Two stars are born

So we just finished one long exhilarating exhausting day. One fabulous dance, two long showings of said dance...and some amazingly beautiful talented girls. Sometimes I can't believe these two darlings belong to me. They were so nervous starting out, but after the first performance the jitters were gone. When Maren came off stage she said, "Wow, that was so
much fun. The audience just kept making me smile." My goal is to get the video up asap...I know you will all wait with baited breath...

Memorializing

With much anticipation we readied ourselves for the Big Sur Camping on Memorial Day Weekendtm trip. There was much Special Salsa Making and Delicious Treat Preparing. We took off after work on Friday and headed down the coast past Monterey to Big Sur.

The first order of business was getting the tent up in the 8.4 minutes of daylight left upon our arrival. It was all fun and games after camp was set up. We biked around the campgrounds and to the Junior Ranger program first thing Saturday morning.


The kids thought the Junior Rangers was the place to be. Sara, our ranger, was awesome.


Camping is one of the things I remember loving as a kid. What's not to love.

Sleeping in a tent.


Having breakfast in the great outdoors.


Getting up close and personal with nature.


Climbing a fallen tree (and getting busted by the rangers, video to follow)


Having church under the redwoods.


Cooking dinner AND dessert over an open fire.


and after dinner entertainment.


Taking in of the beauty of Pfieffer Falls.




Making it to the top of the Valley View trail with only a couple of meltdowns (the same cannot be said for the descent, which involved carrying one tired two year old, one big crash with blood for Neve, one five foot faceplant and slide with Kiera, and an emergency pee on a tree break).






And getting really dirty!


On Monday we packed up camp sniff, sniff (you are wondering if those are tears? Yes, we were sad, but mostly it is our stench after camping and not showering for 3 days!). We drove up the coast to Asilomar for a little beach/tidepooling day.

The darling girls.


The pretend-to-watch-the-little-ones-while-taking-a-sand-nap-lazy-parent shot.


The being-a-really-good-parent shot


The final I-was-tring-to-redeem-my-lazy-self shot of the starfish i was talked into plucking out of the icy water for futher examination by the curious explorers.

Thanks for this photo Annie!

Camping in Big Sur with the Blatters will definitely become a tradition in the years to come.

Hot hot weekend

So this past weekend we suffered through a heat wave. Mind you, I never felt as hot as any old summer day in Memphis, but it was hot none the less. The highs were just below and above 100 degrees. We stayed cool by mooching some pool action. After school we swam at the Larsen's and the next day we did this:



I love living in Cali.

Piano recital photo

Yes, I am crazy. i DO apparently have too much time on my hands.

Maren's First Solo Piano Recital

Maren started piano lessons 3 months ago, and had her first solo piano recital on Friday night. She was pretty nervous, as you can tell from the beginning of the clip. She says, "Hi, my name is Maren and I am going to play 'Horse Sense'". Can anyone make that out?

The poor girl looked like she was going to throw up, but then she started to play. She played her piece flawlessly, and without any music. It seems she has a natural talent. Her timing is great. She really likes to play and practice, but she did say today that she is getting sick of "Horse Sense" (finally, phew).

Suprise suprise

The girls have an anouncment. Please see #1 and #2.

Special days at school

The last two Wednesday's we have had super fun special days at school. First, we had a Celebrate the Arts day where the whole day was spend exploring the art world.



The second event was the Bike safety bike-a-thon in memory of a student who was killed while riding his bike home from school about 6 weeks ago.



We even had the Mayor at both of the events...notice him saddled up in the yellow shirt. I love the end of school.

SJ Earthquakes

We picked up a family pack and headed down to San Jose on Saturday to see our first MLS game as a family. Buck Shaw stadium is so small that there isn't a bad seat, and we had a great view. It was a very exciting game with 5 goals, buy only 2 for us unfortunately. Maybe we'll get a win the next time...

Blog Header

Several people have asked how I did the header up yonder at the top of the page. I have no formal training on any of this, so if you want to, you could try it too. I followed this tutorial and spent a lot of time figuring it all out (translation:jacking it up and trying to fix it). It was pretty fun to do once I got the hang of it, but I love this kind of stuff. If you try it, let me know. This is the before photo.

Happy Mother's Day

I am pretty much the luckiest mom in the world. I am lying in bed working on my new MothersDayLaptop. #2 and #1 just made me a lovely sandwich and brought it to me.



Then #3 showed up to feed me carrots. What a doll.

I feel so lucky. Clay and the girls have spoiled me today. Clay asked me for my cream sauce recipe, so I think more spoiling is on the way.

I was then serenaded by the lovely girls. Not sure what Kiera was singing, but she wanted her turn with the video camera. I love it.



When #1 was born, I wanted something to show her how much I loved her. Since she was small, each and every night I have told her this (and subsequently the other two also).

"Of all the girls in all the world, how did I get so lucky to be your mommy?"

I truly feel this way each and every day. I somehow got the best kids in the world. What a lucky mommy I am.

Now pardon me while I continue installing Photoshop on this new laptop, so I will no longer have any need to leave this bed. Can someone bring me a catheter please?

This month one year ago

Need another haircut, Brandon?

We miss you guys. Seriously, when you coming for a visit?

Arty Party

I have been teaching a little art class at my house for the last several Thursdays. As I was preparing for yesterday's class, I needed to organized the art supplies a bit. I had emptied several of the drawers and their contents onto the floor. I was busy hunting for paint brushes, when I turned around to find this Small Paint-Organizer Fairy in the room with me. This scares me a bit. Does this mean she is OCD?

For yesterday's class the kids drew and painted a still life so the kids could learn a little about shading. They all worked really hard on them, but Neve was the last one working. She had one corner of the painting to finish, so instead of turning her paper, and continuing to sit in the chair that was in the bottom left of this photo, she thought that this was the best way to get the job done. hmmmm.




To see the finished products go to the blog of #1 or #2.

Happy Birthday Dad

Totally!

Ok, so if this post is confusing...please start at the fifth photo down, then when you get done with that awesomeness, please continue up here. I got a little carried away with the scary photos...

My sister was at my house for a bit today, and I was showing her these awesome photos. We laughed and laughed again about the "Davey Crockett" photo. We were having so much fun looking at great 80's shots that I though I would post a few more "winners".



I was telling the kids that this was a very special day, as this was the first time I flew in a plane. I sported my acid wash jeans, pegged and rolled, with matching acid wash purse, and don't forget the white flats,. Those shoes were high maintenance. I bought a canister of white shoe polish with a foam applicator to take care of them. Every couple of days I had to bust that out and re-white them. Anything for the fashion.

Maren thought it was really cool that it was my first plane ride. "They had just invented airplanes, right?" she exclaimed. And then I fell down laughing. Has this happened to you yet? When you kids think you are ancient? Wow, that is a good feeling. circa 1987.



This look was a really tubular. I had the brown Sally Jesse Rafael glasses and triangle hair. This was taken on one of our trips to San Franciso to go the esprit outlet for the big school shopping trip. We must've gone to the Swatch store too, since I am wearing the sweatshirt...in the summer...in the desert...What more could a girl want. Cactus anyone? circa 1985




This pink and black bathing suit was one of my favoites. Looks like a wet suit, with none of the coverage, modesty or warmth. The front zipper down the front was such a great idea. I should have had one when I was nursing. I really did not have "bangs to the sky" but the wind helped out the 80's ambience in this photo. I love the guy in the background checking out the Ekins sisters. What babes. I am pretty sure this is Santa Cruz. circa 1987.



My seventh grade school photo. I was definetely moving into the more sophisticated New York look with all the hair to one side (it was like that a lot) the black mock neck shirt and the frosted pink lipstick. circa 1987

I hope you were entertained by my tour of 1980's tragedies. I sure was.


My good friend Megan has this whole 80's thing going on this week. I would like to assert that I, Britt, had the very best(worst) 80's hair. Anyone up for showing their totally awesome 80's hair? Can you beat this? Really, with the rad glasses, you don't stand a chance.

Update: Miss Rehrer doubts my horrible 80's hair chops so I am pulling out the big guns:



You are speechless, I know. My brother-in-law fell down on the floor the first time he saw this picture. He dubbed the haircut the "Davy Crockett". I'm sure you can see the resemblance. It makes me laugh every time I look at/think about it.

Clay had some pretty sweet 80's stuff going on, but as you can see, he is but an amateur.



I like the knit tie. Why can't that come back in. I mean really.

C'mon, Emily. Show us what you've got.

Enrichey-rich

I was lucky enough to be able to attend a women's night last night where the speaker was a funny, interesting, smart, kind and wise woman.  Zella Dahlquist and her husband came to speak about finding peace in our priorities.  I had my conscience pricked on several levels and came away feeling a renewed energy to review my priorities and make some changes.  This involves no more spending my precious time blogging.  OK, just kidding.  My favorite quote of the night was this. 

Here's to great women:

May we know them

May we be them

May we raise them

I feel so lucky to be surrounded by great women in my life.  I couldn't have better mom, sister, or friends.  I love you all.  I hope I can raise my three great girls into great women.