Casa de Mariposas

We have recently been invaded... by Butterflies!
(Beautiful Painted Lady Butterflies courtesy of Insect Lore (http://www.insectlore.com).)

Jonathan received a Butterfly house with a coupon for 5 caterpillars for his birthday. We, of course, immediately sent away for them and received aforementioned caterpillars about a week later. We spent the next week watching them grow and make a mess of their tiny container and then overnight, they all climbed up to the ceiling, hung upside down and made their chrysalids.

We pinned them into the Butterfly house and about a week after that, they all hatched leaving us with 5 amazing butterflies. (They guarantee at least 3, so we felt we did an extra special job taking care of them.) Instructions state you can keep them and feed them every day, or if the temperature is above 55˙F, you may release them into the wild. Jonathan wanted to keep them, but after about 4 days of me making a cup of sugar water and putting it in their house drops at a time, I encouraged him to let them go. The last picture is Jonathan's last butterfly making her way into the wild. He was happy and sad to see them fly away and determined to drag me to Home Depot where we could find a flowering bush that butterflies like so next time we can release them to a nice spot just for them. :)

I imagine we will be ordering more soon as it really was quite amazing to watch - even for the adults! Jonathan is convinced that butterflies are God's coolest creations.

Go Padres!

First of all - A big Thank You to the Bergstroms for giving us their Padres tickets for this game; it's always a treat sitting so close to the action on a beautiful sunny San Diego day.


It was Aaron's first baseball game (at least that I can remember). He did great, being 2 and having that short attention span, and he still made it through the last inning. Jonathan liked trying to find the players who were on the field or up to bat in the program and reading their names and positions.

We had a great time at Petco Park and loved watching the game from close up. Best part... Padres won!!

Birthdays and Cakes

Someone turned 7 last month!

Jonathan had two birthday parties - lucky little man. :) One at the house with family on his actual birthday (May 19th) and one on Saturday at Pump It Up with all of his friends and family too.

It amazes me how fast our kids are growing up. Being 7 was met with much excitement and having Grandma and Grandpa Small come visit for his birthday was the topping on the cake.

He is such a clever, intelligent, loving, and social boy and we are so lucky to be able to see him grow and learn and become more and more incredible each year. He is looked up to by his brother immensely and he is very sweet to him (most of the time). Happy Birthday Jonathan!



A sample of the Fishy themed cupcakes that I made for Jonathan's birthday party at Pump It Up. They were super easy to make and fun, too!

New Years Resolutions

I saw that we haven't posted anything since July of last year!! Wow, we are really bad at keeping up a Blog. Maybe this year will be better. Jonathan's class spent the first week back making New Years Resolutions. He came home with a paper boy's head, party hat and all, and written underneath was: "My New Years Resolution is... Be nice to my family" So simple, yet so hard to do for a 6 year old with a rambunctious little 2 year old brother. I don't know what my New Years Resolution is this year, but I guess I just want to be better somehow than last year; it doesn't really matter what is better as long as there is improvement somewhere. What is your resolution?

First Snow Day of 2011

Early one Saturday morning, we decided to go play in the snow at Big Bear. Between closed roads and our bad memories, we finally found a fun place to slide downhill and build, quite possibly, the best snowman ever.


Jonathan called him Mr. Snowy and was very sad that we had to leave him there. Some tourists were so smitten with Mr. Snowy, they even took their picture with him.


Aaron had a fun time discovering the snow and we all miraculously stayed dry and warm in our new snow clothes. There was an amazing sunset view from the mountains which we enjoyed.
Hopefully we get to go to the snow again soon!

Do you ever get emails from people who honestly mistake you for someone else?

Every once in a while I will get a random email from someone who thinks I am someone that I am not. Normally its someone is easily confused with the interwebs and is looking for the grandson. Most recently I got an email from someone at a legitimate PR firm who apparently thinks I am an officer at a company that is coming out of bankruptcy. Obviously I cant and wont just let this go. Read the thread (thus far) below.

======================july 13, 2010======================================
from Sandra Sellani
to tom.tooma,
tom.joyce,
jennifer,
Brett.Braun,
date Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 10:38 AM
subject talking points


Team,

These are the talking points that we discussed in yesterday's meeting - please let me know if there is anything that you would like to add/change.

· The TLC Corporate Bankruptcy in (date) has hurt our good name. We are their largest franchisee, a separately owned, profitable company.

· In order to emerge from bankruptcy TLC Corporation was purchased by two private equity groups; neither have backgrounds in the health care industry. The original TLC board has disbanded and the new board of directors has five members from those private equity groups. We don’t’ know the direction they will be taking but we know the direction we have always taken in Southern California. Rather than deal with the uncertainty of TLC Corporation, we want to continue to be true to our model and core philosophy of partnership with eye doctors throughout Southern California, because that partnership is in the best interests of the patients we serve. That has always been our philosophy and always will be.

· Dr. Tooma started the business with this philosophy since 1993. That’s why more eye doctors refer their patients to us than any other laser eye center in Southern California. The name has changed, but nothing else has. We are the same company we have always been – same surgeons, same employees, same procedures

· Our vision always has and always will be one of partnership with eye doctors.

· Our new name is (name). (comment about new name)

We will spin these messages to each individual audience,but I want to make sure there is agreement on the basic messaging.


Sandra


===========sent 7.14.2010 12:08pm=========
from Sandra Sellani
to tom.joyce,
tom.tooma,
Brett.Braun,
doug
date Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 12:08 PM
subject trademark


I found a trademark attorney who will register our tagline, check the three names we like, and register the one we want for a flat fee of $1700. I've started the process and will keep you posted.

--
--
Sandra Sellani

============sent 7.14.2010 12:16pm======================

from Doug
to Sandra Sellani
cc tom.joyce,
tom.tooma,
Brett.Braun
date Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 12:16 PM
subject Re: trademark

Hi, Thanks for the update. I think $1700 sounds good. Does this
price also include registering the Internet domain names?
========================================================
note, at this point i wanted to know what their names are so was trying to get them to tell me by asking what their domain names should be.
============sent 7.14.2010 12:35pm======================
from Sandra Sellani
to Doug ,
Sandra Sellani
cc tom.joyce,
tom.tooma,
Brett.Braun
date Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 12:35 PM
subject RE: trademark

No, but once we have the name, I'll just by the URLS - they're pretty cheap
about $15-20@.

Sandra

============sent 7.14.2010 12:39pm======================
from Doug
to sandra
cc Sandra Sellani ,
tom.joyce,
tom.tooma,
Brett.Braun
date Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 12:39 PM
subject Re: trademark

Great. Lets just make sure the domain names we want are available as
we are going through the registration process. Do you have a
preference on what those names should be?

============sent 7.14.2010 12:48pm======================
from Sandra Sellani
to Doug Small
cc tom.joyce,
tom.tooma,
Brett.Braun
date Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 12:48 PM
subject Re: trademark

hide details 12:48 PM (21 hours ago)

I just bought URLS for our top two favorite names and I bought two variations on the names in case people use the traditional spelling of the names rather than the more modern spelling. Whatever name we don't choose, i think we should still point toward the main URL becasue they're great names and i think we should keep them if they're available. The whole cost of this is $45 and we've got those names locked up for as long as we want.

Sandra

============sent 7.14.2010 12:49pm======================
from Sandra Sellani
reply-to sandra
to Doug
cc Sandra Sellani
tom.joyce,
tom.tooma,
Brett.Braun
date Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 12:49 PM
subject RE: trademark

hide details 12:49 PM (21 hours ago)

I just took the names and added "centers" to the end of them - they're all
available. The names with "group" after them were not available, but dens'
mean we can't buy them at some point.

s

==================================
dang. i was hoping they were going to tell me specifically what their domain name or company name was going to be. Hopefully more to follow.

One day

So, I thought, since this day had such a great start and I keep reading about every other mom's daily routine, I will give it a try. Here is a snapshot of my day (and just about every other day for the last almost 6 years...)

5:17 am: Wake up. I hear Aaron crying. I realize it's technically morning, but too early for our day to start; especially since Doug and I fell asleep on the couches watching TV last night and didn't actually get into bed until 2am. Dang.

5:25am: Decide to make a bottle. (Yes, he is almost 18 months old, don't judge me.) Holding onto hope of another hour of sleep.

6:00am: Take crying Aaron out of boys' room. Try not to wake Jonathan up. Lay down on couch - again - listen to Aaron cry. He lays down on the floor and stops crying. Oh wait, no, more crying. Oh, wait, happy... uh, no, more crying. Dang, again. There goes my hope. Try breakfast. Aaron points to yogurt in fridge. Get said yogurt. Two spoonfuls later and I will spend next 10 minutes cleaning said yogurt from tile floor. Thank God we have tile floor.

7:05am: Hear Doug upstairs. Decide to leave crying baby to see husband. Good choice. Aaron cries for a bit then follows me upstairs where a pile of toys distracts him momentarily. Doug asks if Jon is up. "No" I reply, "he still has an hour before school. Plenty of time." (I had used downstairs crying time to pack Jon's lunch and make myself a cup of coffee and was feeling quite productive.)

7:40am: Jon is up, eating Kix for breakfast. Starting to feel rushed. Trying to get dressed and avoid holding Aaron (he follows me and whines). Yelling downstairs to see if Jon has his shoes on. Find his shoes. Find Aaron's shoes. Everyone, get in the car! Now!!

7:56am: On the way to school. Must be there by 8am. Sure, plenty of time.

8:02am: Walk Jonathan to school holding Aaron. Say good-bye. Made it just in time before the door closed. Now, off to the doctor. In Encinitas.

8:15am: On the freeway, Aaron fell asleep.

8:23am: Arrive at doctor's office. Have to wake Aaron up and relaize now he probably won't take another nap. Dang. Again.

8:45am: Leave doctor's office with cranky baby. Rash is roseola or possibly another allergic reaction, but not likely. We decide to leave that off chart. Pass Target and wish my brain worked half as well before I had kids, because then I could stop and get what I know is on a list on my fridge at home. Grrr. Decide to go home and get list.

9:06am: Grab list from home.

9:23am: Arrive at Target to discover Aaron fell asleep 2 minutes before I pulled into the parking spot. DANG! Wake him up anyway since we are here.

10:04am: Leave Target, unload stuff to car. Putting cart away when I realize there is a container of baby food I did not pay for. The great debate. It's only a dollar. I'm sure they owe me a buck by now. My conscience wins out and I walk back in carrying Aaron and pay $1.09 in cash for baby food. Think as I walk to car that I would have felt guilty forever, so glad I did it.

10:10am: Rain. Just as I closed the door to the car. Feeling blessed.

10:19am: Stop at Starbucks for second coffee of the morning. Aaron fell asleep. (Woo-hoo!)

10:32am: Home, sweet home. To do dishes. Sweet dishes. Went to unload dishwasher. See that it was stopped mid-cycle last night (For TV viewing) and not restarted. Dang. Handwash all dishes in sink and run dishwasher.

11:20am: Dishes mostly done. Decide to make some wheat bread since Target did not have the right kind and I don't want to wake Aaron for another store trip. See on calendar that this week is all minimum days. Silently thank God for the fact that I saw that before I was late to pick up Jon.

12:02pm: Finished dishes. Leave to pick up Jonathan from school. Hope to get a parking place. Aaron is awake.

12:50pm: Aaron will not be happy on the ground, so I am holding him. Jonathan is doing a new puzzle in the garage and now... what to eat? Heat up some leftovers and eat. One-handed.

1:10pm: First of many afternoon tantrums by Aaron. He throws the yogurt he so nicely asked for. (pointed to and said "gugur?") Take him out of highchair, clean up yogurt. Aaron throws himself back and hits his head on the tile. Jon is asking for help with puzzle. I give up. Pick up Aaron, help Jon finish the puzzle. Fix a snack for Jon and some more food for Aaron now that he is calm.

1:25pm: Kids are finally eating. Together. At the table. A miracle!

1:44pm: Start more laundry. Kids are playing in the garage. Nicely. Wow. Cater to demands for bubbles, balls, and walks.

2:35pm: Try to lay Aaron down for a nap. He reluctantly falls asleep in crib. Play with Jonathan outside. Check on Aaron - still asleep so I ride on the big scooter with Jonathan and then check on Aaron after 2 loops.

3:35pm: Aaron is awake and crying. Dang.

3:38pm: Outside with all the neighborhood playing.

3:48pm: It's only been ten minutes. Really?!?

5:46pm: Going inside because Aaron wants a snack. I think.

5:58pm: Cleaning up more yogurt off the floor. Dang. (Thinking, "But he pointed at it, grabbed it from the refrigerator and got himself a spoon. Surely he wanted it!")

6:12pm: Doug is home! Doug is home! Hooray!!!

6:30pm: Dinner is served. Leftovers. Yay. It was good though, so there is no complaining. All of us are sitting at the table. A rare sight. Someone should photograph this so I could have a chance of remembering it. Oh well. It's over. Aaron is down and throwing stuff, Jonathan announces he is finished and I am ready to climb into bed. Alas, there is more work to be done.

7:08pm: I e-mail Aunt Linda so she won't think I am ignoring all her wonderful messages. Try to get a start on dishes that have piled up throughout the day and evening. No luck. Will do tomorrow. We hear Adam outside. Flashlights!! (Suburban fun.)

8:00pm: Doug is giving Aaron a bath. Jonathan is getting his pajamas on and his teeth brushed. Read 2 stories to Jonathan. Wash Aaron's hair. Doug pulls him out of the bath and dries him off and sends him running naked into the bedroom. I get him dressed while Doug warms up a bottle.

8:37pm: Bedtime has arrived.

9:02pm: Freedom!!!! I start this Blog. I hear Doug downstairs playing XBox, so continue until I hear the TV go on. Go downstairs and hang out with Doug and watch Winter Olympics. Fall asleep on couch. Remind myself to go to bed earlier tomorrow.