What Ashton Learned When He was Just Chris

We didn't watch the Teen Choice Awards. Partly because we didn't know they were on, and we no longer have the whole DVR thing, we watch what's on or we internet it. (Its all very 21st century while also very early 20th century.) And partly because we aren't teens and our kids aren't old enough to care yet...not yet. Maybe next year. But this speech has gone viral, and for good reason. Good enough that we want to share it. Because its awesome. Well worth watching, and if your kids are old enough to be dealing with the idea of being "sexy" then watch it with them too. That's the only little hiccup that keeps us from sharing it with our kids at this time; at six and almost five, they aren't quite there yet and shouldn't be. Maybe next year (with the way the world is now). But that is only one part of this speech, so don't let that steer you away. What he has to say is so worth listening to as a parent and for your young people.

C's Review of Turbo

Did you like it?

(Shouts) Yeah!

Of course I liked it.

What was your favorite part?

Probably the end.

Who do you think would enjoy this movie?

Whole families together. Or a kid and a parent for a date.

What is the movie about?

Turbo is a snail is fast and he's trying to race against people. The other snails think its good, but his brother thinks its bad. His brother is worried about him.

Is the movie funny?

Yes, sir, yes.

Is there a lot of action?

Yeah!

Were there any scary parts that kids should watch out for?

Its scary at the end, because you get worried Turbo won't win.

There was a lot of music in this movie.

Yeah there was!

What did you think of the music?

I liked it. (He had us download the CD as soon as it was available!)

Did your sister like the movie?

Yes, she did.

Would you recommend this movie to your friends?

Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah yeah!

4 Fischies in 800 sq ft

2013 has been a year of upheaval, lots of trials and tribulations. We will be stronger at the end, that's for sure. Our newest challenge is making our life fit into a small space for the school year (fingers crossed that's only as long as we'll have to make it work!). We started moving into this new space on the 4th and we finished moving out of the old place on the 8th, but since its almost half the size we're finding unpacking quite a challenge! T is looking forward to finding creative ways to making this space feel like ours once all the boxes are out of the way though. On a shoestring. We're all about budgets these days. Welcome to our current humble abode!

dining room

we took the small room, fortunately it fits our bed and the air purifier

balcony

kitchen

kids got the big room

kids' room

kids' room

bathroom

entryway

Whiskeytown Lake - We likey!

Our pal Jessica (aka Chech, aka Icamic, aka Ruby Red the Queen of Springfield) was in NorCal for a family reunion with her adorable children so we picked up those heavy hints she was dropping and made a last minute, impromptu road trip up to Cottonwood/Redding to see them. What she failed to mention until we were three hours into the drive (closer to our destination than to our home) was that it was going to be 107 that day. That's madness! Lucky for us, her Uncle Ralph was kind enough to take us all out on his boat for the entire day. It was blissful.

We had never taken the kids out in a boat like that before. Strange, we realize, given J's background. But we moved to the Bay Area when B was so little, and it just hasn't been part of our life down here. So, needless to say it was very nice to share a day like that with them. There were nice little coves in which we spent hours just swimming. And then J got two wakeboard sessions in, and he was even able to walk the next day (albeit pretty stiffly). C is excited to learn to wakeboard soon too. We don't know how B feels about it yet, she was too busy playing with Abby and Tucker up in the cuddy cabin.

Why don't we do this more often?

Its been a stressful summer (understatement). And T decided that what she needed one day was her feet in the sand. So she texted some friends, made some plans to picnic and...voila! Half Moon Bay is so close to us, every time we go we ask ourselves why we don't do it more frequently. And now that the kids have been doing swim lessons we feel more comfortable with them being in the water so this opens up a whole new aspect of the beach for our family!

checking out some beached jellyfish

B's Last Day as a Kinder

She loved being a kindergartner. She loved Mrs. Daudel. But she is so excited to be in first grade and she is not looking back!

a little class party after their poetry performances

B and one of her school besties

Farewell Stella Piccolo

C finished preschool this spring. It was bittersweet to say the least, having spent two years at Stella Piccolo. The first year both B and C attended together, and this year C went on his own. And thrived. The teachers are amazing. We have simply had the best experience, the children both loved it there and have created wonderful friendships and memories. Not to minimize to foundation they have received to prepare them for elementary school; we were never really worried about that, feeling that we could do that on our own with T's background. But once they started at Stella Piccolo, we didn't really need to do so much on our own, the bases were fully covered (of course we did, because we're us and the kids are precocious). We were able to see our children flourish in ways that we didn't realize they were prepared for and we really felt that we were working as a team to help these small people grow every single day. Yes, we'll miss this phase of our lives for sure. But we haven't seen the last of Stella Piccolo as we've offered to help them update their website so more parents can enjoy this preschool experience that we've been lucky enough to find.

C and his two best school buddies

end of year picnic

Miss Laura

Miss Leanne

Miss Yoshiko (C had bit of massive crush on her)