poser

stella is such a poser! she climbed on top of this big box in our living room and decided that I should do a "photo shoot" with her little cheesy smiles!

robbed

seriously, i have some horrible kharma.... just got my purse stolen.... so for those of you playing at home, that makes 7 thefts in the past 1.5 years! a year ago my house was broken into... car has been broken into 3 times in the past year... purse stolen 3 times in past year - i'm going through phones and purses and drivers licenses like nobody's business!

geez louise... not a fan.. i need to right something, cuz this bad kharma is not fun!

back from boston

sammy and i just got back from a lovely visit to boston! we went to adam and cindy's wedding and visited natalie & phil and vivian and pip... thanks much to our hostess with the mostess!

sammy looked cute in her red sox hat - she enjoyed the fenway park tour, I think! also had a blast at the public gardens, riding on the fake ducks... she and pip had a great time playing too - bathtime was a supreme hit! especially when they were snuggled and rolling around like little burritos in their towels afterward!

we missed daddy and stella and are glad to be back home!

parents day

today we went to the girls school for a "parents day" tea. it was cute - stella received a certificate for completing training in safety... her favorite part was getting to go inside a police car and meeting some firemen! sammy made us an adorable pot that she painted and stella made us a cute flower stand with her pic in it - complete with glitter galore! stella & franny posed with their safety certificates - little cutie BFF's!

we had a nice evening at home tonight... grilled some salmon, enjoyed it with a little rose, and all ate out on the back deck, on stella and sammy's little mini table - that was an adventure! at least the sunset was gorgeous & it really was a nice night in our back yard!

losing...

i really hate losing - especially for competitive sports! we played a really aggressive team tonight at my soccer game.. and we played well... but right at the end, they scored a goal and won. i'm QUITE bummed about it!

if you give a pig a pancake

we started the day off with our traditional pancakes and smoothies for breakfast.. the girls were so cute i had to snap a pic, mid breakfast, cuz i saw them eating their pancakes and holding hands. oh sweet sisters, i hope this lasts!

then we raced off to gymnastics, stella did a great job on the beam all by herself! she's really doing well in the "big girl" class - only trouble is that sammy is ready to join her, but isn't quite old enough, so it breaks my heart to have to try to practice the art of distraction while stella is out there doing her thing and sammy just wants to be with her big sister!

then we went off to the JCC in downtown SF to see a musical/play - the performers reenacted some of our favorite books and it was quite entertaining! sammy really enjoyed each one- there were 7 books they did, each as a separate "act" - and she stood up and clapped and said "yea!" after each! stella got a bit frightened by the actors dressed as pirates and dragons in a couple of the stories... but all in all, a good time. our favorite was the one reenacting the story, "if you give a pig a pancake".

later, daddy came home and we were QUITE happy to see him, since we'd missed him all week while he was having fun golfing and fishing with his buddies.... welcome home charlie!

saturday fun

soccer in the morning - stella did a great job and sammy and i had fun practicing kicking meanwhile!

then we went to the farmers market (in the rain!) and then checked out this new fabric store, stone mountain fabric.. it was QUITE cool! it was like christmas - stella had a hard time picking just ONE fabric to use to make a blanket for her babies...

during the afternoon, the girls played dressup and had a great time cracking each other up - the pirate hat (see pic above) was a big hit!

stella also practiced writing her name - sooooo exciting!

later we had grandma ginny over to dinner - and that was a nice treat... so sweet to have her close now!

welcome to berkeley!

grandma ginny finally arrived! she left texas earlier this week and made it safely to her new home - so close to ours, here in berkeley! we went to check out her apartment and then out for chinese!!!! we are so glad to have you here grandma!

cheeseboard

tonight we went to pickup tasty cheeseboard pizza with franny, sarah, and elias.. then we went to their house to eat, drink, and be merry. the girls had a blast playing in franny's room - it was hard to break it up, but 9:00pm seems plenty late, so we did!

drivin

today i woke up in half moon bay (had a blast at a sbts retreat!), then drove to mill valley to meet charlie and the girls at ty's birthday party... we had a great time, the weather was beautiful and their yard was lovely for the party! then stella and i left to race to millbrae for elise's birthday party.. then we went home to berkeley, to see daddy & sammy and enjoy a relaxing evening at home, eating out on the deck and grilling our sunday night steaks!

meanwhile back at the ranch, sammy snuck into mommy and daddy's bed and looked SOOOO cute sleeping, I had to snap a pic!

hot, hot, hot

sooooo hot this weekend... we went to the pool (strawberry canyon, on UC Berkeley campus) THREE times this weekend! sammy is freakin' fearless- just jumps, doesn't care if we're there to catch her, or if she goes under, or gets water up her nose, etc... just jumps and jumps again, and again, and again! stella enjoyed practicing "swimming" on her own by pushing off of our legs and gliding back to the side on her own. small things - soooo amusing!

yoga, libraries, and copy cats

i went to yoga this morning... bright and early at 7:30am.. it was lovely, a great way to start the day. then i came home and the girls and i hung out and went grocery shopping and to farmer's market while charlie was at the library. yes, that's right.. all day he was in our local berkeley branch studying for the LEED exam - a certification for sustainable building practices. reminiscent of college days a bit! more of the same tomorrow, no doubt!

sammy is in a total copycat phase - she just worships her sister and loves to do whatever stella is doing. today i guess stella decided she was hot (no idea how that's possible since it was a cool day here) and so she stripped down naked. then sammy came over trying like hell to pull her shirt and pants and diaper off, saying "OOFF!" (aka "off")... then she too was running around naked!

i refrained from taking pics of their cute booties and posting them for you all to see - i am proud.

stella also decided that she should copy ME - and she had me put my baby carrier on her (way too big, so I had to do some crazy rigging up!). and then she put her little cabbage patch in there for a ride for the next hour or so!

all in a saturday's work for the wellborn girls!

tahoe snow!

we went to tahoe this weekend, with grandma and grandpa neuman.. it was lovely -we stayed in a great house (a friend of mine was so kind to let us stay at his place since he was not coming up this weekend). stella had her first adventure on skis - she went to ski school at Squaw Kids, and was too adorable! great balance, didn't fall much, but didn't really get the whole "slow down with the snow plow" thing... as a reward for her hard work, she got to jump on the bungee tramp for a while and had a great go of that (sammy preferred to hang out on grandpa's shoulders and just watch the whole thing)...

we had plenty of snow, so we build a snowman (really more of a snow bear/dog) in the backyard. and we went sledding - which was great fun! we had fun in the hot tub, made snow angels and just relaxed.

stella really enjoyed the foreign substance we call "snow", but sammy wasn't having ANY of it... (see pics!)

it was a great treat to have grandma and grandpa join us - their first time to tahoe, and they were good sports - getting on their snow suits/boots/etc. and joining in on the sledding adventures! grandpa made an amazingly realistic carrot out of the playdoh during "arts & crafts" time, and he also played a mean game of hide & seek with stella! grandma exercised a lot of patience - playing game after game and puzzle after puzzle, and she also brought some pretty darn cute snow outfits, hats, mittens for the girls!

grandma ginny's visit

grandma ginny came to visit us for a long weekend... she spent some time looking for an apartment out here in berkeley- we are soooo excited that she's planning to move out here in may! the girls are going to be happy to have her close and get to spend more time with her - because, as stella says, "texas is TOO far away!"...

we hung out together, had dinner at pizziaola (so tasty, especially their thin crust pizza with fresh arugula on top!), and went to see a native american dance/story performance, and she even babysat the girls while charlie and i had valentines day romance - we went to the oakland zoo and learned about the mating habits of the wild animals... and then topped it off with sushi, chocolate fondue, and dinner at our local favorite indulgence - corso.

thanks grandma!

can't wait to see you in may!

beach babes & squirrels

we decided to drive down the hill, a whole 6 minutes away... and go to the beach for the day! daddy was (still) working on the bathroom remodel, so the girls and i packed up our shovels, beach blanket, water, and some cookies!

we had a good time playing in the sand and wading (NOT swimming) in the water. the girls were having such a great time playing in the sand that they shared an impromptu kiss - warms my freakin' heart!

then, we busted out our snacks and a squirrel came RIGHT up to us and stella offered him her cookie. he sat there, about 2 feet away munching and crunching and then he came back for more and frankly wouldn't leave us alone! then he called his little friends and it felt a bit like a seen from "the birds"! stella was a bit regretful about the cookie, and sammy was downright pissed that he might think he was getting away with any of hers!

no wonder the sign (that i saw on the way out) says "please, don't feed the squirrels!"...

chinese lunar new year

stella's pre school teachers arranged for some dancers to come celebrate chinese lunar new year with the kids in all the classes at the girls' school. it was quite a to do and stella was held in rapt attention during the entire performance.

afterward, she even posed with the lion/dragon costume head, but sammy was having NOTHING of it... she buried her head into my shirt during the whole thing and didn't look up until the drums and music and cheering had stopped!

go team! cowboys & cheerleaders

one of stella's dress up outfits is NOT a princess or fairy (believe it or not), and it's a cheerleader outfit, complete with little pom poms... and one of our favorite outfits to put sammy in any day of the week is her tony romo cowboys jersey! so stella and sammy happened to have each of these things on and decided to yell "go cowboys!", and "go mavericks!" and "go stars!" and "go giants!".... (sorry rangers, you've been replaced by one local SF team!).

they were too cute, rah rah'ing all over the place... but don't let those fierce faces fool you - check out the shoes they had on their feet while raising the roofs with their cheers....

my future is so bright... i gotta wear shades

these girls kill me... stella got some sassy sunglasses and decided to pose for me with them, out front with the camelia bush. it was quite cute... she "kissed" the flowers, put them up to her face, smiled, got serious, etc... quite the photo shoot! then sammy got in on the fun and swiped the shades when stella went to the bathroom and she also gave the camera some love!

yosemite treat

i took a few days off and went to yosemite with shannon... we stayed at the lovely awahneee and drank wine by a huge fireplace (so large you could have a party in it, seriously).... and attended the chef's holiday event. we met the lovely founders/owners of cowgirl creamery - one of my favorite local cheesemakers, here in the bay area... and also michael reccuiti, founder/owner of a fancy chocalatier in the ferry building downtown SF... and charles, the chef of slanted door- a great asian restaurant downtown too.

we had wine and great food and beautiful scenery - tahoe is quite pretty this time of year... snowcapped halfdome, gushing waterfalls, and cozy fires inside the lodge.

good times. can't wait til next year!

laugh fest

tonight at dinner we had a wellborn family laugh fest... we took turns doing our best, deep, full laugh! daddy's was just plain scary... stella's was hilarious... sammy's was absolutely adorable (full head back, milk spilling out, ripping it), and mommy's was sophistocated. =)

soquel christmas

each year, the brosings (janel's mom's side of the family) get together for a family christmas celebration, in january.... this is because it's less hectic for everyone and easier for aunt juli/uncle keith to fly down on standby. it was a nice treat to have uncle keith join her, and of course we missed jenna (and braden), but they were in our thoughts (especially mine since jenna drew my name and gave me a great cookbook and cheeses!)... juli picked stella's name and got her the perfect gifts - she made her dress up outfits - a beautiful princess cape, and a fabulous pig face and rat face! and a great long black wig, and all kinds of fun surprises (like a feather boa and pirate's hat)!

we went to kim & karl's house and had such an amazing weekend. it was lovely to see everyone, and the girls really enjoyed playing with their cousins! they especially enjoyed exploring blake's half pipe out in the back yard!

i was so proud, since aunt juli brought a copy of her newly published text book! how exciting and IMPRESSIVE! i've always admired her, and she never ceases to keep stretching herself, and growing, and contributing, and just making it all look so darn easy!

karl and kim were wonderful hosts, as always, and their home was cozy and the food was great, and it was so nice to see them and their beautiful family.

auntie lygia was there with her new sweetheart, tom, and karla and tyler joined in too! we missed max, of course, but he was off galavanting around in NYC, so i guess he's excused! tom got sammy's name and gave her a beautiful keepsake plate and a cute bunny that used to belong to his son!

grandma and grandpa neuman were there too, and they brought the chocolate fountain, which is always a big hit, and stella and sammy enjoyed having the bonus time with them all weekend long.

all in all - a lovely time, as always... i only wish i didn't have to wait another year to enjoy being all together!