If Walls Could Talk

The walls in our kitchen have been there through the move in, years without babies, two pregnancies, family dinners, party with friends, Cooper's first year of homework and numerous art projects.  They have been there through thick and thin and if they could talk, the stories they could tell.  Enclosed in the wall is the first "project" my dad took on while visiting.  The window seat.  Once it was in, the house felt like ours.  All that sentiment aside, we are excited for the next stage- the remodel. So, hasta la vista walls, it's on to bigger and better things!

Orange Crush

Last weekend, Cooper earned his orange belt in Karate.  His teacher talked about how Cooper is the perfect student AND he mentioned that his technique and coordination are improving vastly.  I have to tell you, this is big news.  It's tough for a little guy when he is only five years old, but his body is the size of an eight year old's.  His best little buddy from school is the same size and Logan's mom and I both share the experience of kids whose bodies grew too fast for them to keep up.  Coop just loves Karate and so far so good, he has not used his round house kick on his sister.  Congratulations Cooper!

Run Like A Girl

Yesterday was Run Like a Girl in Pasadena.  The event was an 8k trial run.  The setting was beautiful, the hills were intense (in those areas of the course a more appropriate event title would have been Hike Like a Girl) and the atmosphere was great.  I've decided that more women need to be encouraged to do these types of events.  There are women there of all ages, shapes, sizes and athletic ability.  Regardless of the type of athlete you are, at the end of the event, everyone has the same smile on their face.  There are too many things in our society that make women feel unsure about themselves; more time needs to spent at events that make you feel like you can do anything!  After the race, our group headed over to one of my favorite spots in SoCal- Colorado Boulevard/Old Town Pasadena.  We ate breakfast at a restaurant that was far too posh for our smelly dirty group, but they let us in anyway and the food was delicious.  After breakfast we hit a few stores; the sales people looked really concerned anytime we approached a piece of clothing that was white.  The trail dirt was still all over our arms and legs and they didn't want it on any of their garments.  We ended our time in Pasadena with a well earned dish of gelato and then headed home in hopes of long naps and ibuprofen. 

A hui hou Jamie and Brian

 A hui hou is the Hawaiian expression for good-bye until we meet again (at least according to the Internet it is).  Jamie and Brian have dreamed of moving to Hawaii for years, on Tuesday,they are finally doing it.  Tonight a group of us met at Oggi's, our local brewery to have some fun and say goodbye. We had an amazing time.  Despite the fact that the waitress brought the oranges for our beer on the coaster (see Jamie's reaction in the photo), this was a great place to spend our time.  Jamie put it best when she said tonight was bittersweet.  We had so much fun hanging out together, like we always do, but in the back of my mind the whole night was the fact that she is moving to an island far from here.  Jamie has been my student, my house sitter, my substitute teacher when I had Bella, and my colleague.  Through it all though, she has always been my friend.  We get each other, things don't even need to be said. All it takes is an eye roll or a facial expression and communication is a success!  Even though we lived in the same town, we only saw each other about four times a year.  Still it was always comforting knowing that if I needed her, she'd be there in a heartbeat.  I'm so excited for she and her family and can't wait to visit them on their beautiful island!  Cheers to you Jamie and Brian!  I will miss you dearly BUT I'm thrilled for you that this is happening!

Decisions, Decisions

Today our compromising skills were put to the test as we attempted to pick out tile for our soon to be room addition.  We had different ideas when it came to the tile. It finally came down to this; Dave picks the tile, I pick the granite, the back splash and the paint color for the walls. Considering the fact that he wanted to do pergo in the first place, I guess I shouldn't complain.  In order to not appear too greedy, I feel the need to mention that in an earlier negotiation session, he picked out the color of the cabinets.  So far so good, no marriage counseling necessary.  Now, all we can hope is that everything looks good when it is actually in the house instead of a small sample in a fairly poorly lit showroom.  

Kiss those training wheels goodbye!

Tonight was historic at our house.  Dave took the training wheels off of Cooper's bike. Cooper has been looking forward to this moment since they discussed it in the garage early this morning.  He told his swimming teacher, the librarian at the library and the girl checking us out at Target that it was going to happen.  Dave spent some time researching on the internet the best way to approach things. Coop's not in the clear yet, but I think some progress was made tonight.  I have a feeling that for Dave, this is a lot like how it was when my dad tried to teach me how to do a math problem.  Some things come naturally and some things don't.  After round one of practice, Cooper's feelings are, "It was awesome".  Dave's were, "It's gonna be quite the process."  

Ode To Beth

I have known Beth her entire life.  The Books and the Robinsons are one big happy family.  During the last few years, I have so enjoyed reading Beth's blog.  I only see her maybe once a year, but I feel like I am a part of her life because of her stories that she shares on her blog.  I've also always enjoyed writing and decided to follow in Beth's footsteps.  I can't think of a better way to keep those that are far away up to date on each day in the life of the Nocera family.  Thanks Beth for inspiring me to get this thing started! It only took me a year to actually do it. 

Bring on the tears

Today was the second day of swim lessons . Let me begin by giving props to Cooper.  Those of you that know him, know how mellow he is (most of the time) and what a good sport he is (once again most of the time).  He is loving swim lessons, today he swam around the whole outer edge of the pool with his class and was even able to swim under the lane ropes. Go Coop!  Moving on to our other child, Miss Bella.  Those of you that know her, know that her emotions are like a roller coaster.  Yesterday, she loved swim lessons.  Today, she loved them too.  At the beginning.  Suddenly in the middle of lessons, we all (all the parents, children and lifeguards present at the pool) experienced one of her classic mood swings.  I think the best way to walk you through this experience, since you missed it live, is with a series of pictures.  Notice how we went from smiles to complete meltdown in the course of 1/2 hour.  Yesterday as a ton of kids were having similar meltdowns, I thought to myself that I am so lucky that I grew up around a pool/lake and how my kids have been given the same opportunity to get used to water so that they are not scared.  I thought too soon.  I don't think it is the water with Bella though, I think it is her inner-diva acting up again.  Who knows what tomorrow's lessons hold in store. Cross your fingers for us!

Happy Father's Day!

Did I mention that Danskin(see below) didn't put much thought into the date of their event.  Yes, they had it on father's day. So while all the moms got empowered, the dad's were stuck managing the kids in the swarms of people at the event.  Those of us that participated felt pretty lucky to be married to guys who were willing to do this.  After the race though, we did have a great time at California Adventure and Disneyland.  All in all, I think that Dave had a fun day.  Once you step through those gates, you really do become a kid again!  He got to take Cooper on Indiana Jones for the first time and the excitement in the little guy's face and eyes when they got off that ride was the greatest gift.  So, thanks Dave for putting up with the race and for all of the fun that followed. You, are a great dad!

Yes, we swam in that...

On Sunday, I participated in the Danskin Women's Triathlon at Disneyland.  It was a wonderful event full of positive energy and women of all shapes and sizes.  The event began with a  swim in the lagoon at California Adventure.  The water temp was great, the water consistency left a bit to be desired!  I imagined it would be the dyed green water that is present in most of the disney rides; instead, it looked like this:

After the swim, it was on to the bike.  This is my favorite part of the triathlon.  It was so much fun whizzing through the streets of Anaheim.  It's so nice when the roads are closed for events like this.  The thought did cross my mind though, that it was probably very annoying to people who had driven all the way from, let's say, Iowa, only to find all roads leading to Disney closed from 6-10 am!  After the bike portion, came the dreaded run.  I hadn't run much at all since the appendectimy, so I was very nervous.  There's something about running through a theme park before it opens though, with music blasting, that pumped me up.  I was able to run the whole course.  Final time- 1:18:32.  After the race, we didn't care that we had swam in a swamp, we were beaming with the thrill of completing something like this.  It was great having all of us there together.