homeofthebudds

this boy loves loves things that light up

fondue fun

Dave's birthday was also this week and he figured the best thing to do would be to dip things in chocolate.

So we did.

The boys both chose to dress fancy all day to celebrate.

But then we thought maybe fancy clothes and dipping things in chocolate aren't a good combination. (do you see it in his hair - twice? and under his arm?)

(Oh and did I mention the boys got a haircut?)

Brennan got his first buzz and Zaiah got his first mohawk. It's been a big week around here.

But back to the chocolate...

Ellen took her chocolate dipping quite seriously.

As did Dave. In fact he took it seiously enough to say "Forget all this dipping nonsense. Bring this goodness to me."

Now that was a good idea.

Happy Birthday Dave!!!

a little culture

We went to the symphony last night. It was another one of Dave's work events where he takes a client as a sort of "thanks for your business."

It was amazing. We had beautiful seats - I'm not sure there were better seats in the house. It was a cello concerto (I think?) and the music was just...spellbinding. (Did I just write a symphony was spell binding? I did. I didn't know I would think that.)

This is the kind of thing I can get into - in person. Just listening I tend to be distracted and even fall asleep, but when you're there and you're front and center and really there are no distractions because your seats are just that fabulous, it's pretty amazing.

 

Just before the symphony we stopped in at The Melting Pot - a fondue restaurant. I've never been to a fondue restaurant but I can say it's been on my list of places to visit. We just had enough time for the desert - (the important part) and, well, let's just say I'll be scouring the thrift stores for a fondue pot. Is there anything that's not better dipped in warm chocolate?

 

a little building.

This morning I went to a community breakfast to shoot some pictures for one of the organizations that organizes it. Super fun.

When I came back, I discovered Dave and the kids had had some fun of their own.

They'd gone to Lowe's and doing some sort of secret Valentine's day project, and then brought back some helicopters to make at home.

Saturday morning building with Dad. How fun is that?

Blazers baby!

Tuesday night I got to go with Dave to opening night for the Blazers. They don't allow "professional style" cameras inside so I stuck with my pocket camera (which means blur and funky lighting.) But I still like the action going on.

I had no idea, but opening night is a big deal. Check out these 8.5 x 11 tickets! Everyone got a hat and an obnoxious blinking pendant thing. The kids are pretty excited about them.

Brennan is a huge Blaze fan all of a sudden so I snapped his picture anytime he was near.

This lady, who was the half time show, was amazing. Dave said he's seen her perform three times and he still thinks its crazy. She's on that unicycle and tosses bowls up onto her head with her leg. There wasn't one that even got close to dropping.

Pretty fun.

will they or won't they?

The kids and I were experimenting with paper bag kites, trying to determine if they really would fly. Isaiah thought tying it around his waste to run might be the most effective way to go.

Brennan thought waving it around might work well...

Hmmmmm. The chasing the chicken method does not seem to be getting the kite very high up at all.

Blackie is obviously not amused.

Dave was an enthusiastic cheering section, regardless.

(In case you're wondering, the answer is No. Paper bag kites don't really go anywhere. This might have something to do with only giving the kids about three feet of string. Possibly.)

I'm taking today off.

 Yesterday we had a whirlwind day trip up to Seattle to attend the wedding of Dave's cousin. It was a good fun trip and so nice to see people we haven't seen in a while and party it up at the same time. At one point during the reception Isaiah found me to ask "Will you come dance with me Mommy?" Of course! So we were totally that family doing the funky five person boogie on the dance floor. It was super fun.

And then we drove home. 

Brennan didn't get the memo that he was supposed to fall asleep on the way home. That's all I'm gonna say about that. 

And then the car started behaving oddly. Flashing funny lights at us. Alarmist that I am, I called the wonderful Fieldhouses and asked them to google our particular problem and reassure me that the car was not about to blow up on us. They did and it didn't. (Yay!)

And that's enough for me. I'm rather exhausted.  I'm taking the day off today as I've mentioned. Except for a few things that really shouldn't be avoided. Like buying the chickens food. No one likes it when the chickens are hungry. And collecting pine cones. Tomorrow is the first day of our Monday school and I need pine cones for the Arty/Crafty class I'm teaching the preschoolers.

So except for those things, we're lounging around all day. Well, Dave's not. He's running his very first 5K at this very moment. Strike that - he's finished by now. He's either on his way home to see his adoring bride (that's the way you think of yourself when you've just been to a wedding) or checking out a retro gaming convention. One of the two. 

And now I should really unpack the car and clean the house. Oops I forgot. I'm taking the day off. Perhaps I'll upload yesterdays photo's instead.

The Hungry Chickens. Or The Minnie Winnies. Or....

This weekend we found the kids some coats that very closely resemble one of my favorite Dave coats. So, naturally, when we got home we had a little photo shoot. Naturally.

And then Dave thought maybe he ought to share the fun with our neighbor friend.

She and Ellen then decided really they were a band and this was the shoot for their album cover.

We're still working on their band name.

camera experimenting

So last friday night, after going to that super fun work event with Dave, we came home around 11. We thanked Erin Meschke profusely for hanging with our kids and then we broke out the new camera equipment I had rented earlier that day. Namely a flash and a super big zoom lens. The sort you'd want if you were going on safari in Africa as my friend Roger says.

And I thought I'd try out the flash's gels (little colored pieces of plastic that'll change the light tone). This one's a very light green if its not immediately obvious.

Wow. That one's a little orange. A little.

All this gel changing wore my man right out. Isn't he cute when he's sleeping?

10 years

Today marks the tenth year that Dave and I have been married. 10 years feels like a good long chunk of time, but it doesn't feel like it has been a long 10 years. It feels like we've always been together. That we're a part of one another. It's a good feeling.

I spent a good amount of time down in the basement today looking for pictures of us through the years.

There's us on our honeymoon. We were chasing sunsets down the coast. It was awesome.

A year later, at Disneyland. We were still in college when we got married and we had a tradition of going to Disneyland to celebrate the end of finals week. That was a good tradition. Makes me kinda wish I had a finals week to finish.

Year two - snorkeling on Catalina Island. That was a super good time too. Even if the fish did try to nibble my toes.

Another one from '01. In which you can see our faces.

Awwwww. This is our third year - when I start grad school (Marriage Family Therapy & Theology - sounds fun huh?) and Dave graduates. (Couldn't find that picture...)

Year four: Ellen!!! No grad school after all - or at least not more than a semester. Oh well, I hated the MFT classes anyway.

I was looking at this picture forever trying to figure out whose house we were visiting. About four hours later it dawned on me - that was our house! We'd just moved out of our lovely Long Beach apartments and moved into a house to share with our friends the Copelands.

This is one of my favorites from when Ellen was a baby.

Man we look tired.

Year Five saw Ellen growing up, a move up to Oregon, a plethora of jobs for Dave (I think he had three at one point before discovering his current company) another go at grad school for me, a beginning of grad school for Dave, and another baby on the way. Whew!

Isaiah joined the picture in year six.

It was a busy year. Dave had two jobs (current company, plus owning/operating his own business) and went to grad school working on his Masters of Divinity. I kept going to classes, and totally enjoyed the work. Isaiah even came with me once he was born.

By year seven, school had become too much for both Dave and I (we took a leave, fully intending to plug back in after a semester, but then found ourselves unable to justify the cost of tuition for something that wasn't a career goal.) Dave was down to one job. Things were starting to feel normal. Dave's super starness was shining through at work and he'd been promoted several times. We finally got a car that worked - all the time and in all gears! Moving up in the world!

Year eight saw us become a family of five.

Yay for Brennan!

At the beginning of our ninth year we moved closer in to the city and started doing a lot more things in it. Things like becoming more involved in Imago, and things like going to Blazer games and Foo Fighter concerts. Really I should say concert. We just went to one. But it was super super fun.

And now here we are, beginning our tenth year. I wonder what this year will hold? A lot of good good memories with the man I love. You're the best babe. I can't wait for ten more.

***bonus feature: If you made it this far, here's two "the dating years" pictures for your viewing pleasure.

This is at Dave's prom. Two years before we got married.

Did you know I married the King of Hearts?? My amazing husband Dave loved to enter "elections" at his high school. And he won. Whatever he entered. The only other one that comes to mind right now is Cinco De Mayo King. This is hilarious because the demographic of his highschool was about 98% hispanic. But Dave still won. Cause he's Dave.