Heff's Troopy

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My husband wanted a commuter car to make the long 8 mile "commute" into work easier than in his big heavy Diesel F250 pick up truck... so he did what any normal person would do. He bought an old Land Cruiser HJ47 Diesel jeep/truck/bus/tank called a TROOPY. I have to admit I egged him right on since it reminds me of my first car, a red Jeep Wrangler, but this one is so much cooler. It is really hard to find in the US and imported from Australia, right hand drive, stick shift, reads in Kilometers, has a removable top and seats 10 people in the back along the benches (without seatbelts or proper seats of course). But to calm the grandparents nerves.. don't worry. We are putting in a roll cage, real seats, major seat belts and every safety mechanism you can imagine and only driving it around town. This thing won't go on the freeway ever again (Heff drove it 500+ miles up from San Diego last week going 55-60 mph the whole way and was still saying "huh?" every five minutes when I asked him questions- it's a little loud on the freeway without weatherstripping!) But it's a fun project for him to work on and make his way around town in.

Uncle Jerry came over to check it out when it arrived in the driveway

Francie's ready for takeoff... it's gonna be awhile before you get a ride France!

Driving Miss Maisie. I just can't wait for Heff to haul Francie somewhere with her carseat in the front seat on the left hand side so when they pull up next to someone it looks like a two year old is at the wheel

It's as long as my suburban with this bumper/grill meant for fending off kangaroos

What is the equivalent of "Happy Wife, Happy Life" for husbands? :)

What Happens...

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When Francie plays Ladder Golf (which she calls checkers for some reason) at Jannie and Grampa's by the window?! She has her mother's arm. and afterwards Jannie said Francie better check her allowance or her piggy bank to pay for it. Grampa said a little birdie must have done it or maybe he accidentally did it but for Francie NOT to worry or feel bad and it was Jannie's fault for having golf balls near a window that were too tempting to throw. I love Grampas ;)

Redwood Grove Nature Camp

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Francie is having a ball at Nature Camp! This is really the first time she has ever gone anywhere all by herself besides Brilliant Babies and I was wondering how she would do but she can't get enough of it. She goes every day from 9:30-12:30 and has learned about omnivores, carnivores, recycling and hexagons (not sure how that last one fits in there but oh well) Her BFF Marcella (Chella) goes too and they are two peas in a pod. Cella's mom Cat and I take the baby sisters to breakfast downtown after camp and do a little shopping or get stuff done around the house before pick up. I could get used to this schedule!

Francie on the first day of camp with her lunch box from Aunt Kaky.

We walk the wagon down the hill every morning for drop-off (a whole 2 minute walk- most of the parents have to park farther down the street than our house, talk about convenient!)

Camp T-shirts for all the Explorers and Adventurers

Maisie Shark - you'll get to go someday too

Pick up time. Francie showed off her veggie paint drawing to Maisie and was pretty proud of herself!

Brilliant Babies

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The other day I picked the girls up at BB and was getting their shoes on and I had to take a picture of Francie's prized possession Minnie. I had to break the news to her that Maisie ripped her felt eyes off in the car ride over and Francie (horrified but taking the news pretty well) goes "But can she SEE?!" Nope, probably not. And I need some hot glue because she is freaking me out.

Off and Running

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Still without pictures to upload!! We are having a great week though- Francie is in "Nature Camp" at the Redwood Grove Nature Preserve behind our house. We walk the wagon down at 9:30 every morning with her no trash lunch box and she is off and running with her favorite counselors and new friends.

This morning Francie woke up and said
"Oh my gosh!!!! I didn't even notice!"
I asked what she didn't notice...
"That my baby sister can RUN now!!! I didn't realize babies can RUN!"

interesting observation France.

Uh-Oh

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My laptop is full. Too many photos! So it won't let me upload anymore... working on backing up and clearing it off but in the meantime here is a photo Emmy took of her goddaughter last night at Seascape. We went down for a potluck with the fam- Emmy won a three night staycation at the resort in a contest! The girls had a blast swimming with grampa in the 60 degree foggy chill, playing on the playground and entertaining their cousins.

and here is Connor's new profile pic :) He carried Maisie over to see some doggies and walked back up the hill saying "I feel like I am being judged by all you girls on how I hold a baby. This feels so awkward!" of course we were all making fun of him so he wasn't that far off :) and then I shoved her over for another picture after he gave her back to me. Love you Con!

Go Giants

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Saturday we went to the SF Giants vs Boston Red Sox baseball game at the park with our friends Greg and Trisha Weber who were in town staying with us for the weekend. It was Maisie's first game and Francie showed her the ropes. We lucked out with nice warm weather in the sun and a packed stadium- Francie ran into some of her boy friends in the play area and they were back to causing trouble on the slide. We made it to the 8th inning- what a fun day.

getting to the game

fist pumping with the crowd

self portraits in the bleacher seats

Greg and Trish

easily convinced her dad to buy her a four-layer cotton candy

thanks for coming all the way down from Red Bluff!

Sleep

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I'll admit we let our girls sleep with us for the first few months/years of their life and it got a little out of hand. When they were both babies they were in the bassinet right next to our bed - wedged in there so I had to push the bassinet out to get out of bed. I kinda miss that tiny room in our old house!

Our new room (in the pic Emmy took above, I'll have to take more of the windows on the other side) is great though- I love all the space and light and we can hear the creek and see the redwood trees. It's still looking a little sparce- not a high priority for decorating. But we finally upgraded to a queen bed!

Francie transitioned to her own room after she was crawling out of the bassinet but would inevitably wake up most nights and crawl in bed with us. This was a tight fit when Maisie was a baby, Francie was a toddler and all four of us would somehow sleep together in our DOUBLE BED.

We wised up after too many nights of "hey- can you move that elbow so I can put my head there." and sleeping on the very edge of the mattress. Francie learned to stay in her own bed and go back there after she goes potty and Maisie gets the second child treatment- you put her in her crib at bedtime and close the door and don't open it until it's acceptable time for her to wake up. But she loves to sleep so it's not a problem :)

(She was laying in the sun the other day- no she doesn't sleep in an old wooden cradle:)

Now without babies crowding the bed and hogging all the space we sleep so much better... but the other night I was reminded just how well we sleep without little cold feet in your ribs. I heard Maisie up at 1:30am- I was still up and kind of missing her (dork!) so I went in to check on her - she was fine just awake so I picked her up and she snuggled right into me. I obviously wasn't thinking straight so I brought her in bed with us for some more snuggling. BAD IDEA. She was all over the place- patting my head then sticking her fingers in my ears, nose and mouth (real annoying). She'd sort of fall asleep then get mad and rearrange herself so her feet were on Heff's chest and her head was on mine. Finally I got fed up and walked her back to her room expecting a protest. She saw her crib - looked at me and then pointed to her crib furiously! I laid her on her big pillow with her soft blanket tucked in her arm, binky in her mouth and flannel down comforter pulled up over her- She didn't move again until 8:30 this morning and I went back to my big quiet comfy bed.

little stinker

Archery Lessons

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The other night we walked down to the Nature Preserve after dinner so Francie could shoot her new arrow. They have a little archery area set up for summer camp (we hear the campers from our backyard during the day- it's so cute!) Francie loves shooting with her Dad and Maisie follows right behind.

"got my arrows Dad"

"Yessss the wagon is all mine"

Daddy helping her get set up



sp proud of herself

gotta retrieve your arrows

Maisie was more concerned with trying to walk Ollie

"I can't get it offf!"

"Oh what am I going to do"

"maybe talk my sister into a turn??"

(she's signing PLEASE! on her belly!)

check out Francie's face

someone is sooo excited she actually gets a turn

"I did it!!"

all done

what a good dad

Maisie was wandering off in the woods. Good thing someone saved her

heading home (sorry for too many photos- I couldn't help it they were so sweet to each other riding together in the wagon for once :)

Emmy Slumba Party

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Emmy stayed over for a fun sleepover Wednesday night. We hit up our favorite ghetto shopping spot at Valley Fair (and saw the first 5 people line up for the iPhone- after 4 unsuccessful attempts myself yesterday should have pulled up a chair!) We had lunch at CPK and then shopped for awhile and let the girls play in the indoor play area (probably where Maisie picked up that stomach bug- gross) Heff was driving home from Southern CA on a mission for a new commuter car (I have to post those pics next) so Emmy and I took the girls to the Menlo Park Block Party for dinner and dancing in the street until Maisie started puking in the street and we hauled it home! But as always Emmy captured some great photos of the girls... here are my favorites of Francie.

Thursday Night Dinner

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Last Thursday night (sick sleeping babies gives me time to catch up on blogging at least) Brian's cousin Casey Heffernan and his girlfriend Jenna were on a road trip from WA to SoCal after Casey's graduation so they stopped in to stay overnight with us. It's so nice to finally have a guest room for times like these :) We had the Sakai family over for dinner Thursday night too so we walked down to the Framer's Market before Casey and Jenna arrived and filled the kids up on giant strawberries. We BBQ'ed back at home and caught up with the recent grads and their big plans for the future. It was a fun night at home with friends and family!

Walking the Farmer's Market

messy eaters Francie and her buddy Ryan

not the best background of the Safeway parking lot (Dad's were getting cold beers :)

Strawberry Face

Baby Ryan the Lion is not a baby anymore!

and Heather is having another baby boy in a few weeks- she looks great! Beers and food in the wagon- kids got booted out

Rub-a-dub-dub three kids in a tub

sometimes it's hard to be a shark

and bedtime stories by Jenna- the girls loved her

Dinner with Clara

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Last Saturday night we went over to Mark and Sarah's house for a yummy dinner- their food is always rich in culture and taste! The girls had fun playing outside together and I had fun with a new lens our new neighbor Bill is letting me borrow (the 85mm 1.2- wow!) It does all the work for you except make the kids (2.5 year olds in particular) look at the camera. It's so fun to live close to Mark and Sarah again- we were 1 mile away in Menlo Park and by chance both moved further south in the same month! They have a really cute house and great neighbors- and Francie is pretty jealous Clara's chickens got to come with her! (but a side note- our new neighbors were reading my blog and emailed "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be those neighbors who move in with chickens! We want to get chickens!!" SO maybe a coop will be in our future again next Spring :)



Maisie Moo



Clara Marie




and Francie the Gardener who won't look at her mom when she has a camera in her hands (how many times did I have to say "Francie! Keep the dirt IN the plants!")


the lemon tree didn't fare so well... but still looks so pretty dead somehow!

the closest I got to a photo of all three busy ladies

thanks Clara!

MaryFrances

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As I write this- my little night owl is coming up with reason number 22 she isn't tired.

so I'll just write about you Francie... at 2.5.

You weigh 36 pounds- we discovered today when you found a scale buried in the closet. But you were upset because you didn't want to be 36. You wanted to be 2.

You are a easy to handle and well behaved most of the time... although those lapses are coming a lot more frequently lately! We try to pick our battles with you but you are stubborn and persistent (humm, wonder where you got that from?)

You ask all sorts of questions and aren't easily satisfied with the answers.
"Mom- what is under our house?"
"Dirt Francie."
"But then where does my poop go?"
so maybe tomorrow we will check out the pipes in our house.

You eat like a bird and aren't that interested in food - except anything sweet or sugary. Your favorites are parmesan cheese (straight up), tomatoes, Jannie's carrot soup, marshmallows/s'mores and apple sauce mash ups. You like deer meat, piggy meat and rocky the cow meat- as long as the animal that was killed for your plate was an "Uncle Deer. Not a Mom Deer, a Dad Deer or Big Sister Deer- ONLY Uncle Deers are the ones you can shoot Dad"

You are a great big sister to Maisie. You take care of her in the wagon or the back seat of the car and feed her raisins or half of your z-bar. You make her laugh and you have all kinds of crazy nicknames for her- mostly Moo-Doo and Tack-Tack (somehow short for shark attack). You try to teach her things- but it's a frustrating task teaching things to a one year old so you usually give up. Sometimes you can't help yourself and have to give her a little "pat" too hard but most of the time you are gentle and sweet with her.

and of course you keep us laughing with the funny things you say-

Heff asked the other day if you wanted to watch a hunting video- he tried to get Maisie to watch with you guys but she was busy in the toy bin and you said
"Apparently she would rather play with her toys Dad."

You looked out the window on the drive to Red Bluff and said
"LOOK! A crop-duster spraying chemicals! But it's ok- it keeps the bugs out of the rice."

The other morning I was listening to you and Dad getting ready in the morning...
Francie: "What are you doing Dad?"
Heff: "Shaving."
Francie: "You're shaving off your scratchy face?"
Heff: "Yup, I don't want another beard to sneak up on me."
Francie: "You mean you don't want it to SURPRISE you?"
Heff: "Yes you little Thesaurus."

and tonight you were rolling around in mom and dads (green) room saying
"I wish I had a green room. (sighhhh) But I don't. I have a blue room. It's like the wrong color." Too bad that one didn't get you out of going to bed in your BLUE room! (she's fast asleep in her own bed now :)