reading stories

I just wanted to post a shout out to my amazing husband and Samuel's and Shira's amazing Dad. In the morning when we can barely peel our eyes open for Samuel's 6am wake up (please become a teenager soon so we can complain about how you never wake up before noon) Steve is always at the ready to read with Samuel and Shira as I do all the things we have to do in the morning: nursing, picking up the house, making breakfast, picking out clothes, unpacking the bag from yesterday and then repacking our bag for today (lunch, snacks, diapers, extra clothes, water, pacifier, phone, wallet, etc., etc.)

And then, in the evening when Steve gets home exhausted from a long day at the salt mill, and I am doing all of the above mentioned things AGAIN, except this time it is nursing, making dinner, washing the dishes, doing the laundry, etc., etc. and can't take care of one more child or change one more diaper or play one more game, there Steve is again to read stories to the two munchkins, even though he can barely keep his eyes open (or off the computer) either...

Thanks honey for being wonderful!

visiting daddy at the office

I have many memories of visiting my mom at work. The vast majority of them involve food, which is not surprising, since she ran a series of restaurants and cafes. Many of those memories also involve me being used as slave labor. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed the abundantly free food and beverages (ah, the days of being a 7 year old making mixed drinks at the bar - mostly virgin ones), I never thought that my mom was playing while at work.

I have a feeling Samuel and Shira may grow up with a very different perspective of what Steve does when he leaves the house. To start with, the best that I can do to explain to Samuel what Daddy does all day, is to say that he talks to people a lot. Doesn't sound too bad so far.

Then, when we visit Steve (in his new WINDOW office!)

the plethora of toys,

video here:
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the free milk, juice and soda as well as the video games (wii rockstar, halo, etc.) and comfortable couches in the foyers make it hard to persuade Samuel that he really doesn't want to go to the office with Daddy in the morning.

shira the rock and roller

Watch as Shira rolls over for the first time ever. We've got another mover on our hands...
and here she is with an encore performance:

where is the farmer?

That was Samuel's first and most oft repeated question today, as we visited a farm that has a program for 0-3 year olds.

I like that Samuel and Shira don't have preconceived notions of what a farmer should look like, as the answer to Samuel's burning question was, "See the hot 20 something chick over there with the buff sunkissed arms? She's the farmer." She was not the only farmer, of course. There were a couple of 40 something women too. No middle aged men to be seen anywhere, at least not today. No overalls or pitchforks in sight either.

Anyway, since fall is on it's way (though you'd be hard pressed to notice considering the 88 degree weather) we had the opportunity to read a harvest story, pick apples and make cider, in addition to picking grapes, strawberries, beans, and tromping through a corn field.
picking and eating green beans
The corn "jungle"
Shira, ever the good sport.

Eating strawberries straight from the plant can't be beat

The bucket of apples for our apple cider. Samuel did not contribute to said bucket...because he wanted to make sure that the ones we picked came home with us. Samuel found that Shira and her stroller came in might handy in this situation.
Little video on the making of the cider. Being a Californian, I had never seen this done. Steve was of course able to discuss it in great detail with Samuel when he got home.


Samuel samples the cider
and loves it. Not only did he have seconds and thirds, when I dumped my water bottle in order to fill it up to take some home to Steve, Samuel begged to drink that as well. I was able to defer him by telling him it was for Daddy, and he would have to ask if he could share it when Daddy got home. Knowing that his Dad is a pushover for him, he was not concerned, and knew that he just had to wait it out.

oh my goodness

Warning: This is a 3 minute and 46 second video of Samuel playing. Anyone who is not a doting relative may not have a desire to watch the whole thing.

Also, if you are reading this through facebook, you probably can't see any of the videos that I post on the blog - for some reason they don't seem to load. If you want to see the videos, you should read this on my blog: mysunmoonandstars.blogspot.com

Library Storytime

Before we meet our friends for our usual Friday lunch, Samuel, Shira and I take the bus to one of our local libraries for storytime. Taking a stroller on the bus is a big hassle because the driver makes you fold it up, so in the past I would put Samuel in the Ergo. When I was about 7 months pregnant, I could no longer wear the Ergo because it made Shira kick and hit me like crazy, so I started carrying Samuel on my shoulders. Now, Shira goes in the carrier (I just figured out how to get her on my back and she is only 2 and half months!) and Samuel rides on my shoulders. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, since I am the one carrying them :).

Samuel on the bus. He loves to pull the cord and hear it "ding" to request our stop.

It was a bigger crowd than usual today. For the first time Samuel ran in and sat in the middle with the older kids, rather than sit on my lap on the edges.

At the end of storytime Samuel loves to get a stamp from the librarian. He used to just get it on his hand, and I had to go up with him. Now he runs to the front, and requests his stamp in multiple spots of his choosing. Today it was both hands and his belly. Last week it was his knees. ??? How he decides I have no idea. Today's stamp was a heart to celebrate grandparent's day, which apparently is this Sunday.

Samuel or Shira?

Who can guess which baby is which?

What a day!

We packed so many things in today that when I go back and look at the photos and video, I can't believe we did all that in one day.

We started our day with our usual Wednesday activity walking to the farm. We observed a lot of wildlife this morning. Samuel pointed out two deer just as we were beginning our walk, and not much later we got to see this snake

Samuel did some jumping off of logs, then decided to push Shira to the farm on his own


The fruit trees at the farm have begun to produce, so we usually buy a few of whatever they have. This time we got pears and apples
Because naptime has been hit and miss recently, rather than go home after the farm, we proceeded straight to the pool to meet up with some friends and enjoy the pool for one of the last times this season.

Upon our return home, I put Shira to sleep, but Samuel would have none of it. When Shira woke up from her nap, Samuel came to keep her company.

Me: "Hi smiley girl. You are in a good mood."
Samuel: "Hi smiley girl."
Samuel: "Mommy, Samuel get camera. Take picture."
Me: "What do you want to take a picture of?"
Samuel: "Shira smile."
Samuel also had some work around the house he needed to get done
As I was nursing Shira in the bedroom, Samuel wandered off. I could hear him in the kitchen, and knew that he was on the counter, but it took me a few minutes to get Shira to sleep and extricate myself. This is what I found when I went looking


And when I returned moments later


Post clean up I began to make dinner and was met with this conversation

Samuel: "Mommy, no make dinner."
Me: "Samuel, I have to make dinner, or we won't have anything to eat tonight."
Samuel: "Go Grandma Joan's house. Have dinner."

Hmmm...

Visiting School

I brought Shira and Samuel with me to a local elementary school today to look into finishing my internship there with my former principal. Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity to talk to her, but Samuel was all eyes as we walked through the school.

Samuel couldn't take his eyes off all of the kids playing on the blacktop, grass and multiple playgrounds. He informed me that he was going to play soccer with the other kids on the grass. It almost broke my heart to explain to him that since we didn't attend school there, we had to go to a different playground, but that we could watch the boys playing soccer. I thought the chance to watch the big kids would be appealing, but Samuel insisted that he wanted to actually play with them.

We also stood and listened to a teacher give his first graders instructions in Spanish (the school has a dual immersion Spanish/English program) and Samuel was fascinated as I translated for him and he watched the kids follow directions.

It would be super cool if Samuel and Shira have the opportunity to attend there.

Auntie Lauren's New Apartment

We went to visit Lauren in her hip new digs in San Francisco. Made me jealous that we aren't 20 something years old living in the city. Only 18 more years...

Craigslist Obsession Redux - the Stokke Story

Not long ago I bought a Stokke chair for Samuel off of craigslist. I paid a pretty penny, but was willing to pay a premium because the chair was located less than 2 miles from our house.

Samuel loved the chair so much, and we found it so incredibly useful (previous to the entrance of the Stokke into our kitchen and lives, Samuel stood on a regular chair to eat dinner. Yes, we are such lazy and incompetent parents that we were teaching our child to stand at the dinner table), that I decided to begin searching for another one that Shira would use (albeit many months from now).

I began my search before Shira was born, though I didn't search with much urgency in the beginning (figuring I had plenty of time to find one). Since I wasn't in a hurry, I decided I could be picky. I passed up several Stokkes that were good deals, but simply farther than I want to drive. I also ignored Stokkes that were more than I considered to be "a good deal".

Shira was born and I began to be a little more serious about locating this Holy Grail of mine. After emailing the owners of several possibilities, and being informed that the chair had already been sold (including one in which I called 20 min after it posted and I was the fourth person interested) I became more and more concerned that I might not be able to buy one even if I threw my "good deal" and "close by" requirements to the wind.

Finally, last night, I found one that was half the price that I paid for the original chair. It however, was located in San Francisco. Ugh. What a drive for a silly piece of furniture. But I told the owner I would come pick it up without a doubt. So last night, Steve, Samuel, Shira and I hopped into the car at 5pm, endured getting stuck behind an accident, and made it into the sunset by 6:15 to purchase this beauty ;).

Needless to say, we could not subject Samuel and Shira to another hour long car ride without some dinner and a chance to run around a bit. So we had an impromptu picnic in Golden Gate Park with take-out from Park Chow.

Samuel and Shira were both a dream in the car on the way up and on the way back. My Craigslist Obsession turned into a charming little adventure and a good time was had by all. Thanks family for putting up with your silly wife/mom...

Greatest Dad Ever (and husband too).
Shira enjoying her first time in Golden Gate Park.

Where did Samuel go?
Shira scoffed at our take out - she brought her own picnic with her.

Death Defying Feats

Now that Samuel has learned how to really jump, he wants to jump off everything he sees. Since we went swimming at Auntie Lottie's house, and Samuel saw cousin Brendan do a cannonball, every perch inside and outside of the house has become a diving board.


Meanwhile, Shira has been engaging in her own extreme physical sports - namely lying on her tummy and holding her head up...