friend kidly

One of the friendkidly shop partners Linsey, along with her husband and two young sons, have been evacuated from their home due to this weekend’s fires in Yorba Linda, CA. They vacated around noon on Saturday and as of Sunday evening have yet to receive the go ahead to return. Because the not knowing was too much to bare Linsey’s husband parked as close as possible to their house, trekked across a dry riverbed and walked a few miles to ensure that their abode was still standing. Thank the Lord, their entire community was unscathed minus a burnt children’s play structure. They happen to live in one of the major hot spots so this was/is quite a blessing. The fires are not completely contained but we hope and pray that they are in the clear. Please join us in those prayers…thank you.

(nothing to do with politics…I promise)

So in the very near future this blog will be getting a new name and url. Friendkidly has been bequeathed to the friendkidly etsy shop partnership and will soon host a blog dedicated to sewing and making and that kind of stuff. This little blog’s future name is Owl Fly Away and will be found at www.owlflyaway.com. This transformation will hopefully take place before the end of this coming weekend…hopefully. In case you’re interested, Owl Fly Away will also serve as the brand name for the products I create and a logo is in the works.

I will send out a final post on this site when the other is up and running.

*the above image was taken on a camping trip in New England in October of 2004.

I recently ran into an acquaintance of mine at the local market. She and I have seen each other once a week at the beach this summer and our kids have played together often. Funny thing is I barely recognized her. Obviously she wasn’t wearing a swimsuit but besides that the girl looked really put together, especially for having a 2 year old and being pregnant. Her hair was done and she had makeup on and looked really great. I on the other hand was easy for her to spot since I looked like I had just walked off the beach. I felt like such a lazy mom. Granted, I’m nearing the end of my first trimester in the midst of the not feeling so great stage so I have somewhat of an excuse. But, even when I do feel good I rarely put effort into my appearance unless I’m going to church. So to combat this I’ve decided it’s time for a hair cut and since husband won’t readily agree to the price that must be paid for said haircut I’m going to wear my hair in two french braids until he caves. I’m so ready for a cut that I’ve dreamt it happening on more than one occasion. It’s a little ridiculous but I feel that once my hair is cut and stylish I’ll feel a whole lot better. Who knows, maybe a cute haircut is the cure for morning sickness. I’ll report back…

* I got the go ahead to chop my hair off and I’ve made an appt. for next Friday…I feel better already.  (Thanks Aja for the info on the fund raiser, if  I hadn’t already arranged for a new due I would definitely support the cause).

Charlotte and I spent most of yesterday at Disneyland helping her twin cousins celebrate their 4th b-day. It was quite a successful trip especially since it was a no nap day with no real break down to speak of. I think Charlotte was thriving off of the crowds and possibly the allowance of more sugar than she’s used to. As a mother, the most memorable part of the day was the tiki room visit. It started off fantastically with Charlotte tap dancing and clapping for the singing birds. That quickly changed when it got dark, drums started beating, and the tiki guys on the walls started chanting…oh yeah, the lightning and thunder didn’t help. Baby girl turned into a little monkey, clinging to me and almost crying until it was over. However, she did much better than the little boy in front of us who cried the entire time, poor kids. Having to guess, I would say Charlotte’s favorite part of the day, besides being with her cousins, was the jungle cruise. She goes nuts for animals and these looked real enough to elicit animal sounds and lots of pointing from her. All and all it was a great day and I have to thank Pigwinked’s father for the free pass (which without we wouldn’t have been able to go, thanks Mr. E). I look forward to our next free trip to Disneyland even more now that I know Charlotte can hang and that she really enjoys it there. Hopefully when it cools and the summer crowds leave we will make it back, hopefully.

On a very different note, Saturday Sweet B and I enjoyed an afternoon at the ballet.  And I mean really enjoyed from our Orchestra 4th row center seats (thanks to husband’s work, TBG, which built this for the OCPAC).  The American Ballet Theatre started their performance with Etudes which I have come to learn is a staple in many companies repertoires.  The music was beautiful and worth the visit alone.  The dancing was basically a walk through classical ballet from the first five positions to the most technically difficult and amazing dancing one could imagine, breathtaking.  I found myself looking forward to the day that Charlotte might find interest in ballet and wear an adorable tutu

As wonderful as the first performance was, we really went to see Rabbit and Rogue which was choreographed by Twyla Tharp to music composed by Danny Elfman.  Again, the music was worth it alone.  The story was a bit confusing as one of the lead male dancers seemed to disappear half way through and was replaced by someone else.  We couldn’t figure out if it was intentional.  Confusing as it was, it was still a blast to watch people dancing on point to Danny Elfman, truly a unique experience.  Carlee and I parted both agreeing that we must make trips to the ballet a more regular event and I’m already looking to see if I can score orchestra 4th row center tickets to the Nutcracker.

I’m kind of on summer vaca from the blog. We’ve been spending a majority of our time outdoors during the day and in the evening husband is usually working on the computer so this little blog is a tad bit neglected. All for very good reasons however. There’s not too much to write about but I wanted to put something up before an entire month elapsed.

Just to keep things visually interesting, here are some shots from one of our recent trips to the arboretum. Charlotte really took a liking to this confused yet fancy rooster who was crowing in the middle of the afternoon. Funny, he didn’t take a liking to her. Must have been the chasing and screaming that ruined the chance of a friendship.

This is how baby stays cool,

and this is how mom survives.

We’re fortunate to have a “fountain” play area within walking distance because without it I probably wouldn’t be outdoors much at all in this heat and that would drive Charlotte mad. So, we donned our swimsuit for the first time today and headed out to play in the water. She had a blast and wore her little self down. Now I have a napping babe and a nice tall glass of iced tea. Summer ain’t so bad.

“You look good.”  says the girl behind the coffee shop counter this morning.  Alright folks, this really threw me for a loop.  “Look good”????  I didn’t know people almost 30 could look bad.  Don’t they just look normal, not too old or too young but just right?  I was pretty baffled so all I could say back was a questioning thank you as I walked away.  Look good…man, you’d think I was turning 50 or something (no offense Mom).

I didn’t realize what a great feeling would come from seeing an idea come to life from concept, to design, to fabrication, to end result. Best part is having the product actually function the way I intended! I’m referring to what I am calling a carseat canopy. The idea of a cover for an infant carseat was planted in my head by my mother and after realizing I have never seen anything sold for this job specifically I decided to take on the task of creating my own version. We’ve all seen a receiving blanket draped across a carseat to shade the babe inside but it’s really not the most functional tool for this use. So I designed this canopy to be long enough to cover the entire carseat from top to bottom without dragging on the ground. There’s also a cool slit that allows for the carseat handle and room enough for an arm to tote it around. I really like the end result and now that the design aspect is in the past I can whip these together fairly quickly. I hope they are as useful as I intend since us mothers can use all the help we can get.

(please bare with me as I do some online journaling)

Can pick me out in a picture of my 8th grade class (we’re talking an image of me taken in 1993)

Can correctly sort shapes in her shape sorter toy (most of the time)

Turns everything into a phone and has long conversations with who knows who

Draws with crayons, not eats them

Sings the chorus to her favorite song to let us know she would like to hear it (ay di di lai di di lai di di lai di di leio)

Understands most of what I’m saying but sometimes ignores it

Likes to stretch with me on my yoga mat

Brings us a book when she feels like being read to

Makes a chomping sound when she would like a bite of food

Barks when we ask her what a doggy says

and the list goes on and on…

Why in the world would someone want to bake in 90+ degree weather??? Crazy but when the baking bug bites you gotta give in. Here are some chocolate caramel cupcakes that I upgraded by adding some Ghiradehlli chocolate chips. As the picture may or may not reveal the added chocolate chips turned these into yummy molten lava type cupcakes. Add the cream cheese frosting and what a yummy experience. I’m really into cupcakes right now because they bake up quickly and are the perfect size for snacking; they’re pretty cute too.  Next I think I’ll try out carrot cake cupcakes (with cream cheese frosting of course) recipe courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa.  Yay, what a great use of the beautiful carrots I’ve been eying at the farmer’s market lately.