There's a funny place called Tomales

We don't get to spend as much time on the coast as I would wish, but when we do, we usually go to the little town of Tomales. Tom's family has a great little house down there filled with 50+ years of family memories. This is Nora's second time down there and she did an excellent job of discovering everything.

She loved playing in the yard and especially loved climbing the stairs over and over again.

We took her to Bodega Head since it was too cold to go to the beach.

Another awesome part of the weekend was Burns and Ariel were our surprise guests. We escaped for an hour and stuffed ourselves silly with oysters.

I love this...

http://perezhilton.com/2011-04-22-celebrity-cameos-galore-in-beastie-boys-make-some-noise-music-video

My Spring Want-To List

This idea is came from my best friend's website http://www.sacramomato.typepad.com/, I'm making my Spring Want-To List for now until we finish school in June. Notice it's not a To-Do list. No need to pressure myself into an overwhelming list of things I may not get a chance to get to. I'm also adding a few things that I've already done this spring to start the momentum going.

1. Throw a fun birthday party for Beans.

2. Plant my tomato garden. (yes, I have a certain spot that is perfect for sun-loving tomatoes)

3. Pull up my kitchen floor.

4. Have a garage sale. (as much as I hate the idea)

5. Plant veg. garden: cucumbers, squash/ zucchini, peppers (chili, green, jalapeno) As a bonus, I would love to make it a raised garden, but that might have to be next year's project.

6. Lose 5 lbs.

7. Make it to the gym at least 4 times a week.

8. Go to the coast at least once a month.

9. Discover at least 3 new places to take Nora.

10. Read at least 2 books.

11. Take at least 30 non-TV minutes to myself every day.

12. Get thank you notes mailed out from Nora's party.

13. Make jam from our strawberries, blackberries and raspberries.

14. Plan an end of the year party for my class.

15. Stretch everyday.

16. Find 3 new blogs to learn from.

17. Write down 14 healthy/ easy recipes to enjoy with the family.

18. Make a tres leche cake. (I know it counter acts that diet thing, but it will be for a lot of people.)

19. Have a royal wedding party with my hubby.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

It was Easter today and like most family events there A) A lot of people. B) A lot of food and C) Not enough Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs. We all gathered at Uncle Paul's and Aunt Saralyn's farmhouse and had a wonderful little egg hunt and a delicious feast.

Somehow Nora didn't lose a shoe or get strawberries on her sweater.

She kind of grasped the idea of the egg hunt, but she had more fun shaking them.

....And Joe found a beer.

Vacation Post 2-First Birthdays and Plants

ELEANOR ELIZABETH is O-N-E!

Nora turned one this month. It was a monumentous event. She is growing beautifully and is charming the pants off of most of the people she meets. This was one of the most special events I've ever experienced since I feel like I've done something right for the first time in my life.

For her actual birthday we had a small gathering at the house with her parents, grandparents, 2 aunts, an uncle and a cousin. As usual, she was too busy to sit down and celebrate. A quick song and a couple bites of cake and she was off to play with her new toys and books. She loves to read and can sit already for 20-30 minutes enjoying her books. She even has been giggling at the pictures.

A few weeks later we had the big party. It was Yo Gabba Gabba themed and her Auntie Robin got her a Foofa dress that I know I will be putting on her quite often this summer. By watching one of the big girls she learned the joys of her DJ Lance Rock hat that she now finds and (tries) to put on when we watch an episode.

She was a girl on a mission that day. She played with all the big kids, said hello to everyone and ate, ate, ate. For the first time she seemed to enjoy sweets with her little cupcake, but most of it ended up on the ground and in her bib. The weather was beautiful and we were able to be outside for the entire day. She crashed out for a bit when everyone left but while there was company, she had people to see and toys to play with. My favorite part of the day was watching all the kiddos play around. I've decided that the good people in our lives have done an excellent job of making other really good people.

Gardening

I've begun gardening again for the first time in 4 years. It's amazing how fast the time has gone. In 2007 we were married and besides a few plants there wasn't much of a garden, we had too many things to focus on. In 2008 I had my second foot surgery in June so I spent that summer recovering. 2009 was the summer of traveling and finishing my masters, too many things going on...but boy did we have fun. 2010 I had Beans and had my third foot surgery. Tom would have completely melted down if I would have given him more responsibility.

So this is the year. I've been weeding and planting for the past couple of weeks and we're going to get a rototiller next week to really get going on the garden. As a mother's day gift I've asked that Tom makes my ground level garden into a raised garden for Nora and I to plant cucumbers, peppers and squash. The strawberries and tomatoes are already planted and there are some beautiful potted plants throughout the yard. I've found that I've become a more patient gardener and I don't get so hung up on the placement of plants. I'm kind of going by instinct and it seems to be working really well. This year I'm not going to plant things just to try and grow them. I know what I can do and what I can't. Things that I will not attempt to grow include, artichokes, cilantro, basil, parsley and any kind of lettuce. I have tried and failed many times. However, I can grow tomatoes with my eyes closed and cucumbers from seed so I hope Nora enjoys both of them.

Vacation Post 1-Weight Loss

Well, it' s been coming down the pike for a long time. I have to lose weight. My husband likes me big, I like to eat, it's been a win-win situation for a really long time. However, my joints disagree with me that this weight loss is a good thing. My first goal is 5 pounds and I've already reached 2 pounds. I'm going to use this little blog of mine to push myself through the process. I know I can do it, I have no choice in the matter. My big goal is 60 pounds so that I can rock a bathing suit in Hawaii next year for our family trip. I want to be able to enjoy the beach to the fullest extent with Nora.

My first step is getting exercise into my routine again. I've signed up for a month at Cal Fit for Tom and me. I thought he would be excited. I was wrong, so with or without him I'm going. They have a pool. I bought a new suit and I'm excited to use it. Hope I don't like it too much since the membership is only a month and I think they're too expensive for us to do on a regular basis.

My next step is coming up with 14 recipes that are healthy and tasty that I can rotate in and out for our dinners. I'm going to work on that starting tonight.

Wish me luck, I know I can do this. I'm one of those "if you put your mind to it...." kind of people.