only time on the trip I felt kind of bad for her but I didn't know we were going out to lunch (thought we'd be back at the house) so I was ill prepared. She survived though, and next time I should have just decided to walk around more while everyone was eating. I was hot and tired though and needed the rest. She did eat some garlic crackers and a Z-bar (the snacks I'd packed) so she was happy after that.
We headed back to Casa Buena to have a final swim and start packing for home. I was so sad to go. We had such a wonderful time. It was so nice to have a coparent with me for 5 straight days. I felt much more relaxed and didn't get that tension in my shoulders and neck that I usually do by the end of the day. I look forward to our next family vacation in 2008. I should start planning now!
*I forgot to mention there is actually at least one health food store in La Paz, it was closed when we went though:(. The sign even said a bunch of things including "vegetariana". I really wanted to check it out but we didn't have a car and wouldn't have wanted to drive ourselves there anyway since the roads are a little different than we are used to. Maybe next time...so, in case you were thinking about it, it is possible to be vegan in La Paz, just plan on making most of your own meals, pack some good snacks, and soak in the lovely sun. Here are the circling girls...

Vegan La Paz Day 4

I like strawberry!!!
Popsicle faces.
I thought the grill at the restaurant was too funny.

We stayed around the B & B, kind of relaxing after the long day on the water. We swam and played a lot. I made a peanut noodle recipe for dinner (tofu and frozen veggies too) and then we went out with friends to a restaurant, I didn't figure for anything vegan so that is why we ate first. I thought it would still be fun to go though. The waiter brought all the kids maraschino cherries while we were waiting for our food and we ordered some french fries for athena. Athena loved the cherries, but I would never give them to her if we hadn't been on vacation. The mosquitoes gobbled up our ankles, but the kids didn't get any bites. We then walked downtown to get frozen treats. Athena and Chris got strawberry popsicles. They were quite good.

Vegan La Paz Day 3

Kayaking on Espirit de Santu with Athena.
Chris and Ro in the perfect water.

On board the boat.
1st ride in dinghy. (Look at that water!)

We took a boat trip to Espirit de Santu. Milton and Susu (the owners of Casa Buena) have been loaned a 40 foot sailboat (although we didn't sail). We left from a beach with 1/4 mile shallow, clear water where they were building a hollywood set for ben stiller movie. I'd never been on a dinghy or sailboat in my entire life. The island was deserted and beautiful. I was able to kayak with Athena and let Rowan enjoy the warm waters with Daddy. He had been fussy on the boat (got sick the night before with a cough/cold and his 1st tooth broke the skin), but he loved the water. Athena loved the beach too, and playing with her friends on the boat. She said she like the little boat best (the dinghy). It was an amazing day and everyone was tired but happy by the end.

Vegan La Paz Day 2

The tamale shop. Their sign had a "chorizo de soya" listed but I didn't feel up to attempting to ask questions about exact ingredients. Our friends enjoyed some tamales though. I made some bean tacos when we got back, with cut up veggie burger, and salsa verde. Kind of weird sounding but actually it hit the spot.
View from our drive home from the desert.
The end of a hike in the desert. It was a mostly dry riverbed. We didn't hike too far but it was fun for the kids. We saw a bunch of cows on the drive and on the hike, but no goats even though there were goat tracks.
Enjoying the shade on the hike, it was hot.
My little hiker.
We saw thousands of these toads on the hike.
Ro in the ergo, loving the straps to my hat!
The dry river bed.
Afternoon nap.
Getting ready for bed in our room.
Moms night out on the Malecon. Rowan came too since I didn't pack bottles and express milk. We walked around a bit downtown and ended up in cafe sipping frappe jamaica (it was like a jamaica slushy), or at least that it what I had. I was surprised again to see "leche de soya" as an option with your drinks. We spent the evening talking about our kids and were home by 11, I know boring.

Vegan La Paz Day 1

Trampoline fun.
I love La Paz!
Chris eating chips/salsa in the main palapa, that is where we had our meals, checked email, and met with friends each day.
By the pool.
The grounds of Casa Buena.
Plane ride to La Paz

We arrived in La Paz after a morning of travel. Everything went smoothly, the only "issue" was a surprise $22 fee that we think was for our visas. It was fine though.
Upon arrival, the moms took off to the "CCC", it is the gringo supermarket there that has everything. I couldn't believe they had soymilk, soy yogurt, tofu, rudi's organic bread, and organic cereal so I stocked up on some food to have back at the B & B. I was so pleasantly surprised that we weren't going to live off of rice and lentils. Chris and Athena hit the pool while we were gone. We made pasta for dinner and didn't stay up too late but tried to get settled.

Fires

We are back from La Paz, we could see active fires as we descended into Tijuana last night. It is smoky at our house but not as bad as I expected. Around 11:30 we were part of a voluntary evacuation area, but by 12:30 we weren't any longer. I think someone went crazy with the yellow highlighter but then they corrected it. We packed some stuff anyway, just in case. It seems so far off to me, but then I am always the optimist. I guess it is better to be ready, but I still think it is such an off chance it would make it this far.
My aunt from Ramona has been evacuated for a few days now. She was able to get her cats, dogs, and 2 horses, but had to leave one horse behind. She got a call her house was on fire yesterday morning, but shortly after heard news that they had saved her house and that it was only the trees outside her bedroom that had burned. Her horse has been fed by neighbors who didn't leave, but has been breathing all that bad air. My fingers are crossed that her house is in the clear and that she will be able to return tomorrow as the shelter doesn't sound very appealing. She has to stay with her animals at all times so my mom is going to watch them while my aunt goes to shower at my mom's house. One of the horses is having a really hard time in the camp. I hope it recovers from all this. I can see the crows in my neighborhood acting strange, it must be weird for all of the animals.
I promise to post La Paz stuff soon, it was an amazing trip, I'm kind of bummed to be back.

Trip Update

I'm having too much fun to tell you about it right now, but just wanted to let everyone know that all is well. We are good, Athena doesn't seem sick at all, I feel good, Chris and the baby are good too.

Catch you later

We are leaving tomorrow for a 5 day trip to Mexico. Wish us luck with our travels, we'll need it with 2 small children in tow, and also wish us good health as we've been struck with bug after bug over here. Now to top it off, it looks like I have thrush. The baby is fine, but Athena may have it, I saw a few white sores in her mouth. And she just had diarrhea, not a good way to start off a trip. Anyway, hopefully the warm air will clear up anything we may have. Her little tummy has been off for a few days now, please let this be the end!

Teething and Throw up

Just when I thought things were going to get back to normal over here, the roseola was gone, etc. A woke up with a sore neck. I kind of blew her off and told her to rest on the couch as I thought she was just still tired. About 20 minutes later, she got up and looked like she was about to throw up. Then she did. It wasn't too bad, but still caught me off guard. She slept on and off most of the morning/early afternoon. We woke from a nap around 1:30 and she wanted her breakfast. I took that for a good sign and couldn't convince her to eat anything other than what she was supposed to have had for breakfast 5 hours before. So she had some waffle and about 2 hours later she wanted more food so she had a baked potato. Her energy was back and she hasn't relapsed so that is good news.
Ro is much better from all his sickness but the teething seems to be bothering him. He has been real bitey and just a little irritable. He seems to be a slow teether. I've seen the white bump under his gums for a week but it hasn't popped through. Athena teethed fast and furiously and would get 4 teeth in a week or 2. He may end up doing that eventually but it is taking longer I think. I hope he sleeps more soundly tonight. He's been crying out in his sleep and it is so sad.
We had visitors over the weekend so we didn't do much cooking, just a lot of eating out, and we probably won't cook up anything exciting this week since we leave for Mexico on Thursday. Our first vacation with 2 kids, yay! I am looking forward to it although slightly nervous about what we are going to eat. I guess a lot of rice and beans.

Our visitors Josh and Larisa with Ro. We had a fun time seeing our long lost friends. It had been 2 years I think? We had just enjoyed a dinner at Ranchos. Athena had fun with them too even though she told them she wouldn't miss them when they left. Gotta love her!

Santee Lakes and fevers

We had a great day at Santee lakes on Wednesday. It was a beautiful day and the kids seemed to enjoy it there. I got to enjoy some of Lindsey's (Day to Day Vegan) graham crackers and they were terrific.
Ro got sick that night though with a fever all night, his first one. He slept horribly which meant so did I. I dropped A off school for a couple hours while Ro and I napped. He was still sick Thurs. night and Fri. It was so hard because he was so tired, but could only sleep in my arms and with absolute silence. The silence part was hard to come by since A was going crazy staying home with me all day and not getting much attention. We did leave on fri to get a jamba juice and buy a birthday present. Ro's fever broke sometime between a late dinner and 11 when I went in to nurse him. I could just tell he was cooler and hoped for better sleep, but no. I think the teeth were bugging him too. By Sat. he seemed himself and took a 3 hour catch up nap which was nice. Today he woke up with a familiar rash so I am pretty sure it was Roseola. Poor guy had that on top of trying to get his first teeth. He has been pretty sad, but for him at least that still means he is smiling half the time. People hardly believed he was sick, but I knew it was pretty bad! Anyway, he took another long nap today and seems to be recovered. Now I just hope we didn't spread Roseola to any unsuspecting babies...

The Rowan Contest

Looks like I won, while obviously I had an unfair advantage since I carry the kid around all the time and know his growth patterns. He was 20 lbs 11 oz, and 29 1/2 inches. I have to say though that last time when they measured his height they went from head to toe and this time they went from head to heel.
So I guess I should put him in the big kid carseat now. I'll kind of miss the bucket although I rarely use it for that feature anymore. I did lug him into the optometrist today because all I needed to do was pick up my contacts and he was asleep. Oh his head measurement was in centimeters so I don't remember but it was in the 97th %ile just like his height, his weight is a mere 90th %ile. He is about 2 inches taller and 2 lbs heavier than his sister at this age.

Pretend I got tagged

So I have never actually been tagged for a meme or anything like that, but I decided to pretend I got tagged for this one because it sounded fun. I could have just lied and said I was tagged, but I wanted everyone to know the truth so that they too could pretend to be tagged, only now if you are reading this consider yourself tagged. Leave me a comment if you decide to do it. Cool.

1. Does someone love you?
Yeah, I think there are at least a few.

2. What color is your couch?
One is red, the other a kind of earthy greenish brown.

3. Has anyone ever mistaken you for someone famous?
No, but that would make my day.

4. Are you named after a grandparent?
No, although I did have a great grandmother Sarah.

5. Say you were given a drug test right now. Would you pass or fail?
Um, yeah, for sure.

6. Are you taller than 5'6"?
Just a little.

7. When was the last time you were disappointed?
Hmm, like really disappointed, or just a little bit? I was a little disappointed that he skeleton jammies scared A, but only because I spent $$$ on them. I should have know because 6 months ago, glow in the dark stuff was freaking her out. I thought maybe it had passed.

I was really disappointed when I realized that when (notice I say when) we sell our house we will probably lose money, as in sell it for less than we bought.

8. Ever seen a dead body?
Only on T.V.

9. Who was the last person to send you a text message?
The last was my wonderful sis (but only because I told her no one sends me text messages and then I haven't written her back because I couldn't figure out how to make spaces, but this weekend someone told me it was the # key so I need to get on it).

10. What did you do yesterday?
We had a garage sale, I coached A's soccer game because her coaches were sick, went to a kiddie birthday party, and then fell over and collapsed when we got home and twiddled my thumbs until bedtime.

11. What’s the first thing you would do with five million dollars?
Move to a house closer to DH's work so he wouldn't have to commute.

12. What nationalit(ies) are you?
Italian, Scottish, English, and a little German

13. Any upcoming concerts you want to attend?
No, but can you let me know if you hear anything?

14. Who’s the last person that you felt was stalking you?
Ah, I've never had a stalker, but my DH had 2. I was always kind of jealous.

15. What’s your zodiac sign?
Virgo.

16. Where do you spend most of your money?
House stuff and FOOD.

17. On what do you spend most of your energy?
My children by far take up most of my energy. I worry about whether I am doing things "right", and if I'm damaging them for life. I waste a lot of energy worrying about things.

18. Is there a secret you've never told any of your friends?
Yeah, but nothing that no one knows about. Just things that maybe a certain friend knows but not another. I don't think I have any real secrets, I have too big of a mouth for that.

19. What are you doing in 2008?
Hopefully moving to a new house, and taking a vacation, someday, somewhere. I really don't know. I'll watch my 1st baby turn 4, and my 2nd baby turn 1, I am sure that will be big. DH and I will celebrate 10 years together, etc. etc.

20. What’s your favorite Disney movie?
Not sure if I have one. As a child I know I liked Bambi, but as an adult I am not going to admit to liking any of them.

21. Have you cried today?
No, but the timing of my eyes watering was perfectly timed with my nephew's little disappearing act today. I am pretty sure it was just a coincidence, but there is a chance I am that out of touch with my emotions that I may actually have been crying just a little. (we found him, don't worry)

23. What is your ringtone?
Whatever came on the phone. I miss my old annoying one which at least I picked out from among the annoying tones that came on my previous phone. Damn washing machine!

24. What is the wallpaper on your mobile phone?
It is a picture I took of Chris at the movies on our 1 date (anniversary) since Ro has been born. The only problem is that it pretty much just looks black. I just haven't gotten around to taking another, and it would probably be of my kids.

25. Name twenty five bloggers you read that you’d like to learn twenty five things about.
Anyone reading this? Consider yourself one of the possible 25 readers of my blog. Thanks for playing.

Skeletons

I'm a sucker when it comes to skeletons. Here is my most recent Ebay purchase. A was looking forward to wearing these with her bro but when it came time to actually sleep, she came out of our room and said the glow was scaring her. I gave her the option of giving them away or keeping them to wear during the day and they are now designated "day clothes".

Chris Cooks

Purdy huh! Chris made dinner tonight and presented it to me like this. It was great. He used leftover alphabet pasta, then piled it with sauted tempeh, veggies, peanut sauce (from his own recipe-I helped a little brainstorming what he'd need), and sesame seeds. Yum!

Orange Poppyseed muffins

I made these on Friday from Vive Le Vegan. I made 2 substitutions. I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for the oat flour, and ground sesame seeds for the ground flax seeds. I was out of flax and didn't feel like taking the extra step to grind the oats, but they turned out well nonetheless. A gobbled up 3 of the mini ones that we brought to playgroup so that was a good sign since she can be a bit of a muffin snob. We ate the last of them for breakfast this morning. I'd make them again, they are pretty yummy, a little dry so we added a smidgen of earth balance.

Papa's 67!

My FIL turned 67 today. We met up with Chris' bro + fam and MIL/FIL at a place called Zoomars. It is basically a petting zoo so the vegan in me was a little uncomfortable with it, but the kids had a fantastic time. They got to hold bunnies, guinea pigs, feed goats, alpacas, and ride horses. The day started off with my 4 year old nephew getting his fingers crunched in the van door, then 22 mo old nephew got lost for a good few minutes. He had gone really far away so it was pretty scary. The rest of the day went smoothly.

Ro with Uncle Greg on a big pumpkin.
A with cousin baby P on the train.
A with Uncle G, Baby Ro, Baby P, and big boy L.
Athena with "the boys".
Papa's awesome cake made by the fabulous Kim. Let me know if you need an organic and/or vegan cake. She is your woman and a fantastic mom of 2 so it is great to support her work!
The Big G gang. We were pretty hot and tired by this point!