Mama's Day Madness

G and I are two very lucky ducks - we got to spend our second Mother's Day with the most important influence in our lives - OG mama bear Jamma. We love you and so appreciate the time you spend trekking back and forth across the country. Thank you for being here. Thank you for taking care of us. 

And to all of the incredible women in my life - I am very grateful for the stellar examples you have set and the mighty village of support. Graham sure is fortunate to be part of this awesome tribe. Love you big. And hope you indulged in a pedicure like I did!

B is for Birthday

I'm 34 today. I've had some pretty epic birthdays, but this started out a bit rough. G had an incident with a cat last week in Nipomo and had to head to the ER to get 3 stitches in his lip. We then had to take him back to his regular doc here in NYC to get the stitches removed. Simple enough, right? NO. WAY. Awful awful awful. I was required to lay on top of him and hold his limbs down (the kid they call Hercules, no easy feat) so they could carefully remove the tiny stitches with tweezers and scissors. It took two doctors and a very long time. The poor kid was in tears. I was in tears. My mom was in tears. But we survived and G is looking MUCH better without the black stitches running up his lip.

My brave boy was quickly back to his cheerful self after a bagel and a visit to the park. 

Ended the day on a much happier note with a delicious birthday dinner at Heidleberg, one of my favorite restaurants in the city. The schnitzel. Is. Amazing.

Ein Prosit auf Gemutlichkeit!

And many more...

Guest Post: Keep on Truckin'

Did you ever imagine KRIS STEPHENSON would become a blogger?? Today a guest post, tomorrow his very own retirement blog titled 'Get Hooked!' full of invaluable advice from a passionate fly-fisherman with thrice-daily email update blasts from "a jerk on one end of the line waiting for a jerk on the other..."

Well, it's been the WEEK(s) of the TRUCK(s) out here in sunny Cal for The Graham-ster.  By far the most exciting day at Grampa and Jamma's house has been Monday morning, which is trash day!  When the trash man starts comin' down the street, Graham gets so amped his whole body starts wiggling and he kicks his legs like crazy...



The driver even gave major toots on the truck horn for the G-man.  He was so excited he couldn't contain himself.  For an encore, there was trash truck #2 for the green cuttings, just a little later.  Same jazz-mentation.  Recycle truck comes late and G was napping.  Could have been a Trash Truck Trifecta!

Other truck activities were pretending to drive Grampa's F-150.  Sometimes in control, sometimes reckless (he was not allowed to text)........but, he's an ace at using the dials.......BIG TIME FUN!!!

Bonus breakfast footage from Graham / Bop-bop's fave meal of the day...

S is for Spring Break

which this kid is enjoying in sunny CA....

sans parents!

I flew back to NYC yesterday... and G stayed behind! His first totally solo stay in Nipomo. Yes, he was already there alone all last week while I was working in LA, but that was less than 3 hours away and now I'm completely across the country! Feels different. Scary. I may have cried in line at the security check. But I know he's having the time of his life and he's as happy as a pig in mud (literally).

 

The morning before I left we had a really nice solo hang, up bright and early for breakfast, went on a walk around the block before anyone else was even up. Just got to soak up some mama and G time. 

Can't wait to see you on Friday, little man!!

Guest Post: Down on the Farm

This week's guest post courtesy of Jeanne Stephenson!

Graham is visiting Jamma and Grandpa Stephenson in Nipomo, and for the first time is staying unsupervised by a responsible parent. We are having tons of fun exploring the “farm.” He is up at 6 every morning, so our days are long. There is much to be done!

Chasing the cat.

Bricks to be moved, and then moved back.

Chickens to be fed and eggs to be gathered...

  (most of them make it to the house).

Adventures with Mazie, who spends most of her time slowly walking away, 

unless of course if Graham has food.

And of course, the flavors of spring to sample with follow-up laundry to be done.

 

It is exhausting work.