thanks for the fun surprise, daddy!!!

wednesday, november 10th
3:45pm: receive hotel confirmaiton via email (what is this?)
4:02pm: pete arrives at home, tosses bags on the bed, and starts packing. i start packing, check the weather, then repack. jack wakes up from his nap grumpy, but turns the corner at the mention of heading to 'mickey's house'. he 'gets himself up' (he's a crib-kid, more on this milestone later!)
4:46pm: we're on the road!
11:45pm: arrive at our hotel across the street from the park
12:15am: jack jumping on bed.
3:25am: jack asking to 'say good morning to ____' (he lists every disney character he's ever heard of)
7:02am: up and at 'em for our day at the park...

completely quick turn of events and super fun surprise from daddy! we enjoyed veteran's day at the park, complete with the beginnings of christmas decor. we visited goofy, rode dumbo, checked out jack skellington's haunted mansion, and survived the wind.


after a nap and dinner, we returned to the park for the nighttime merriment, but were bummed when the fireworks were canceled.





exhausted, we headed back to the hotel for the night. friday was WILD. i mean, i'm a frequent disney go-er. this was not my first seaon pass, and there were years when i was a kid that we went a TON. i am serious, folks, it was the BUSIEST i've ever seen the park. maybe it was the gorgeous weather, the long weekend, the first official day of holiday festivities... whatever it was, it was a cluster. like, ridiculous. we had only planned a half-day anyway, so we made the best of it. we had a fun time pretty much walking around...

(rides? lines? oh heck no - not in this crowd with an almost 3yrold. no way, jose!!) and hit the road just after eating our traditional corn dog. yum, btw.

someone wasn't very happy...


** so with this new blogging promise, i'm letting go of a few things.

1. format. i can't worry too much about spacing. sometimes, i need to let that extra space or missing space go.
2. grammar. this really bothers me, but i'm not going to review my posts as though they're english papers or a resume. i'm sorry if this bothers you - it bothers me, too. i hope you find comfort it that.
3. picture order. you'll see pictures above are not in chronological order (we all seems to be wearing the same outfits both days and i posted a pic from the end of our trip in the beginning). i trust that i didn't make my family wear the same clothes all weekend and that it's better - or faster - to blog this way.

this blog is a living scrapbook. and i have to keep it going for us to look back on - and if these things bother me when i'm 80yrs old and i have the time to fix them then, so be it.

holy-moly-guacamole.

i can not believe i've been neglecting the blog. i really thought i'd be sooooo on top of it since i started staying home with little munchkin. i have been crafting with jack, playing outside, enjoying all that an indian summer and autumn can bring, cleaning while he sleeps, cooking. we read, walk, visit, and have adventures with friends. however, blogging? not so much. i'm making a public pledge to start this up again. even if it means pre-blogging with post-dated posting.

i, jen green, do solemnly promise to post 3 times a week. at least.

witnessed by y'all.

and totally call me out if i don't follow through.

why this pic? no reason, really. just a snapshot of us enjoying our valley home + oaks + amazing sunsets.
no time for blogging when you have all this to enjoy, right? bad excuse, i know.

Guess where we are....

Rainy day continued.

I really like the rain. I mean, it's great for the plants and is a
perfect excuse to lounge in sweats, read books, and make chili for
dinner. Rain with a 2yrold is a bit different. It's still fun, but you
need an outlet come the middle of the day. The second the rain ceased,
I took little Jack outside to burn off some of that energy!! It was
so fun and wet and giggle-y. And the activity made for an
appropriately long afternoon nap (during which I did NOTHING but
read!!! Housework, schmousework.)!

Rainy day.

Of course it's raining on the looooooongest day of the year!!!! I
thought we'd craft. I lost my temper, Pete reminded me that Jack can't
read my mind, that I hadn't shared with everyone that one pumpkin was
to be brown, one orange. I relinquished control and let Jack complete
the project. And he did an amazing job!!!

conversations with jack

Mommy, are those new glasses?
Are you wearing them?
Can I wear them?
Good, the sunshine won't bother my eyes.
(gave jack glasses - puts them on upside-down)
Oh, are these girl glasses?
Did you buy them?
Are they from target?
Oh.

someone got a haircut!!

the to-do list

When we decided that I would stay home with Jack, I immediately thought of all the things I would have the time to teach him, things to do with him, enjoying every minute. I came across this list that I started during our decision-making process. Though it is not all inclusive, it's a start. And so much better than my previous to-do lists (they never seemed to have enough Jack or Pete in them, and I never felt okay with that).

Potty train!
Have art, dance and singing time, reading, writing, and math time every day
Explore the beautiful nature around us
Go on walks
Exercise more
Make more foods from scratch
Tickle as much as possible
Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my men
Go to the library
Raise a confident, polite little boy
Savor every moment
Become a Thomas train track designer extraordinaire
Capture as many songs/dances/sayings on video as possible
Reduce time outs by 50%
Only do housework when jack's sleeping
Wear an apron
Paint my nails crazy, unprofessional colors
Have theme days : 80s, pj, crazy hair
Check email, phones, and blog when little heads are sleeping on their little pillows
Stick to our budget
Live simply
Laugh at lot

make-it monday!!!

the boys and their planes

can't turn your back

I looked away for 2 minutes. 2!!!!!

a trip to the city

I had to make a super quick trip into my office in sf last week. Jack
and I sang 'wheels on the bus' and 'the farmer and the dell' the whole
way there. Well, the whole way besides the conversation we had about
him being mad. At the city, that is. Because he wanted to play, not
travel to mommy's work. The only thing that distracted him from our
conversation (I tried every other song on his kiddos cd, picking out
blue cars on the road, and discussing his favorite parts of finding
nemo) was the tunnel. Boy, do we love tunnels and brides, and the bay
bridge offers BOTH!!!! We have a tradition in the fam of raising both
hands over our heads while in tunnels (& holding our breath and making
a wish, but Jack doesn't know this part yet) - he loves it and is so
darn cute doing it!!!

the biggest little city in the world

There's something about the dry heat, smoke, lights, cologne, and
excitement in the air that reminds me of being a kid. No, we didn't
gamble before we were 21, but you can't bet your last chip I was
rolling the dice the very second I turned 21. Updates on the Reno Air
Races when we return!!!

fall, shmall

enjoying our indian summer out here in Cali....

making the most of his clean room...

by making the most amazing mess!!! here he is innocently reading a
mother goose book shortly after acting like a tornado in his room.
cleaning up has become a daily chore. we sing, "clean up! clean up!
everybody do your share!"