10 facts about me

1. I love cheez-its and hate cheese nips
2. I have never been skiing, despite living 4 years in Utah
3. I have watched Dirty Dancing probably 50 times
4. I love avocados but hate guacamole
5. I don't like to have my feet or my face touched
6. Santa scares me a little bit
7. Easter Peeps are better when they are stale
8. I saw Jeff Probst (from Survivor) at the Cheesecake Factory
9. I sleep on my stomach
10. I still occasionally climb on the kitchen counter to reach the top shelf

Pete

Some of you may recall the lizard I used to have. Well before there was a Little Ben, or a thought of a Little Ben, there was Pete. Pete is a bearded dragon. Boy, the things Pete saw while living with us... We love Pete. When Ben and I moved into the house we are in now, there just wasn't room for Pete, so he went to live with the kid's dad. That way they could still see him and love him. This last Christmas, "Pete went to visit his family for the holidays." That's the news the kids brought home for me. This was sad news. Pete had become very well loved.




Yesterday, when the kids came back from their dad's, they told me some exciting news. "Pete's in a MOVIE!" That's right... a true Hollywood major blockbuster.
Thank you to the www.nimsisland.com website for providing this photo.

There you have it... Pete left home to go be a major motion picture star. That's him in the picture resting on the girl.

Ben and Sarah saw the movie this weekend and are very proud of Pete's acting debut. They say he did a fabulous job and they are wondering what his next appearance will be. It is very exciting to have a member of the family become a movie star!

Lotus Land

Ok, so let me tell you about this amaaazing place in Santa Barbara. At first I was a little shocked that they charge $35 per person for admittance, but after attending I was sure that it is worth it to those souls who are so unfortunate as to have to pay.

This spectacular place, known as Lotus Land was designed and created by it's former owner Madam Wasabee... or Wadelieacha oh wait I got it Madam Ganna Walska, I had to look that up. This 35 acre estate has 17 gardens that are each distinct.



See, spectacular. Ok, so there is one rule about going... you have to get the bestest tour guide there.


Hey, wait a minute! That tour guide looks familiar. Do I know her from somewhere?


Now, Ben and I hate the desert. After spending much of our courtship there, we have a great dislike for the terrain, so we were a bit concerned about going into a cactus garden... but it won us over. It was one of our favorite places.




This is the view from Madam Wikipedia's house.




And here is a spot in the Japanese garden. Possibly the burial place of Madame Wasatch?



See... I highly recommend a trip here. Go ahead fork out the money, it's worth it. It was worth every penny we spent on it (oh, yeah... ok, it was worth what we spent + 1 X 35) I'm sorry, but you will just have to take your chances on getting the best Docent (I think that's their fancy Santa Barbara type word for tour guide) at the place!

Gatsby

We have a dog. Our dog is a pain. Our dog drives us crazy, but we still have our dog!

Really, our dog Gatsby is amazing with the kids. Sarah absolutely adores him. Gatsby sleeps on a small dog bed right under my side of the bed, but every morning when I get up he runs and jumps in bed with Little Ben. Gatsby has some pretty bad habits, mainly that he isn't completely, 100% potty trained. That's right, he's a pee'er just like the kids! Gatsby's accidents happen much fewer and farther between these days, but they do still happen occasionally. He also barks at Big Ben, he feels some unfounded need to protect me. And there's the fact that his eyes get crusty and his hair grows into his mouth. I know those things aren't his fault, but they are still disturbing.

Part of the new chore regimen happening in our home is that it is Sarah's job to feed Gatsby. She loves him the most, she should have a part in taking care of him, right? The first day Sarah was supposed to feed him, I showed her where the food was and instructed her on how much to give him, everything went fine. The next day when I remembered Gatsby needed to be fed, we were just finishing dinner and I said, "Sarah, you still need to feed Gatsby." (Note to self: be more specific when talking to a three year old!) I looked over just in time to see a big piece of tortilla from the burrito Sarah was eating fly out of her hands in Gatsby's direction. Faster than I could stop giggling, Gatsby had snatched it up.

Gatsby has a delicate digestive system. This bit of tortilla was enough to give him tummy problems for a couple of days. Tummy troubles require many trips outside for him. Last night I went to bed early and Gatsby started pacing (his signal of needing to go outside). My wonderful husband took him out each time, 4 times in all. This morning I learned of his antics last night. On his final trip out, Gatsby sauntered away from Ben and went over to our neighbors, the very ones with no curtains (this was about 2:30 am). It took Ben a long time to finally coax him home, without going to the neighbor's himself. Going and getting Gatsby was just completely out of the question... you never know what you might see!

I'm thinking about rearranging chores. Maybe I should go back to feeding him and I can make Sarah take him out in the middle of the night. I'm KIDDING... ok, I'm a little bit not kidding, but I'll wait a few years!

Sarah and Heidi

Dr. Pepper (AKA, The Good Stuff)

Ohhh, Dr. Pepper! How do I love thee...?

This morning was a rough morning. As I rushed to Circle K to get myself a Dr. Pepper (straight-up, none of that diet crap this morning). I thought about the wonderful characteristics of the sweet drink.
-Dr. Pepper would never throw a stuffed animal at me.
-Dr. Pepper would never wake Big Ben up early in the morning by crying.
-Dr. Pepper would never complain that I still haven't gone to the store to buy yogurt.
-Dr. Pepper would never refuse to get in the car in the morning.
-Dr. Pepper would never hang on my leg crying when I try to drop it off for school.
-Dr. Pepper would never refuse to get out of the bed in the morning.

Oh, but the things Dr. Pepper will do:
-Dr. Pepper will always be there willing to charge into my body to give me the pep I so need.
-Dr. Pepper will always make me feel better.
-Dr. Pepper will always help me to forget the woes of children.

For a while Dr. Pepper and I have not been such good friends. I have been neglecting him a bit, because he will also always help me to gain pounds. But this morning, I needed my friend. And he was there...

Our Visitor

A visitor showed up at our house today. He came a very long way to see us.





Dun, dun, dun... Meet Jaws...







Jaws's arrival was a surprise to us. His home is in Cherokee, Iowa and he is part of a 5th grade social studies project. Jaws has been travelling around the United States, and on April 15th he will return to his owner in Cherokee. Before coming to us Jaws has stopped in Ballston Spa, NY where we noticed he told us about meeting our good friends the Nelsons. After New York, he stopped in New Mexico. He went to many exciting places in New Mexico including White Sands National Monument, a missile range, and the Gila Cliff dwellings. His next stop makes me jealous... Jaws got to go to Hershey, PA. He got to spend Easter there! I bet he saw some really big Chocolate Bunnies this Easter.



During his afternoon here, Jaws got to see the Tehachapi wind turbines, the Tehachapi Loop and downtown Tehachapi.



Jaws won't be staying with us for too long. He is anxious to move on. He got very excited when we told him that tomorrow he will start his travel to Florida where it is warm and sunny, even though he wasn't thrilled about the prospects of another long journey crammed in his tiny cardboard box.

We have had a very nice visit with Jaws, and have enjoyed learning about his travels. We're glad he stopped by!