Wedding Cake!

My older sister Katherine just got engaged to her boyfriend Brian. They went on vacation down to Las Vegas and then drove down to Phoenix to visit some friends. On the way to Phoenix, they stopped at the Western Rim of the Grand Canyon where he popped the question!

I am not sure the entire stpry of their relationship, but I do know that they were friends in high school and have been dating for over a year (Really, Brian...it was about time!). My nephew really likes him to, which, I think, is more important than Katherine alone liking him.

Now that they are engaged, Mark is all afraid that Brian is going to take over the spot of Favorite Son-In-Law, a position he has held without contest for the past 4 years! Haha...you'll always be the first, Mark!

The strange thing now is that I cannot stop thinking about weddings! Haha, I was so glad to get mine over and done with and didn't want anything to do with planning a wedding ever again, but now I find myself looking through thousands of photos of wedding dresses, event locations, cakes (oh Lord, I do love cake!), flowers...pestering Katherine with about a bajillion e-mails a day with links to what I thought would be awesome!

Someone needs to tell me to slow down. Remind me that this is not MY wedding.

I just can't help myself. This is such an EXCITING time! Woo hoo!

Sugar High

Well Halloween has come and gone. I must say that it has been getting better and better every year. The older Madison gets, the more excited she is to get dressed up and go Trick-or-Treating. Plus, she is still young enough that I can get dressed up too and have some fun without being an embarrassment (To her, at least!).

Last night Auntie Rotten, Maddy and I went as The Big Bad wolf, Red Riding Hood and Grandma. It was a hit with all of the houses we stopped at, and she came home with a good stash of candy that I may or may not get to steal from! Robert came with us too! He was Charlie Brown and was a trooper through our late evening. We didn't get home from all of the festivities until a quarter 'til ten!

Now that Halloween is over we can start looking forward to Thanksgiving, Madison's birthday and Christmas. It is hard to believe that 2010 is coming to a close. I just barely started remembering to write 2010 on my checks, and now it is going to be 2011?! Where does the time go?

This was Maddy's first pumpkin. In a fit of rage it was chucked off the patio table and smashed.

 There is a little girl in the wolf suit!

Rawrrrr!

Halloween Parade at ABC Little School

Grandma Mareda, Madison & Robert

Hiding out inside a GIANT pumpkin at school, scaring the other children

Wolfie got HUN-GRY!

At Rick & Debby's Halloween party...this was later in the evening after a shit ton of candy had been DEVOURED!

A Little Rain Never Hurt Anyone

A friend of mine who recently moved back to Minnesota from Los Angeles once said that it never really rains in Southern California, the sky just gets a little wet and people start freaking out.

Truer words were never spoken.

This morning, however, it actually is raining. I mean buckets. It woke me up more times last night than the baby did! I can't say that I am all too upset about it though, because sometimes even all this sunshine is a bit depressing.

That being said, it is a quarter after 5 in the a.m. and a quite b-e-a-utiful morning. Not really cold, but not warm. Just perfect for drinking coffee on the covered patio, listening to the deep restful breaths of my son as he sleeps in his buggy.

We've actually had a lot of rain in Los Angeles so far this year. No real forest/brush fires to speak of this year either, so the dip shits who build their houses in the mountains/burn areas should have nothing to complain about. Dumbasses. They build their homes in areas that are known for catching on fire, bitch about losing their homes. and then bitch about all the rain sweeping down the barren hillside, washing their "dreams" away. Boo hoo. Too bad, so sad. As you can see, I have no sympathy for the idiots.

It is days like these that really make me miss all the fun weather that Minnesota has. Wind, rain, thunder storms, tornadoes. I'd actually prefer a good tornado over an earthquake any day (Not that I have ever experienced a good earthquake before. Still waiting for the "big one" to come.).

I guess you could say that I really just miss Minnesota all together. The people, the "traffic", my friends and family. Either that, or I am just getting sick of all of the jackasses who, when there happens to be a little weather going on, crash their BMWs and Mercedes into each other and make a ten mile commute that would normally take an hour (gah!) turn the 405 into a parking lot.

Now the rain is letting up. My son still sleeps, as does everyone else in my home. I'm happy to report that Margaret and Mike made it here safely and didn't end up pancaked between luxury cars on the interstate.

Now back to the coffee I love so much and listening to the last remnants of rain trickle down.

Oops, you're not supposed to do that to your children?

Me on parenting: WTF was that?!

I feel like I am constantly being blindsided by how insane Madison gets, but reassured by how happy Robert is.

Now I am not one really get all happy, squishy about babies. I like them when they can yell "I HATE YOU, MOM!" At least then you know you're doing something right...right? Anyway, before I digress, I just thought I should share my beautiful morning. Up at 5:30 with a happy baby boy. Make some coffee, whilst listening to him sing his little happy baby songs. Go out to the patio and enjoy the quiet dark of the morning with my son. Being out here with him also makes me also think about how happy I get every time I see a garbage truck (especially ones with yellow butts.), because of how excited Madison gets when she sees a garbage truck (especially ones with yellow butts!). This actually helps to dull the little ache in my heart every time she tells me that she hates me.

Happy Boy!

Jesus vs. Santa

So who are you betting on? Who is going to come and totally rock your world. For the sake of my salvation, I hope Santa wins. Otherwise, there had better be free drinks in Hell.

Kale Chips

This morning was fun. At about 9:00 I had to rescue Madison from the wrath of her father...although I can COMPLETELY sympathize with him. She was running around screaming and yelling at everything and everyone.

Well, I told her to get some clothes on (clothing is optional for 3 year olds, dontchaknow?!) and we drove on down to the Hollywood Farmer's Market. I absolutely LOVE this market! Good selection of food (they have everything from the normal fruits and veggies to seafood, meat, eggs and cheese.), live music, and awesome people watching (like the toothless bass player doing a duet with the 90234323 year old jazz clarinet player...or the lavender guy. he is a character!).

We bought a baguette, yellow cherry tomatoes, sage goat cheese, a mini pumpkin for Robert, a BIG pumpkin for Maddy, a vegan "chocolate" chip cookie, and a bunch of kale for $15!

Now I have been looking for kale in our local Ralph's supermarket, but to no avail. When I saw the kale ($1.50 a bunch) I was so excited. I snapped it up and when we got home I began making kale chips!

They taste sort of nutty, and have the texture of carbon paper, but are super yummy. In fact, I just plowed through the entire batch that I just made in a matter of minutes.

Your ingredients:

Olive oil

bunch of kale

salt

pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. LIGHTLY brush each leaf with olive oil and sprinkle LIGHTLY with salt and pepper.

3. Pop those babies into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping half way through.

4. DEVOUR!

Margaret & MIIIIIIKE!

So it's been a little while since I wrote last. If there was something worth writing about, maybe I'd have done it sooner. But alas, there wasn't anything to write about. :(

My younger sister and her boyfriend Mike are finishing their last day at Signal Mountain Lodge in the Grand Tetons tomorrow. Then by Tuesday they'll be making their way down through Seattle and Portland to Los Anegles. I couldn't be more excited for their visit! They have come to visit us every Halloween for the past three years. Only problem is, is that they are no longer going to be working at Signal come next year, so this is probably their last HAlloween visit. Trying to think of ways to make it a good one!

Margaret and Mike both love the outdoors, so I was thinking of maybe a hike in Malibu Creek State Park, or a bike ride from Malibu to Redondo (but then, we'd have to get back, and I don't know if my legs could handle it!). Maybe just hang with the kids ands carve pumpkins... Whatever we decide to do I will do my damn best to make it a good time!

Can't wait for them! xoxo