A Rhys in a pile of presents

Santa ROCKS!!!!

Irene's picture for Santa

Rhys' picture for Santa

keeps on falling

The Klunker

too cute!

thank you for the very sweet accessories!! Irene loves them!!

opening present from the Denver McRaes

yea!!!

Irene opens some fairies

from Nana, Sensei, and Jalen

cisco grove. so far, so good!

pre-flight meal

mo' snow at Cisco Grove

ghosts in the road? or dry ice?

agricultural check point

angel tree topper

Mom made this in either 1972 or '74. I love her and it makes me very
happy to have her on our tree

tree with train going around it

snow

little cindy lou who

who was no more than two.

one of my ornaments - she's 34 years old

silly boy with a yummy treat

yummy treat

A Christmas Meme

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? we make and use gift bags usually - sometimes we use paper - or paper bags that we've decorated

2. Real tree or Artificial? real! can't beat the smell and I don't mind pine needles.

3. When do you put up the tree? usually a few weeks after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? usually after the 1st of January (PSA...RECYCLE YOUR LIVE CHRISTMAS TREE IF YOU HAVE ONE)

5. Do you like eggnog? yep - especially with espresso

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I'm not sure...probably Little Women (I think my big wheel was a birthday present). Or the fun socks my mom made me. Funny that I don't remember a lot of my gifts from when I was a kid, more a general feeling of the love surrounding us. It really didn't matter if we had expensive gifts or special homemade gifts (though, the homemade gifts were among my favorites always - they still are)

7. Hardest person to buy for? my father-in-law and brothers-in-law (but I don't pick them every year, so it balances out - luckily, my BILs have wives that often give me good ideas).

8. Easiest person to buy for? the kids

9. Do you have a nativity scene? yes, a fisher price Little People (wow! that's gone up in price a whole heck of a lot!) one from when Irene was 2, and last year we got a Playmobil one

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail (sometimes they are mardi gras cards...)

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? an awful map book - it was outdated -- it was a few years after the berlin wall came down and the USSR ceased to exist and I believe it was after Yugoslavia split - and yet, the map book given me had all those maps.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? How the Grinch Stole Christmas - not the jim carrey (sp?) piece of shinola, but the real deal. a close second? A Christmas Story (I've always enjoyed it, but also, it was on a 24 hour marathon on christmas eve after I'd had Irene. Rob and I watched it as we enjoyed our brand spankin' new babe)

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? whenever I see something I think is perfect for someone on my list.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? yep

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? our homemade tamales

16. Lights on tree, colored or clear? I love blinking colored lights

17. Favorite Christmas song? hmmmm....so so many....Julie Andrews singing Joy to the World (actualy, the whole album), most of John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas (minus the awful drunk dad song), The Barenaked Ladies Barenaked for the Holidays

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? is this a would you rather? i'd rather stay home, but we often travel

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? of course!!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? An angel my mom made in 1972

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? yes

22. Worst thing about this time of the year? the stress and wishing I had more to give to others who need it more than us

23. Favorite Christmas ornament or theme? the one that was on the bitty tree my great aunt sent with my gramma when Irene was born. that said, all of our ornaments are very special - we have some from before I was born and some from almost every year i've been alive, as well as Rob's special ornaments and the kids' special ornaments. I love decorating the tree and thinking of all the trees we've decorated with each ornament.

24. Favorite thing for Christmas dinner? chinese or thai food - preferably thai (usually, actually, that's for Christmas Eve - or whenever we do the McRae/Bradburn Christmas. I wouldn't mind a prime rib dinner...but that could be b/c I'm craving some red meat right now.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? for no more layoffs at IGT

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!

Worst Christmas Song Ever

I've read a few posts recently about that awful Christmas Shoes song - you know the one, it's the one about the boy who goes to the shoe store b/c his mama is dying and she wants to get him shoes but doesn't have enough money - you know the one. One of the commenters on one of the blogs (A is for Aardvark - a new to me blog) hit it exactly right for me - the song cheats. it's a cheater song. it's just out to make you cry. and it manipulates you and is just horrible. I like Joshilyn's new take on the song.

A close second for me is actually on one of my very favorite Christmas albums - John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas. It's called Please Daddy, Don't Get Drunk This Christmas. I've deleted it from my iPod and from our itunes too, I believe. I liked it as a kid, but never listened to the words - and, of course, it was on an LP back then, so you couldn't just easily skip it. It's just a sad song with an upbeat rhythm.

the 12 day of Christmas

8 maids a milking

proud girlie at black rock

poor picture of crescent moon, Venus, and Jupiter

freshly turned out

DONE!!!!!

freshly risen rolls...now to bake!

stuffed

cooked bird

a meme thingy

my girlfriend, cyn, had this on her lj.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris - does it count if i was underground?
13. Watched a lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping - topless, not bottomless
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business With a partner
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen -
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (both as a scout and as a leader)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp no, but I have been to where Anne Frank and family hid
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London - no, but I saw it in Spain
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - yep, salmon
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

ooblek fun

watching a movie in the groovy house

I love the streaming sunshine

painting

the other side

windows

a world of possibilities

working hard while waiting for ReneBean

the sweat shop

making bags

a better picture of Pelmeni Making

Irene, Hannah, and Irina making pelmeni

girls making dumplings

making Russian dumplings

7 weird things...

this is hard. I've been tagged by Julie ZS for this and i'm having an incredibly hard time figuring out 7 weird things about myself...that's not to say that i'm not weird - i'm well aware of that...but it's hard to think of things that YOU might think are weird too...

1. i have a bizarre memory. my head is full of random information from way early childhood on up, and yet, I have an incredibly hard time remembering other things. like - lots of stuff from high school? i have no clue. i've remembered more b/c on facebook (yes, i joined it - and it's fun), i've caught up with some of my friends from that time. also, i'm really quite good (if i do say so myself) at remembering children's names, but i have an incredibly hard time remembering parents' names.

2. in junior high one of my favorite lunches was to buy from the snack bar 1 super sour dill pickle (NOT kosher b/c those aren't really salty enough - not the right flavor - my salivary glands are kicking in just thinking about those pickles!), a bag of cheetos, and a chocolate pudding cup. see? crunch, sour, and chocolate. delicious!

3. when i was working in The City, one of my friends commented that when I got pregnant, i'd eat foods that seemed totally normal b/c my everyday foods would be odd things (see above) - sometimes it would be a can of kidney beans. rarely was i eating things that other people would bring in to eat.

4. to me this is not weird, but it would have seemed a bit weird had i not lived it and seen that it's really not...i nursed irene for 2 years 3 months. it was a gradual process. i nursed rhys for 3 years 3 months. seemed totally natural. what those who haven't nursed their children might not know is that nursing a 3 year old is totally different from nursing the newborn - 1 year old. early on, my babes were nursing what sometimes seemed like 24/7. when they became toddlers, it was generally 3x/day and when they got an owie or if they were sick it would be more. mama's milk is like liquid gold and like the perfect magic potion for any owies (be they emotional or physical. The last time Rhys nursed was at his naptime -- and he said "Mama, I LOVE to nuhse (he didn't have a true R sound in that word)" he then went to sleep and never asked to nurse again. funny. if you had told me when i started the journey, i never would have said i'd be nursing a 3 year old - but i'm oh so glad i did.

5. again, not weird to me, but might seem odd to others. I was lucky enough to have very very cream like breastmilk (one friend was at my house and went to get some ice - upon seeing some of my frozen milk, she was surprised and said "Is that the color it's supposed to be??" I replied that it's the color MY milk always was -- an ivory/yellowish -- and she said "mine is almost blue!"). Not only did I have creamy milk, I also had enough to feed the world! So, when my labor/delivery nurse, who had become a friend, was having problems and her supply was way down, I started pumping extra for her baby boy.

6. when i am quite nervous/anxious about something, i get, what i call "Statistic Pains." i call them that b/c they started when i was in college taking statistics. math is not my strong suit to begin with and statistics just about killed me. i got a C in the class and it was a hard won C - but i would come home from class almost every single time with serious abdominal pains.

7. i just had one....what was it?? OH! Yes! when i got married, i started getting a bit more anxious about things. i'd worry a bit more about taking airplanes - or if Rob was on a plane and i wasn't. when i had Irene, that intensified - as did other irrational fears. like if she were high up and out of my reach. it reached its pinnacle (god, i hope it's the pinnacle!) when i had Rhys. Rob, Irene, Rhys and I went to the Bay Area Discovery Museum. we were going to maybe walk 1/2 way across the bridge and back. we passed the little plaque commemorating the 2 year old who had fallen through a space (i'm breathing erratically thinking about all of this - see? weird!) which had since been fixed and then some, and i started getting a bit panicky. when Rob picked Irene up to let her see over the edge (ack! more crazy heart beating right now!), I just about had a fit. i had to do the whole put your head between your knees and take a deep breath thing. i KNEW it was ridiculous. i KNEW that nothing would happen - but i just couldn't catch my breath b/c of the panic. i made myself go to the first post (about 1/4 of the bridge) where we took a picture - but that was a fight in itself. I could have done the whole bridge myself - or with Rob, but with the kids, it was slowly killing me. i had a bit of a panic attack when we flew to Virginia. i think it was because irene was sitting with my mom and out of my reach. i did much better on my way back thanks to Jaye giving me some Rescue Remedy and having both of my kids next to me. the most recent one was when we were at Hoover Dam. as they got closer to the edge - with the incredible drop, the more panicky i became. when they went back toward the top with Mom, i was fine.

so that is probably the most weird thing about me.

i'd love it if everyone did this, but, like debR, i generally don't tag people, but i'd like to thank Julie for tagging me. this was fun. once i started typing, it was easier :D

story time

Out of the mouths of babes

I turned on Newshour (I was going to write McNeil/Lehrer...) and i blew a raspberry when they talked about the passage of Prop 8.  Irene asked why I did that - so I explained. 

I: That's silly!  If people love each other, they love each other.  It doesn't matter if they are two boys or two girls.  

me: you're right, love.

I: What does that mean for the people that are already married?  Does this make it harder again?

me: yes.  I think so.

Dawning of a New Day

(This will be rambly) I am sitting here with my kids watching (for me, the 2nd time) Barack Obama giving his acceptance speech. I am watching with tears in my eyes and the emotions close to the surface. We kept the kids up last night to watch the elections. We've been talking about it for a really long time, the kids, Rob, and me. Irene would often talk to me about it on our drives to and from school. She was one of the few kids in her class whose parents were supporting Barack Obama. At one point she asked me why he was the person I wanted to see in office. I didn't get into the pro-choice part of it, I didn't discuss everything, but I did tell her that his ideas were closer to my ideas than John McCain and Sarah Palin's. What I did say to her about the issues is that Barack Obama believes that The Aunties can and should be a family. That is something, for our family, that is incredibly important. Irene and Rhys know that two boys can love each other and two girls can love each other and that it doesn't matter. I've heard Irene tell her friends that when they have said something against it. She was excited for her Auntie Jolie and Auntie Kris when they got married. So was Rhys, for that matter. I know that he hasn't come on the side of marriage and I am hoping that will happen - more on that later - but he DOES believe in the civil unions.

As I was watching the election results coming in, I was afraid to trust in it. I've seen the elections go the other way. I've WORKED elections that went the other way. (rhys just piped in "If I were president, I'd make it be longer school recesses,") We watched PBS and CNN and NBC and I was looking at 538.com which didn't change a state color until they had more than just 3% of the votes had been counted. We kept the kids up to watch it even though it was past the time they usually go to sleep and both are sick (Irene has succumbed to Rhys' croup). Irene was REALLY happy when it was announced on CNN that Barack Obama would be our president. My girlfriend's daughter proclaimed it a miracle (a very happy one). Rhys said "Rahback Obama won? Great!" He'll eventually be able to say Barack :)

Our country needs to Be the change it wants to see - don't stop trying. We need to work - just as Our president elect told us, we will need to work and work hard. It's not going to happen overnight - it's going to take time.

Irene went to sleep before we found out that Nevada went blue - she asked about that early on this morning and was so happy to hear that we did. Nevada going blue is an amazing thing.

What saddens me is that California - the place I still think of as my state - the place I'd move back to in a New York minute if we could - seems to have voted for hate, inequality, and discrimination with voting for proposition 8. There is still a possibility that it won't pass, but it's seeming less and less likely. I don't understand how this happened. Why is it not okay for my sister to be married to the woman she loves and who loves her back and with whom she has two beautiful children? Jolie and Kris have been together for - i think 11 years - maybe 12. They formed a civil union 8 years ago. They got married in a wonderful and meaningful and special wedding ceremony on 08/08/08. Their union has already lasted longer than way too many straight marriages!

Don't give me this shit that marriage is all about being able to have children. That's crap. If you go by that, then the infertile couples shouldn't be married. The couples that choose not to have children shouldn't be married. And if you voted for this because you saw it as the end of straight marriage - that it would HURT your marriage as a straight person, then I'm sorry that your marriage is so unstable and fragile. The thing that hurts marriage? Divorce. Divorce hurts marriage. I hurt for Jolie and Kris. I hurt for Martie and Karen. I hurt for Jeff and Ramon. Lisa and Carol. I hurt for the some of my friends from high school and college. I hurt for us. I am trying to continue to visualize prop 8 being defeated - perhaps as the absentee ballots come in, it will tip the balance. Why should it be that on such an historical evening as last night, that it would be so bittersweet knowing that people I love are being punished.

okay -- that's probably enough.

Spread love and acceptance. start with yourself, move on in ripples to your family - your friends - your neighbors. be the butterfly and have an effect.

Go and Vote!!

and if you live in California, I implore you to vote NO on 8!! Gays and Lesbians marrying will do NOTHING to my heterosexual marriage. It just means more love being shared with all the rights and privileges of marriage. You know, like, if one member of the couple is in the hospital, the partner is allowed to be there with her (or him). Or being able to file joint tax returns. This is something that is near and dear to my heart and I am struggling to understand how it is that other hetero married couples think that homosexual marriages will destroy their own marriages. I just don't get it. Love makes the world go 'round. No one should be excluded from it.

a mama fairy

croup sucks

most excellent wedding

ready for Matt's wedding