Last Night

We took the girls out to a little seafood joint we have been waiting to eat at since we moved here. Everyone says it is the freshest and the cheapest. After finally finishing "The Deadliest Catch" we were in the mood for some food from the sea. Smittys is only open for the summer months so we have been patiently waiting. So far we have yet to find fish and chips that come close to good old NZ BUT this place did have very nice crumbed fish and otherwise. They have a list of the daily caught fish and then you choose from their list of sauces of how you would like it prepared or you can just have it fried. I had the tuna marinated in garlic, ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce. Very very tasty and fresh as. The kids were great because they give them a sheet of paper to color in and if it is good enough they use it as the new cover for the menu so every menu has a different picture on it. For once we had peace before the food arrived and they loved their food. I guess in the summer the wait is as long as 90 minutes we went early and waited about 25 but it was right there on the water and the kids liked checking out the boats. Still hard to believe we live so close to the ocean. Then we dropped off our kids at home and into the care of our babysitter-that lives ACROSS the street and took off for a movie.


We went to see the new Terminator movie. Mark already saw it with the inlaws but assured me that I would like it. We went to a theatre closer to our house paid our money and went to sit down. When we walked into the theatre and quickly noticed screen was super super tiny. Laughably so. We sat as close as we could and sat down thinking that maybe that would fix the problem. Nope. The screen was maybe twice the size of the biggest one you would find at best buy only it was blurry and the picture was crooked and hanging over the edges of the screen-which given the size really wasn't a surprise. Soooooo disappointed. We rarely splash out the cash to go and see a movie in a theatre but when we do it is for a movie that we deem worthy to see on a "big screen". What do you do when the screen isn't big but you paid for one? The sign said, "no refunds". Should have been a red flag but there were a lot of patrons at this theatre. After we sat there for a few minutes deliberating about what we should do (we were the only ones for that movie so far) some more people entered. "What the ^&* I can't even SEE the screen from back here! Where is it?!" and "This is THE smallest screen I have ever seen!". Later when Mark and I were talking about it he told me in all seriousness how he was just "trying to imagine that I was viewing a movie at a movie stars house or something". I commended him on his coping strategy but I then had to inform him that I was fairly certain that even a "C-list" movie star's home theatre system was surely larger.
Anywhoo we decided to take our chances for a refund. We gave the excuse that the babysitter couldn't stay as long and we would have to leave early if we stayed. They did refund us but I think they knew the truth. How could you not? I know I have lost all credibility with previous "mistruths" but I am not exaggerating -it was tiny. You probably had to be there, but I haven't laughed so hard since I mistakenly led twin to the ahem "chinese masseuse".

New Family Picture

We thought it would be great to get just a picture of the two of us (okay and a few of our favorite babies) while we are young. A friend of ours here in New Jersey is a really amazing photographer and he offered us a 2% discount so we decided to go for it. I know our kids will be so grateful for this when they are older.

Window Treatments in a Minute

Window treatments can be a daunting task and that is why I am here to give you some hot tips from the previous owner of our house. After you have some sort of fabric picked out all you need to do is go to staples and get about 1.5 pounds of clear tacks. Make sure they are clear because we want them to "blend in" with our fabric and not be tacky(pun intended and why pushpins weren't used for this post). Next just tack away. You will see how easy it is to use the tacks to mold the fabric around your window frame. You should have a few extra tacks for embellishments like tie-backs and the like. Why limit yourself to symmetry? Live on the edge and create a slightly "imbalanced" look by placing the tie-backs where ever.

See, one wouldn't even know they were there until up close. You can really see how the clear tacks come into play here.

Why fuss with buttons?

Lose your tie-backs? Not a problem-just adapt. Always keeps some spare tacks handy.

Symmetry-shmymetry.

Tess Part II

Topic #1- I think that I need to explain myself a little bit about why I don't like furry things. Remember this "squishy face" as my good pal J likes to refer to it? This attack was from dust but the first time I had this reaction to my face was when I went on a school field trip to the "Horse Farm". I actually really loved seeing those horses. Then we got to pet them and surprise guess who found out they were allergic to horses? Luckily my mum was on that fieldtrip and did her best to help me and my rapidly swelling face. So, since then furry things have scared me because I was never sure what was going to set it off again. I can say cats do give me problems as well, but so far Tess is in the clear. She is growing on me but she still smells like dog. Hey c'mon-baby steps right?

Topic #2- D asked me if I got Tess before or after "Marley and Me". My response was both. We had Tess picked out. We weren't planning on getting a puppy we just wanted to "compare" shop for research next year or so. Tess was one of two pups left and she has a birthmark on her back that looks like a muddy spot. We knew she was an original and the one for us. We couldn't take her home until she was 8 weeks so it gave us some time to prepare. Mostly, we wanted to get our oldest daughter to get over her mortal fear of dogs. In all my wisdom I thought I would rent Marley and Me to show her how nice dogs can be. Okay, here is the spoiler for you guys. Apparently we were the only ones on the planet that didn't know it had a sad ending. Not quite as sad as "Where the Red Fern Grows" but pretty sad. At the end the girls were left in tears, and it did nothing to ease Aida's fear about how our dog won't be "crazy". Tess has brought us into the latest trend though because when we take her walking she struts her stuff and all the kids from school think she is Marley and they pet her and she just sits and eats it all up. Aida is doing much better with her fear and has been known to pet Tess every once in awhile and even bravely picked her up a couple of times. We are so proud of Aida for being brave so her siblings can enjoy the puppy they always wanted.

Lastly- I think I didn't get the dog for the kids. In truth-I got it because part of me has always wanted to lose that last 15 pounds and look like one of those girls on runner's world with the dog running alongside of her on the beach. I know this will never happen but in getting a dog-any dog, I am halfway to my goal-right?

Tess

This may come as a shock to many of you that know me but we have now graduated from home-owners to pet-owners-specifically, dog owner. It is true. We have just gotten a puppy and I try very hard to pet it sometimes.

You know when you become a parent for the first time and all of a sudden you realize that there was this entire other "world" out there-a sort of club if you will that you weren't really privy to when you were "childless". All of a sudden all of those jokes start to make sense and you actually care when someone has something to share about what they are doing with their kid to help them to sleep through the night or to eat those mashed peas.

Pet-owning is much the same, although I don't think I really want to be a part of this club. The other day there was a lady outside of kindergarten with her puppy. Now, much the same as when you have your baby and no other baby the same age is cuter or even compares to your own it was the same with the puppy. This...woman was bragging about how her puppy was so smart and it was a Malshu (mix between a maltese and a shizu). That is when it hit me. I was thinking how that miniature thing looked like a large rat covered in dust bunnies and not at all like my puppy who is a Goldador (mix between a golden retriever and a labrador-see what I mean-club.) and looks like a REAL dog, I KNEW that there was no way her puppy could possibly be as smart as my puppy.

Really? Am I really going to go there and be a competitive pet owner? I don't even like furry creatures. I loathe them. They smell and they are furry. The whole reason I like the under two kids so much is because they are like pets without the fur. Yet, here I am. I guess since I am a competitive parent it is only natural that it would spill over into pet ownership as well.

Anyway this is Tess. She has blood shot eyes because the kids keep her up all day long. She sleeps through the night and she already knows how to sit on command. Probably standard puppy behaviour but I like to think mine is extra special. Take that you little shumwlatyou. All kidding aside, Tess is a really really good puppy maybe one of these days I will hold her. :) I do owe her a HUGE thanks for making my life easier. The kids love her and she is great with them. I try not to think of what is going to happen when she is like 100 lbs...

THE BOSS

We had an awesome time as we headed out to Penn State to see the Boss with our friends Mike and Chris. All of the venues around us sold out pretty quick so we braved the 4+ hour drive deep into Pennsylvania. While enjoying the scenic drive through Amish country we started to fear for our lives a little as things starting to become very very rural and quiet. Was there really a concert out here or were we being lured into some sort of trap? Then we remember it was just that we were LATE to a BRUCE concert. I took full blame because I was trying to get the kids situated and I had to run in and get a cuddle buddy for the car trip.
It was worth it to be late so we could see preggers Chris sprint like she was an Olympic athlete in her prime as the only song she wanted to hear- "Outlaw Pete" played inside the stadium. We ran right past the guys offering us parking passes as Mike promised to split the parking ticket 50/50. Lucky for us, we made it thanks to Chris bravely taking the steps 3 at a time and fortunately although we were possibly an hour late, we only missed two songs. Bruce must have been waiting for us-that is what we like to think anyway. I was bummed he didnt' sing Queen of the Supermarket but all in all it was worth it to just experience Bruce.
He didn't have a flash stage but he had presence. He didn't need to rely on fancy stage show gimmicks because his voice was perfect, his songs had meaning, the E-street band was awesome and most of you could just tell he was there to entertain and he was still loving it flashing that Bruce smile at the audience. There is something about a concert that can make you feel.
His economy ramblings weren't downers, they were surprisingly uplifting and you just felt so positive after hearing his songs. One of the highlights was when he brought a little girl from the front row on stage and she sang the chorus to Waitin' on a Sunny Day.
It was awesome. Life is good. Bruce rocks. For other perspectives or just to check out some Bruce posts with more bells and whistles check out Mark's break-down on Tune Guide and Mike and Chris'. With that, I REALLY need to go take my Sunday nap right now.

We are concert T junkies. Thanks Lucy for taking our picture for us.

Mark Toiling Some More

Okay, so I didn't get a good before shot. He was working like lighting! Again, these neighbors are actually very nice.

It just goes on and on. Our backyard is long and skinny. It is the perfect size and shape for a bowling lane. I would lie and say it is really actually spacious, but it only seems that way when you are mowing or putting up let's say...a fence.

This is Mark working away. Here is our picnic table that we stained blue for a more antique look than paint. It wound up being a little thicker than we wanted because we had some little helping hands from bubbers-thanks! The umbrella came with the house and in a few years time we can replace the stand that bolts it to the deck.Oh and those are my Mother's Day flowers from Ed and Maya.

So Mark put up a nice 200 foot fence for me for.. mother's day? Just because? Oh yeah, because we really needed one. The girls love going on the tire swing but things just needed to be a bit more..uh.. supervised. Ed was running up and down the path, there were kids going in all directions and like I was supposed to be the one to keep track of them all? Since becoming home-owners we have been doing things to the house. We realized fairly early on that we did not have the funds or the savvy to to anything too drastic to the house. We learned when we renovated the Provo house that moving and changing a bunch of stuff quick does not pay off. We decided to focus on what we could do for the least amount possible to tide us over. We are doing things that we consider to be "have-tos" just to make things a little more bearable and a smidgen more our own. Unfortunately the fence came under this category. Mad Mark finished it seriously in like 3 days. Luckily he had MacMike here to help him dig half of the holes for the posts. I think Mark learned early on that I was really of no assistance in carrying anything over 5 pounds so he lifted all 22 fence pieces and carried them across the yard 22 times by himself. His arms are jelly. His arms and legs are so covered in biting fly bites they started biting him on top of his existing bites because there wasn't a spare piece of flesh available. His hands are raw. His face is covered in scruff. He is mad. I don't know why he went so nuts but he did and the fence is great. It was worth it to sit behind the fence and here comments like, "holy ^&() that wasn't there yesterday!" Giggles just thinking about it. To my credit, I did shovel some dirt around and ask him when he was going to be done. I think it really motivated him. You are so welcome Mark!

First Of

Our junky (hey this is a family friendly site) deck prior to Mark powerwashing it. It was really really dirty and moldy.

Note the change in colour. The railing is darker but only because it was wet, when it dried it was the colour of...well, light-colored wood.

Isn't it grand?

Ta-dah! A little more red than we thought but all in all not too bad. We figured there wasn't a way that we could possibly make it worse. It should hold us until we get a new deck in 12.5 years.

I am always too lazy to do before and after shots so consider yerselves lucky. I barely caught Mad Mark at it again. He powerwashed the deck for 2 days and then we waited a couple of weeks until it was dry enough to stain and seal it. The deck had never been sealed or stained so it is quite damaged. Since a new deck is not an option, we went for a quick 60 dollar fix. In fact. just today Lucy came in with a splinter the size of a beam. However from a distance, if you squint your eyes just so, the deck looks pretty good. We stained it on a seemingly nice day only to have it rain. Most of it was okay though because it gives us warm fuzzies when we look out after we have watered our dying plants to see beads of water forming on the deck instead of disappearing.
*Side-note-Yes, we bought a topsy-turvy. How could we resist the commercial. Hey Pilates worked and I really enjoyed my hairagami back in the day so we decided maybe the topsy-turvy does work. So far we are not impressed but maybe when it gets warmer the thing will really take off. If it doesn't, at least we aren't that shlub down the street that has THREE hanging on his FRONT porch where everyone can see his silly splurge.
**Side-note #2 Our neighbors, no matter how scary their "organic" garden may seem, are actually very nice people and we like them.

Mother's Day

Aida wrote me the following notes:
You Bring peace into my crazy life.
I love your smile
U are sweet and neat.
U fix my hair at bad hair times.
Loveable.
I love it when you tuck me in bed at night even though I am almost 10 years old.
Cheerful.
U R a Good cook on "aida's Fav Cooks" Cheers!
U lead the way when things don't seem okay.
Pretty.

Lucy wrote me the following note:
To: Kind Sara/Mum
Love: Your Buddy Lucy Berg

I love you as much as your smiele and love your cloths. You are the sweetest mother ever I love you. Love, Lucy

Procrastination

Attention to all-I am a procrastinator. I have learned that sometimes if I wait long enough the thing just goes away. Procrastination is my little way of weeding out life's little non essentials. For instance, I can have a stack of papers that I keep because I am supposed to sign something, look to find a cheaper version, or sort through some coupons. Inevitably the field trip will come and go (kid may be left behind), I will forget about wanting to buy said item at all and the coupon for the thing I most likely didn't need will expire. The result is that next time I go through "the pile" I don't have to do anything with any of it-I can just throw it all away.
Unfortunately for me, some things don't just go away with procrastination. Moving is one of those things. I vividly remember the night before I was supposed to leave home for college; I was packing boxes until 3 am because I chose not to do it until the last minute.
Now, here I was days before our big move, nothing is packed, and I am baking cookies. If ever there was a time that probably wasn't the time for home baked cookies...The other reason I wanted to post this was to remind myself of my little frightened Ed. He likes to be part of the baking action but when the mixer is going, he clings on to me real tight. I think it stems from the days when I would hold his hands to make sure he didn't reach into the mixer while it was going, or maybe it is because he is afraid of heights. Either way, I love to cook with him to get a guaranteed cuddle. Mom's have their way of cheating-or as Maya would say, "notfairing". I like to think he likes it too. :)

Out the Window

The other night we got to have a little chat to our good pals and learned that their recent success as parents is attributed to nonetheless than McDonalds. This left us with a hankering for a little Micky Ds ourselves, so we snuck away during school hours and partook. It was during this feed that we were discussing parenting and how sometimes it really is just a matter of finding the kids currency.
We learned this when one of our kids could care less about being put in "time out" but putting their beloved stuffed friend in time out was enough to evoke tears and begging. Okay, so sometimes in our weak moments as parents the "time out" was to take place outside. This is where our NZ windows came in handy. Nothing stopped the behaviour like dangling a bunny out the window by one ear. Like I said-weak moments.
Mark and I then had a good laugh (could have been the coca-cola) as we reminisced about how much stuff we threw out of our windows. We threw everything out of them. I don't mean car windows because we are not litterbergs (I am strongly opposed to that) rather I meant that anything in the house that was deemed "biodegradable" was thrown out the window. I remember a conversation with my sister in which I was telling her how not having screens in the windows was actually a benefit. Mosquitoes were never an issue, the flies never lasted long and proved to be free food for the frog, and most importantly it was just so handy to be able to throw things out the window. "Oh, what would you need to throw out the window?" was her reply. I paused. "I don't really know, it just seems like it is a great feature to have because we use it all the time. I can't think of anything right now but at least once or twice a day something is going out the window."
Now that we are responsible homeowners-with fly screens we have really cleaned up our act and we are ashamed at ourselves for our behaviour. Sorry friends that had to visit us in our house encircled with "biodegradables" we can see how truly terrible that was and know that when you come to visit us now you will no longer have to stare at rotting lettuce or burnt caramels from the Christmas prior.