Cheesy

What? Not Owen's school picture!

It's the book he brought home from his weekly trip to the library that IS:


I laughed so hard at how bad this book was but Owen was totally into it.

He wants a dog. Well, most of the time he wants a dog. Until I remind him he'd have to pick up the poop. Then he forgets about it for a little while.

But the thing is I don't like pets. Other people's are fine but I would be so happy if we never have one of our own. The puffer fish for Owen's last birthday (that we kept alive 11 days) was enough.

So I tell Owen when he's 8 (you know, the age of accountability) he can get a dog. That's only a little over 3 years away...I need to get a back-up plan in case he really wants to take me up on the offer.

Take 2

We have fire!

Take 1 was last week

We had fun, but no fire.
(found out too late that Asilomar doesn't allow bonfires)

But they do allow cupcakes.

The Doctor

Sept 12 - 6 months old
15 1/2 pounds; 26 1/2 inches

Sometimes we wait a long time for the doctor to come back.

So we get bored and start taking pictures.

And go a little sticker crazy.


Then the doctor asks me for a urine sample.

That's asking a lot with 3 kids (Owen was out of school with a cold).

I'm used to not having privacy at home but it's embarrassing in public.

Especially when Drew yells, "Bring your pee! Bring your pee!" as we're walking out of the bathroom.


Post Script: That whole day Sally was so fussy, even the Motrin wasn't helping. I thought it was the shots (which was probably part of it) but the next day her bottom 2 teeth cut through. Poor girl had to deal w/shots and teeth at the same time.

Who's the Proud Dad?

Justin loves soccer.

Owen had his first soccer practice yesterday and I think he liked it.

A) Last night he slept with his shin guards.

B) Today he brought his ball in for show & tell.

4-year-old soccer is so funny.

Can't Take the Credit

Lindsey makes my pretty headers. She drew the birdie on the new one herself and then turned it into clip art. Fancy! I Love it.

PS Do you sometimes wonder why I post the header I'm retiring? It's because when I ever get around to printing my blog each year I want to remember them all. Especially this one.

Shauna Gets Political

Sally and I joined a group of Proposition 8 supporters this morning. We went door to door in our precinct hoping to find more supporters in hiding.

We found...
- A man that was undecided (and also undressed so we couldn't have a conversation)
- A man that takes pride in the private ballot (wouldn't share his opinion)
- A woman that can support Prop 8 in NO way
- An old woman that will support Prop 8 (and probably also won't support it...depending on who gets the last word before the election)
- A man that supports (and said w/Sally strapped to my front, "Let me guess...YOU married a man?!")

And more.

Most people were nice enough, even those that didn't agree.

But mostly I found that people didn't really know the details (even though they had strong opinions). And they didn't want us to explain.

Usually I just sit back more and let people do what they may. But if this doesn't pass, Owen will be taught in school that marriage can be between any 2 people regardless of gender. I'm not okay with that.

The official Prop 8 website is protectmarriage.com

I especially like the MYTHS


If you don't agree, just be as nice about it as the people we ran into yesterday. Pretty please.

The Girl Likes to Swing

Carmel River Beach

You'll never guess where we went for Labor Day...




Another beach!

We went to Carmel River Beach for the first time. It's crazy to me how different the landscaping at every beach is. They can be like 5 minutes apart and look totally different. This one had a river inlet that was perfect for playing.

And scaring birds.



Umm and being cute.

Broken Glass

If the whole Arabic thing doesn't work out for Justin I think he has a future in temporarily replacing broken car windows on holiday weekends when nobody can professionally do it for 3 days.

We were all loading up in the van yesterday. Owen saw the window was cracked (we never saw it) and touched it. It literally shattered into tiny pieces. Nobody was hurt except for a couple scratches on Owen. But still! Not the happiest moment of the day.

Can We Talk Some More about the Aquarium?

Owen, Lilly, Drew - 8/29

The awesome jellyfish exhibit is leaving soon so we went to say good-bye. This little room is my favorite. It has a a floor to ceiling jellyfish tank and the other walls are mirrored so you're surrounded by jellies.

Hot Lunch (A Long Story)

Every morning in kindergarten Owen's teacher takes roll and asks each child if they are having hot lunch (buying) or cold lunch (brought their own).

If they say hot lunch they hand her their money.

Every morning we pack Owen a cold lunch.

Owen knows this.

This last week Owen's cold lunch has been untouched. I figured he was full from snack or too distracted and wanted to play - he's never been a big eater, plus he would eat the whole lunch as soon as we got home. But I thought he'd at least eat his treat at school.

Owen told me a couple times he told his teacher, "Hot lunch." I thought nothing of it because a) he didn't hand her money and b) he had a cold lunch in his backpack.

But Thursday when he told me he said, "hot lunch" again I asked him what he had.

Him: A hamburger.

Me: Oh yeah, where'd you get the money for your hot lunch?

Him: This fat lady.

I double checked the menu and it was hamburgers for lunch. But I was still thinking maybe someone was sharing their lunch with him.

Friday I gave him $ to buy hot lunch since he's obviously obsessed with it.

I asked his teacher about him saying hot lunch and she confirmed that he had been eating hot lunch ALL week. Huh? Without money! And the teacher never even brought it up to me! I don't feel too bad cause if she checked his backpack she would've seen that he had brought a lunch. I just thought it was so funny. And she admitted that she was an accomplice cause she never did check so she told me not to worry about paying back for his free lunches.

He wasn't trying to be sneaky he probably just thought he had a choice so he chose hot lunch!

2 in a Row

It's just that I like taking sitting up baby pictures a lot better than laying down baby pictures.

And it has been such nice beach weather.

The sun (here) makes me happy.

Just Like Her Dad

Doesn't like tutus.

I think they're so cute...just not very practical.

Don't fall down in shock but I made it myself.

And yes, the bow needs to be trimmed.

Mummies and the Boardwalk

The Egyptian Museum in San Jose

We got to see a real mummy, a 4 1/2 year old girl's coffin (she was inside but we only saw the coffin), and a recreated tomb (including tunnels) to walk through.

Owen and Drew were pretty scared.

It didn't help when Justin said, "Look she's your age!" to Owen about the little girl's coffin. He was trying to get him excited, but seeing a dead girl his age wasn't top on his list.

He's more into things like taking other people's money out of fountains.

Bad luck.

Double bad luck.

They chose to sit still for a picture

over going back in the museum.

It felt good to be warm for a day!


Then we went to Santa Cruz to meet Chad & Cherisse at...

The Boardwalk

Justin made Drew do all the work,
while hogging his stroller at the same time.

Kiddie Rides!

Then good night.

Something Special for a Saturday

If I ever go to prison, please let it be in the Philippines.

They do a different routine every month.

Good Morning Ocean

This is my view every morning driving Owen to school. Not bad eh?

But by "every morning" I mean ""every now and then" because lots of times it's overcast, foggy, and gray.

But not today!

And by "today" I mean 2 days ago.

Today it's gray.

I was going to lie for the sake of this post cause today sounds better than 2 days ago.

But ya... today it's gray.


And maybe I should remove that parking receipt from my dashboard.

Competition

Ever heard of Grosgrain Fabulous? My cousin Lindsay (private blog) had this posted and I'm now obsessed with this dress. The designer doesn't sell her dresses and it's killing me cause the odds are not in my favor to win but it's worth a shot!

Running and Me

8/14

Running and me don't normally get along, but we're trying to work it out so I can lose some pounds.

I have never ran a mile straight in my life.

My best mile time is 9:58. That was in junior high. And that included walking.

At least I can laugh while I run now (those 2 things used to never happen at the same time)... but Justin rides beside me pulling the trailer crammed with 3 kids. It's funny to look over and see their little heads staring at me. They look like triplets.

And then there was today when Owen decided to ride too... in his fuzzy helmet and pj's.
This is what happens when I take a picture while running. Does it make you think I'm going fast?

Fine Dining

In the Hollobaugh garage

First experience with baby food left her cross-eyed.

In Baby News

Sept 4th of last year my sister Karen gave birth at 37 weeks to Alice Jane, who was stillborn.

Sept 5th of this year was her due date for Gwenyth Jane...but Gwen decided to come 4 weeks early and was born last Saturday.

I just think it's cool how things work out.

Gwen's lungs weren't fully developed at birth but she should be able to go home soon.

Oh and Tami who had James the same day as Alice last year is now pregnant with #8!!!!

Meet Arabic

He eats, drinks, and sleeps Arabic.

The headphones are for the vocab words he's studying.

This picture was taken when I woke up at 6:30 this morning. And this is what I fell asleep to at 10:30 last night. He did sleep...I think.

Justin goes to class 8 hours a day. His class of around 9 stays in the same room as 8 different teachers rotate through. All the teachers are middle-Eastern so the students can get used to hearing different dialects.

He's in his 6th week. I think by week 3 it was all new material (nothing he had done in his 4 semesters in college).

Good thing he likes it!

My Upbringing

When I was born my parents lived in a trailer in a junkyard.

So I am a little bit trailer trash.

Does this explain my love for (strawberry) fruit roll-ups?

Not that fruit roll-ups are trashy, but the fact that I'm 29 and LOVE them is a little bit. And those Mother's Circus Animal cookies I love that Lindsey (not Katie) informed me are disgusting. Well I wish she told me sooner.

I think I have trailer trash taste buds.

But they're maturing a little bit ever since I had a banana/Nutella crepe at the Farmer's Market.

Have you ever had this stuff?

I hadn't even heard of it until I moved to NC and Sis Cooke made Nutella filled won tons.

YUM.

Brown. Not so Brown.

When you walk in this house you'll think you put on brown colored glasses.

Brown: couches, recliner, entertainment center, piano, picture frames (I'm a glutton for punishment - I swore I would never hang these again), and if there was room there'd be a brown table. (That small area behind the couch is where it would go, but since it won't fit it's unassembled in the garage. We eat on the floor...until I find a little, NOT brown, hopefully turquoise, table.)

And then there's my favorite 4'8"x2'7" (I measured) space in the house: Sally's crib.
That is so NOT brown (thanks to Justin, because it used to be).

It makes me so happy every time I lay her down.