In my haste to capture Dax’s new trick, I had some problems operating my camera. But I got the shot:

What’s funny to me is that Dax does this so randomly. He’d be sitting there, as content as could be, then all of a sudden decide he really wants to peek through his legs and see the world upside-down. Throw in an older brother who has to be equally cool and now you have double the number of heinies in the air. I start cracking up, but then Kai looks at me warily and says, “No! Stop laughing, mommy.”

More Seymour Butts.
And more clumsiness with the camera.

Taking pen to paper and recording the day isn’t something I’m good at, but I find this idea from Inchmark totally doable.

I also came across this really neat five year journal, where each page is divided into five entries, one for each year. From Fred Flair:

I’m inspired. My posterity will thank me.

More at Tickled Pink Knits.

I can’t tell you how blessed I feel to live where I do. Our fall weather has been gorgeous, to say the least. Summers here are ho-hum with what the locals call ‘May Gray’ and ‘June Gloom’. But fall. Fall is spectacular.

Yummy food…

…and goofy kids.

(Why we are the chicken pox crew? Too long and too boring of a story to share.) But pic below pretty much sums up our lunch out at Cheesecake Factory:

Lovey-dovey toddlers that know how to have a good time.
And fellow patrons that wouldn’t stop staring at our lively group.

Let’s not forget about Dax-Bear.

Just a few weeks shy of that 1-year birthday.

And lastly,
a big THANK YOU to Andi for treating all of us out.
We had a lovely time!

Potty-training is sooo yesterday.

Last night we used the very last nighttime diaper. And there’s no going back.

Congratulations, dude!
(It was all you. For reals.)

Boys playing nicely together.
(I’m still adjusting to my new role as sibling mediator.)

If I got a penny for each time I hear the phrase:

“I NEED a band-aid!”
(Kai)

I could probably afford these shoes:

Height, ruffles, and platform-goodness.
Oh yes.

{via Urban Outfitters}

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing is an old hymn that seems to have recently sprung back into popularity again. According to my brother, it all started with this amazing BYU performance. I probably shouldn’t have given you that link, because my piano-only arrangement pales in comparison. However, I was playing it last night and got a particularly good take, except for one thing: I didn’t have the metronome on. I can tell my timing is off, can you? I still need to do all the standard mix-down and mastering stuff, so it might sound quiet, tinny, and muddy, but I just thought I’d throw this out there to see what people think. Comments welcome, please!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

- Ryan

Since Design Mom was so nice to feature us last week (thank you!), I thought I’d share the love by blogging some of my favorites:

1) Design is Mine
A design blog; Summer has such cool taste and her finds always cheer me up.

2) Bling on My Sewing Machine
Rachel thrifts, sews, scrapbooks, and is DIYer extraordinaire. And (and that’s a big and), her home is lovely.

3) Rockstar Diaries
Don’t recall exactly how I ended up here, but it was definitely a happy accident. Because, her style? Amazing. Her love for NY city? Infectious. I want to move there…or at least L.A.

4) Cakies
Mother of two that outfits her little girls in incredible frocks. Check out the polka-dotted dress she made — with a hand-embroidered rose! Wows.

{above image via Design Mom}

‘Spin’ by Netherland Art
{via A Beautiful Mess}

1) Finish painting the kids table. ‘Top Banana’ (topmost swatch above) appears to be working out nicely. In the past, I’ve had easy successes choosing blue, gray, and green paints, but now I know yellows and oranges require more thought. And squinting.

2) Finish website design that involves little guy above. Not going to reveal until the site goes live!

3) Send postcard design off to the printer for a VenturaParent.com event.

4) Finish a frame project that’s been dragging out for months. Some frames I’ve been eying at Target went on clearance a few months back, so I snapped up a couple. Yesterday, I spray-painted them a lovely shade of blueish-gray (still in original color below). Now I just need to find some artwork to go in them and hang the suckers, once and for all.

So, lots of projects mean little sleep (Ryan has been my partner in crime doing the late-night thing, as well). But I can’t help but love what I do, creating, even if means working into the wee hours of the night. Ryan, too — he’s been working on an incredible piano piece, so hopefully soon it’ll be coming at cha. Cleopatra.

Days just need to be longer. Like, 30 hours instead of 24. Wouldn’t that’d be grand?! Mothers everywhere would jump for joy.

Marc Jacobs Spring 2009
{photos via style.com}

Any local (L.A. to S.B.) photographers interested in a trade? Graphic design services for photography? Email me at jenn@ambrosiacreative.com if interested, and I can fill you in on the details.

If you live near L.A., the Noah’s Ark exhibit at the Skirball definitely needs to be at the top of your “to do with the kids” list. It was such a hit with the boys. There’s an actual ark with climbing, interactive displays, crafts, animal puppets, even a drum show in the amphitheatre.

Okay, now this, this, cracks me up:

See, Kai does his bowel-movement bizness in his room, all over his room (when he should be napping), maybe four to five times a week. So, four to five times a week, you’ll find me on hands-and-knees picking up his mess, scrubbing the carpet, and cursing under my breath. The joys of potty-training! Yet, here’s Kai playing “excrement-handler” at the exhibit for fun (yes, there were pretend droppings all over the floor for kids to clean up). He probably spent a good fifteen minutes happily sweeping up plastic turds. The irony just kills me. Kills me.

Growing up in a Filipino household, I hadn’t experienced a lot of mainstream food items. Fish sauce, kimchi, and shrimp paste were staples, but lemon curd? What’s that?! I bought a jar from Trader Joe’s about a month ago, and was hooked. Looking for a new jar on my most recent grocery trip, I was told it had been discontinued. So, imagine my delight when Stephanie shared with me her fave lemon curd recipe.

Easy to make and soooo easy to eat (I omitted about a teaspoon of sugar from the recipe). So far, I’ve had it plain, on a toasted bagel, and atop cream-cheese filled french toast. Lots more uses here!

Nyah, nyah! ; P

After re-reading this post this yesterday morning, I couldn’t get this quote snippet out of my head all day:

“…I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.”

It’s nice to be reminded that life isn’t supposed be a well-oiled machine. That it’s okay if I’m not always thinking two steps ahead. Living in the “now” is messy, crazy, and usually out of control…but I find it’s also the most fun.

“Wook, mom! It’s space!”

Without giving much thought to it, this is what I grabbed to write on for my meeting with a client today; my dirty, oil-stained, moisture-warped notebook. Yikes. Upon arrival, I was prepared to explain away my blunder. “Yeah, I have a few pages left in it — I don’t like to be wasteful,” and/or, “I’m just trying to minimalize my carbon footprint by being resourceful.”

Lame.

But here are some prettier notebooks that I wouldn’t mind bringing to the table:

(See Jane Work, Stories & Divinations, and Urban Outfitters)