It seems like for the past 6 months, we have become hermits up here on the hill. We wanted to have Mica and Courtney over because it has been so long since we have seen them and we were due! It was really good to see them and also to see how well Madeline and Lootah got along. I love it when there is minimal bickering and with them, there was. Around 8:30 we gave them some ice cream, good idea right? Sure. The video below is about 10 minutes after they ate their ice cream. I'm not saying it's because of the ice cream but they were just crazy! It was super fun to be around though. Check it out.

6.5!!


So, it hit about 4:20ish and Madeline and I were sitting in the office at that time. Do you see all of those books??!! We jetted out of there and ran outside. I was not wearing any shoes and Mike was scrubbing the deck with bleach, it was soaked and cold out there but it was CRAZY! It was a pretty big earthquake and I haven't felt one like that in a long time...I wasn't too freaked out until Mike told me that "Who knows, San Francisco could be out in the ocean right now!" Madeline was not to keen on the whole 'shaking'. She just keeps saying that she doesn't want it to shake anymore.
Geez, we have been saying for a long time that we need to refinish those back doors and this picture makes me think that a million times more now. Shabby lil' shack!
We hung out outside for awhile and played in the cold but we knew there would be aftershocks (even though I didn't actually feel any) and would just much rather be outside if another big one rolled through.


Here is Madeline playing in the herb garden. She found the birdbath full of water and fallen leaves and had a lovely time splashing around in it and in the mud too. She didn't care that it was cold, she would rather be outside than in any day!
Luckily, I finished all my cake and appetizer job before the power went out. It was out for maybe 5 hours at the most. We ended up going down to the neighbor's house and having dinner with them too. No one was too freaked out but of course we can all sit around and laugh about it now. Amazingly enough, the radio stations were not reporting anything for the longest time! They just kept playing music. Annoying.
Anyways, all is good up on the hill, I don't think anything other than a little stack of books fell over. We are lucky I guess especially after seeing the mayhem in Old Town.
Let's hope it's awhile until our next one!

Here is a video of Madeline. Just listen real close! Super cute.

There are so many apples out there right now that Madeline and I decided to make a French apple tart on Saturday night. We are trying to bake a lot over this break and looking to find a few specialties! She LOVES to help me whenever I am working in the kitchen and I love that she does. She seems to genuinely enjoy it. Here she is rolling out the dough and counting!

This weekend was busy with birthday parties on both days. Saturday morning, Charles had his 3rd birthday party. Rather than having it at their house, they rented out the judo hut. One thing that I really dislike about working full time is that there are so many fun classes and activities that happen during the day that Madeline just can't do. This little place was pretty cool. The kids were just able to run around and do pretty much whatever, everything was soft so if they fell, getting hurt was not really a problem. Not much crying went on. I think Charles was hit at one point by a girl but other than that, it was pretty tame. Madeline took awhile to warm up as usual but once she saw all of the fun things to do, she jumped right in. She apparently has a knack for balance. She found this little balance beam pretty fun. At first she had her socks on but when we turned around, she was pulling them off for better traction. She was serious about doing it well, arms out and all. That's Liz in the background...She also really likes to hang on bars, she has done this for awhile. She hangs and rocks her legs back and forth to get herself swinging. Pretty fun.
I am finally starting to cook a little bit again. It's weird how I just have no interest in food this time around. Nothing ever really sounds good. For 4 months it has been this way. For the last two Sundays however, I have been working my way back into the kitchen. I won't say that I'm not sick on Sundays but just less sick and not until later. So I need to strike when I can and get cooking done early. I made Aebelskivers which are really just pancake balls but that just doesn't sound as appetizing. I try and keep breakfast a little bit exciting for Madeline, I don't want her eating the same thing every day, I like her trying new things all of the time!
Anyways, there is a picture, they were pretty tasty.
Now, what am I going to make next Sunday??