Saturday, November 29, 2008

Hello Santa

We took Ian to ride the train in Old Sacramento today...with Santa! He was so excited about it!
I'd show you more, but then what fun would our Christmas cards be?! (credits here)

And, out of order, but here is our Thanksgiving  recap in photos!


Joining 30,000 people to "run" to feed the hungry. So many people that a brisk walk wasn't possible! Unless you are my brother, Justin, who finished 26th overall! Ian placed 8,524!
Mariachis for breakfast after our race! We've decided it needs to be a new family tradition!

Dinner (that bag is Ian's turkey centerpiece!)

and what holiday dinner would be complete without olives!?!

We missed being with the rest of our family. It was strange to cook without mom, but we'll be home soon to see them all! We did a "do-over" Thanksgiving dinner last night with Justin and friends! The food tasted better and well...much wine was enjoyed! Definitely repeating that tradition (perhaps a little less wine though!)








Monday, November 24, 2008

What Happened To The Turkey?

Ian announced to me today that "for Thanksgiving I want a pig."

That had me just a tad bit worried so I asked, "what are you going to do with the pig?" In my head I kept saying, please don't say eat it! Very matter of fact he stated, "I will play with it in my house." 

We went for a little afternoon caffeine fix for poor Shea who is stuck in a cycle of falling asleep at 7PM and waking up at 3AM. Ian was thrilled to see a police officer come in and instantly demanded a badge from him. (I can't even count the number of badges he's demanded!) The officer asked him if Santa was coming soon. Of course, Ian looked directly at him and said "Thanksgiving is first and I'm getting a pig." So I got to explain to a gun toting complete stranger that we are vegetarian so he's not eating the pig, he just wants a pet pig and doesn't realize that they grow to be 5 million pounds.

There won't even be a turkey on Thanksgiving, the kiddo is definitely NOT getting a pig! But I'm still wondering where he got the silly pig idea in the first place?! 

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Weekend Funnies

Just had to capture some of the funny things Ian said this weekend!

"Can I have a banana vegetable?"

"I grew, can I have your coffee?"

"I know,  I have an idea!" (with his index finger placed on his chin)

"Can I go upstairs and be quiet with dad?" 

"Let's go to the french fry place." (announced at 830AM)

"Follow me children." (to mom, dad, and his grandma)

"Is global warming small?" (long story behind that one!)

Friday, November 21, 2008

Can It Be?

I have taken over 11,000 photos this year. Yes, Ian is probably the subject of about 50% of those! The kiddo knows what a camera is, asks for the "tripod" when he really means "ipod" and loves to use his own camera and declares "I got them" when he takes a photo. He doesn't always smile but when he is in the mood he will smile for me beautifully!

Until this week...

School pictures...

He came home and told
 me that he "smiled big"! No doubt encouraged by the photographer who gets paid to entertain 3 year olds and click the button 150 times a day. I'm sure they mean well. I'm sure there job is next to horrible. And I am sure I have them to thank for the new "big smile" that Ian shared with me tonight at dinner.
Only the iPhone to capture it but the trauma is no less...

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

He's Got Your Decaf

Ian has a bad habit.

He LOVES Starbuck's petite vanilla scones. It started innocently enough. When we lived on San Miguel the nearest coffee was at a Starbuck's just 3 blocks from our house. When he was newborn I would walk there in the morning and sit enjoying a decaf beverage until just before time to feed him. Then we'd race home sometimes covering the last block with  a screaming child clutched in one hand pushing the stroller in the other.

When he was old enough to eat real food I bought him a vanilla scone because it was, well, petite. That is also when my friend Kathy introduced me to the Cinnamon Dulce Latte. I made my decaf, sugar free, soy, no whip. And was hooked.

You might recall this.

When we moved in May we said goodbye to our Starbucks and the weekly trip there.

So now the nearest Starbucks is about 10 blocks away. Along the path we pass Old Soul @ the Weatherstone, a lovely local coffee house and Peet's. The first time I took Ian to Old Soul he shouted, "this is a different Starbucks." And I withered into the corner as all of the local supporting midtown dwellers gazed in astonishment that my son would know such foul language. At Peet's the only option he would eat was a big gooey browny thing so covered in sugar we would need to peel him from the ceiling in order to leave.

So 10 blocks we go. All for the petite vanilla scone. Every Friday morning as our we've made it this far treat Shea goes there and brings us a treat before he heads off to work. And well...we repeat the process on Saturday because, it's Saturday! (we will not add up the total of those two trips...I'm in denial."

Today was a school day. A school day after a home day is always pretty tough. Ian doesn't want to go. The morning is hectic. I always need to find clothes and copies and random pieces of work that I've forgotten because I too had a home day with a 3 year old! Ian woke up in a good mood, looked at Shea and said, " I want scones."  It was not Friday.

Dad is a push over.

Shea comes into the bathroom where I'm getting ready and says, "I'm going to Starbucks. Ian really wants it." I think I did say, "you don't have to give into him," but Shea was already out the door.

I dress (while also attending to about 50 things that Ian really "needs" me to do for him while dad makes the 10 minute trip to Starbucks)

We are running late. We all know this. Ian has underwear on. He is happy. And working every angle he can to avoid a school day. I sit at my computer to grab the powerpoint I need for work and count copies before I put them in my cart for work.

Ian hears the door open and runs to greet the petite vanilla scone "maker man." And I hear Ian yell from the other room. "He's got your decaf mom!"

We're doomed!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Pure Joy

Ian's first excursion bowling! Our dear friend Judy had a birthday party/fundraiser last night for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He was so excited about going even though he had no idea what bowling was! He caught on fast and figured out that all the pins down was something to be pretty happy about!



Monday, November 10, 2008

1,196 Days Later

It has been one thousand one hundred ninety six days since Shea and I spent a weekend together without a child. Not that we were counting! Just amazing how much time has gone by and how much we really haven't wanted to be away from him. In fact, we are pretty bad at taking time away for just the two of us. So, to celebrate my turning 40 we escaped away for a weekend in the city! We've been to San Francisco more times than we can count, Shea even lived there for a while post college, but this time was different. Just the two of us. No showing friends around or crazy New Year's Eve celebrations. We decided we wanted an adventure, only doing things we hadn't done before, and spending the entire weekend without a car. 

My mom arrived in town on Friday to spend the weekend with Ian. He was so excited to spend time with her, so much so that when Shea and I walked out the front door he ran the other way saying he wanted to watch a movie. So no goodbye kiss or hug or drama. So that was good!!

We walked 3 blocks to the bus stop and our adventure began! We opted to take Amtrak with a connecting bus. Thus the blurry first views coming into town.
We arrived and with a bit longer walk than we expected found our hotel. It was a bit surreal to be without Ian. It was quiet. Really quiet. And, funny enough, having arrived in amazing city by 8PM on a Friday night we called it a night. Yep, how old are we? We just stayed in and watched dumb TV (I'd forgotten just how dumb it is. ) 

Out bright and early the next morning to maneuver our way to Coit Tower. Probably the only touristy thing in SF that we'd never done. After a few miss calculations, a unneeded trek up a steep hill we made it there. Great views and a perfect overcast day...blocking our view of the Golden Gate.  I'm missing so many great details like Shea's complete JOY that he got to ride hanging from the side of a Cable Car to get part of the way to Coit Tower. I'll cover those details in a layout or two later :)
From there we spent a little time at The Buena Vista. Yep, we've been there before but it was the first time since before Ian was born. There is much more of a story to Buena Vista, but no room for that here!! 

Then we jumped on another bus and made our way to the Mission District. A few blocks of walking we found a small spot I'd read about and wanted to try out! Cha-Ya...all vegan suschi! EVERYTHING on the menu, something I could eat!!! UNBELIEVABLE! The food was great and the lighting spectacular! (that matters for good pictures you know!) Shea even suggested a table in the center of the room because it had the best lighting! Yep, a true birthday gift!!

Miso with no fish juice!!
radish, cucumber, mushroom, and avocado rolls! mmmmmmm
Then a little more walking and a much needed nap.

I had three requests for my birthday weekend. 1. Take the train 2. Take photos 3. Eat at Millennium.  Okay #3 was really my #1. I made reservations there over a month ago. I REALLY wanted to go. I didn't care what else we did. It was AMAZING.  The idea of having choice for dinner is unbelievable. My typical dinner out means I get either a green salad, maybe beans and rice, or sauteed veggies. I thought I was going to cry just looking at a menu that was filled with options I could eat. EVERYTHING. I could look for what sounded good, not simply what I could eat. I was torn between the tortellini with  black truffle oil or the squash curry with rice. The curry won out after hearing it described as having "punch."

We started with roasted beets because, well, I love them! 

And our entrees.

Not only did it taste incredible it was pretty! I love a well presented plate!!

And for dessert, again, amazed to have a choice! How they created such amazing desserts with absolutely NO dairy or eggs baffles me. I know it can be done, I've done it, just never this well! I had the Gingerbread Pumpkin Tartlet. and well...Yummmm! Smooth, just enough spice to it. Lovely.


Such a great dinner! Truly the best meal I've EVER had!! Cannot wait to create a reason to go back again.

Sunday we walked a little bit and then headed to our bus pick up point on Market. Funny how much shorter the walk was in the day time when we actually knew where to go! We waited for a little bit and then heard the Veteran's Day Parade down the street. We looked and could see lights and a band.

And then...

I realized there were NO CARS on the street. NONE. ZERO. And then we realized the parade was passing right in front of us. Right down the same spot as our bus was going to pick us up. Not sure what to do, a little bit panicked, we ran down the stairs to BART and tried to figure out how to get to either Richmond (where Amtrak meets up with BART) or to the Ferry Building (where an Amtrak bus stops). We opted for the Ferry Building and got off just 10 minutes before the bus was scheduled to arrive! The rest of the trip was uneventful. 

We walked into our house Sunday afternoon to find Ian sleeping and mom sweeping. When Ian did wake up I gave him the cheesy SF Snow Globe I'd looked everywhere for! He loved it and kept asking if it was his! 

A perfect weekend!

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

On This Day 40 Years Ago...

Remember being a kid and thinking 40 was so old?? Yeah, me too. And well...maybe it is. I wanted to just stay home tonight and sit in front of my pretty new birthday present and type mindless jibber to anyone who might care. I didn't care that there was no cake or candles. 

Thankful to have my two boys. And thankful to have a family to celebrate with and friends who sent wishes. 

Life is good. Very very good.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

POTD 110408




POTD 110408, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.


What a phenomenal day this has been. History. We witnessed it. We created it. WOW! We've come along way since say mmmm 40 years ago.

Shea was in line with a woman tonight who was worried about the no cell phones sign in the polling place. He said she had that nervous chatter of someone who hadn't voted before. He assured her that it meant you couldn't talk on them, it was okay for it to be in your pocket. She said, "I just want my vote to count. They'll do anything so that it doesn't." He was pretty certain it was her first vote. And he was pretty certain she was about 50 years old. And she so wanted her vote to count this time.

And it did. It really really did.

And, because I take my camera everywhere. Here is the vote that I cast while holding Ian because I wanted him to witness history first hand. I wanted to be able to say, little man I held you in my left arm while I marked this with my right.



Sunday, November 02, 2008

POTD110208


POTD110208, originally uploaded by katrina.kennedy.

He loves his guitar! He played several songs for me and even set his guitar down, stood in front of me and thanked me for showing up!

My Mom...

hates having her photo taken...but I ignore her! I love how this turned out, even if she doesn't like her photo ;)
And you can find it here.

And the credits here.

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