break in the rain

On Saturday we took a much needed break from rainy day activities and ventured out into the clear blue outdoors. The kids brought their scooters to ride along the path and I brought the camera to document the river. For some reason I am fascinated with the river, probably because there's actually water in it this year. After I took this picture of the kids 3 guys in kayaks pulled up. They had traveled up the river from Atascadero that morning. It looked like fun. I also included a picture of Cameron that I took tonight in the bathtub. She's been in a really good mood lately and expressing herself with really wide eyes when she smiles. Too cute!

just for kadin

Hey buddy, your dad told me that you really dig your cousin Cameron. I thought I'd post a few pictures of her just for you. She's a really crazy kid. Her favorite things to do are wearing her brother's t-shirts, pulling all the pillows off the couch and jumping. She throws a wicked tantrum and has a scream that will pierce your ears. So in less than 6 weeks you two kids are going to meet up in Florida... go easy on us.

elephant seals

I think in the last post I bragged a little about our great California weather in January. Today as I write it is pouring rain and will rain for the rest of the week. Oh well. On Sunday we experienced howling wind as we observed the elephant seals on the San Simeon coast. The elephant seals are just that, giant seals that have elephant faces (although, no giant ears). These beasts beach themselves on the coast to have babies, mate, and die for a few months every year. For some reason we all go watch. The wind howls, the kids complain, the seals stink... it's a lot of fun! I think the best part for the kids is riding over to the coast with their friends (try figuring out seating configurations for 10 kids....). To warm up we headed over to Main Street Grill in Cambria for giant baskets of seasoned fries and Darren could finally see a little of the playoff games. Here's Jason with his buddy, Sidney, the kids all bundled up for seal watching and the seals, lazily taking over the beach.

january

January is really weird in our little pocket of California. It's actually one of my favorite times of the year to be outside. The weather is great, not too cold, sunny and just right for an afternoon at the park. On Friday Darren did a baptism in our pool and Jason was so excited about swimming that he just had to jump in afterwards. Crazy, right? Swimming in January... but it is absolutely possible in our heated pool. (And yeah, our church does baptisms in swimming pools... our church of the warehouse doesn't have a dunk tank and somehow I think getting a permit from the city to build one would be impossible. So for now we do swimming pool baptisms, it's a step up from the little country church we were at that did baptisms in a huge trough. If only the Salinas River was above ground, that would be cool.)

freedom

In November 1997 the Sallie Mae corporation demanded that we start payment on Darren's college education. Today, we made the last payment! I don't think words can express our excitement so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

photography lesson

My friend Jill is a great photographer. She's always encouraging me to take lots of pictures, because with kids it's hard to get a good one. She also tells me to get on their level and shoot in natural light. The other day is was overcast and Cameron and I were inside. She was playing with her Little Einstein figures and I convinced her to line them up on the windowsill. I grabbed the camera and took a ton of pictures. She insisted that we take pictures of the Einsteins too. Finally, the last picture was this sweet shot. The scary part was working with it in my photo program. I converted it to black and white and cropped it crazy close to just frame her face. Cropping that severely hurt a little, I guess I ought to get over it though if I'm going to get shots like this. Enjoy! (And would you believe that this sweet face is currently covered in blue marker? When mom stops paying attention..... look out!)

pre-emptive strike

Last year I thought growth was my enemy. I had Jason wear shorts to school as long as possible so that we could put off buying pants that he would outgrow. The weather turned cold and my true enemy emerged: holes. Apparently, Jason is a football player. I'd love to watch one of these football games at recess. I know it involves a lot of running and sliding and you do this regardless of if you have the ball or not. I started to notice that every time I looked over at Jason he had a hole in his pants right at the knee, always on the left side. On Sunday I decided to stop playing defense and start fighting back. I bought some patches and ironed them to the inside of every pair of Jason's pants. I hope my plan works. In the meantime.... does Sears still sell Tuffskins?

mmmmmmm.... kitchenaid!

What has 2 thumbs and loves her KitchenAid mixer? This girl! (In this lame joke you should probably try to imagine me pointing at myself with my thumbs....) So far I've made these delicious cinnamon rolls, alfredo sauce for some fettucine, a chocolate cake, and some sugar cookies. I think my New Year's Resolution for 2009 will be to lose all the weight I gained in '08!

i deliver

Here it is gang, I knew it wouldn't take long to capture Cameron's creative clothing!

i promise

I promise you loyal blog readers that I will grab my camera as quickly as I possibly can the minute Cameron dresses up in another one of her wacky outfits. My favorite from yesterday was when she emerged from her room in nothing but a black beanie, hot pink Strawberry Shortcake underwear and black boots. That's probably not appropriate internet material, but it was hilarious. She also decided to visit Nanny and Da's house wearing her Christmas jammies, Lightening and Mater slippers, Dora the explorer sunglasses and Jason's old Mickey Mouse baseball hat. The best part was when she stopped to pose for Nanny by leaning against the wall and crossing her legs in a Dockers-commercial sort of way. Her favorite outfit everyday is just a diaper. About 10 o'clock every morning she gets sick of her girl clothes and demands to take them off. Lately she's been raiding Jason's t-shirt drawer for "Cars" shirts. I promise, I promise, I promise.... evidence will be posted shortly!