Ben & Mandy

The Bouncy House Hero

2011-11-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

Well, my relationship with William was brought to a whole new level today when he came to my rescue in a bouncy house. This morning William and I went over to Bellevue to check out 321 Bounce. I had a Living Social coupon for the place and my sister Carrie highly recommended it! At first glance it seemed like any other warehouse full of bouncy houses (there are a lot of those in the greater Seattle area) but then William went down his first slide of the day and flew down it so fast I thought he'd fly right out the door.

It reminded me of this:

I asked one of the workers why these particular bouncy houses were so slick. She explained they spray them with some sort of shellac to make them slippery (I wonder if it's Clark W. Griswold's non-nutritive cereal varnish?) so the slides are faster and more fun. William was having a blast slipping down the slides, shrieking with glee, running from one slide to another. Then he decided to try one of the obstacle course houses that rewards with a HUGE slide at the end. Well, a quarter of the way through the obstacle course I could see that he was having trouble and seemed stuck. I wasn't sure if adults were allowed in the houses but he seemed pretty discouraged so I told him I'd come in and help.

In order to clearly paint a picture of what happened next let me walk you through step by step of what I had to do to get to him.

I had to throw my body up and into a hole to get into the house, then I had to use steps and a rope attached to an inflated mountain to climb up and then slide down to the pit where William was stuck. Keep in mind the 'blocks' or steps attached to one side of the mountain are in no way made for an adults foot (they are miniature) and forget about them actually supporting more than 70lbs. So I basically flip-flopped and floundered my way up the mountain all the while laughing and praying no one was filming me, just to upload to Youtube making me the next internet sensation. Finally I got to the top of the mountain and slid down to William.

William was stuck on the 'squeeze' section, pictured above. The squeeze section required you to jump up onto a smallish mountain, then squeeze through while a tube on top of you pushes down because your weight is forcing it to collapse a bit. Right when I saw it I knew I was in trouble. The smallish mountain came up to my chin, so I'm not sure how any child is supposed to jump high enough to squeeze their way through. I picked William up and pushed him through and then I started trying to get through. As I mentioned before the bouncy houses were slick so it seemed like no matter how high I jumped (and I know I can't jump high) I couldn't find anything to grip onto that would allow me to pull myself through.

After several failed attempts I realized William was long gone and I really began to wonder if I was going to have to be 'that' adult who ruins all the fun for all the kids. I pictured the whole place needing to shut down so they could let the air out of the house just so I could get out. Ha. Ha. Ha. Then I started worrying that William might not know where I was so I started yelling his name. It was pathetic. He eventually came back into the house, and I was able to explain to him that I was going to need his help. I picked him up and pushed him through again and then told him he needed to try and pull me through. After several attempts we finally did it! We were laughing so hard that we both just collapsed on the bouncy house floor and laid there for a second.

Then William popped up and said, "ok, now follow me!" He scurried and I dragged through some tubes and we finally made it to the big slide. Only problem was there was yet another mountain with tiny miniature steps and ropes to climb before you got to the top. Of course William practically flew to the top, I told him I'd be out in a bit. As I was struggling with my second mountain of the day I saw another mom coming through. I asked her how she fared in the squeeze section, her whacked-out hair and exhausted looking eyes gave me a better answer than any words could have offered.

For the record the slide at the end was spectacular! Fast, fun and totally worth all the work. As I got off the slide William came running back over to me and said, "wanna do it again?" I said, how about next time and then suggested a much easier looking slide!

I'm planning to go back to 321 Bounce during Natalie's week off before Thanksgiving. I figure I'll give the big slide another shot then. :-)

Portland!

2011-10-14T09:36:00.000-07:00

Ben and I decided we wanted a mini vacation this summer with just-the-two-of-us. So, I started thinking about cities near by and swayed between Vancouver B.C. and Portland for a while, finally settling on Portland. The Portland food cart scene was the biggest draw for us... don't make fun... we love food. So one Saturday morning we headed south on I-5 for a fun 30 hours in Portland, OR.

Now when it came to where we were going to stay, I scoured the web for a steal on a great hotel. (I'm a bit of a hotel snob and proximity to the food carts was very important.) We ended up at The Governor and with a little sweet talking, once we were there, we scored a corner room that came with an awesome view and the hum of the Portland street car. It was awesome!

After we checked into our room we headed back out for some food. The hotel is located right next to a Pod of Food Carts, think one city block with 30-ish carts parked on it...

We both decided on a Greek gyro, Ben lamb, me chicken. It was tasty, but way too big.

I was a bit bummed at the size, mostly because I was so full afterwards I couldn't try anything else at the other carts surrounding us. We decided a trip to Powell's might help us work up another appetite.

After 4 or so hours in Powell's (if you didn't click on the link, it's one of the largest bookstores in the world taking up an entire city block) we were hungry again and decided to check out The Living Room... pictured below.

The Living Room is a restaurant + a bar + a theater, they were playing a few movies I'd heard of (Ben probably new about all of them) so we decided dinner and a movie would be fun.

We saw this movie; if you like movies filled with good looking food, gorgeous scenery and a ridiculous about of banter you should see it too. We loved it.

The next morning we got up and hit the streets for a day full of more exploring. First stop, Voodoo Doughnuts a doughnut shop that has been featured on the Food Network. As we were walking up to the shop there was an enormous line. Since we didn't have anything else to do, and we were right there, we decided we'd wait with all the other crazy people in line for what better be a dang good doughnut.

I left Ben in this line, we were told it would be about 45 minutes, to take a few pictures and walk around.

I came back to the line with a Hot n' Fresh (super tasty) waffle and orange juice for us to share. Yes, I know we were in line for a doughnuts but we were starving and this butter and sugar waffle sure hit the spot.

Then we waited and waited and waited and waited some more for the doughnuts.

Dad, I thought you'd like this sign.

Finally doughnuts!

Me: Triple Chocolate CoCoa Puff (no, that's not dog food on top)

Ben: Neapolitan, chocolate doughnut, vanilla frosting, strawberry dust and three marshmallows

Worth the wait?

Not really.

I know, disappointing right? We think all the hype around Voodoo Doughnut's must be their inventive flavors because when actually eaten they seemed a bit dry.

We're sticking with Seattle's Top Pot Doughnut's & Jersey's L&M for our favorite doughnut spots.

After our *sweet* morning we decided to walk around the weekend market down near the river. It was a gorgeous day we ended up covering a lot of territory before we needed to get back and check out of our hotel room.

Once we checked out and got our car back from the valet we decided to find the Portland Aerial Tram. We had heard about the tram when my sister and her family lived close to Portland... after many construction detours, many wrong turns and studying our map we finally found it.

The tram connects the two campus' for OHSU Center for Health and Healing and is mainly used for commuting students/medical professionals. We were told it was a great thing to do as a visitor to the city because it would allow for unique views of the city.

Ben and I highly recommend the tram if you're ever in the Portland area. It was only a few bucks and ended up being a really fun ride. Plus the views from the hospital on top of the hill (where the tram takes you) were stunning.

We had an awesome weekend in Portland and hope it's not too long before we go back!

Summer 2011

2011-09-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

This is how I've spent my days nannying this summer.

They enjoyed a week long intense soccer course down at Greenlake. Of course, the week we were there it was miserably rainy until the very last day. One day while I sat and watched William run around I was laughing noticing that every spectator was sitting out in the rain (misty rain) with no umbrella and some without hoods. Ben tells me this is only a Seattle thing. Apparently people from other states carry some sort of covering for them when it rains.

Super fast Natalie!

'In your face!'

Once again we've dedicated a summer to swimming lessons! While it's a lot of work getting suits, sunscreen, lunches, towels, etc. together, it's worth it! I have seen three kids go from non-swimmers (basically would sink if you dropped them in the water) to proficient-independent-confident-swimmers! I'm grateful I've been able to witness this before I had my own kids. I now know that dedicating a few weeks to this every summer has really paid off!

I have tried to capture William's excitement for swimming lessons all summer long. He's like a little puppy jumping up and down waiting and waiting and waiting for 'his turn!' before lessons start. One day as I was tossing our stuff on a chair I told William it was finally 'his turn' and he bolted off. I quickly turned around and managed to catch him with a huge smile on his face mid-air jumping into the pool. There were tons of people around so I was a bit bummed with the photo. After I zoomed in a bit and did a funny focus thing on it I feel like you can get the idea of just how excited he is!

William has worked hard this summer! Just today he swam 1/2 the length of the pool back stroke and free style! He's learning how to breathe in between strokes right now and it can be quite funny watching his little body try to remember to move his arms, legs and still get his head out for a breath!

Here he is, doing his all time favorite thing: being thrown up in the air for a 'cannon ball!'

And Natalie, well she's a PRO! I think her biggest accomplishments this summer are, being able to tread water for quite some time and learning how to dive! She's been diving off the starting blocks this week, swimming the whole length of the pool and learning how to do a flip under water so she can swim all the way back! It is crazy to think just a few years ago she was growling at her instructors because she was so scared of going under water!

Natalie also LOVES the toss in the air!

Every once and a while they get popsicles and every once and a while we stay after lessons for a few hours of free swim. I have to say this year's free swim is much less stressful. I don't feel like I have two kids (with Andrew, sometimes three) who could potentially drown at any second. Swimming with them reminds me of all the swimming I did as a kid with my sisters. This summer we've had 'tea parties' under water, given under water High-5's, dove for pennies, Natalie and I've tried out a few funny hair-do's... I have to say my job ain't too shabby! :-)

Natalie starts 3rd grade tomorrow!! (Unbelievable!) So I've been working hard to get this post done before school officially starts and summer is officially over.

2011-08-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

Not the beach we all were expecting when we booked a trip to the Olympic Peninsula in the middle of July.

Oh well, that didn't stop us from having fun!

Since my sister Bree and her family were visiting for the whole month of July we decided it would be fun to go somewhere for a weekend all together. We decided on a great house on the Olympic Peninsula since everyone thought it would be fun to be near the ocean. Unfortunately we didn't get the best weather while we were there but we had fun anyway.

My Aunt Debbie and cousin Kelsey also joined us on the trip, as a surprise belated 60th birthday present for my mom. My mom was super surprised to have them there and we thoroughly enjoyed their company!

Even though the weather wasn't the greatest, we were at the beach so we had to at least walk down to the beach and spend some time there... Here are a few of us with shovels in hand, ready for some fun in the sand!

I thought the Fire Danger Level set at extreme was extremely funny considering the cloudy misty day we had!

Run! Don't let the waves get you!

My dad being the beach lover that he is, was in the water clear up to his knees by the time we left!

Chach and Coco always make for some fun photo opts!

The sand castle that Lydia, Nona and Opa worked so hard on... shortly after it was complete a wave came and swept it away. I wish I had a video of all of us running to grab the shovels, pails and shoes... it was a chaotic 'Treusch' moment at it's best! (The only thing that would have made it more complete is if someone had fallen in the water.)

Momma, with her three kids! (We missed you John!)

Everyone minus my cousin Kelsey who wasn't feeling great and decided to stay back at the house... rather than spend a few hours out on a rainy beach!

Finally, the BEST picture of the weekend!

As we were preparing to leave the beach I thought, 'you know what would make my beach day complete? A picture of all three kids together!'

Now, I know when these kids see me coming with the camera the must get so annoyed, but one day they'll thank me! Right? And see, I didn't need the 'perfect' photo I just wanted something that captured the moment we were in... and if you ask me it doesn't get any more perfect than this!

The sun managed to come out a bit for us just as we were leaving to get warm and dry!

After our morning at the beach the sisters and spouses decided it was time to scope out some local fare.

Fun day... fun vacation!

I almost forgot to post the 'twinners' picture Lydia was so excited about. Lydia loves to have her hair braided by my sister Carrie... she does a mean head band braid. So one more Lydia, Carrie and I decided to have the same hair-do.

Wish I had a photo with Chach too... then we could have been 'tripleters'!

Batman Boys

2011-08-04T18:00:00.000-07:00

Summer has come (and almost gone by the time I got around to blogging... ha!) so that means they're back together again! I'm always amazed how it's like time stops between these three when they are apart and once they're back together again they pick up right where they left off.

One day while Natalie was at a Storm game with a friend from school, the boys and I went to the library. I love going to the library with the kids, we can spend forever there and usually walk out with a bag of books that weighs more than William.

This trip to the library was a bit different because Batman decided to come.

Andrew and Will... err... I mean Batman and Batman wore their suits proud!

My two favorite superheros!

This is their 'scary shot', William's head is on backwards... can you tell? :-)

I think Andrew is zapping us with his laser eyes...

Utah Part 2

2011-08-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here is the second half of our trip to Salt Lake.

After our visit to the museum we had dinner at Thanksgiving Point and then walked around the gardens.

Christopher and Cristina had a blast messing around with their Tio Ben.

The kids spent a bit of time at the spray park... even though we were begging them not to get too wet. We wanted to take a few pictures in the beautiful gardens around Thanksgiving Point.

Somehow we managed to get a few good shots despite all the, much more fun, distractions around us!

The next day we made our way out Ben's sister, Emily's home... and horse stables!

Ben's sister Amy also joined us with her two kids, it was a treat for the kids to see the horses. Emily had an apple they each got to feed to the horses. Mikey also insisted on scoopin' some poop! He was serious about being on poop duty, it was hilarious!

We (or I) decided we just HAD to have some photos in front of Emily and Kerry's cute barn! Doesn't it make a great backdrop?

That just about wraps up our trip, with the exception of a few things we did that I didn't capture with our camera. Thank you to all our friends and family that made time to see us when we were in Salt Lake. It had been FAR too long... we will make our best effort to not let two years pass again before we are back!

Utah Part 1

2011-08-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

After way too long... almost 2 years... Ben and I finally had the chance to visit his family in Salt Lake City. We were there for a week and had a blast seeing all his siblings, nieces, nephews and even managed to squeeze in a few cousins!

Here is a recap of our trip.

Our first stop was Spring City, UT for a family reunion. The Allred family holds a reunion in Spring City every year to honor their ancestors who settled the town in the late 1800's. Ben's mom is a descendant of Redick Newton Allred who is a famous Utah pioneer. Below is a picture of the house where Redick Newton Alldred resided in the 1870's, the house later belonged to his son Isaac.

While we were standing outside admiring the house the current occupant (also a descendant of an Allred) offered to give us a personal tour! I believe Ben's mom has toured the house before but it was really fun for Ben and me to learn a little more of the history of the house. The trunk pictured below belonged to Redick Newton Allred, we were told he brought it with him when he was traveling across the plains.

When we were driving home we passed by the ghost-flooded-town of Thistle, UT. Ben's mom was telling us about the town and how it was flooded in the 1980's and is still underwater. I looked it up on Wikipedia and it said there was a massive landslide in 1983 and all the residents had to be evacuated. The town was almost completely destroyed, only a few structures were left partially standing. Ben insisted we stop at the ghost-ish town and look around. It was a bit eerie to see the tops of buildings still underwater after almost 30 years. Unfortunately there was no place to park on the twisty-turny highway with views of the still flooded area. So we had to settle for a part of the town now above water... but you can get the idea. :-)

Lots of thistles in the town of Thistle.

The next day we went up Big Cottonwood Canyon (or maybe it was Little...?) to see the snow run off.

Sounds boring huh?

Well it wasn't! Utah had such a cold spring that now that the summer's heat is in full force the snow is melting off the mountains fast and is creating some big full rivers roaring down the canyons.

I felt pretty insignificant standing on the edge of the canyon watching the water roar down to the valley.

While we were there we also got to see "Cars 2" with Lightning McQueen's biggest fan! (And no, I don't mean Ben.) After the movies Mikey and Claire left their mark on Grandma's french doors! Ha!

We visited The Museum of Ancient Life with Ben's brother's family. Their daughter Cristina is a big fan of dinosaurs and loved taking us to one of her favorite places!

If you live in Utah, or are visiting and have kids, it is a great place! Lots of interactive exhibits, Christopher and Cristina love the Erosion Water Table and the Fossil Digging area.

It's always a challenge for me to get a photo with EVERYONE in it. So I'm often looking for places where I can set a camera, turn on the timer and RUN into the photo. It doesn't have to end up being the best photo, all I care about it is that everyone is in it. I managed to find a display case that my camera could rest nicely on while all of us perched right in front of 'Jaws'.

In retrospect we should have done something more along the lines of what Ben and Cristina had in mind. That would have been the best photo! Oh well! Next time.

Okay, I'm about half way through our trip... but I'm a bit blogged out for the night. So, I'll post this for now and wrap up the rest later!

Garden Update

2011-07-30T00:49:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I mentioned that I got a garden plot in the city and was working away to cultivate the best garden I knew how. With some help from friends, reading tons of gardening blogs and lots of hard work the garden seems to be flourishing! I love it. The picture above is a section of the Picardo P-Patch in Seattle, my garden is located a little farther on the left

I've noticed when I describe my garden plot to some of my more rural-based friends their eyes get huge at the concept. I suppose it is a bit unusual but I really love the community aspect of it. I've gotten unbelievable gardening advice from complete strangers and one day a nice guy came over and gave me about 40 leek starts to plant in my plot.

So for all you inexperienced P-patchers out there here is a quick tour of my plot. It is a 10x40 rectangular plot split in half with a path as to easily harvest all the food that you are growing.

Here is the north side of the plot:

And the south side:

Needless to say I'm pretty pleased with the plot and have loved being able to share the fresh produce with friends. If it ever gets warm enough I'll have tomatoes coming out of my ears!

Don't forget...

2011-07-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

It's FREE Slurpee Day!

Thank heaven for 7-11!

(Thanks Carrie for the reminder!)

pick a little, eat a little, pick a little, eat a little, pick a little, pick, pick, pick...

2011-07-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

Once again, one of those days when I wish I had remembered a camera!

(Pictures brought to you by my dinky camera phone.)

I'll be better about that! :-)

A few days before Ben and I headed to Salt Lake City for a visit with his family, I took the kids strawberry picking at Biringer Farm. A friend of mine who has two kids, that my nanny kids love to play with, organized a big group to go out picking. My goal for the day was to cure William's distaste for strawberries and to get enough berries to make some jam.

I managed to accomplish both goals, William left the patch with red lips and red fingers from eating so many berries and I had about 13lbs to make some jam!

The boys decided early on that we should have a 'picking contest' since we had two bins to fill. They announced it was boys against girls to see who could fill their basket the quickest. Well, like most young boys they easily got distracted by sticks that look like guns or bugs to examine, so Natalie and I ended up kicking their butts in the contest. :-) Nat and I walked away with 8 lbs. of berries in our bin and the boys only had about 5lbs. (2lbs. of which were most likely picked by me because I felt sorry for their empty basket).

I loved hearing them walk around in search for the biggest-reddist-juiciest-strawberry. It reminded me of one of my favorite kids books. Check it out here. Leave me a comment if you want me to send you a jar of jam!

July 11th

2011-07-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

We've been off the blogging grid for a while... but we're back.

Ben has been asking me to update our blog for a while and I kept thinking, you do it :-) and we haven't done anything worth blogging about. Boring huh? I guess that's what happens when you're both gainfully employed. Your weekends become more of the catching up kind rather than the go out and doing fun stuff kind.

I also have been a bit of a spaz in the camera department. I seem to not bring it places, 'forgetting it at home', maybe it's my subconscious' way of wanting to just enjoy the moment rather than capture every single second of it. But once I'm there I always wish I had a camera so my camera phone has to pull through for me.

On this particular morning we were walking through the University of Washington on our way to the Annual Spring Scrimmage Football Game. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom (man I wish I had a camera).

After the game we got to go on the field and meet the players and coaches (man I wish I had a camera). Below is our friend Tyler meeting his childhood hero, Ben's now adulthood hero, Coach Sarkisian. I was shocked that 'personable' Ben was a bit bashful around the man he so admires and hopes never leaves the University of Washington. He wouldn't even ask for a photo. So this was the best I could do. I really wanted to find my favorite player Devin Aguilar but the field was so crowded we never found him.

The scrimmage game was a lot of fun to watch too! They played both aspiring QB's, Keith Price and Nick Montana, and based on my amateur football eye Keith Price was looking pretty good. We'll see what happens when he's not playing his own teammates!

July 11th is the date when Ben and I can buy our 4-game Mini Season Pass. I've had the date on my calendar since February and I've got to say I might be as excited as Ben is for football season to start up again! Go DAWGS!

RIP Big Man

2011-06-18T23:23:00.000-07:00

When You're Smiling...

2011-05-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

... the whole world smiles with you!

Couldn't be happier with the Dawgs pick for their new QB.

(Nick Montana's got time.)

Here's hoping Keith Price makes us smile this big all Fall long!

GO DAWGS!

(This is Mandy by the way... true fans post things like this on their blog... Ben.)

Click II continued...

2011-04-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

If you follow our blog even a little you'll know that Ben and I have been to quite a few Husky games this past year. Ben's been a fan ever since he became a Dawg. I on the other hand became a fan over night! Ha! It started out as just a fun thing to do with Ben but as the season continued I genuinely cared about the team and had some favorite players of my own. AGUILAR! (I actually think I know more of the players names and numbers than Ben.) We took this photo on the bus on our way to one of our Fall football games.

Here we are at our first Dawgs basketball game! Go Isaiah Thomas!

Here's Ben interning with the DOT last summer.

By the way we haven't made an official announcement on our blog, but Ben landed a job! He's working for Keller-Rohrback, a law firm downtown. He's currently helping out in lots of departments getting his feet wet. He's excited about all the experience he's getting and we're excited to finally be closing the 'student' door... at least until his wants to get his Masters... right?

Here's Spikey. A dog Ben and I occasionally hang out with while his owners are on extravagant vacations. (Tom and Shannon are you reading this?) Love you Spikey... snorts, chewing, hairball coughing and all!

I didn't pick this zucchini in time! It grew way too big but I got some good advice from my mother-in-law and shredded it to use in zucchini bread. YUM!

Nutella Hot Chocolate from Tutta Bella, Mmmmmmmm!

Ben managed to find me a quilted 'snuggie' for Christmas! I LOVE it!

Remember that time Ben beat me at Scrabble? Yeah, I don't either.

(Good thing he documented it.)

It's 5 o'clock somewhere!

You can't GO MISSING... or can you?

Dad check this out... apparently we're wrong.

Imagine that. That never happens.

Passion Pit concert!

April is Poetry Month.

I saw this at Natalie's school and it made me LOL!

First in line waiting for the Ballard bridge.

Th' th' th' th' that's all folks! My phone's picture file is cleared out and ready for another year!

Click II

2011-04-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

The other day I noticed I had 117 photos on my phone and I decided it was time for another 'funny time capsul' post. Remember when we did this last time? It was a little over a year ago, and as always it's been fun looking at all the photos I've taken with my phone.

I vowed in the last post that I would try to capture more 'moments' rather than just cute kids. I didn't end up keeping to that promise. About 90% of the photos on my phone were are of the kids I nanny! I decided to include the majority of them in this post, because they are just so cute, and I thought their parents would enjoy seeing them.

So without further ado,

The kids:

I love the progression of these three photos!

I don't think it gets much cuter than this!

William and I went to pick Andrew up at school one day last year. They were in the middle of mass when we arrived; William climbed on the pews and played with the kneeler. I didn't think he was paying much attention to the service until the end of the prayer when the priest said, "Amen" and William responded with a very loud "AMEN!"

Here is a 'path' William made at the Gymnastics Gym; he insisted everyone take the path in order to get to the trampolines.

Andrew at Archie McPhees!

These two best friends wore goggles one day to pick Natalie up at school!

I hope you can get out of those rings Nat!

William loves to read comic books.

Natalie defying gravity!

More tricks on the bars, I can remember spending my elementary recesses this way too!

SCOOBY SNACKS! Such an amazing find for a Scooby fanatic!

The boys at the Lego store.

Andrew expounding wisdom, to his young Jedi.

I took this shot for my mom because she LOVES the Metropolitan Market. I thought she'd get a kick out of the newly remodeled grocery store at the Children's Museum, sponsored by MM.

William catching a big 'bug' during one of his Tot Treks.

Cheeto fingers.... yuck.

Merry Christmas! Waiting to see Dasher the reindeer at Swanson's Nursery.

Hanging out at Barnes n' Noble.

Book/Hot Chocolate Club at a local cafe.

The proud gymnast after receiving his first medal!

William showing Ben how to lick a 9V battery. WHAT!?!? Check it out here.

Natalie at the zoo.

Look into my eyes...

Cute Turtle.

Natalie say: "sister Susie sittin' on a thistle!"

William's big best friend.

While going through my phone I realized I had quite a few photos of what look like 'food challenges' for William. William can, on occasion, pound down an abnormal amount of food... for his size. He also LOVES, LOVES, LOVES getting sub sandwiches. I used to split a foot long veggie sandwich with him but lately he's proven he can not only eat a 12'' on his own, he can sometimes go for more! I should also note that I am not talking any ordinary plain kids sub. He gets all the fixings including banana peppers, vinegar, olives, mustard and more.

I was astonished when William ate this whole sandwich that I had to document it. He told me he wanted to take a silly photo and one where it looked like he needed to barf. Nice!

'Click' will continue tomorrow with photos more in the Mandy and Ben genre.

The Wubbulous World of William

2011-04-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

Not a day passes that I don't bust up laughing at this guy's quick wit and quirky humor.

Check out what we've been up to lately!

I bought some magnetic letters for my fridge a little while ago and recently William and I have been 'making words' with them. I put two letters together like 'a and t' and then have William choose a beginning letter. My sister Bree said it was a great tactile way for kids to begin reading. He seems hesitant to read anything on his own quite yet, but he is definitely mastering his beginning sounds!

William prefers to make silly things out of the letters. Above is a 'letter-ature' of me. Ha!

Look it's a butterfly!

Peek-a-

BOO!

Here is his mom and dad with a heart in between them.

Lastly, do you know your animal kingdom? I sure do... now. A couple weeks ago William and I went to the zoo with a group of friends that are also a part of his weekly Nature School. The leader of the group gave each kid a chart with categories for mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds and insects. The idea was to have the kids write down the animals they saw at the zoo and place them in the correct category.

Well, I sure needed a refresher on the definitions for each kingdom. William LOVED talking about what kind of blood each kingdom had... that's just about the only thing he wanted to know. It was all about warm blood or cold blood. We decided to make our own chart at home; every couple of days I give Will a few more pictures of animals and have him place them in the correct categories. Most of the time he is right on... he only gets mixed up when I throw in a trick animal, like a Whale or a Dolphin. It's been fun to discover more about animals and why they belong where they belong.

Inch by Inch - Row by Row

2011-04-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here is our plot at the Picardo P-Patch. Lovely huh? This photo makes it seem a lot worse than it really is! A lot of gardeners use hay in the their plots to keep the weeds down. The person who had our plot last year must have ordered some hay because there was a big bail sitting in the middle of the plot all soaked and soggy. After some deliberation we (two friends, Sara & Jennifer, came and helped me prepare our plot for seeds and starts) decided to scatter the hay over the entire garden allowing it to dry out a bit. I've since gone back to the garden and contained it a bit more. I don't want to scatter it every where until our little vegetables greens start popping up.

Along the far 'wall' of the garden plot raspberries were already established and growing. Sara helped me cut out the dead branches and tame the healthier ones, for a more promising crop later this July. Our plot also came with leeks, scallions, and potatoes! As we were turning over the dirt preparing it for the new seeds, it was fun seeing what we could discover beneath the soil.

During Natalie's Spring Break I asked if she'd like to visit the garden. She and William both were excited to go, and were big helpers while we were there. We spent about 4 hours planting seeds, pulling weeds and finding caterpillars, earth worms, millipedes, beetles...

While we were clearing out the garden making room for the new vegetables I told Natalie that I thought my garden could use a fairy house. Natalie is an expert at building fairy houses. If you are not familiar with fairy houses, check this out: Fairy Houses. Natalie is so creative utilizing whatever natural flowers, branches, bark, etc. she can find. Above is a picture of the house she made for our garden complete with a walk way and my favorite part a leaf 'rug' so the fairies can clean their feet before entering! :-)

I had to include a pic of Will too! A big thanks to Natalie and William, and Sara and Jennifer for helping me get the garden off to a good start! Hopefully I'll be able to repay you with some tasty produce in a few weeks!

Come on Mr. Sun!

2011-04-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

Lookin' good so far! :-) Now I'm just waiting for a little sun to shine down so I can go fill my plot with all my thriving starts!

National Grilled Cheese Day!

2011-04-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Made a great Red Pepper-Corn-Tomato Soup to go with our grilled cheese! Check out the recipe here:

www.dinner-belles.blogspot.com

Spring... Will it ever be here?

2011-04-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

Whether spring is here or not (snow/rain showers we got this week are not helping) I'm getting ready to plant a garden. I have been on a waiting list to get a garden plot in one of the city's P-Patches for a little under a year now and recently got a notice that I have a plot in the Picardo P-Patch! I'm very excited to have a plot in Picardo because I have a friend who is an expert gardener who also has a plot there and I intend to soak up as much green thumb wisdom as she can offer!

I've already started sowing seeds (geez I sound so gardener-esque) and am happy to report that a week later I see little green sprouts popping up! So far so good! My Pop-pop (my mom's dad) was an expert gardener especially when it comes to roses, so I'm going to channel him while I'm gardening.

To prove how green I am (and I mean new, not environmentally conscience, although I'm trying to be that too), when I opened the seed packets and began to put them in the dirt I couldn't believe how tiny they were. I called my expert gardening friend, Sara, and said, "are you sure I'm only supposed to put one of these in each container?" I couldn't believe I would get a whole head of lettuce out of that tiny seed!

Here's to more sun and a successful gardening season!

Stratego

2011-04-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago Andrew had a few days off from school and spent his days with William and me. William was over the moon excited to have his 'best friend' back, in fact the first day we never left the house, they played and played and played all day long. (Only taking breaks for lunch and to go get Natalie at school.) The second day, after we dropped Natalie off at school, we went by my house to play with the army guys Ben and I have recently acquired. Ben requested a few months ago that we drop by a Toys R Us and pick up a cheap bucket of army guys, assuring me they would be a bit hit with William. Ben recounted numerous childhood memories of setting up scenes all around his parents house and spending hours playing with the troops. (Funny I'm the only daughter in my family NOT married to an 'army guy' now...)

The troops are a big hit with William, I occasionally find a battle scene on one of our bookshelves or in a corner long after we thought we cleaned everything up. William has even made up a game including dice. Here are the rules:

Roll a 1 = You take out 1 of your opponents guys
Roll a 2 = You take out 2 of your opponents guys
Roll a 3 = You take out 3 of your opponents guys
Roll a 4 = You take out 4 of your opponents guys
Roll a 5 = You take out one of their larger weapons (a tank, helicopter, jet, cannon etc.)
Roll a 6 = You die, your weapon has back fired

After the boys played army guys for a while I brought out one of my favorite battle games. Stratego. I played many many many a game of Stratego with the first boy I nannied, Sam, 10-ish years ago. Sam and I would get very competitive playing Stratego, I can remember being legitimately upset if I lost too many games in a row. I first discovered my passion for winning board games while playing a round with Sam. Ha!

Stratego is a lot like battle ship, each player gets 40 pieces representing an individual officer/soldier in an army, along with bombs to take out ones opponent and one flag that you need to protect the entire game. When you choose to 'attack' your opponent your officer/soldier needs to be a higher rank than the one you are attacking in order to 'win' the battle. Who ever 'captures' or finds his opponents flag first wins the game.

After I explained the directions to the boys I told them to set up their pieces on the board, it was very interesting to me to see their strategies. William, probably mostly due to his age, only retained the part that he needed to protect his flag so he surrounded it with bombs and then just put his guys out in random order all over the board. Andrew apparently goes big or goes home. He placed all his high ranking guys at the very front of the board intending to wipe out all of William's guys from the very start. At the very beginning of the game Andrew's strategy seemed to be working and William was getting very discouraged, his entire battalion was nearly wiped out. Then when Andrew honed in on the clustered of bombs that was protecting William's flag all his top ranking guys got blown away. Allowing William to easily 'walk' over to the other side and capture Andrew's flag because Andrew only had Scouts (the lowest ranking soldier in the game) left to defend his flag. William ended up walking away with the win, but Andrew and I were able to spend a few minutes after the game talking strategy for the next time we play!

It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday...

2011-04-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard Rebecca Black's Friday then you're lucky.

Black's song is like a bad prank because it can get stuck in your head on constant repeat. With some songs that's not a bad thing but when the song's lyrics are as flat as:

7am, waking up in the morning

Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs

Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal

Seein’ everything, the time is goin’

and

Kickin’ in the front seat

Sittin’ in the back seat

Gotta make my mind up

Which seat can I take?

it can get pretty irritating singing it over and over again... especially because it's unintentional. Rebecca Black's song didn't start out on the radio it was originally only on YouTube but after gaining more than 77,000,000 hits it's now available to buy on iTunes. The ironic thing is its popularity isn't because it's a good song it's because it's bad.

Last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Fallon explained that Stephen Colbert had lost a bet and would now perform the infamous song: Friday. Watch the video for explanation of the bet and for an epic performance of the worst song of 2011... so far...

American Idol Look Alikes

2011-03-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

I said I wasn't going to watch it... but it has sucked me in. American Idol is back with two new judges and secretly I'm kind of liking it. It probably helps that this year they have the best talent ever! Don't that promote that every year? There are a few people I'm rooting for, I don't necessarily know how they'll break out into the real music industry; but for what AI is (a singing competition) I find myself excited over a few.

Last year we made a Top 24 Look Alike list (while staying up way too late with friends), I'm a little late for the Top 24 but as of right now I can do a Top 12. Thanks in advance for putting up with my silliness.

Lauren got the look alike conversation going when Ben said, "she looks like DJ Tanner!"

No wonder I love Stefano, he reminds me of my favorite Friend Joey Tribbiani.

Jacob's channelling something, we think it's 80's icon Grace Jones.

It wouldn't be an AI look alike list without a Muppet. Our Muppet last year took home the prize... will Casey? Wocka Wocka Wocka

I really like you Paul - I hope you make better choices than our friend Jesse Pinkman.

Does Naima really look like Erykah Badu or just wish she was her?

Look out Tina... we think Thia Megia could replace you and the WHOLE cast of Glee.

(Ask me what I really think of Glee Season 2.)

For Pia I just google Kardashian... doesn't she look like she could fit right in?

Haley looks like she's going back to Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion.

Scotty in the Middle.

We didn't haven't to look too far for Karen's look alike, sitting right at the judges table Ms. Lopez.

James, your ears remind us of Ryan Hurst from Remember the Titans.

Did we get them right? Tell us your American Idol Look Alikes!

Feeling Lucky?

2011-03-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday William and I made some "Lucky Leprechaun" rainbow cupcakes. William has been playing a virtual baking game on his parents iPhone lately so he talks a lot about baking. I discovered this colorful recipe online and made it simple enough for a 4 year old to read. I told him he was the chef, and his was in charge so he needed to put me to work. He loved ordering me around the kitchen! He would 'read' how many eggs we needed, how much water and oil. Then we mixed the batter and had to pour it in six small bowls. Next he 'read' how many drops of food coloring we needed to make all six colors. Not only did we end up having a lesson on following instructions we also ended up talking about the color wheel. He couldn't BELIEVE that when you mixed red and blue you got purple. That was "AWESOME!"

Proud Chef William

After we layered all six colors in the muffin pan.

They turned out so big (as I was filling the pan with all six layers I added too much batter, making the cupcakes rise to gigantic levels) we decided a half a cupcake would be plenty. The cool thing about eating a half was when you cut into it you can see the layers that much more vividly.

William thinking, I could go for another half!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'll post the recipe on Dinner-Belles later tonight!

Oscar Party 2011

2011-03-12T17:38:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Oscar Party a few weekends ago! I had actually seen quite a few of the Best Picture nominees making the awards a bit more fun to watch. We had my family and some friends over for the show. Everyone brought their favorite appetizer, making a delicious appetizer dinner. We had quite the impressive spread: pigs n' a blanket, hummus and pita, steak bites, jello punch, shrimp ceviche, veggies and tzatziki sauce, chipotle roasted and rosemary roasted nuts, and shrimp-cumin salsa dip. Few. That's a lot of food, no wonder I was stuffed!

I decided to have a little fun with the decorations and had 'posters' for all the Best Pictures. I also had fun weaving film around one of my serving stands.

We made the night a little more interesting by placing our own ballots with our best guesses for the nights winners. My mom and Ben took home the first place prize... earning first choice from our take home movie candy pool.

Benbuster

2011-03-11T17:31:00.000-08:00

I few weeks ago I convinced Ben we no longer needed his DVD player that he has been toting around since March of 2000. We've since acquired a 5 disc CD/DVD player and a Blu-ray player. I'm always bothered by the amount of cords smashed behind our TV set, feeling like at any moment they could spark and start a fire. So with that in mind I was trying to get rid of one device and one cord.

Ben was quite fond of the DVD player always looking past it's faults... the paused function no longer worked, the batteries in the remote would always fall out (because the back was missing), and the DVD drawer would open and close so erratically it was like a game trying to put a DVD in it.

Ben can tell me practically the exact day he got the player. His family was living in a hotel while their house was being repaired from major water damage. He finally saved up enough money and walked from the hotel (about 2 miles) to Ultimate Electronics and picked up a DVD player. Ben had been waiting to dive into the world of "special features" and wide screen films for quite sometime. He would spend afternoons in Media Play reading the backs of DVD's memorizing all the director commentaries, deleted scenes, and making-of featurettes he eventually wanted to watch. He recalls he spent over $200 on the player, immediately walked back to the hotel, hooked it up and watched The Sixth Sense along with all it's special features.

I wasn't going to post the silly photo I took of Ben with his first DVD player, but this afternoon we were home and Ben was reading me an article about the future of Blockbuster. He started to reminisce of the exciting Friday evenings spent pulling up to Blockbuster, running in, hoping they had the newest releases, going through the 'recently returned bins', driving to different locations in hopes getting the movie he wanted. Ben remembers the first time he was ever in a Blockbuster. He was out running errands with his dad and asked if they could go see what the store was all about. To Ben's delight his dad signed up for a membership and he was allowed to rent The Empire Strikes Back. Weekends were never the same for Ben.

I know I've posted countless times about Ben's love for movies... he got his degree in loving movies! Movies really are a daily part of his life. I love that about him, I feel it makes him a very interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes strange (in a good way) person to talk to. Ha! He said, if 2011 Ben told 1989 Ben, that one day the Blockbuster's that dotted his city would all be gone he would never believe it. That being said Ben and I have definitely contributed to their downfall. Our hearts belong to Netflix... for now... but I wonder if in 10-20-ish years Ben will be reading me an article about the downfall of Netflix and we'll be unplugging our Blu-ray player making room for something new?

2010 Albums of the Year (BELATED)

2011-03-07T15:50:00.000-08:00

After watching last month's painfully long Grammy telecast (research for my trivia league), I was reminded that I never compiled a list of my favorite albums of last year. I was happy to see that my favorite album of the year, Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, took home the top prize (although I still don't understand the difference between "Record of the Year" and "Album of the Year"). I decided to whip up a quick list of some of my favorite albums from 2010.

On many fronts, last year was pretty lame for me and Mames. The year was filled with curve balls and speed bumps. However, in terms of music, 2010 was very strong. Good tunes helped the year go by quickly. It was pretty hard to narrow down a list of my 25 favorite albums because there was so much I liked. Old standbys like Neil Young, Tom Petty and Johnny Cash were put aside for albums by newcomers like Local Natives and Sleigh Bells. There are a handful of records I never had the chance to hear (The Roots, Belle and Sebastian, Deerhunter, Jamey Johnson etc.) and tons of albums I liked but didn't make the cut. Narrowing a list down to 25 wasn't easy but I think I'm happy with my picks.

[Note:] Mandy has been asking me to do this post for sometime now and for whatever reason (laziness) it took me forever to get around to it. I feel badly that I have been putting it off so I decided to write the post today. I spent a good chunk of my day coming up with witty and insightful remarks (and a little trivia) about each album as well as songs to recommend. When I hit post a message popped up that said "An error has occurred blah blah blah unable to process your request." I somehow managed to delete four hours worth of work with the push of a button. I thought this program automatically saves but nothing but the first two paragraphs of the post and the pictures of the album covers saved. I then spent more time Googling how to recover lost blog posts but no dice. So because I don't have much time left, I will spare you my commentary and just leave you with a list of my favorite tunes of 2010. Better luck next year I hope.

The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Check out: "Sprawl II" and "We Used to Wait"

American Slang - The Gaslight Anthem
Check out: "The Spirit of Jazz" and "Bring it On"

Contra - Vampire Weekend
Check out: "Giving Up the Gun" and "Cousins"

Brothers - The Black Keys
Check out: "Tighten Up" and "Never Gonna Give You Up"

Teen Dream - Beach House
Check out: "Silver Soul" and "Walk in the Park"

Forgiveness Rock Record - Broken Social Scene
Check out: "Texico" and "Sweetest Kill"

This is Happening - LCD Soundsystem
Check out "Dance Yrself Clean" and "I Can Change"

High Violet - The National
Check out: "Sorrow" and "Bloodbuzz Ohio"

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West
Check out: "All of the Lights" and "Runaway"

The Big To-Do - Drive-By Truckers
Check out: "Daddy Learned to Fly" and "Birthday Boy"

Body Talk (Trilogy) - Robyn
Check out: "Dancing On My Own" and "Time Machine"

Volume Two - She & Him
Check out: "Don't Look Back" and Ridin' In My Car"

Transference - Spoon
Check out: "Out Go The Lights" and "Nobody Gets Me But You"

So Runs the World Away - Josh Ritter
Check out: "Change of Time" and "Lantern"

Subiza - Delorean
Check out: "Stay Close" and "Simple Graces"

All Day - Girl Talk
Check out: "Let It Out" and "Down For the Count"

Plastic Beach - Gorillaz
Check out: "Some Kind of Nature" and "On Melancholy Hill

Treats - Sleigh Bells
Check out: "Tell 'Em" and "Rill Rill"

The Monitor - Titus Andronicus
Check out: "No Future Part Three: Escape from No Future" and "Theme from 'Cheers'"

Gorilla Manor - Local Natives
Check out: "Wide Eyes" and "Who Knows Who Cares"

The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monae
Check out: "Cold War" and "Tightrope"

King of the Beach - Wavves
Check out: "Linus Spacehead" and "Baby Say Goodbye"

Relayted - Gayngs
Check out: "Cry" and "Faded High"

One Life Stand - Hot Chip
Check out: "One Life Stand" and "Alley Cats"

Infinite Arms - Band of Horses

Check out: "Laredo" and "NW Apt."

Director Study: Coen Brother's

2011-03-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

One of the things I miss most about school is all of the films I was able to watch as "research" for papers and projects. Now that I am out of school I still watch plenty of movies but I have to create my own projects. When I heard that the Joel and Ethan Coen Brothers would be releasing their 15th film True Grit at the end of the year I challenged myself to watch all the previous fourteen Coen films. Of the 14 I had previously seen 9 but decided to watch all of them in order to prepare me for True Grit. I am happy (or perhaps embarrassed) to report that I was successful in seeing all of them and caught a screening of True Grit on New Years Eve, making 2010 the Year of the Coen.

Last month there was an article in the Washington Post written by film critic Ann Hornaday where she ranked her favorite Coen films. Her article started a huge storm of comments from people claiming that they thought certain movies should have been ranked higher or lower.

Since I grade every movie I watch throughout the year I decided to share my order and brief opinion of each Coen Brother film. If anyone wants a more in depth diatribe (who would?) on these films let me know, I'd be happy to fully opine. I understand that their taste is not for everyone but for me their pictures are about as good as it gets.

# 1 Fargo (1996): A

The Coen's "homespun murder story", Fargo, is absolutely my favorite of their 15 films. The opening credits, complete with Carter Burwell's score, create such a wintry atmosphere that you feel like you are stuck in the story. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the film is the way the Coen's played with convention by claiming that the story was based on actual events that occurred in 1987. When in fact the story is fictional. The Coens said that if the audience believes something to be based on "true events" they are more willing to "go with it" and believe things they wouldn't other wise accept.

After I watched the film with Mandy, she told me she liked it... that is until I told her that it wasn't a true story. She proceeded to stomp around the house yelling about how mean it was for the directors to mislead the audience. I tried to explain to her that just because Star Wars starts off with:

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."

It doesn't mean that story actually happened in a galaxy far, far away. The Coen's got exactly what they wanted from Mandy. She invested so many feelings into the story because she thought it was true, feelings she may have not had otherwise.

#2 No Country for Old Men (2007): A

No Country for Old Men is one of the rare exceptions when the movie is better than the book it is based on. However, if it weren’t for the genius of Cormac McCarthy and his great novel the Coens wouldn’t have made one of the best films of the last decade. The novel and the film complement each other very well but the few scenes added for the film take the story to a new level. Perhaps the best scene in the movie isn’t found in the novel. I’m talking about Llewelyn’s terrifying chase through the desert running from the foaming dog. The scene was shot to feel like it was happening in real time, which created a sense of danger and suspense that wouldn’t have been conveyed as well in written word.

#3 Raising Arizona (1987): B+

The Coen’s first comedy nails down their comedic voice so clearly that it is hard to remember this is only their second film. The movie is highly rewatchable and reminds us just how funny Nicolas Cage used to be, now he is funny but not intentionally (Drive Angry 3D anyone?). Although the performances are top notch, it’s the dialogue that keeps me coming back. The Coen’s said they wrote the film from the perspective of a person whose vernacular comes only from reading The Holy Bible and People magazine. In the closing scene of the movie Cage’s H.I. is dreaming of time and place where he and his wife could have a child, be surrounded by family and loved ones, he doesn’t know where it is but thinks:

“Maybe it’s Utah.”

#4 Miller's Crossing (1990): A-

I don’t know why it took me until 2010 to watch this gem. This maybe one of the most underrated gangster films of the genre. The story comes from a Dashiell Hammett crime novel The Glass Key. I came to admire Hammett in college and my familiarity with his work helped me appreciate the film more. It contains some iconic Coen Brother’s moments particularly the scene of Gabriel Byrne walking John Turturro out in the woods to die. Also, you will never hear the song "Danny Boy" the same again.

#5 The Big Lebowski (1998): A-

I have seen this movie so many times that it is hard to give it a fair critique. When you can quote just about every line it is hard to think about it objectively. Loosely based on another noir classic this time Raymond Chandler’s, The Big Sleep. The Dude, Donny and Walter are three of my favorite Coen creations and are addictively quotable. Although I’m finding it hard to think of a PG rated quote for our blog.

“You’re out of your element!”

#6 Blood Simple (1984): B+

What an amazing feat for a first film. I can’t think of another debut film as fully realized as the Coen’s Blood Simple. This film instantly has their style, their tone, their quirk, their voice and their knack for iconic scenes. If you were to watch a scene from this movie I’m pretty sure you would recognize it as a Coen film based in the imagery alone.

Discovering Blood Simple is one of the reasons I am happy to have done a director’s study of the Coen Brothers. I can’t wait to watch it again.

#7 True Grit (2010): B+

I feel that True Grit is the Coen Brother’s most accessible movie. I would feel comfortable recommending this film to just about anyone. True Grit is the closest the brothers have come to a blockbuster type movie and good for them because it made some money and will allow them to continue to work. If you haven’t seen it look forward to Mattie Ross; their best female character since Marge Gunderson.

#8 The Hudsucker Proxy (1994): B+

A harmless screwball 'rags to riches' comedy about a man who has a great idea: Hula Hoops. (You know, for kids.)

#9 O Brother, Where Are Thou? (2000): B

This sepia toned retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey is pure fun. Up until True Grit it was their highest grossing movie. The music is infectious and Clooney’s portrayal of a Dapper Dan Man showed he had the comedy chops to pull of this charming role.

#10 Burn After Reading (2008): B-

This film has its tonal challenges because on one hand it can be madcap and on the other it's pretty gritty. I had a hard time deciphering the two, making the film less fun to watch. Although Brad Pitt kills it as the air head physical trainer who gets in over his head.

#11 A Serious Man (2009): B

This the most personal of the Coen Brother's films and that is probably why I had a hard time relating to it. I was able to pick up on the Job metaphor (how could you not) but I was completely lost when the story veered into Jewish folklore. They wanted to open the film with a Yiddish tale that foreshadowed the story but when they couldn't think of one that parallelled well enough, in true Coen fashion, they made one up. I plan on revisiting this film at some point.

#12 The Man Who Wasn't There (2001): C+

Their only movie so far to be filmed in black and white, about a simple plan gone wrong. It is suitable enough but unfortunately not that memorable.

#13 Barton Fink (1991): B-

This is one of the Coen’s most celebrated films, but it just doesn’t do it for me. It probably doesn’t help that the story mirrors the life and work of Roman Polanski, who I know very little about, and therefore I feel like I am left out of all the inside baseball. Turturro is great and Goodman is creepy but two times is enough for me when it comes to watching this film.

# 14 The Lady Killers (2004): C+

The Lady Killers is a remake of the 1955 comedy of the same name about a rag tag group of criminals trying to knock over a casino and the church lady who stands in their way. This foul mouthed movie is completely forgettable (by Coen standards) with the exception of J.K. Simmons and Irma P. Hall. The rest of the characters come across as people doing impressions of Coen characters. For me this is a misfire, I saw it when it came out and revisited it last year but it still did nothing for me.

#15 Intolerable ~~Movie~~ Cruelty (2003): C+

This is what the Coen's look like with a big budget and the result is... meh. I have no idea where all the money went (60 million dollars) because there's really not much to this movie. The budget for this film is more than any of their other films. Clearly the Coen's don't need millions of dollars to make great movies.

It was great filling in the gaps of my Coen history and watching a director(s) work progress throughout the years. I am excited to do it all over again this year so 2011 will be the Year of ... Noah Baumbach (exciting I know). He is most recently known for directing Greenberg.

The Trifecta

2011-02-06T18:13:00.000-08:00

There are three individuals that just the sound of their voice will send Ben into a tizzy.

I like to call them The Trifecta.

#1 Billy Bush - Ben doesn't have to put up with this guys shenanigans all too often anymore. He's on the way out, in terms of entertainment news and red carpets, and Mario Lopez is on his way in. (I actually wouldn't be surprised if Mario Lopez takes Billy Bush's place in the trifecta in a few years.) So what about Billy Bush drives Ben bonkers? Maybe it's the alliteration of his name but I think it has more to do with the pure cheese that streams out of his every pore.

When asked why, Ben said, "just look at him."

(It doesn't help that BB is related to GW Bush either, I'm sure.)

#2 Matthew Morrison aka Will Schuester - I've been... or I should say... was a big fan of Glee last year. I first started to notice Ben's distaste for Will Schuester early last year as Glee was wrapping up it's first season. Any time Schuester was on the screen Ben would scoff. Schuester has a tendency to 'ham it up' for the screen and is often (I think) over acting. Matthew Morrison got his big break on the stage, and personally I think he should have stayed there. His reactions on screen I feel are more appropriate or more measured for a stage performance. Ben says Schuester reminds him of every theater geek he used to act with in high school.

"The winking, rapping, and smug smile are too much for me."

#3 Guy Fiere - Every once and a while I'll turn on the Food Network and Guy Fiere's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives will be on. Fiere's full throttle enthusiasm for the mundanee and kitchy is just too much for Ben. Ben said, "he's so tacky, he's like the antonym of me... I could never be friends with him."

Oh yeah, and he usually wears his glasses on the back of his head.

Frankly, I can't write anything that will describe Guy Fiere's obnoxious behavior well enough but Bobby Moynihan's parody on SNL is perfect.

National Chocolate Cake Day!

2011-02-01T10:10:00.000-08:00

William and I couldn't let a day like "National Chocolate Cake Day" go by without celebrating! Last Thursday we made a batch of chocolate cupcakes, it was just as much fun making the cupcakes as it was eating them! HA!

Need a reason to celebrate?

2011-01-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

I picked up this book at the library last week and have just plotted a years worth of fun food celebrations on my calendar! I left off days that celebrate tapioca, turkey neck soup (yes, March 30th is apparently that day), heavenly hash and few more because some food items didn't seem worth celebrating.

What's coming up?

January 19th - Popcorn Day

January 22nd - Blonde Brownie Day

February 13th - Tortellini Day

February 21st - Sticky Bun Day

March 26th - Spinach Day

(Is it weird that I'm looking forward to spinach day, lately I've been eating it by the bag full...

my mom thinks I'm iron deficient.)

Downtown Day

2011-01-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

The week before Christmas the three kids and I boarded the #16 bus and headed downtown to take in all the Christmas sights. Every time I get on a bus with these three I'm reminded that just riding the bus around Seattle would be considered a blast in their book.

We 'ran' into a favorite face while walking the downtown streets. The kids could not believe that Ben 'just so happened' to be walking around downtown at the exact time we were. What a coincidence! Ben is currently temping downtown and we got off the bus right outside his office.

Our first stop was the Fairmount Olympic Hotel, inside the have an amazing Teddy Bear Suite. The secret must be out because for the first time we had to wait in a long line to get in. This was the first line of many that the kids had to wait in for the day. They were troopers through it all.

While trying to get a cute picture of the three kids, William kept saying things like:

'poopy butts'

'boogers'

'tooty-toots'

He's such a boy... Natalie and Andrew tried to help me out. :-)

Whenever I'm downtown with the kids (about one or two times a year) I'm always astonished how small they are. They are used to running down the blocks in suburban Seattle but when we're downtown with hidden parking garages and alleyways I find myself always yelling STOP, WAIT-UP, SLOW DOWN, STAY WITH ME, HOLD HANDS!!! I hope their memories of going downtown with me aren't filled with screams and yells. But just look at them, they're so small!

Here is my favorite gingerbread house, made out of mostly cereal! The tree is rice krispies and cocoa krispies, and on the ground are cocoa puffs.

The kids loved this one because it featured Buzz Lightyear, Wall-E, and a couple other 'space' centric characters.

This might be the last year I can get all three of them on one horse for a picture on the merry-go-round.

Our last stop for the day was a ride on the monorail, again a BIG hit! Andrew is either showing off his new lego watch or asking me the time, either way I thought it was a cute pic!

Thanks for a fun day downtown kids! One thing I've failed to mention is Natalie and William's mom, Jamie, took us out to lunch to Blue C Sushi. It was my first time and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the number of choices for this no-raw-fish sushi kind of gal. (I know I'm lame) :-) Thanks Jamie, I'm glad we've made this downtown day into a tradition!

When you're alone and life is making you lonley you can always go... Downtown... 2nd Annual

2011-01-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

Ben and I joined our friends Tyler and Stacy for our 2nd Annual trip downtown to see all the holiday sights. We hit up the gingerbread houses, the carousel, a hot chocolate at Westlake, and the giant nutcrackers in Pacific Place. I quite like this little tradition and hope we can continue to do it for years to come!

I have more photos of the Gingerbread Houses from a day I spent downtown with the kids I nanny that I'll post later; for now I wanted to show off the little squirrel I spotted on the side of one of the houses. Ben and I have quite a history with squirrels, but that's a story for another time.

Seattle Space Needle and Sea Plane made out of M&M's, Good n' Plenty's and other hard candies.

Tyli & Stacy

Nutti-Hendrix ;-)

She's Put a Spell on Me

2010-12-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

I love She & Him. I love Zooey Deschanel. (This is Mandy, by the way.)

Christmas in the Northwest

2010-12-06T22:13:00.000-08:00

Just a few shots of the tree for family and friends who can't join us for the holidays!

Sending warm wishes and holiday hugs all month long!

Mount Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, Spin, Everyday Food, Seattle Metropolitan, Rolling Stone...

2010-12-06T22:10:00.000-08:00

Ben decided a few weeks ago that he wanted to clean out his magazine collections. We get a few magazines each month and when we don't have time to read them entirely we stick them in a box 'to go through' later. The boxes can fill up quickly! As Ben started going through his magazines and I went through mine we began to make an impressive stack. We decided to keep the stack going until every last magazine had been read; well at least until the new issues come this month. Ben told me he wanted to take a picture of the stack because it seemed humorously high. I thought a picture of just the 'stack' would be boring so I tried to convince Ben to sit on it... representing something he conquered! He refused. So I decided I would sit and he would snap the shot. I set up the magazines in the middle of the room and placed boxes behind them for support. As I sat down (on the slippery) stack, Ben was there to catch my reaction as the moutain slid out from underneath me... but as any real model knows, the shoot must go on! I managed to hang on long enough for a respectable shot to be taken!

GO DAWGS! 35-28

2010-12-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

Snow Day!

2010-12-04T19:55:00.000-08:00

A few days before Thanksgiving, Seattle was hit with a little bit of snow! Anytime we get even just a 'little bit' of snow it is a big deal. I was able to spend one day out in the snow with the kids I nanny. We had a great time; there were some snow ball fights, snow eating, (don't worry I told them to avoid the yellow snow) and icicle searching.

William doing his best 'Harry Potter'.

Seafair Weekend

2010-12-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more shots that were on the long lost memory card I found a couple days ago. The Blue Angels soared over Seattle Seafair weekend... probably sometime in July. Honestly, I can't remember the exact weekend, but it was sometime last summer. :-) We were invited to a friends house to watch the 'warm-up' or 'practice show' on Saturday afternoon. Our friends have a house right on Lake Washington, positioned a little bit to the left of 1-90. I've seen the Blue Angels from a distance many many times, but I can't really remember ever having them fly right over my head. It was awesome! (And loud.)

Typical Seattle, the skies opened up and it rain for almost the entire show. Oh well, it was still fun!

Photo Cards

2010-12-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick plug for the photo cards I talked about in the last post.

I've had a few requests for the info... so for the interested parties, here you go!

Gift Collections

5 cards for $20

To purchase go to:

http://www.mandywatsonphotography.com/

Click on 'galleries'

Order card collections directly from the 'art' gallery.

Snow Shots

2010-11-29T22:27:00.000-08:00

Seattle got some snow last week, it cancelled schools and generally stopped most of the city for a few days. I know we're wimps. (In snow and heat!)

The funny thing about the snow is my mom was requesting I come up with some new 'snow shots' to turn into cards for gifts this holiday season. I told her that there needed to be SNOW to take snow shots... within 24 hours after saying that we had snow! Ha! Coincidence or not I ran outside the first day and started snapping away! Mom, let me know what you think!

Mason Lake, WA

2010-11-29T21:42:00.000-08:00

I know you're saying, 'where's Mason Lake?' That's what we all thought when we headed over to the Olympic Peninsula for a quick family vacation. My sister Carrie and her husband Colin found a little lake front cottage for all of us to stay. While the indoor accommodations left me wanting for a bit more comfort (I know, I'm a princess) the dock jetting out onto the lake was a great perk! The lake was sort of shockingly cold when you first jumped in but eventually we all got used to it and had a great time swimming around. Yes, that's Ben floating away in the big yellow inner tube!

The High Steel, the biggest tourist attraction in Mason County, was a must stop for us on our holiday weekend. Colin even found a ravine for us to repel down to get a better view of the falls. My sister (below) is literally hanging onto roots scaling down the ravine. We all made it down and back up safely, some of us fared a little better than others. I'll spare you the long (and embarrassing, for me) story, but if you really want to hear it... just ask.

Ben and I picked up a hiking book for the Olympic Peninsula before we left and talked everyone into two hikes while we were there. Below are pictures from our Spider Lake Hike.

The last night at the cabin there was a beautiful sunset, we went out onto the dock and goofed around doing some silhouette shots. I don't think Colin was too amused; I believe his exact words were,

"Mandy, I'm pictured out!"

GO DAWGS!

2010-11-27T15:33:00.000-08:00

Missing Memories

2010-11-24T19:39:00.000-08:00

I found a memory card from one of my cameras buried under pile of papers on our desk this past weekend. When I put it in our computer I discovered lots of pictures from this summer! I'm excited to post some of the photos on our blog; so expect the next few posts to have a more sun-shiney-summery look.

Spiderman Sightings in Seattle

2010-11-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

Spiderman stopped by the Halloween Tot Trek for some fun! We had a pumpkin scavenger hunt in the meadow where we learned about animals that travel in packs and how they 'call' to each other. Whenever we found a pumpkin we had to 'howl' or 'hoot' to the group calling them over to our found pumpkin. William really go into the howling! He loved it.

Next we headed indoors to paint a really spooky Halloween spider!

Huskies vs. Beavers

2010-11-13T21:37:00.000-08:00

I know most of our posts are about the Husky games we go to, but that is what our Saturday's have become; either going to the games or watching them at home. We've become quite the football fans, I'm even beginning to understand the rules of the game! HA! To impress Ben even more I've gone the extra mile and learned some of the names of the players, so I can yell out 'Go Agular!' or 'Nice catch Jermaine!'

This particular game was against the Oregon State Beavers, and the

Huskies managed to pull out a win after a double overtime!

Ben was freaking out during the double overtime, it was a nail biter!

Mandy, a Scaredy Cat?

2010-11-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

I love watching scary movies... in the comfort of my home, with all the blinds closed tightly, underneath a blanket, with a hood tightly wrapped around my head. No seriously, I love being scared in a movie. I might overreact and get 'really into it' but for some reason being scared at home while watching a movie is fun for me.

Last Friday Ben and I sat down to watch I Know What You Did Last Summer, a 'classic scary' movie from our high school years. Some how we talked our friends Tyler and Stacy into joining us, we wanted to get into the Halloween spirit. During the scariest parts (Ben is insisting that I say IKWYDLS is NOT a scary movie) I was running in place, screaming, and cowering under my blanket, while everyone else was laughing. Come to think of it were they laughing at me or Jennifer Love Hewitt's acting ability?

I think I act the way I do because I put myself in the place of the victim or victim- to-be in the movies. I just want to run for my (or their) life!

Haunted Houses, now those bring on a whole new level of fright! I can't hide under my blanket, something can come out and grab me or worse chase me!! (The haunted corn mazes are the worst.) Ben saw this clip of a writer on the Ellen show going through a haunted house and immediately thought of me. He is spot on, I would like to think I wouldn't swear as much (who am I kidding) but when I watched the video it was like I was watching myself go through the haunted house. Enjoy! (And think of me!)

You Go Girl!

2010-11-01T22:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight NBC aired a Women of SNL special featuring all the best women cast members over the years. I've been watching it while editing some photos, and find myself falling over my computer laughing in fits!

Right now "Oprah" Maya Rudolph is giving her audience her "favorite things," ensuing mass hysteria in the audience including causing a women to go into labor, Tina Fey biting into a whole turkey, and Amy Poehler's head exploding. If you have ever seen an "Oprah's favorite things episode" you would recognize that their interpretation of it is spot on!

One of my all time favorite sketches that I revisited tonight is the Lawrence Welk Show with Will Ferrell and "baby hands." Watch and enjoy, I don't think it needs any explanation.

Rooby-Rooby-ROO!

2010-10-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

To say the Natalie and William like Scooby-Doo would be an understatement. They are slightly obsessed. A while ago Ben and I discovered that our Netflix on demand had several Scooby-Doo short movies and we introduced them to Natalie and Will. Ever since that day William especially has taken a liking to Scooby; he has a 'Shaggy' voice that he perfected.

The other day I was in Target and spotted Scooby Snacks, I knew I had to get them! When I showed William he said, "Like, wow! Scooby Snacks! Zoinks!"

Huskies vs. Sun Devils

2010-10-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

I wish the high-fiving and cheering in the picture above was indicative of the final score of the game last week but unfortunately the Huskies didn't come out on top. Even though the Sun Devils walked away with the win we had a great time at the game. It was my first rainy football game, and I tried to go well prepared for the weather. No matter the preparations I don't think Ben and I could have ever imagined how wet we'd get.

Our seats were in the (uncovered) east end bleachers and within the first quarter we were soaked to the bone. Even the stylish UW ponchos I bought weren't helping much, the rain just wouldn't let up not to mention we were standing in puddles the whole time.

We were so wet and cold by the second quarter we spotted some seats in the north end upper deck and made the trek up to the top. While we were dry at the top the wind was blowing so we were freezing... all weather conditions consdiered we still had a great time and are looking forward to our next game this evening against Oregon State.

Tot Trek's in Seattle

2010-10-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

William and I have made a new discovery in Seattle! A friend of mine (who has two boys) told me about Tot Trek's, they're basically a kid friendly hike and nature lesson at one of our local parks and Environmental Learning Center. William loves going on the Tot Trek's and I love them too because I usually end up learning something a long the way! This particular Tot Trek was called 'Every Living Thing.' The kids learned that every living thing needs: food, water, and shelter to live.

The naturalist brought some worms in for the kids to hold and made a worm bed with soil. The naturalist then gave the kids a banana peels to 'feed' to the worms, then told the kids that the worms needed a shelter. She instructed the kids to collect leaves to add to our worm bed that would act as a shelter for the worm.

The mayor of Seattle recently announced his budget proposal for 2011 and while reading the proposal I was disappointed to see that Tot Trek's like these are on the list of budget cuts. I'm working on a plea to the City Council to keep programs like these open because I feel they greatly benefit children (toddlers and school aged) in the Seattle area. It was interesting to find out that programs like these are fully paid for by the tuition they charge for each class. The naturalist told me that her fee and all the supplies used in the class are paid for by our registration fee. So, if you are a nanny, like me, or a mom or dad, I encourage you to support programs like these in Seattle to show the City Council and the Mayor that there is a demand for them. If you want a little extra credit write to the City Council by clicking here!

Okay, I'm getting of my soap box... now.

Soccer Stars!

2010-10-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago Ben, my mom, and I attended a very exciting sporting event: Soccer Stars vs. Pink Snow Leopards! Natalie (one of the kiddos I nanny for) invited us to her soccer game, it was the perfect fall afternoon. Natalie was fantastic, we even got to see her score twice! GO SOCCER STARS!

Don't get in her way!

GOAL!

I just had to include a photo of the cutest fan on the sidelines! William cheering on his big sister!

Not so Gleeful for Glee

2010-10-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

I have definitely blogged about my love for Glee in the past, see here. I loved every second of the show when it first started; it was something I looked forward to week to week. Since getting a DVR rarely is there a show that I schedule in my life as an appointment. (One that I watch while it's on because I don't want be delayed or miss out on any of the conversation happening the next day.) But last fall I sat down (with bated breath) and watched every episode as it aired. Usually I would jump on my iTouch during the show and buy one of the songs they just performed because it was that good. I constantly recommended the show to people and even had Glee viewing parties at my house.

So, what has changed? Why am I not so Gleeful for Glee?

The show has become one giant music video.

What happened to the story lines and the characters that we cared so much about? When the Madonna episode aired they worked songs like "Like a Virgin" and "Open Your Heart to Me" into the story lines so well. In the Britney Spears episode they had each character go to the dentist, be put under, and 'dream' up a Britney fantasy. The only song that was even a bit interesting or tied to a story line was "Toxic." In the musical film genre several songs are sung by characters that are interwoven into the narrative. Glee once was that, now I fear it's becoming a place to showcase an artist and their song book.

Will Schuster needs to be reined in.

I don't know if it's the story line they've been giving him lately or just that he's over acting but I cringe almost every time he's on screen. I mean why is he singing/jamming to Christopher Cross' "Sailing" in a Corvette? Am I supposed to be laughing at him, because I was.

The show is crossing the line from funny to inappropriate or maybe just plain weird.

Either I getting old or becoming a prude (which I refuse to think it's the latter) but I was just plain confused by last weeks 'butt sweat' scene with Jacob Ben Israel and Sue Sylvester. I still don't know what was going on.

I could keep going but I have hope that they're going to turn the show around. That they'll go back to the love triangle of Emma - Will - Terry, that Sue Sylvester and Will will continue to have their disdain for each other (because that's when we get some of the best Sue lines), and that the Glee Club will go back to doing performances like "Somebody to Love" and "Don't Stop Believing."

After all that's what we (or at least I) fell in love with. I will not stop believing... for now... but I am treading lightly.

Jimmy Fallon recently had Justin Timberlake on his show and they had their own musical moment, show casing a song that Glee has also done. Who do you think did it better? I'm partial to the Jimmy Fallon - Justin Timberlake performance.

Glee - performing "Empire State of Mind"

Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake performing a "History of Rap" skip to min 2:40 if you don't want to watch the whole thing... although I highly recommend the whole video. It could be that I'm a huge fan of Jimmy Fallon or that versions of him remind of Ben; whatever the case they take the cake in this video contest if you ask me.

'The History of Rap' by Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake.

Uploaded by le_geek_cest_chic. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

And they're back.

2010-09-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

To be totally honest I wasn't super excited about The Office premiere this year. I've been feeling a little 'done' with the show lately; it's just felt tired. Then with the news that this is Michael's last season I really thought the show was on it's last legs. However, at 9pm tonight my opinion changed completely.

How did I make it through the summer without you? Why did I ever doubt your comedic brilliance? Tonight's episode was fantastic. I am now super excited about this season even if it is Michael's last. Here is a little taste from tonight:

Check out Ben's article from BuddyTV about the upcoming season, here.

Also his slide show of the 25 Most Awkward Moments.

Happy Birthday

2010-09-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Ben!

Bet you didn't know you share a birthday with the oldest man alive!! Here's hoping we get to spend our 114th year together! :-)

Reading. Commenting. Responding. Editing.

2010-09-21T14:34:00.000-07:00

Ben finished his first week at Buddy TV on a high note; getting to interview the latest cast-off from Survivor! Yes, that means at some point he will get to interview Jimmy Johnson, retired NFL coach, if and when he gets voted off. Ben is being very coy about the whole deal, but I know he is loving every second of this gig!

Anyway, many of you have commented that it is hard to find all that Ben is posting on Buddy TV. I agree, when you go to his profile on the website one would think it would list all articles 'by Ben' but it does not. So I have created links on the right hand side of our blog that I will try to update daily with his new articles as they get posted. I hope this helps!

Go Huskies!

2010-09-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

After watching the Husky - Nebraska massacre this afternoon I felt I needed to post the photos from the Husky - Syracuse game we went to last week; so I could forget about today's game. Ben and I attended our first (out of four) Husky game last weekend and walked away with a win! Ben was super excited about the game, I was too but also relieved that the weather cooperated and we didn't have to break out the garbage bag ponchos this early into the season. (It does tend to rain a bit in Seattle.)

The game was on Saturday, September 11th so emotions we a little heightened during the national anthem. It always amazes me when an entire stadium can become quiet during a moment of silence.

The Presidents of the United States of America played the half time show; she's lump, she's lump, she's lump, it's been in my head... ever since.

Huskies WIN! The outcome was better than todays game (56-21 Nebraska... BOO!) lets hope we can play more games like this one, against Syracuse, the rest of the season!

Reviewing the Tube

2010-09-15T17:48:00.000-07:00

News for the Watson's : Ben has landed his *dream* job! He was hired last week to write reviews for a budding new website BuddyTV.com He is the official 'Survivor Guy,' watching, recapping, and reviewing Survivor: Nicaragua. So for all you Survivor fans (even if you haven't been one for a while) tune in on Wednesday's on CBS to watch the show and then go to BuddyTV.com to keep the conversation going with Ben.

Here is his first article, 5 Reasons to Get Excited About 'Survivor: Nicaragua'

He also writes TV News Stories (basically anything that happens with celebs from TV shows that the website thinks will draw interest to their site) here are links to some of his other articles.

Tim Gunn: Taylor Momsen is a Diva

'Bones' Spoiler, Casting News and Music on 'Gossip Girl' Just Got Better

'My Boys' Calls it Quits, Marlo is Back, and Oprah's at it Again

Most of the TV shows he's writing about I've never watched, but it's still fun and entertaining to read! Leave him a comment either on our blog or under the article on BuddyTV.com, I know he'd love to hear from you!

Deception Pass Tour

2010-09-07T23:34:00.000-07:00

Ben and I love Deception Pass! When we have out of town guests, if we have time for the drive, we take them to the tall bridge to show off one of Washington's most spectacular sights. When Groupon (a website offering daily deals on local fare, entertainment, and more) advertised discounted tickets for a catamaran tour of Deception Pass we knew we couldn't pass it up!

The day we scheduled the tour our weather wasn't looking too good, but as we made the hour and half drive north the sun started shining! We boarded the boat in the sun shine excited to learn more about the area.

Blue Heron standing on the rocks.

This cliff side is the sight of an old prison rock quarry. In the early 1900's prisoners cut rock and loaded it onto a barge to be taken down to Seattle's waterfront.

A new perspective of the bridge that we've walked across numerous times.

Although the sun came out, some low clouds/fog remained in the area. The conditions made for some really cool spooky like photographs.

As we traveled west towards Deception Island (away from the bridge and mainland) it got foggier and foggier. At one point all we could see was few feet in front of the boat. I had no idea what direction we were going!

The tour was about an hour in length and was very fun! We learned all about the surrounding islands and why the water swirls and is very unpredictable in Deception Pass. It was a fun time and we'd recommend the tour to anyone visiting the area! (Especially if you can get a Groupon!)

After we got off the boat I wanted to get a picture of the two of us. So I did my usual, find a place to rest the camera, set the timer, and run. It was a little windy and my hair was all over the place, so I kept insisting we do another picture, and another, and another... I just couldn't get it right. Anyway, I think Ben was getting annoyed. We ended up taking about 15 shots before I was pleased. Below are a few of my favorites!

Summer Fast Forward

2010-09-07T22:34:00.000-07:00

Whenever I've tried to write in a journal I end up forgetting about it after a few weeks. By the time I rediscover it the task of recapping everything that has happened since the last entry is insurmountable. So I give up.

I've felt like that about this blog lately, I've totally neglected it all summer. However, I have put far too much effort recording our monthly adventures for the past two years to never blog again. So I've decided to fast forward through summer.

It has been a great summer job wise. I've been at the pool practically everyday (who would trade that to be stuck in a building?) for swimming lessons with the kids I nanny. I think we ended up doing a total of 8 weeks of lessons! On the hot and sunny days we'd stay at the pool for free swim and I'd get a chance to get in the pool.

In July we had Ben's brother and wife (Adam and Carolina) visit for a weekend. We had a fabulous time filled with the quintessential Seattle sites. I think Adam and Carolina got a picture of all of us, but somehow I didn't. Oh well. Here Ben and I are on the ferry on the way home from Bainbridge Island. One of our favorite things to do with out of town guests. The perfect way to see the city!

We had some friends over on the 4th of July to watch the fireworks from the rooftop. Stacy treated us to a FANTASTIC Barefoot Contessa Flag Cake!

We made it out to a few Mariner's games. One against the Yankees and one against the Red Sox. They lost both, surprise, surprise. We had fun regardless, especially when eating the garlic fries!

Here we are at Safeco Field, please excuse the crazy hair... this was taken on one of Seattle's 90 degree days! We were melting. (I know, we're wimps!)

Graduation Continued... Again... I Know... It's Getting Obnoxious

2010-09-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

About a year and a half ago Ben and I went to a cool movie theater in Seattle, called Central Cinema. At CC you can eat dinner, snack on gourmet popcorn, and sip on your favorite beverage while watching the feature film. While we were in the theater I was thinking "this would be a fun place to have a party!" As Ben's graduation date approached I recalled my movie party idea and thought what a great way to celebrate Ben's accomplishments, especially since his degree was Comparative Lit. with an Emphasis in Cinema Studies!

I decided we should rent a movie theater and view Ben's favorite movie, Breaking Away. I called Central Cinema only to find their rental rates were way out of my price range. After many long days of searching, brain storming new locations with my parents, and tons of hours on the phone, I found Stone Soup Theater. Not a movie theater, but with a projector and screen it was the perfect space for a few friends to get together and congratulate Ben!

My sister, Carrie, managed to arrange an old fashion popcorn maker to be in the lobby of the theater for guest to enjoy! Thanks Carrie!

I should also add that the party was a surprise! Even though I generally can't keep any surprises from Ben (he usually knows what all his Christmas and birthday gifts are 2 or 3 days before the day) I managed to keep the party a secret. I think he was genuinely surprised and excited to have an excuse to share his favorite film with everyone!

Thanks to all that attended, we had a great time celebrating with you!

Graduation Continued

2010-09-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

I feel like all I do is apologize for never updating our blog lately. We're worried that our computer may be in it's last days, so uploading pictures and running more than one thing at a time nearly puts it over the edge. This one blog post has taken me an entire length of a movie (1hr and 40 minutes) to complete. So, we're sorry for those of you who check in on us and there is nothing to read! Hopefully we can get a new computer soon and update more regularly. In the meantime I will continue post about our summer as the computer allows. :-)

Thanks for reading!

I don't think any of us could have been prepared for the University of Washington's general commencement ceremony. We have lots of friends who have graduated from the UW who described a long ceremony with enough graduates to fill the football field. One friend said, "I'd really like to come and cheer Ben on but I sat through that ceremony for my daughter and I just don't think I can do it again!" That should have warned us but we, or at least I, went into it naively thinking: it won't be that bad, it couldn't possibly last the 4 hours it's schedule for, they are just estimating the 'worst case' scenario length.

Boy was I WRONG. The ceremony lasted 4 hours, not a minute less, and not a minute more!

We got to the stadium early because Ben needed to report for the big graduate line-up. We got in a long line and waited for the stadium doors to open. We were able to secure seats in the shade, which was great because it was a warm day for Seattle!

I'm not sure how long the procession of students, departments, and schools took, but they just kept coming and coming. Trying to spot Ben was like trying to find an individual ant on an ant hill!

Ben took a camera onto the field and took a few shots from his perspective.

Bill Gates Sr. delivering his commencement speech.

Matt, trying to stay awake during the commencement speech... :-)

I spy Ben walking across the stage getting ready to shake hands and become an official graduate! Congratulations Ben!

He came. He conquered. He graduated.

Love the Road You're On

2010-07-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

I'm deviating from the graduation posts for a quick moment... but I promise it's for a good reason. Last Friday I made an appointment to get my haircut with a friend who is going to beauty school. Her school is in Bellevue (about 15 minutes from Seattle) so when I was leaving for the appointment I asked Ben if he wanted to join me. He said he would and that he could get some lunch while I was getting my hair done. The afternoon went just as planned, I got a great haircut and saw a friend I haven't seen since high school, Ben got his lunch, (and stopped to get me a little "pick-me-up" - thanks!) and we headed back to Seattle. We planned to go home for a bit and then out to see the new summer movie Inception.

After we were home for about a half hour Ben announced that he couldn't find his wallet. He thought he left it in the car so he went out to look for it and I didn't think much of it. Ben has a way of "losing" things. I say it like that because he very rarely loses anything, he just misplaces things and then claims they are lost. So I assumed the wallet would be under the car seat or somewhere in the house and it wouldn't be a big deal.

He came back and announced that he didn't find the wallet, so he started looking around the apartment. I decided to go out to the car thinking that maybe the wallet had been overlooked. When I came back empty handed Ben started to get a little nervous and began frantically throwing things around. Couch cushions, piles of mail, bedding, after manically searching for about 30 minutes our apartment looked like it had been robbed. In the meantime I checked all our accounts and there hadn't been any activity so I continued to remain calm, and convinced that the wallet wasn't actually lost.

Ben on the other hand was getting more and more worried and now thought he possibly dropped his wallet in the parking lot where he got lunch in Bellevue. So we hopped back in our car and drove over to Bellevue to start our search there. We looked everywhere Ben had been in the hour that it took to get my haircut. Wibley's (where he had lunch), my parents house (to drop something off), and finally the beauty schools parking lot. NO. LUCK. As we were going home (now too late to make it to our movie) Ben said that he would search the house again and I decided to check the accounts one more time.

As the night got later and later our accounts remained untouched but no wallet was to be found. So I decided just to be safe to call and cancel any of the cards that could be used if the wallet did happen to be in the wrong hands. I cancelled everything and Ben and I got ready for bed. Ben was bit depressed and frustrated and I was trying to reassure him that maybe someone had found it and was going to mail it to him in the next couple of days.

As I was brushing my teeth I thought, I should look behind our bedroom door. I'd seen Ben look there 3 or 4 times but I thought maybe a fresh pair of eyes might do the trick. Our dark brown-espresso colored dresser is located right next to our door and as I closed the door I saw Ben's wallet on the back corner of the dresser behind our TV. Ben's wallet also happens to be dark brown-espresso colored so it blended right in.

As I walked out of the room with the wallet in my hands Ben looked a little scared. We had driven all over town, torn apart our place, and CANCELLED cards, all for a wallet that was in our apartment all along. After about a 10 second stare down we both started laughing and laughed all night about the situation.

Last night as I was watching a little TV I saw this commercial and laughed all over again!

Dear Ben,

Despite the occasional pot holes, I love the road I'm on with you. :)

Cinema Studies

2010-07-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

UW Comparative Literature - Cinema Studies Class of 2010

Ben is finally done with school (I've been told he is interested in a graduate degree, but that will have to wait!) he just got his diploma in the mail yesterday. Ben got a degree in Comparative Literature with an emphasis in Cinema Studies. Can you think of a more perfect degree for Ben?

I remember when I first met Ben and discovered his love for movies and books. Ben and his friend Curt (who has the same obsessions) often would day dream about a time when they could get a job or study cinema or books at school so that all the previous hours they had devoted to gazing into a screen or lost inside a book could all be considered as research!

Well Ben, you did it! Congratulations!

Ben's family and I went to his departmental graduation which was a nice small casual celebration for the graduates. The weather was beautiful that morning so Ben took us on a nice tour of the campus before the ceremony began.

June Visitors

2010-07-20T21:59:00.000-07:00

We had visitors the second weekend in June. Ben's family came up to celebrate Ben's graduation from the University of Washington! They were here for a few days before the big graduation so we had time to do some sight seeing. This was Ben's grandma's first visit to Seattle in many, many years. So we made a Pikes Place visit, got hot chocolates and mochas at the first Starbucks, ate Thai food, had some Molly Moon's ice cream, toured the University of Washington's campus, and visited Volunteer Park's water tower and conservatory.

The conservatory at Volunteer Park was a highlight for Ben's mom and grandma. We spent a long time looking at the different variations of flowers and we probably could have spent much longer but the boys were getting restless.

Jules and Grandma the following photos are dedicated to you! Enjoy! Let's go back some day!