The Mitches

mo cookies

2011-09-16T23:14:00.000-07:00

jack and i had an oreo cookie party on the kitchen floor the other day. we shared. he ate the creamy middle. i got the soggy wafers. mmmmmm..... jealous?

this is him screaming "mo cookies!" at me. also... this may or may not have been his dinner that night. don't judge.

i'm alive.... i think

2011-08-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

just a quick post-ita to assure ALL of my readers (i'm so popular, you know) that i am still alive and kicking, though just barely. you may have noticed that the small people from your neighborhood disappeared. don't worry. school started. i'm watching them. actually, i'm supposed to be teaching them but in the crazy chaos that is the first week or so it's more like i'm wrangling them. so, i promise to try and blog soon.... back to school night is this week and i'm hoping that maybe things will settle down a bit after that???? and i won't feel as though i've come down with mono or some other horrible kissing disease that mimics the exhaustion of "first week of school".

coming soon: i'm a big girl now. my superboy turns three.

to the crazy b's i saw today

2011-07-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

you: were having a gnarly cat fight in your apt. parking lot. i only noticed because my windows were down and i was able to hear the profanities you were hurling at each other along with your fists. yes. you were punching each other.

then. i saw that one of you brought your child along for the show. your poor little boy was watching you behave like even less of a lady than you already claim to be.

i: drove around the corner and was so upset that i doubled back while dialing the esco. p.d. ya that's right. i did it.

but. when i got back to your complex the two of you were gone and your kid was too. i can only hope that both of you dropped dead and your son was rescued by a kind soul. i wasn't going to go on a door to door hunt for you worthless sacks so i hung up.

be warned. if i ever come across you again, i will not only call the police but - if my children are not in the car with me and yours are safely hidden away somewhere - i will run you over with my car and save this city from your pathetic childish antics.

get some class.

they call her the stink

2011-07-17T00:35:00.000-07:00

not once. not twice. but three times (a lady?) this week, our delicate flower has produced something in her drawers that can only be compared to armageddon. the worst attack (in my opinion) took place in a restaurant while we were out to eat with cowboy baba.

hmmmm.... she seems fussy grampa, i'll just take her out to the - ohmygawd!!! why is my hand slimey?!? what's happening?!?! ohmygawd!!!

and this child does not do anything half-ass (no pun intended). i left her home with the hubby and jack for a couple hours the other night and i received this text:

worst fears realized. BLOWOUT.

poor hubby. poor baby girl. anyway, i leave you with a picture that i snapped of the stink this week after one of her "incidents". ya. they're that bad. maybe it's a phase....???

flashback friday

2011-07-15T06:01:00.000-07:00

i was lurking my own blog the other day because people do that, right? shutupitstotallynormalokay??? anyway, i found this post from back in the day - like november '08 style. you have to read it because i am flippin' hilarious sometimes but the kids in my class top me most of the time. check it out: is that a banana in your pocket?

adventures in potty training - damnyoupeepee.

2011-07-14T23:51:00.000-07:00

right now as i write this post one handed there may or may not be:

pee on the floor

dirty bottles on the table

a wet diaper next to me on the couch

a three year old in time-out

an 8 week old passed out in my arms

oh, the glamorous life i lead....

it all starts innocently enough... so we're attempting to potty train the boy which is absolutely an adventure. i can't tell you how often i'll turn around and see him watching pee evacuate from his little body all over the floor MINUTES after i've watched him pee in the potty. today was especially exciting when i dragged him in the bathroom to "try" and realized his big boy undies were already wet.

"where's the pee pee, jack?"

blank stare.

so i start searching the house for evidence and quickly come across a gigantic puddle next to the train table.

"ta-da!"

are you serious, little boy? he's so happy for me that i've found the "prize" in this f*&#@$ up treasure hunt. so i put a smile on my face and grab the lysol.

"next time he pee pee goes in the potty, right baby?"

right?! through gritted teeth....

journaling mommy

2011-07-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

so i stole this idea from someone else... pretty sure it was coach (holla, carisa!). aaaaaaaand i'm not sure if i'm doing it the same way as her but here's what it entails. i went and bought two fancy looking journals here - one for each little mitch. then the plan is to write journal entries about each child - to each child - in their personal journal. and THEN the final product would be to one day (when they want it) give them their journal(s) so they have a record of them growing up. cool? ya, i know. =) anyway, i bought the journals last week sometime and i'm JUST getting to the stink's. i finally wrote her first entry yesterday and now i need to get on jack's so he doesn't get all jealous and stuff.

dr. stasche and the river rat... or the day ellie was born

2011-06-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

**just a warning... this is a loooong post so if you don't have a couple ten fifteen minutes to spare.... come back soon.

it all started around 6am on may 11, 2011. i was told to call up palomar labor and delivery and "see if they have room". so i did and got a hold of a very nasty type nurse

"hi! i'm supposed to call and see what time to come in for an induction?"

note my tone of hope...

"psh! ugh... call back at 11 and we'll see if we even have room for you."

note the tone of nasty...

so i hung up and stewed in my rage for a bit and then remembered that nurses work 12 hour shifts usually ending around 7... so... i called back at 8am, hoping for a nice nurse this time.

"hi. my doctor wants me to be induced today. what time should i come in?"

i used my big girl voice this time... learned it from my sister...

"oh! what was your name? spelts? can you come in right now??"

booyah! that's right, palomar! so i jumped out of bed and screamed at matt to get a move on! we're having a baby today!! i ran to the shower and shaved my legs (gotta have smooth legs for a delivery), scarfed down some fruity loopies (breakfast of champions), and hopped in the car - ready to go.

we arrived at the hospital at 8:45am and waited to check-in. did i warn you that this might be a long post yet??? you have been warned.

at the check-in counter there was a young girl (no more than 23??) who was very pregnant and seemed to be practicing her lamaze breathing....

"hee hee hooooo... hee hee hoooo... is this your first?"

"uh no... i have a two and a half year old named jack. is this your first??"

i worried she was gonna have her baby in front of me.

"oh no... it's my third."

gong! my jaw hit the floor. pick it up sam. i managed an...

"oh my..."

"ya... i had my first son and then got pregnant again 6 weeks after he was born... GONG! oh here's your jaw... and then i got pregnant with this one 9 months after the second. my mom says i'm just fertile!"

i couldn't help myself..

"oh girl...."

i did however refrain from telling her what I would say she was... we finally bid our new "fertile" friend goodbye and checked into our room at 9am. our nurse started filling out paperwork for us

"did you want an epidural today? did you want your tubes tied after delivery?"

"yes to the epidural and no to the tubes but now that you mention it, i just met a girl in the hall who i think may need that service..."

so around 11am our doctor cruised in to meet us. yes. we waited two hours to see a doctor. but he was a sight. have any of you ever played angry birds? then you may be familiar with our attending physician, "dr. stasche". i managed to snap a quick photo of him...

theeeeeeeere we go... anyway, he checked me and told me he would start me on pitocin right away and we would see how that goes... flash forward 13 hours of a few contractions and then nothing... bump up the pitocin... a few contractions and then nothing... bump up the pitocin. meanwhile, my super nice crunchy granola nurse leaves for the night and we met our night nurse, a very nice filipino lady named cheryl who looked like she would take very good care of us. midnight rolls around and everything changed. a woman walked into my room.

she looked like she spent every weekend baking in her beach chair next to "the river" wearing her rolled up, unbuttoned bongo jean shorts and a neon green bikini top, with a coors in one hand and her pack of ciggies in the other. she alternates trips to the river with trips to the desert and trips to her garage to bleach the $%#* out of her hair, i'm sure.

"where's cheryl??"

note the terror in my voice...

"oh she had to go work in the nursery. why?"

ummm... because you're not her and frankly, you scare me. instead i mumbled...

"just wondering..."

"well, i'm the river rat, i'll be your new nurse. i think you'll like me."

oh i doubt it.

enter dr. stasche to break my water. he tells me to hold out for my epidural until i'm "uncomfortable" and directs the river rat to call him "when the baby is crowning". wonderful. did i mention matt had been playing angry birds this whole time? like 13 hours worth? we started calling him "slayer"....

so now it's 3am and i'm "uncomfortable". my pitocin is turned up to 15 (max is 20). carisa (holla!) is standing at the end of my bed breathing with me - i wouldn't let her hold my hand or touch me... i started getting cranky. i've told the river rat that i would like my epidural and she returns a couple minutes later...

"okay, i told them you want an epidural but the anesthesiologist is doing a c-section and there's another woman ahead of you who's screaming so you're third in line..."

oooookay. so an hour and a half goes by and matt wakes up (yes, wakes up) because someone let a sailor loose in our room... or i was a little more than "uncomfortable" and a little more than "cranky". i'd been waiting an hour and a half for my epidural, okay? matt stumbled sleepily over to the bed...

"hey, did you get your epidural?"

"GET OUT OF HERE AND FIND MY EPIDURAL!!! DON'T COME BACK WITHOUT IT!!"

roared the sailor. matt looked scared. just then, the river rat walked in with dr. gorilla the anesthesiologist (not his real name but i can't remember the real one).

"oh thank god! gimme the epidural! put it in my back! i really need to push i think!!!"

dr. gorilla turns to the river rat and says...

"did she fill out the paperwork for the epidural?"

"oh you're KIDDING me!! no! just put it in my back! i NEED TO PUSH!!"

"you're probably not as far along as you think, sweetie.... just let me find that paper..... we can check you once you're epidural is in..."

ohmahgawd. at this point i had not been "checked" since midnight. i was at the same time thinking i was going to pass out and puke on myself. i think i screamed at the river rat that i was "sitting on my baby" and they were having a hard time getting my epidural in. finally they got the line for the epidural in and dr. gorilla stepped away to "get the medicine" so the river rat said she would check me...

"oh! (beep beep boop boop) dr. stasche?! you need to come to room 252 right now... i think you might miss the birth of this baby. okay honey you just need to push right now."

for real? for REAL?!?! seriously. so i pushed that baby out! dr. stasche arrived just in time to catch ellie and dr. gorilla got the tester tube of medicine in... while they cleaned her off. perfect...

in the end it was a crazy day but our lady came like gangbusters at 4:57am on may 12, 2011 and she was totally worth it.

ellie t. spelts

2011-05-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

entered the world with a ruckus (get the full story later) on may 12th, 2011 at 4:57 am. our little lady weighed in at 8 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 inches. love this girl!

i superman

2011-05-07T22:10:00.000-07:00

***the views and opinions expressed in this post regarding superman are in no way a unanimous household view. ***

the other morning i was having breakfast with jack and he looked at me very seriously

"mommy, i wanna fly"

"okay baby. but you don't have wings. how are you going to fly?"

he didn't even have to think about it long. he pointed straight to the picture of supe

rgrover on his bowl and said

"i need a cape. "

"okay baby. we can get you a cape today."

"and a helmet."

i love that he added that on. it's as if to forewarn me of the er trips we will make when he leaps off the roof of some tall structure.

so we went over to jo-ann's with carisa and the buddies (holla!), bought some cape making materials, and got to it. all night that little boy would come over to me while i was on the sewing machine, point to the cape i was working on and say

"my superman?"

now here's the problem. apparently there are two camps in the mitch household. pro superman and anti superman. i am all for the guy. c'mon, right? he's a man who is super. he can leap tall buildings.... blah blah blah... i like him and clark kent. matt however, is anti superman. he can explain it to you sometime. i don't don't why. jack - it turns out - thinks anyone with a cape is superman. so... there you go. but nonetheless it really irks matt that jack is referring to superman in our house. psh.

so long story short, the cape was made. the boy was ecstatic the next morning when he got to wear it the first time

"i fly!! i superman!!! fsh, fsh, fsh!!!"

(those are "flying" sounds in case you haven't heard)

and i made one for the lady too so she's not jealous when she comes out.

big boy bed update

2011-05-07T16:10:00.000-07:00

we've been at it for a while now and (knock on wood), i think we may have made a break through. after several different door handles/lock situations, and tearful nights (not just jack) we "might" have a routine going that works for bedtime.

it starts with reading 4 books in a very specific order on the couch. then, we move to the big boy room for 3 kisses, 2 blankies, and 1 little prayer. finally, we turn on the special woody nightlight (thanks auntie mophie!) and the music, i discreetly lock the door and say goodnight.

now this works most nights - thank God!! i unlock the door when we go to bed and we usually see jack around 4am in our room. but it's progress, right??? he is very polite at 4am though. he walks in, throws his blankie on top of me and then taps me (but never says anything) to pick him up and put him in bed with us. then he usually gives one or both of us one of his super intense kisses before going right back to sleep!

so hopefully this keeps up for a while! then we can try and tackle potty training! =(

battle of the big boy bed

2011-04-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

i'm so exhausted i can't even tell you... jack is on week two of sleeping in a big boy bed. every night it's the same thing: we read a couple books on the bed, turn on the sleep music and turn off the lights... and then the battle begins. i usually lay down with him to "help him" go to sleep but that doesn't last long because he starts kicking, hitting, yelling "no", even biting me. boo. =( so i end up getting up and walking out of the room but eventually get back in bed with him and lay with him until he falls asleep. this entire process usually lasts about two and a half hours. as i mentioned before.... i'm tired.

so last night we tried something new. i saw it on "supernanny" once. put him in bed. say goodnight. walk out and shut the door. that worked for about one minute. then the door opens and he runs out giggling like a crazy leprechaun. now "supernanny" says the first time they come out you tell them it's time for bed and then each time after that you just walk them back to bed without saying anything and they will eventually tire and go to sleep.

well, after about time - oh i dunno - 30, i turned to the sound of the door opening to yell "go to bed!" at the boy and saw a pair of mickey mouse ears peeking out at me. that little ham had found his mickey hat and figured "mom can't deny the cuteness of me in mouse ears" and then tried coming out of his room. it was ridiculous cute. so i ended up laying down with him again and he fell asleep finally.

so. tonight. we decided to stay strong and do the "supernanny". we started the walk him back to his room at 8:30pm. by 9pm i was over it. so i stayed on one side of the door holding the knob so jack couldn't open the door. he started crying the saddest cry ever but then he started trying to "trick me" into opening the door with every excuse in the book: "mommy! jack wants water!" "mommy! the door's locked!" then he walked over to his bed (i heard him) and sobbed into his pillow "mommy! jack's crying!" really, little boy? oh man, he kills me.

so now it's 9:24pm. jack is still yelling at me from in the room with an occasional crying jag, BUT... he's on his bed. he hasn't come back out yet. i don't know if he thinks the door is locked (it's not) or if he's just so tired that he doesn't want to get up. i don't want to jinx it but i think he may fall asleep eventually in there... we'll see.

sneak peek

2011-03-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

yesterday we had a ladie's trip down to san diego for one of those fancy shmancy 4d ultrasounds to see ellie t. we had a great time and went to brunch at mimi's afterwards. it was a little weird to see her moving around and being her sassy little self in there. she was getting frustrated that we kept trying to make her move so she would cover up her face and give us the grumpy face and eventually got so fed up that she turned her back on us completely so we couldn't see her face at all!

as far as i know we're still on track for an eta of may 11. we have a doctor's appointment on tues. so we'll see what they say about her. at the ultrasound the technician commented on how chubby ellie was already at 31 weeks so we might have another chunky baby on our hands!

so here is a sneak peek at our baby girl!

transformation central

2011-02-27T21:01:00.000-08:00

so... fast forward 24 weeks or so and we're back! things are in full swing at the mitches house. fyi - we're having a baby.... and it's a girl! some of us were a little more excited than others about this.... the nurses and i had huge smiles on our faces while matt looked something like this. buuuuut i think the idea of a little lady running aroundthe house is growing on him. especially since his special lady (aka me) isn't so little anymore. at almost 30 weeks pregnant i am well on my way to the glorious beached whale that i am known to become in the third trimester. i'm working on it okay? gah - get off my back, huh? i'm also starting to feel this crazy urge to make my house look nice... i believe this strange phenomenon is commonly referred to as "nesting". now don't get me wrong. this in no way implies that i want to clean things. i want to buy things and decorate/remodel and pay someone else to clean my house vigorously. the plan now is as follows:

install pergo flooring for the living room/jack's play area (yay!)

paint and decorate the hall bathroom

paint the "pretty princess room" blue, buy a big boy be

d, move jack in, and rename it the "big boy room"

paint jack's room, decorate it, and rename it

"ellie's room"

somewhere in here there is also the plan to finish the front and back yard... (papa, are you listening???)

whew! not too hard, right? i already started the remodel of the pretty princess room by tearing down all that lovely wallpaper border. you know. the one with little dresses on it. soooooo classy. or weird...

before shots of the "pretty princess room" as it transforms into "jack's big boy room"

note to self

2010-09-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

when sick in your car, be sure to have a bag handy for emergency type situations. also, be aware that bags with holes in them are less than effective. finally, make sure your iphone, amongst other important things, is not directly below said emergency bag with hole in it when it is in use. especially not when you're driving madly down quince.

yes. there is a new mitch being added to the mitches. as you can tell by the picture we are all very excited... and nauseated. that's enough about that. talking about it makes me sick. yes. i know i'm writing right now and not technically talking but the crooked picture on the wall also makes me feel ill so cut me some slack okay?

yes. we are pregnant. no. i don't want to tell you how i'm feeling. see above conversation. no. i don't want to hear how wonderful your pregnancy was... or how horrible your morning sickness was. and no i don't want to hear your brilliant advice on how to cure morning sickness. i'm just gonna regroup over here in the corner by my desk with my lemon drop candies and a trashcan and i'll get back to you at recess.

but yes. we are very excited. =)

happenings

2010-08-01T16:15:00.001-07:00

wow i'm lazy. how hard is it for me to pry the computer away from hubby, close out all the sports windows, and write a little something now and then? right? right? love you hubby.

so we've had a fairly busy summer... we went camping up at hume the week after school got out, per usual. very different with someone who can run now.... jack's favorite part, i think, was collecting sticks and running EVERYWHERE. that kid can move. came home and then hubby and i took off to vegas for a couple days. it was hot but lots of fun and very relaxing! i tell you what, i love my boy but it's nice to be able to go an hour or two without changing a diaper or getting hit in the head by an empty sippy cup ("moooooore, honeeeeee!!!"). oh you heard that right. my boy has started calling me "honey". we're working on it, okay?

through it all we've been working hard on our "yard" situation. actually, papa has been hard at work. hubby and i are doing our best but my dad has got it covered nine times out of ten. i'm happy to say that we now have cement edging around the front yard, all the sprinklers are hooked up to the timer thing and working, and we have a brand spankin' new dog run for big dog. thanks papa!

so this week we're gearing up for the scoob's cowboy party, one last trip to disneyland for hubby and me, and i start back to school with trainings and such on wed. whew! here we go.

Papa Mitch

2010-03-03T18:22:00.001-08:00

The last few days I've felt bogged down with my feelings and emotions on this whole Chelsea King saga. As a father, a teacher, and as a human being I naturally care for and want to help others, especially children. I am saddened and discouraged by our current "justice system". They let a man, I use that term loosely, who has committed lewd and lascivious acts with a minor out after only a few short years, only to commit more crimes and hurt more people.

I feel as a society we are being blackmailed by our prison system. We pay close to $45,000 a year to keep these animals away from us. But we can't afford to properly fund our education or support those that are less fortunate. I don't have any answers on what we should do to stop this insanity. I'm just venting that its frustrating that $45,000, enough money to pay for one more teacher, is spent every year in California to house someone that we fear to put back on the streets.

I just want the money to be spent better and in places that will have a positive affect on the future of this state. I only hope that in the next few years we begin to make better decisions and invest in the areas that are most beneficial to all Californians.

dog training

2010-02-13T22:45:00.000-08:00

we finally did it. we admitted to ourselves that we had a problem. hi. we're the mitches, and we have dog problems. actually, it turns out that WE have problems but who didn't know that already, right? more on this later. so little dog decided to break that darn camel's back the night before the superbowl by eating - oh, i dunno - HALF A BAG of hershey's kisses! wha!?! yep. i spent a good part of the game playing "find the chihuahua upchuck". he actually made it quite easy what with all the foil that was imbedded in it... mmmmm.... chocolate chihuahua puke.... so, he got the bootscoot from the big bed. he now enjoys a glorious view of the back of our garage door in his BRAND NEW DOG KENNEL!!!! (thanks for the loaner, sumners!) this does not stop him from yelling at us from the garage at 3am. good times.

on to big dog. who we brought to puppy training at petsmart (plug!) last night. right off the bat we were singled out as having the "overly energetic" dog of the group (read: ADHD). i really thought that tony (our trainer/teacher) was going to kick us out as our big dog rolled all over us and the room. but we were allowed to stay. then tony says:

so how often are you walking big dog?

gulp.

a couple times a week...

lies. i sit upon a throne of them.

oh, no! that won't do. your dog needs to be walked twice a day at the very least.

okay... how long should these walks last?

hmmm.... for your dog? about 2 miles.

i KID YOU NOT, my friends. 2 miles??!! no. so we've completed day 1 of dog walk 2010. mitch takes the am shift and i bring up the rear with the pm shift. 1 down, 364 to go. so, it turns out that actually we are bad dog parents because we don't give big dog enough exercise or something. but i honestly don't know about the little one. he's spiteful. and that's coming from someone who knows about spite.... but more on that later. another post, another day.

funny people, a.k.a.me

2010-02-06T12:29:00.000-08:00

i'm not gonna lie.... i'm freakin' hilarious. i crack myself up ALL the time. anyway, i was feeling a little nostalgic today and decided to read a couple posts from the "old" blog. weird that it still exists.... we just don't visit anymore. =( so! i thought i would share one of the old posts because i'm so funny you need to read it too. so this one is from august 29, 2008 so scoob was just over 1 week old (oh! the scoobiest of scoobs was soooo little then!) okay, here we go:

i can't explain to you my hatred of ants. it's obscene. i absolutely loath ants. this is my story:

last night i'm sitting on the couch with the little guy when an (1) ant crawls across my arm. i murdered it immediately before it could tell its friends where we were. i told matt:

"i hate ants. i feel like they are all over me now."

"don't exaggerate, sam. you just feel dirty because you didn't get a shower today." (it's true).

flash forward roughly six hours. i'm in the kitchen with the boy and it's about 5am. we are just coming off of a marathon fuss and we are both exhausted. i'm trying to fix his medicine up (you suck, thrush) when i feel those god awful little feet marching up my arm (no, not jack's). i quickly turn on the lights and am met with a horrific sight: ants. everywhere. all over the counter. i run and put the boy down in the living room (he's crying because it's 5am - crying time) and then i run back into the kitchen. it's obvious that someone found out about my crime from earlier and has rallied the troops to exact their revenge. i take out my weapon, windex, and the battle begins. i find that they have broken in through a light switch plate (??? really??). the slaughter rages on for 2 maybe 3 minutes before i see an end. i return to my young son and we cry it out for another hour before we fall asleep for the "night". hear my words, ants:

you are not welcome in my house.

haiti

2010-01-15T21:15:00.000-08:00

i know that everyone is talking about haiti right now and how terrible the devastation is and what we can do to help. so i'm gonna just jump on my soapbox for a moment and say my piece. don't worry... it's not gonna be like this guy. first of all. i'm sick to my stomach over what has happened in that country. just thinking about all the loss makes my heart break and my stomach flip.

so i watched this sermon that one of our pastors gave a couple weeks ago. we missed it because the brockhaus weren't at church to make the pastor call us... but then amy came home and told me to watch it here (it's the 1/3/10 sermon, holla!).

i was in tears for most of it. it was filmed, i believe, two sundays before this earthquake in haiti and it showed chris brown (our pastor) walking around haiti and showing the poverty that abounds there. at the end he asked the congregation to please consider sponsoring a child from haiti (side note: it turns out that our church ended up sponsoring something like 700 children that weekend).

so then about a week later this earthquake came and wrecked havoc in haiti. tearing it apart from it's very roots. and reading or listening to the news makes it seem like they (haiti) are falling off a cliff into a pit of awfulness with no safety net. and in the end i thought:

God obviously knew what was going to happen. and although thousands of people are still unaccounted for and we still don't know the full extent of the devastation... God knew this was coming. and he set up a foundation of people that couldn't be torn down. and a network that won't lose service or connection that weekend at our church. all of these people got onboard to help that country just before this disaster - and now they already are connected to help. right?

so i don't know. i guess i just wanted to write and say... how awesome is God? that even though it seems like the horrible news from haiti won't stop - it will. eventually. because He knew what was coming and He started to pull together the threads of that safety net.

brunch with the mitches

2010-01-02T22:20:00.000-08:00

here at the mitches house we celebrated the new year by ... watching a movie and barely making it to midnight. =) matt pooped out at 11:45 and i stayed up with ryan seacrest and the saddest dick clark. poor man. =( we woke up at our usual 6:30 the next morning and i stayed under the covers as long as matt and jack would let me (per usual) but then we had our first annual "brunch with the mitches". i have to say it was a success! the starks came over and so did the ups' and lenny beh made it late but i think everyone had a good time! i made these jalapeno and cheddar scones, french toast, and home fries and matt fried up some bacon for us all. it was yummy and great. i hope to see you all next year.

on another note, scoob has decided to start opening doors on his own. God help us all. i'm not really sure what to do about this... suck it up and hope for the best? change the door handles to round knobs? attach butter to his hands? (thus making them too slippery to open doors?) we shall see.

as for the new year. 2009 was pretty good to me. not going to complain. we were able to buy our first house. got our big dog, greco. scoob turned one. all good stuff. that being said. i can't wait for 2010 to be even better to us. ima try to take it slow and steady. ima try to take better care of myself. and maybe do a little bit more movin' and shakin'. and some more home cookin'. in the words of matthew wilder:

"Ain't nothin' gonna breaka my stride

Nobody gonna slow me down
Oh no, I got to keep on moving"

rainy days

2009-12-19T22:36:00.000-08:00

our fence fell down during all the rain we've been getting... so now we have an AMAZING view of our neighbor's yard. and consequently, since we have no curtains... well, you know. so... we decided to build a new fence! scoob is channeling his inner carpenter (from the beckman side of the family) and is feeling confident that we can get this done quickly. we went to home depot with joel, maria, papa, gramma, grampa, and our neighbor with her 4 kids (wow...) and i think we got everything. here goes nothing!

thankfulness

2009-11-29T19:58:00.000-08:00

i am thankful for...

god. actually, sorry... God. he has blessed my little family so much over the past year and i really couldn't be thankful for the rest of this list without him. sorry. Him.

my boys. all of them. matt, jack, pepe, and greco. mostly the first two though. these guys make everything worth it. they brighten every one of my days. then maybe they destroy everything in the garage or play in the toilet water - but then they look at me with a sweet sweet face and everything is okay again.

my beautiful house! it is always a work in progress (especially the yard right now) but i love it. being able to turn off all the lights and lock the doors at night in my house is wonderful. and then to walk down the hall and check on my sleeping scoob is even better. but then squishing under the covers with my hubby and my little dog and knowing that the house is OURS (not the landlord's) is the best part of all.

our families. free babysitting 20 minutes in either direction is priceless. lemme tell you. it was ROUGH going back to work last year when the boy was only 4 weeks old. but knowing he was going up to papa and kimma's house made it so much easier. we are so blessed to have family close by to help us with jack and the house.

a job. as hard as it is to say it... "i am thankful for a job". this is definitely not the best year so far... i would even say that this could be in the running for "hardest year yet". but with the economy the way it is and the profession the way it is in the district that we work in.... "i am thankful for a job".

our friends. most of them. =) man, when i'm having a rough day, i can always count on someone to call me up for poor man's noodles, or someone to come over and coax me into watching three hours of baltimore's best, or my favorite elf to come over and get crafty with me. or even, just when i'm about to murderize someone, one of our friend's will call up with an invitation for my hubby to go to vegas. our friends really lift me up and keep me on my toes.

now. i would be remiss not to include a pic or two of jack so for anyone who made it through to the end of this post... enjoy.

the hair and the turtle

2009-08-31T21:13:00.000-07:00

went down to the salon and got our hairs did the other night. cousin alisa mia gave jack his first haircut and he looked soooo handsome!

we also set up the mr. turtle pool that we finally found on craigslist (thanks klimas' for picking it up!) and let jack go wild. it's been so hot that he was totally stoked to splash around for a bit. here's some pics of our goings ons...

news

2009-08-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

after a few awful job offers (mostly middle school) i was offered a long term sub position (second grade) at reidy creek today. this means i take over this classroom until one of two things happens:

1. the teacher comes back from whatever she's doing or

2. a permanent position opens up somewhere for me

hopefully #2 happens sooner rather than later since long term subs don't get benefits.

also. kind of bummer news that we need some prayers for. our good dog, greco, has something wrong. basically his stomach has swelled up with "fluid" (we don't know what it is) and we don't know why. so we had bloodwork done yesterday and tomorrow we are getting an ultrasound to see if he has a heart condition (not uncommon for boxers, apparently). it also could be a liver problem which is just s bad if not worse than a heart condition. so, we would appreciate prayers for greco's health. =)

more updates as news develops.

jack's first birthday!

2009-08-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

so in true simmons fashion we celebrated jack's birthday with not one but two parties, a trip to disneyland, and a dinner out with mommy and daddy. weeklong? just about. so here are links to pics of the parties (if they work):

Family Dinner

Birthday Beach Bash

both parties were super fun and there was only one incident involving a party hat...

i'm working on pics of disneyland too. although if you can - imagine an adorable cherub straight from heaven. in a boat. surrounded by small animatronic children singing in harmony.

that's what it was like. for reals.

first steps?

2009-08-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

i think so. last night while at the klimas' house (holla!), jack spent a good amount of time practicing his walking. no he's no expert... yet. but! he did take several steps from kim to me or from me to her SOLO! and then he would lunge at whoever was closest - but he's really trying. these steps were preceded by other first tries at our house - most notably with plus (holla squared!) that ended with him lunging into the bottom of the couch. awesome baby only gets awesomer with age.

a little less greco

2009-08-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

poor guy got the big snip today. he was wandering around the house like a sailor just off the boat. and he has a "party hat" that he has to wear for TWO WEEKS! poor babe. i'll get a picture to post later.

beach day

2009-08-04T22:40:00.001-07:00

went to the beach with the scoob today... he decided to finally try that greatly under appreciated delicacy... sand. at first he was cool with a couple fistfuls in the mouth but soon decided that it was not for him. he did a lot better in the water, though. this was his third time in the water and he was much more excited about it than he has ever been. he only cried once. when i accidently let a wave hit him....

we're back

2009-07-12T20:53:00.000-07:00

wow! it's been too long... really. so here's a quick update. we moved! after much drama, many mishaps and just as many chiropractor's visits to work it all out, we are moved into our house! little by little we are fixing small things, painting, and trying to figure out what the previous owners were thinking....

jack is loving having a big carpet area to sit on. and that's about all he'll do on it. sit. the boy has zero interest in crawling but i did see him scoot on his bum to get a block once. once. he will, however, walk like a crazy person if you hold onto his hands for him. he loves it! we "chased" pepe through the house the other day - i use that term very loosely... it was more of a slow mosey but we caught up to him a couple times.

both dogs are stoked about our big backyard that they can run in... pepe kind of does a perimeter check every once in a while and greco is trying his best to sniff out gophers. so far he's done a fantastic job of catching quite a few dirt clods. give that dog an "a" for effort.

matt and i are enjoying having the summer off... we all went camping for a week right after school is out and we're trying to get the most out of our zoo passes. matt is also channeling his inner "mommy" and watching jack during the week when i'm down in del mar. (p.s. you gotta hand it to del mar - they may have money but they still have some wackadoos).

anyway, matt went to vegas for the weekend and so i got some quality scoob time. we went to brunch at the gaare's and the beach with the brockhaus (holla!)! i think a good time was had by all. i'll try and add some pictures to this post when i get them uploaded (and backed up on something, right andrew?)

the waiting game

2009-05-28T12:35:00.001-07:00

i'm not particularly good at it.... waiting. and matt is even worse i think. so waiting for our new house to close escrow has been excruciating! apparently, everyone has a "hiccup" in their escrow and ours came late in the game. now that we are 2 weeks over our original closing date the time crunch is starting to set in. we have to be out of our current rat palace by sunday. so.... say a little prayer for the mitches.

real quick i want to say "congratulations!" to my friend kelly who just had her baby! kaelyn (i think i spelled that right) elizabeth jacob is here! you can catch up with them at their blog. just give them a chance to settle in at home a bit first!

also, as i mentioned before we aren't very good at waiting for things and it must run in the family. jack saw something he wanted the other day and couldn't wait for it... so introducing...

Greco! our new boxer puppy. we love him and hope you will too. pepe's still working on summoning some love...

firsts

2009-04-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

we have been so blessed in the past week! we've got a lot of firsts happening.. primero. jack's first easter! so much fun! he had a blast watching us run like crazy all over papa's yard from the safety of his new ride. segundo. a house! a house! a house! we opened escrow on a great house and can't even wait to get in there! beyond exciting! and tercero. jack's first little tooth came in! he had been acting a bit crabby but i wasn't really thinking "tooth" since he's been pretending to be teething for like 4 months. but i couldn't find soothie quick enough yesterday, stuck my finger in his mouth, and sure enough - tooth #1 was popping through on the bottom!

we're back to school tomorrow after two awesome weeks of spring break. eight and a half weeks left until summer... =)

awwww rats... up since 4:30am

2009-03-30T06:43:00.000-07:00

so we've been up for a little bit already this morning... our furry friends are back and bolder than ever. i woke up to the sound of things falling off my table in the living room and then some rummaging noises... it seems they may like girl scout cookies. nasty, right? i know. so i woke up matt (who apparently can sleep through almost anything) and he went out to investigate the situation. he didn't see anything at the time (invisible rats?), but i found some incriminating poop - i mean evidence - this morning. ewwwwww..... matt said he's gonna take care of it today. i think that's manly talk for "gonna kill me some rats tonight!" (i imagine this in a kinda foghorn leghorn voice - i said, i said). hopefully we sleep better tonight. =) also, this is what i imagine the rats look like.. kind of like the scary rats of nimh... it makes it easier to want to kill them.

monday monday.

2009-03-16T22:04:00.000-07:00

today i saw:

> a first grader who had given himself a haircut. in class. during reading groups. he was kind enough to clean up and throw all of his hair into the trash can... where his teacher discovered it. he may not have a future in this profession - i noticed several bald spots.

> an enormous rump.

> a small child (grade level unknown) white knuckling the concrete edge of the drinking fountain and screeching at the top of her lungs... to no one in particular and for no particular reason.

> the jagged bottom of a glass bottle... just before one of my students stepped onto it while he was running the track. it was a close one folks. he missed.

> zombie wannabes.

ahhhh... mondays.

over it.

2009-03-02T21:53:00.000-08:00

okay friends. here's the scoop. i have so many super cute pictures to post (snow day, bath time, nekkid tummy time, etc.) but - i am TOO LAZY! i apologize. there really is no excuse for it. in all reality, my camera is about 3 feet away from me and the cord to attach to the computer is right next to it in my purse but i am sooooo tired that i can't even think of getting up.

in fact, i should give you a huge update on happenings with the mitches but again TOO LAZY. my eyelids are resting upon toothpicks as i write this. quickly. scoob has been sleeping all night, in his crib, in his room. i know. a miracle that a) we never crushed our baby when he slept in our bed with us (imagine! what horrible parents) and b) that we have such an awesome baby. makes me scared for what #2 will be like (or as matt refers to our yet to be conceived baby - "charlie brown"). also, house hunting. that's all i will say about that for fear that god will strike me down for being over confident.

finally. i believe that i am the victim of a never-ending head cold (or should i say "neber ending"). i disgust myself daily with what is going on inside my nose/ears/throat/mouth and pray for it to end soon. here's where you say

"but sam, why haven't you gone to the doctor?"

and i say

"because i am TOO LAZY."

i am convinced that one morning i will wake up and it will all be better. this prayer began (no joke) 3 weeks ago. 3 WEEKS! ick.

finally (again). matt has to teach "health and hygiene" to all the fifth grade boys at rose. hee hee. that's all. =)

shrek throat

2009-02-07T11:58:00.001-08:00

so i'm the only one awake in our house right now and decided to do a little catching up. by the way, it is also furiously hailing right now outside and i am beyond excited. it is incredibly loud too! maybe it will scare away all the people coming to see our house. hold on.

okay, i had to go and take pictures of this event. it even woke matt up, so i am now one of two people awake in this napping house.

so our landlords have decided to sell the condo we are living in. that's cool - except we have to be available to show it for them (unless we want a lockbox on the front door - we don't). so as of now we've had three different showings today. we have one scheduled for tomorrow and another for mon. afternoon. this is all fine - ooooohhhh! thunder! =) okay, so this is all fine for our landlords because lots of people are interested in their condo for sale (dirt cheap). but... we live in it. until the end of march. and then we will need somewhere new. yikes! best get on that, huh sam?

meanwhile, we had a battle with rice cereal but i think we came out okay. we ditched that demon slop and have since become very fond of oatmeal... i say "we" but only the scoob and i really like oatmeal. and really it's the scoob who i'm speaking of.... the "royal we". also, we are fixin' to try some sweet potatoes for the first time tonight.

in the classroom, we've had a rough couple weeks in room 25. not only have we had several emotional outbursts - but the kids are really acting up too. =) no really - i sent someone to anger management the other day after he screamed at the principal for an hour. also, we have had a "shrek throat" outbreak in our class. i've heard it's really nasty... you don't want it.

okay. i'm also adding some pictures for the benefit of your imaginations.... they may not be as vivid as mine.

my big boy.

2009-01-23T16:21:00.000-08:00

i love him. these are picks from his walk with kimma today. look at how big he is!

is it friday yet?

2009-01-21T22:19:00.000-08:00

apparently my students don't subscribe to the idea that four day weeks are cool, therefore, students should be cool as well. trust me - any chances my kids had to be cool today were spit upon by aforementoned demon children, lit on fire, and then waved in my face. in short, rough day in grade one. can tomorrow please be friday?

who's the furry guy?

2009-01-17T22:26:00.001-08:00

just a quick post to try and fill in like a months worth of happenings.... back to school, boo. started rice cereal, a second time, and it seems to be a hit. big news is that jack just figured out that we have a dog. i know that pepe is quite small - and with our present living conditions my son very well could have thought that pepe was just a relative of our wall dwellers - but no, he is a dog. jack can't get enough of him. he sits and watches him run around the house and is completely enthralled with this hairy little creature. we visited auntie plus' house today and she also has a dog that jack was totally into. i think dogs stump him. that and his own hands. hands... what a trip. who knew?

solids?

2008-12-30T11:38:00.000-08:00

so we decided to give solid foods (can rice cereal really be categorized as a serious solid?) a whirl this past weekend. not sure if the scoob is really into it - he seemed to like it the first night but since then he seems more enthralled with his chair than the food. anyway, here are a few pics of the process we like to call "feeding" and my attempt at video. =)

christmas 2008

2008-12-30T10:08:00.000-08:00

yay! christmas! we had a very busy but fun christmas. we started the holiday at papa and kimma's house on christmas eve where jack got his new jammies. he tried them on and then hung out with daddy-o by the fireplace. we also had our white elephant gift exchange that night - it got a little ugly when it looked like grampa dan wasn't going to get the fish... but it worked out - even though we lost the red blankie we wanted.

we woke up early on christmas morning and headed over the gramma and grampa's house for cinnamon rolls, quiche and presents. jack got the most adorable rocking giraffe from santa and a bunch of cool new toys. jack didn't last too long there, so he snuggled up with gramma for a while before we started back up the hill to papa and kimma's again. jack got a "penquin" from papa and some osh kosh b'gosh overalls from g. grampa wayne and just in time because his jammies were doneskies. after that we went to uncle mike and aunt jenny's house and the sumners so it was a looooooong day for us.

all in all, i think we had a great first christmas with the scoob.

christmas critters

2008-12-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

'twas the middle of december

and in our small house,

we had just escaped

the wrath of a louse.

in room 25

the first grade - that is,

lice had invaded

all of the kids.

so back at our home

in our jim-jammy-roos,

matt, sam, and jack

were ready to snooze.

when all of a sudden

i heard a "scritch-scratch"

i leapt from the bed

and lit up a match.

"i'll burn the place down!"

the words flew from my mouth

but the look on matt's face

told me things had gone south

"critters!" i cried

"the small furry kind"

"the ones with the tail

coming from their behind"

"bologna" said matt

"and i don't mean for dinner"

"if we're telling whoppers

you're surely the winner"

meanwhile, the scoob,

with a smile on his face

quickly whipped up something

that stunk up the place.

"they're coming for jack!

they'll get him - i know it

where's lady and the tramp?

do you need me to show it?"

"you've worked yourself up

into quite a tizzy -

do you really base all of your facts

on walt disney?"

"so" matt continued

"what should i do?

tear down the walls

and give them the shoe?"

"yes!" i replied

and that turned his head

"maybe we'll just

call the landlords" he said

"well, while you're at it

perhaps be so bold

to inform them of

our problem with mold"

"it's under the sink

coming from the baseboards

and in our bathroom

it's working towards

becoming a problem

and we do not need

to have that - so

hear my words and take heed.

tell them to fix it

and please make it quick

i don't want my house

a mess for st. nick"

so we gave them a call

and the verdict came in

"we'll gut the whole kitchen -

when can we begin?"

so the moral, my friends

is really quite clear:

don't rent-

buy your own house

this upcoming year.

rockin' and rollin'

2008-12-08T17:59:00.000-08:00

we can roll over! i promise we can... i tried reeeeeeeeeally hard to get it on video, but the scoob wasn't up for a performance. he rolled over like 5 times and then as soon as i grabbed the camera - he was over it. and of course the video won't upload so..... no video for you.

great week

2008-11-30T09:15:00.000-08:00

man... i just can't tell you all how nice this week was. it was beyond great spending each day with the hubby and the scoob, relaxing a little, seeing family and friends... i could really go on and on, but i'm just going to say that i am extremely grateful and thankful for a job that lets me have time off like this.

on monday matt and i went to disneyland with a bunch of our peeps and despite being there from 8:15am - 12am i only took two pictures. really? yes. so they are remakes of pictures that matt and i took a while ago... i think right before we got married.

we also did some shopping already! i'm sure you'll never guess who walked away (was carried away?) with the most items bought. so i took a picture of the scoob with his new hat that is absolutely too much! we got it and a couple other cute things from the h&m down at plaza bonita because they have a kids and baby section - and kristi with a kkk works there. now... if you haven't been there in a while (or ever) it really is a very nice mall! they even have a cream puff store called "beard papa" (weird? i think so) and a tollhouse cookie store where you can make your own ice cream sandwiches.

sadly, i have to go in to school for a couple hours today and get ready for the next three weeks.... i know this sounds awful, but i'm dreading these three weeks. i have a feeling they are going to be really rough with the combination of my class being who they are and the excitement of christmas coming. eh. we'll get through it i suppose. =)

tgitb

2008-11-22T11:21:00.000-08:00

thank god it's thanksgiving break. we get this whole next week off and it's just in time. as another teacher put it, i've got a class from "down south". i think it's just a bummer because they're so mean and disrespectful to one another. in the past week i wrote 5 infraction slips, broke up three fights, soothed numerous crying children, and probably should have lost my voice from "raising" it so much. eh. i'm beyond exhausted and totally thrilled that i can spend this week with my hubby and my scoob. yay pilgrims.

halloween pictures

2008-11-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

okay... here they are FINALLY. these are a bunch of pictures from the halloween carnival up in valley center (the scoob was in charge of drinks) and bates nut farm. it was super hot and bright so pumpkin shots were kind of out... we'll have to get more creative next year.

is that a banana in your pocket or what?

2008-11-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

so im driving down the street this morning with the scoob in the back.... minding my own business when i come to a stoplight. and i get that feeling - you know the one where someone is watching you? i look over to my right and here's this hoity toity looking lady staring me down in her fancy shmancy black highlander. THEN she has the nerve to stick her tongue out at me! i'm starting to freak out - who is this &*%#$???? - so i do the mature thing and flip her the bird. then she rolls down her window and says,

"you really should update your blog... you know some people use it to keep up to date with you."

oh. hi, kelly.

so here you go. a quick update - because i got home and tell hubby the story and he says,

"well, she's right. you really should be updating that thing every week"

thanks, honey. =) scoob finally did it. we got a laugh the other night as we were out the door to vote. we were making ridiculous faces at him as we often end up doing, and he did this little chuckle. i smacked matt in the arm and screamed,

"that's IT!!! he laughed!"

i was a little excited. we did our first trip over to bates and up to julian with papa and kimma and the family (pictures are on the way) and we had a great time. scoob has been lucky enough to go to gramma and grampa's house on tues. wed. thurs. lately and he LOVES it. apparently he's been trying to say "uncle".... =)

quick classroom story from room 25. we were all sitting around the calendar the other morning and i hear from behind me

"is that a banana in your pocket or what?"

i froze and thought

"sam, you're a sicko. there's no way i heard that correctly."

so i turn around just in time to see "cheese" pull..... a banana out of his pocket and say

"yep! it's my snack!"

oh man. i was in hysterics for a good 3-5 minutes.

the camera's on

2008-10-20T20:06:00.000-07:00

so my class this year includes the usual suspects - a few hyperactives, a couple space-cases, and then the new cast of characters. in the past i've had "fleapox", "the sailor", "the lurcher", "my package", and "triple espresso". "mentiroso" and "cheese" (the child formally known as "match boy" for those of you who speak to me in real life) are the newbies. it changes every year. anyway, here is the story of "cheese". "cheese" is new to my school and the first grade having completed (if you can call it that) kindergarten twice and then transferring to our school. he was kicked out of an afterschool program for stabbing another child with a pencil and then attempting to do so several more times. he was suspended from kindergarten (the first time) because he kicked his teacher (who was 9 months pregnant - wow. just missed that one, huh?) in the stomach. he's been medicated since he was in preschool for a ridiculous amount of disorders, including oppositional defiance disorder, bipolar, and possibly schizophrenia. anyway, it all came together for me last week when i met his mother during parent/teacher conferences. she tells me:

"oh! if he ever acts up, just tell him the camera is on"

i said, "and what does that mean?"

"oh! you'll love this!" she gushes. i doubt that i will.

"his father and i have told him that we've implanted cameras behind his eyes so that we can see when he gets in trouble"

i stare at her with my mouth wide open. ya right lady. i'm gonna tell your schizo son that you've secretly implanted something in his body. sure. and i wondered why he was so messed up. say cheese.

scoob-a-rama

2008-10-18T09:24:00.001-07:00

here are the latest scoob pix. i don't know why they're so wonky in their placement. don't hate. just love this smile! =)

we're back.

2008-10-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

so much to say. not enough time to say it. not enough fingers to type. =) so i'm just going to start spilling out everything and add some pictures too.

1. the other night the scoob and i shared an experience that was absolutely supernatural. he had just finished eating and i was giving him the burps. when all of a sudden and without warning, he burped - along with a fire hose of spit up. it was like that scene in the exorcist with the pea soup. we had spit up all over me, all over the scoob, and all over the couch (i guess he wants to make sure we get new couches soon). it was pretty disgusting but he was totally fine with it and didn't seem disturbed by it at all. hmmm... should i be worried?

2. matt and i just finished up parent/teacher conferences. wow. to all of our friends who are parents and those who may become parents in the future... i issue a warning: DON'T BE A WACKADOO. i learned more disturbing information about some of my students and their families than i care to know... and the problem is that the disturbing parts are usually on the parents end - not the kid. and then i see why my kiddos are soooooooo messed up. although, with that said, let me issue a second warning: DON'T LIE TO ME TO TRY AND COVER UP YOUR WACKADOODLE-NESS. i will find out. your kid talks to me. i know your messed up little secrets whether you want me to or not. so don't lie to make me think you're normal. we both know that you're not and it's going to come out eventually - either here with me, in the middle of a class discussion, or in a meeting with all of the school support staff (when we talk about how messed up you are) and it will be VERY EMBARRASSING. trust me.

3. i have several students (with nicknames to maintain their anonymity - you know how i do) that i need to blog about, but this is not the blog. stay tuned.

4. on to more important news. the scoob has been smiling like a crazy person! smiles all the time! and newly added cooing and gurgling. we're getting lots of "ah-goo" action. sometimes you make a sound for him and he looks at you with his mouth wide open and it looks like he's trying SO HARD to make that noise himself but his little mouth just can't do it yet. i can't help it that he's absolutely adorable. neither can he so don't be jealous. =) i'm adding some new scoob pics at the top.

We've Moved!

2008-10-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

Okay - not physically... technologically? I mean we have a new blog. This one. I figure it can be used for the whole fam to detail our complicated lives (it's complicated) from school to home. Matt and I both have jobs now; I'm First grade at Juniper and Matt is 5th grade at Rose. I've got a bunch of thugs in my class (more on that later). Jack Crash (we call him "The Scoob") is awesome. He has a whole entourage of loving peeps to watch him while Mom and Pops are at work. I've got some good posts brewing about him too... Anyway, we're starting up this blog. I'll keep a link to Jack's old one but this is the one to watch. Excitement is in the air... =)

love, sam