awkward & awesome

i think it's time for some awkward and awesome. 

awkward

+ crocs. crocs have taken a slice out of my soul. they are the mommiest thing i have ever purchased and whenever cruz wears them, i overcompensate by wanting to dress really, really nice. as if to say, "see? my kid may wear crocs, but i am still more than one step away from a denim jumper."

+ bumper stickers. this morning a car pulled out in front of me in the trader joe's parking lot covered in political bumper stickers that i disagreed with. however, there was one sticker that said "pray for obama." great! i thought. i totally think we should pray for our leaders, and i do, on a regular basis. maybe this driver and i have something in common after all. there was a verse underneath-- psalm 109:9, and of course i looked it up. huge mistake. i'm not even going to write it here because it was not nice. so hey Christians-- let's not use the Bible as a way to be assholes, mmkay?

+ fifteen minutes later... my worst nightmare came true! i shopped at trader joes, filled my cart with all kinds of delicious things... stood in line... realized i did not have my wallet or check book. as i type this, my groceries are sitting in bags in the freezer at traders. total fail!

+ cruz is so so so vocal. when we go into his room in the morning, we're usually greeted by him cheerfully announcing, "poopy diaper!"

+ i swear, i just turn my back for one second...

awesome

+ crocs. crocs! where the crap have you been all my life??!! you are the best ever shoes for little boys (and probably little girls too). you are brilliant and i love you.

+ i am the new coordinator for MOPS at our church. i've been meeting with the other members of the steering committee and ooooo, i can't wait for MOPS to begin again in the fall! if you're local, you should join us! i feel incredibly privileged to be serving with these thoughtful, hilarious, service-minded women. 

+ we've been having some spontaneous playdates lately, which i guess are not technically "dates" because of the spontaneity. anyhow, we went exploring in the butterfly preserve with rand and ashley. it was beautiful and the boys were so big and independent. 

bubbles?

cruz has been asking to do bubbles lately, and when a chubby young lad looks up at you, cocks his head to the side and asks, "bubbles?" you just don't say no. 

he is a creature of habit, so this is how we do bubbles:

+ cruz must hold at least two bubble wands, one in each hand. we have ten wands, and he will try his hardest to get his paws on all of them. i stay strong, and try to wrangle away at least one for myself. 

+ i sit in the chair in the backyard. i hold the bubble bottle and he stands in between my legs.

+ cruz is about the process. he is happiest when dipping the wands in and out, in and out, in and out. any bubbles are just delightful surprises. 

+ in typical cruz-fashion, he likes to give himself encouragement while we blow bubbles. he sticks the bubble wand straight into his mouth and blows a raspberry. "good job!" he yells. he has a sudsy moustache. 

+ when i'm finally allowed to blow some bubbles, he gives us the play-by-play. "bubbles," he says as they rise up into the air. "bubbles. bubbles. bubbles. pop."

getting out

let me tell you about my perfect dream day. 

i'd be in a cabin in the mountains, completely snowed in.

the kitchen would be stocked with hot chocolate and all of my favorite snacks from trader joe's. 

there might be someone with me, there might not be.

next to me, i would have a snack of yummy novels and a pile of sex and the city dvds (or an ipad and great wifi). 

to me this is heaven, to my husband this might be...well... not heaven. 

to me happiness usually includes being inside, reading, napping, etc.

i tell you, living in santa barbara is wasted on me.

all this to say-- i am kind of an indoor girl.

i'm an indoor girl, but i also try very hard to be a good santa barbara mom. not saying that only santa barbara moms are like this, but santa barbara moms push bob strollers, wear nothing but lululemon (i'm way good at this one), adore french mothering, and care a lot about outdoor spaces. adoration of french mothering aside, i fit the bill pretty well. i step out of my comfort zone and get cruz outside and in nature as often as possible. 

cruz says, "outdoors, yes. nature, no."

there is a sweet little park in the middle of a residential neighborhood in town. next to the playground is the dried up stream bed and then a hiking trail that leads up into the hills. 

i like to go very early in the morning, when cruz is in a particularly destructive mood. when the books have been thrown off the shelves many times, breakfast has been dropped onto the floor, and have mercy, we just need to get going. 

we play on the playground, bark at the passing dogs, pick up a thousand sticks. 

as soon as i try to pull cruz into the "natural space" he runs back down the trail. 

nature doesn't have any of these.

[and confidential to the french mama playgroup at the park: oh yes i did see your kid pull down his pants and pee on the sidewalk. chambres de charme]