april recap

when people ask, "how are you", lately my answer has been exhausted. that is the best way to describe how i feel. this month started off slowly but has been full steam over the last few weeks. everything was going at once and we had to juggle it all.

and of course i tried to capture as much as i could.

our school had it's jogathon fundraiser - or walkathon for some. andrew was running for bonus points in science and he did great.

and sofia turned jordan's creepy halloween mask into nancy drew for her april book report. it's still creepy.

 the most exciting this was the release of the movie.  there was no premiere. instead they had a screening at the arclight in hollywood with a q&a afterwards. our friends won this event at the school gala. we were so excited to hang out with them for the night. and we promise to take them to a real hollywood premiere soon.

no words.

the 3rd and 4th grade chorus participated in the forum music festival and were awarded a silver rating. sofia even got to sing a little solo.

then we went to magic mountain to celebrate.

at notre dame we had the mother's guild fashion show & luncheon. my job was to make the signs for the progressive parties. these were simple but elegant and i loved that i could use my own handwriting.

there were tears inside the ballroom as the senior models honored their mothers with a rose and a photo.

lots of softball was played. sofia is doing much better. no hits but lots of walks, stolen bases, and a few plays in the outfield. she is loving it and now wants to pitch. lord help me.

she is also having fun on the volleyball court. she goes from practice to games in two sports and still has time to do homework and hang out with her friends. she is a superstar.

andrew is doing really well in baseball. despite the fact that we think his baseball bag with all of his equipment was stolen. he had a hitting streak, is walking and scoring. i guess it was a good thing.

jordan is really enjoying swimming this season and is getting so much faster. i am going to the last swim meet of the season today so i'll have a picture to post.

 bobby and i attended the csun distinguished alumni dinner. it was great to be a part of this event and to honor some of the graduates of csun who are making a difference. (and this caprese salad was so good.) note the name card.

jordan also had his percussion concert. they played some cool pieces, including uptown funk all on percussion instruments.

we celebrated a friend's 40th birthday at perch in downtown la. it was such a fun night hanging out with some of our friends.

jen did a great job putting this dinner together to honor her husband casey. the food, the view and the company were outstanding.

oh and the drinks were pretty darn good too.

sofia ran for mayor of her class and she won! her speech was so well thought out and she is really taking the job seriously. can't wait for the student showcase next month.

most of last week was spent sorting and getting ready for the school yard sale. wow, there was a lot of stuff and some great buys. congrats to all those who organized and executed this successful event.

bobby and i would split our sports duties. we relied on text messages to keep us up to date.  this was a good news one. so thankful for technology.

jord had a huge weekend last week. he played with his cousin at core-chella where chris goes to high school. they played two songs and looked so happy to be on stage.

he also made his confirmation on saturday with his friend ryan. these two have been friends since pre-school and have shared so many important events in their lives together.

my dad was his sponsor. it couldn't have been more perfect.

then we enjoyed lunch at our friends' home. it is the perfect party home and the catering and desserts were yummy.

my race is coming up soon and despite the fact that my running hasn't been a priority lately, i was able to run 12 miles on sunday. it's the longest and hardest training run of the season. now we taper and rest up for the big race.

and there was so much more that i wasn't able to capture or that has already left my memory. keeping up these days is getting harder. when we have some time to stop, we look at our lives and wonder what would we get rid of? not a thing.

school, sports and other activities are coming to an end soon. and then we will wonder what to do with all of our free time.

2015 weekly menu #18

lunch after jordan's confirmation on saturday.

i know there is much to discuss and share. but i've got a long to do list - now that i have some time to do.

first up, get back on the menu track. not that we didn't eat last week, just didn't do any planning. instead planned my meals at the grocery store which is not my favorite thing to do.

to be honest, i'm at a complete loss for meals this week. every ounce of energy and/or inspiration has been drained from me, it's been a rough two weeks. maybe i'll plan for this menu and adjust as the week goes on.

weekend eats
saturday: leftovers from our lovely lunch
sunday: mexican food

making this week
monday: turkey burgers and fries
tuesday: chinese chicken salad
wednesday: eat out after baseball and softball games
thursday: something easy and good
friday: pizza (some of us are going to a dodger game)

right now i just want to crawl back into bed and take a nap. but i'm off to the store and then to a volleyball game. 

big bright beautiful world

on sunday the school put on it's middle school drama performance of shrek the musical. the music director invited the 3rd and 4th grade chorus to participate. this gave the students a taste of what the drama elective is like and hopefully gets them excited to participate.

jordan was in the musical when he was in middle school. he played a nerd in grease. andrew played a mini white rabbit in alice in wonderland and an oompa loompa in willy wonka. now it is sofia's turn to  sing and act, and i think she's caught the bug.

the thing with drama is that it takes a lot of time and dedication with rehearsals. the boys were not into that, but sofia didn't seem to mind. she rehearsed with the big kids once a week and then attended a few saturday rehearsals throughout the year.

she was given the part of little ogre and she also played a bird. no lines, no solos, but she took direction and made the most of her role as a sad little ogre being sent out into the big bad world. we've seen her light up on stage before and it's exciting to see her get over the nerves and enjoy herself up there.

she got to experience the whole process from the make up room, wardrobe, hilarity backstage as everyone gets into place, technical rehearsals, and then the big show.

we had a row of guests in the audience to see her 3 minute time on stage and we all applauded with enthusiasm.

the performance was outstanding. the kids all did amazing jobs and the talent was wide spread. lots of great singers, funny actors, and just plain bright personalities. what a show!

it's a group effort getting this show running.  from the costumes, make up, feeding and wrangling all of these kids, the choreography, singing and acting coaches. teachers, volunteers, parents and students worked so hard and it showed.

we are so proud of our little ogre and we look forward to seeing her in next year's production.  bravo sofia!

2015 weekly menu #16

this weekend we had some free time after dropping off sofia at rehearsal for the play. the perfect thing to do was to take bobby to see a movie at cineopolis of course. we watched while we're young, ate grilled chicken paninis and pork tacos and reclined in our comfy chairs. we related to the movie in so many ways as two 40something year olds trying to figure themselves out. we thoroughly enjoyed it.

this week we are booked and double booked. we have two movie screenings, of the same movie, a mother's guild meeting, a softball game, a baseball game, two swim meets and a music festival. and that is just monday to friday.

i have no idea how the menu will hold up this week but we'll take it one day at a time.

weekend eats
saturday: chinese and sushi
sunday: melody's after the school musical

making this week
monday: spaghetti and meatballs
tuesday: slow cooker tacos al pastor
wednesday: chicken, mashed potatoes and salad
thursday: bbq chicken wraps
friday: pizza

this is such an exciting week for us with the movie opening on friday (gulp) and the super fun musical the school put on yesterday. lots to share. but right now i'll get my run in and get to the grocery store.

happy monday!

around here | april

over spring break last week andrew had his eye check up. all is good and he just needs a slight adjustment to his prescription. the only problem was that we couldn't decide on the frames.

we had these delicious pancakes at bea bea's in burbank. they were pretty fantastic. the pancakes themselves were some of the best i've ever had. and then you add banana, peanut butter, whipped cream and crushed oreos and they are over the top. but be warned, our service was not the best. i guess you can't have everything.

we are all practicing baseball and softball. batting, pitching, fielding. it's a family affair.

and we are hiking. on good friday we met up with some friends and hiked to sandstone peak. i'm not sure how many miles we hiked but the first half was mostly uphill and hot - we started around noon. the top is the highest point in the santa monica mountains with a spectacular view.

we also went to our first seder dinner at our friend's house. i really enjoyed listening to the history and traditions that are celebrated during this time.  we enjoyed dinner and i tried matzo ball soup for the first time. it was my favorite part of the meal. if anyone wants to share their recipe i'm taking suggestions. or better yet send some over.

sofia and i went to see cinderella at cinepolis with my mom and sister. it was a birthday gift to each of us and i think it has changed us in the best way possible. she loved the reclining leather seats.

i loved the cheese platter that they bring right to your seat. bobby and i will definitely have to come back and enjoy a glass of wine with our next movie. (and we thought cinderella was so good.)

we had a lovely easter brunch at my sister and brother-in-law's house. i made scalloped potatoes to go with the eggs, ham, monkey bread and mimosas.

we've emptied out all of the contents of the plastic easter eggs...into our bellies.  we had a simple egg hunt at home. the easter bunny brought more legos and video games for the kids.

for dinner we had lemon garlic chicken that was delicious. such a great spring recipe to make again.

my mother in law brought pictures from when her family went to disneyland.  they grew up in orange county and were able to get to disneyland during the early years. i love these photos and seeing all of the aunts and uncles as little kids. can you imagine taking 6 kids to the park now?!

we are super excited to see the school's musical performance this weekend. they are doing shrek the musical. sofia will sing in the chorus and has a mini role as the young shrek. i had to dust off my sewing machine to make her a pair of plaid pants and a vest. thank goodness i have some skill with the machine and making basic pieces, with no pattern. just don't pull any loose threads...

during jordan's spring break he is swimming, playing drums and video games. yesterday i picked him up and took him and bobby to lunch at hugo's. i won a gift certificate last year that gave us two meals complete with appetizers. the spring rolls and the vegan nachos were amazing. the sauce on the nachos is made with cashews, instead of cheese. even jordan loved them.

around here we are taking breaks, making progress, and having fun!

just a thought

in honor of beyond the reach being released this month - april 17 for those keeping track - i decided to write out some of my favorite movie quotes for my art journaling.

i also wanted to point out how challenging it has been for me to do this art journal.  one of my guidelines in doing this was to not criticize myself and just let it be. but i look at my work and can't get past the mistakes, inconsistencies and sometimes bad choices. i usually like little pieces of each page but rarely the entire page as it is. 

i find that a lot of times it's my impatience that gets me the less than desired result. like not waiting for the water color to dry before writing the quote in pen and watching the ink spread. or closing my book when the ink is still wet and then getting black spots all over the other page.

but i'm getting there and making something and working on it. there are life lessons to be learned and i'm open to them.