Berly's Blog

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Can you say China?

Jonny met us at SwimKids for Gemma's testing out of Bronze Junior. She passed with flying colors and I was very impressed with her progress as I haven't been to swimming lessons in quite a long time. She is quite the little swimmer! They did the whole Olympic tune and gave her a ribbon. Jonny also came with the news that he have to go to Asia for 2 weeks on a business trip. I immediately panicked and thought of who could come and help me with the kiddos. I called my dad to ask him for his help, but I am not sure if I am getting it.

I do have to rant for a minute because I do know that my parents read my blog and they may succumb to guilt. I have been out of the house since I was 18 years old, yes I may have caused quite a stir when I did live at home for those years, but after those years were up I never moved back home. In fact after I was married almost 10 years ago I never asked for anything! You never had to let me live in your mother's house for free, help with my children other than short visits to AZ or us to Nebraska which I know you did gladly, or loan me money. I am only asking for 1 week of help out of your lives to play with your grandkids and give me a break. I know you don't think it is a big deal to take care of two kids because you had four, but you always had Grandma and Grandpa to help you out whenever you needed them. Please consider my sanity and come out and see your grandkids! Mom, especially you, you haven't even seen you new grandson yet!

Ok, now that I have that out of my system, I feel much better. We went to dinner after swimming lesson's with our friends from SwimKids, Bill, Mindy, and Olivia. Olivia and Gemma have been in swim class together for about 1 1/2 and we have grown quite fond of them. We went to this new restaurant called Picazzo's . It was quite tasty and I highly recommend the Fresh Pear Gorgonzola. Yummy!!!

Anyway, after dinner we got home and Jonny checked his email and he actually have to go to Asia for over 3 weeks! I was crushed! I really don't know what I am going to do! Let me know if you have any suggestions or if you have a mother or father to loan me for a few weeks!

Monday, March 21, 2005

Fair Dinkum

We had a very busy week-end with Jonny's cousin, Greg visiting us from Melbourne, Australia. Greg and his wife Fiona have a wine tour company called Epicurean food and wine tours. We were fortunate to go on one of their tours two years ago when we were in Australia. Greg was over on a business trip to attend a trade show in Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

Saturday we picked Greg up from the airport and took him to lunch on Cyclo. Greg had a customer that just happened to be the General Manager for the San Diego Padres, so Jonny and Greg headed up to the Padres spring training game to meet Kevin Towers. After they returned from the game Aunt Nancy came over to watch the kids and we took Greg out for a night on the town. We ate dinner at Barrio Cafe and then hit Cheuvront Wine Bar for dessert and wine. I highly recommend the dessert wine by the glass at Cheuvront's called Lillypilly. It is from Australia and it is scrummy!

Kevin Towers reserved tickets to the Padres vs. Cubs game on Sunday and we were off to Peoria. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a great time at the ball game. After the game we headed down to Red Kangaroo Wines for Greg to meet with Roger, the owner of the wine shop. We had dinner at home and Jonny made his famous rotiserrie chicken. Greg treated us with wine from Red Kangaroo. We had a great bottle of Merlot with dinner and my favorite dessert wine, Noble One from DeBortili (the place we went to for wine tasting when we were in Australia). Monday morning we took Greg to Scottsdale Fashion Square to meet his friend who was going to take him to the airport. We had a lovely visit with Greg and hope that he comes back again soon! Hopefully with Fiona and Ethan!

By the way, I have used all of my pictures space for the month on Flickr. I am so mad! I can't believe I cannot post my pictures again until April 1st! Bummer!

Saturday, March 19, 2005

A room with a view???

angus_gemma_shower_1

A view from my shower...

yesterday I woke up and needed to get everyone ready for the day. I had a babysitter and Miss Gemma was staying at home with her while I took Angus with me. I got the kids ready and it was now my turn. I told Gemma I was going to take a shower and if she needed I would be in the bathroom. I took Angus into the bathroom with me and put him in his buzzy chair, got undressed and was about to turn the shower on when Gemma came waltzing in with armchair. I said to them that I would use this against them when they were teenagers.

angus_gemma_shower_2

Gemma with her cheeky grin!

I think most Moms know that you just don't get much privacy being a Mom. I don't know the last time I went to the bathroom or took a shower without an audience. I really don't mind, but someday it will be nice to have a shower in peace and clear my head. Maybe in another 18 years....

I was able to go to knitting, then out to lunch with Brooke, Sandee, Pam and the babies. I then went home to pick up Gemma so that I could get a haircut. I went to this new hairdresser called Andrew. I have to say he was a really nice guy. I just love hairdressers that you can talk to about a variety of topics
. I even got a great haircut!

We went over to Auntie Pam's to drop off her knitting she left in the van. We stayed for about an hour while Gemma played with her dog Zoey. I just want to thank Pam for being such a fabulous friend! When you are in a funk you can talk to her and she helps you see things more clearly. Everyone should have a friend like Pam! Thanks girl!

Today we are off the Ballerina School, an Easter Egg Hunt (depending on if it rains or not), and then to pick Jonny's cousin up from the airport. We should have some great pictures!

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Happy Shamrock Day!

Last night I enjoyed a night of knitting at Mama Java's. They actually double booked us with an St. Paddy's Day reading, so we were in the back room.

Copy (1) of melanie_pam_1

Melanie and Pam, stitchin 'n bitchin

brooke_jack_1

Brooke and Jack, not getting much knitting done

becky_eva_1

Becky, Eva, and a new knitter chatting

Today was St. Patrick's Day. We hosted a little party at our house for Gemma's playgroup. We had about 9 moms and 18 kids. It was pretty crazy, but lots of fun.

playgroup_1_1

The kids playing! The dress-up clothes were very popular!

Tonight I made dinner for Jonny, Gemma, and our friend Teri (Jonny's rugby team president's wife). We had Guinness Stew with new potatoes and Blackberry and Apple Crumble with Custard. I would have to say it was quite tasty.

Tomorrow I am going to knitting at Coffee Rush. I also have a babysitter for Gemma and I am also going to get my haircut. I am still not sure whether or not I am going to chop my hair off, we will have to see....

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Tummy ache

Our weekend ended with Gemma coming down with a stomach virus. I took her shopping with me and she is usually pretty excited to go with me, but when by the time we got to our second destination she wanted to go home. I got her home and put her down for a nap.

Pam and I went to to knitting at Pita Jungle. It was a nice group of knitters and we had a nice lunch. After knitting Pam and I went grocery shopping together. We hit Sprouts, Trader Joe's, and Safeway. At Trader Joe's and Safeway I enquired about a couple men for Pam. It was quite fun for me, but very embarrassing for Pam. Pam, I swear one these times it will pay off.

When I returned from shopping Miss Gemma was still feeling pretty punk. We got the kids to bed early and hoped for a nights sleep. Around 2 a.m. Gemma came into our room and said that she puked all over, we took her back to her room and sure enough we had quite a mess to clean up. We cleaned up the mess and hoped that was the last of the throwing up. Gemma woke up feeling much better, but we stayed in for the day to help her to recover.

Last night was a pretty bad night with Angus. For some reason Angus went to bed at 8 p.m. and then woke at 12 a.m., 1 a.m., 2 a.m., and 3 a.m. and stayed awake for another 1 hour and a half. We still don't know what was wrong with him, but that was the first time he was wide awake in the middle of the night. I think it was because I got my hopes up too much after he sleep for 9 hours the other night.

When we finally did get up we went to playgroup and then made our second trip to the gym. The kids did great at the child center again. I am really pleased that I am able to feel comfortable leaving them. It really gives me the break I need during the day.

Tomorrow we have our MOMS Club social and we are heading to the gym again. Tomorrow night I am going to knitting at Mama Java's.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

They Won!!!

Today was a pretty great day! Jonny's rugby team won their first game vs. Old Pueblo from Tucson 54-12. We had a good turnout of knitter's, Pam and her dog Lucy, Michelle, and Machaela. Unfortunately I didn't get much knitting done, but it was a very social day.

angus_sleeping_1

Angus sleeping at the game

Michelle_Gemma_1

Gemma with Michelle

sexy_tony_1

Tony striking a pose - girls see what your missing!

tony_jonny_1

Tony and Jonny after the game

Jonny_Angus

Angus and Daddy at his first trip to Kaddy Corner

We had good news the other day, Jonny's cousin is coming to visit from Australia next Saturday, so we are really looking forward to his visit. We will be busy tomorrow preparing the house for his visit. I am planning on sneaking out to meet everyone at Pita Jungle. I hope to see you tomorrow.

Friday, March 11, 2005

My girls all grown up!

Today was a fairly normal Friday. We went to school and came home for naps. Angus was in quite a fowl mood. It started a couple days ago. I was dreading that he might be teething and now I am pretty sure that is what's bugging our little man. I gave him a little Tylenol and it was off to our first day back at the gym.

I went for my first work-out at the gym and left Angus in the infant area and Gemma in the toddler area. I have to say it was not as stressful to leave Angus as it was for me to leave Gemma at the gym when she was a baby. I went to the locker room to lock up my stuff and the jumped on the treadmill for a nice long run. I wasn't 2 minutes into my run when they paged me. I thought the worse, Gemma had an accident or Angus is screaming his head off. I got down the child center to find out I only had a dirty diaper to change. Whew! I was back up to the treadmill and my nice relaxing 30 minute run.

I went to pick the kids up and Angus was a sleep. I still had an hour left of child center, so Gemma and I rushed to the locker room to get ready for our swim. It was so nice and Gemma is quite the little fish. We chased each other around the pool for a while and had swimming races.

We picked Angus up from the child center and he was in a great mood! Our first trip to the gym was a success!!!

Tonight Auntie Pam stopped by to show me her knitting. She is making the Booga Bag and had made a few mistakes. She asked Gemma if she wanted to have a sleepover at her house and Gemma agreed. We packed up her bags (as she kept singing the Sonia Da Da song 'I'm going to pack up my bags and I'm gonna go away') and she was off to Auntie Pam's house for the night.

I have to say, it sure is quiet without her around here. I had to call and make sure things were going ok and sure enough they were having a ball!

Tomorrow is her preschool ballet class and rugby. Let me know if you are interested in going to rugby! Speaking of rugby, did you know that Phoenix has it's very own gay rugby team? They are called the Phoenix Storm. Jonny met a Scottish guy last night at practice who plays for them! I guess there is a gay rugby league in the US. What a great way to meet someone!

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

I think my computer problems are over...

gemma_bubbles_1

Gemma in her bath

I have to say that I have really missed posting the past few days while my computer was on the blink. We have been so busy the last few days and I really want to share the fun things that we have done the last few days, especially the pictures!

Pam L. brought her camera to rugby and took a couple adorable pictures of the kids. One picture is with my dear friend Pam J. who is known to the kids as Auntie Pam.

gemma_angus

Gemma and Angus

auntie_pam

Auntie Pam and the kids

Sunday we met Brooke, Joe, and Jack at Duck and Decanter for lunch.

brooke_gemma_1

Gemma and Brooke

joe_gemma_jack_1

Gemma with Joe and Jack

We had a fabulous bottle of Alamos Malbec, my new favorite wine! Jonny is the wine conesiuerr of the family and he turned me on to this wine. I think he is just looking for a drinkin’ buddy! Brooke and I also switched knitting projects for SWTC. I was working on the dreaded Mariposa shawl and Brooke had a girls cardigan. I will be much happier and less stressed with the cardigan.

After lunch we went to Art Detour to see our friend Thuong’s new art work. His new prints are really impressive. He just gets better with age!

thuong_1

Uncle Thuong at his studio

angus_jonny_1

Angus and Jonny getting ready to go into Legend City

mona_lisa_1

Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa how I love you....

Monday, the kids and I spent the day shopping for groceries, washing the mini-van, and then spent the afternoon on the phone with Dell. Uhg!!!! Thankfully our friend Steve Soukup agreed to fix our computer!!!

Tuesday we had a great day hiking at South Mountain Park with Gemma’s playgroup. Unfortunately I forgot the camera, so there are no pictures. I have never hiked in this part of the park, but we definitely will bring our out of town visiter’s here for a nice walk. The kids just ran around the trails for an hour and the views were breathtaking! After the kids woke up from their naps we headed to our neighborhood park. The weather was pretty fantastic! I was able to start the cardigan for SWTC while Gemma played in the park. I headed to Cupz for an evening of knitting.

melanie_1

Melanie and her cool hat!

pam_1

Pam in her future cool hat she is designing!

Today, was very fun. We met Brooke, Kirsten, Julie and her two friends for a day at the zoo. I have to blow my daughter’s horn, she was so well behaved and such a big girl at the zoo! She did so well with the babies and made a new friend, Jake Kirsten’s little boy. We had a nice picnic lunch and then headed back to Chandler.

angus_gemma_zoo_1

Angus and Gemma getting ready for the zoo.

gemma_tractor_1

Gemma, a midwest farmer at heart!

gemma_egg_1

Gemma and the egg

After naps we headed to the park again to meet Annette and Gage. I also met woman at the park who was knitting. It is just all the rage!

Good news on regarding Gemma’s swimming! She will be testing out of the third level in two weeks! Yeah!!!

Tomorrow we are heading to playgroup and then a picnic in the park with Annette and Jill and the kids. It is suppose to be in the 80's tomorrow! Anyone jealous?

Saturday we are going to rugby again. Let me know if you are interested! I think Pam L. is in.


Monday, March 07, 2005

More technical difficulties...

I am having more technical difficulties with my laptop. I spent most of the day on the phone with Dell technical support and I have to say, they don't know crap! I also will go as far to say that I would not recommend buying a Dell nor will I ever purchase a Dell. Luckily I have a friend coming over tomorrow to check out my computer. Whew! I will be back to normal blogging! (Sorry Mom, I will post the pictures of the kids tomorrow.)

Tomorrow night I am planning on going to Cupz in Gilbert to check that place out. I know Pam and Melanie are going too! I hope to see you there! Anyone know how to knit socks? I am on the gusset part of my socks for Jonny and I don't know what I am doing.

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Ballerina School, Knitting, Crochetting, and Rugby

Gemma had her first day for Ballet School. She is taking Preschool Ballet with the City of Chandler Parks and Recreation Department. It was really cute; there were 15 little girls in dance attire between the ages of 3-5. The girls were to stand on the red line and Gemma stood there with her fingers in her mouth for the first 20 minutes.

ballet_before_1
Gemma with her finger in her mouth.

angus_kim_ballet_1

Mommy and her little man.


gemma_kim_ballet_1

Gemma and Mommy after ballet.

Jonny was a bit worried about her, but I knew that she would perform before the end of the class. Sure enough, the girl didn’t let me down. She was following the teacher and the other girls by the end of the class.

After ballet we planned a knitting and rugby day out. Jonny’s team played Tempe in Chandler. Pam J., Pam L. and Melanie all came to the game with knitting in tow. Melanie also came with Mariah, her cute little dog. I have to say that Melanie is the bomb with kids! She entertained Gemma the entire game with Mariah. Melanie, you don’t know how much I appreciated you today! Gemma had a great time! We had a great day working on our projects. My sock is coming along, Pam J.’s felted bag is looking good, Melanie is working on an awesome hat, and Pam is the crocheting queen is designing a hat! We had a great day out and I am thinking the girls liked the view.

I hope those of you who missed it can make it next weekend. Hopefully the weather will be more agreeable!

We are looking forward to tomorrow; we are meeting Brooke, Joe, and Jack for lunch at Duck and Decanter and going to Art Detour. Should be a great day!

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Mrs. Social Butterfly

Call me a sucker for social events and clubs. My neighbor invited me to come to her card club. Who am I to turn down a chance to meet new people and socialize? There was about 12 or so women playing the game Ueker. I picked up the game pretty quickly because it is very much like my favorite card game 10 point pitch, a very popular Nebraska card game. I had a great time playing cards, but thing that was most amazing is that I met a woman named Molly from Minnesota. Now you may not know this, but I lived in Minneapolis for 4 1/2 years before moving to Arizona (I have been here just over 9 years.). When living in Mpls I was totally into the music scene. I went to see a band on the average of once a week. Molly and I must have been at the same place at the same time because we had seen all of the same bands and had the same favorite bands. I used to hang out at First Avenue, the home of the movie "Purple Rain", the Fine Line Music Cafe, and the Cabooze. Her favorite band is Big Head Todd and the Monsters, which is also my most favorite band. It was so great to reminisce about the great times seeing bands such as Mango Jam, the Honeydogs, Big Backyard, Soul Asylum, Prince, Sonia Dada, etc. I am also very excited to say that Big Head Todd will be playing at the McDowell Mountain Ranch Music Festival on the 30th of April, whoopee!!!

On the knitting front, not much completed today. I worked a couple rounds of my sock. I really need to get started on the Mariposa shawl for SWTC, but I noticed Brooke may want to trade me test knitting projects. I guess she hasn't see the pattern for Mariposa!

Don't forget, Saturday is knitting and rugby. Bring your knitting and lawn chairs! Jonny's team plays at 1 pm on Saturday at Cieleto Park at 35th Avenue and Campbell. Please come if you can make it. Right now I think Pam, Jen, and Melanie are in! It should be a good day out!




Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Mommy girls don't like boys

angus_smile_1
Angus' first smiling picture!

Today was a fabulous day like I expected. We spent the day up north with Brooke & Jack, Julie & Mac, and Sandee. Gemma had an even better day spending most of it with Sandee baking. Brooke, Julie, myself and the boys headed to Jessica Knits for a couple hours of knitting. I was very happy to get my husbands socks started and I have to say they are turning out quite good! I am using Reggia yarn in a variegated black/grey color.

boys_1
The Jack, Mac, and Angus on the Streech's floor.

angus_floor_1
Little person, big ideas!
We headed back to Brooke's parents house to have lunch and see what Sandee and Gemma whipped up. What a wonderful surprise we had to see that Gemma and Sandee not only baked cookies, but cookies (with the chip of her choice), bars, and biscotti. They were fabulous!!!

gemma_sandee_1

Gemma and Sandee with their baking delights!

We sat down to lunch and Gemma to my embarrassment was quite entertaining. She said to me, "Mommy girls don't like boys." and I told her "I like your Daddy and he's a boy." She went on to say "Boys have cha chas". Now cha cha is the name that we came up with to call a girl's private parts. Everyone at the table was a little confused, so I had to explain to Gemma that wasn't true, so Brooke asked Gemma "What do boys really have?" of course Gemma answers "Boys have willies." Everyone got a good laugh out of that. I would have to say that kids are a lot of work, but the hours of entertainment they provide are priceless.

I dropped the kids off with Jonny, so he could take Gemma to swimming lessons and I headed to Wildflower and Changing Hands for a night of knitting.

melanie_pam_1
Melaine and Pam in action.

knitting_1
Knitting at Changing Hands

What a wonderful day :) Tomorrow we are off to playgroup and I am having another mommy night at my neighbor's house for card club.

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Thank you notes

First of all I want to apologize for my tardiness on the thank you notes for Angus' baby gifts. Some of you may have received them, but you are the lucky ones. I still have about 50 to write. Is it just me or is it really hard to write thank you notes? It isn't because we don't appreciate everyone's kindness, we do more than you can imagine, but I am not sure why I have a hard time sitting down to write them. I have been trying to write them as I plan on seeing people, but I have already fail miserably at that task, so I am turning over a new leaf and writing them in between typing by entry this evening. So, Sandee and Julie please look forward to your very tardy thank you note tomorrow. Kiki and Alison, will you be at knitting tomorrow? If so you can look forward to yours too!

Today I played foreign relations minister to Northern Ireland. I had my friends Marion (Madine) Kelleher and Bronagh (Quinn) Powell over for lunch with their children. Bronagh is from Kilkeel and Marion is from Belfast. Marion is my MOMS Club friend and Bronagh's husband is our eye doctor. I thought it would be great for them to meet because I think it is always nice to meet someone from where you grew up. They seem to understand you better. We had a nice afternoon and I really think they had a nice time.

Jonny came home late from work, again and decided to go to rugby, so I was in charge of bedtime for the kids. It has been so nice lately, Gemma has been telling us that she is tired around 8 pm and goes to bed on her own. Unfortunately she has decided to get out of bed earlier, but I am pretty happy about her early bed time. Now if we could only get Master Angus to sleep through the night...Maybe in a few more weeks..

We are looking very forward to tomorrow. Gemma, Angus, and I are going up to Sandee, Brooke's mom in hopes of getting adopting! We going up to take Gemma to bake cookies with Sandee while we go to knit at Jessica Knits. We also have knitting at Changing Hands tomorrow night, so it will be a great day, whoopee!!!!