Monkey See, Monkey Do... Part Deux

Look at these two monkeys!
I mean... really? Nice fake crying boys! LOL.

And, i just crack up at the fact that Oliver loves to do whatever Miles is doing... right down to playing with his feet! LOL.



(Oh, and nice dead basil plant in the background. Neat.)

I'm in love with you

This morning I dropped the kids off at Layla's and since I work from home on Friday's, I decided to hang out for a while... I like chatting with Layla and seeing the kids play.

Oliver grabbed a few books and I started reading to Miles, Oliver, Sarah, and Peyton. One of the books was an animal nursery rhyme singing book.

As we were all singing and having fun Miles looked over at me and said "I'm in love with you mommy" without missing a beat and kept on singing.

It was very sweet and it warmed my heart all day long. Such a sweet boy and he LOVES his mommy!

I love cake

Mmmmmmm....




I just have to say that he sure takes after his mommy in these pictures. LOL

Fall = new background

In honor of my FAVORITE season - I decided it was time to change my blog background.
I simply love fall.
I've always loved fall.
As a child - I loved going back to school, new beginnings, seeing old friends.
I love the crisp smell in the air.
I love the cooler evenings.
I love the colors of fall.
I love October... my birthday and Halloween.
And then I love the holidays that follow... Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Mileszah

Oliver has started saying Miles... but he says "Miles-zah" I love it and can't get enough of him saying it.

Too bad he has a mouth full of cheese in this video, but you get the idea...

The things you will do...

We had our good friends Monica, Mallar, and Morgan over for dinner last night. Miles, Morgan and Oliver were happily eating dinner in front of the TV (you gotta do what you gotta do on a Friday night to get some adult time).

Of course Oliver ate his dinner quickly and he doesn't get very into watching TV, so we needed something to keep him busy. In an effort to buy ourselves a bit more time at the dinner table, we told him to get the Dirt Devil (hand vacuum) and clean up the rice on the floor. Well, he was more than happy to do so... and we just kept throwing more and more rice on the floor and he kept busy vacuuming for at least 20 minutes or so. LOL!

Gosh, the things you will do to get a few more minutes of time to eat your dinner!

Yesth

One of my favorite words that Oliver started saying recently is "yesth" (yes). I want to eat him up when he says it.

Lil Bruiser

While I was away this past weekend, enjoying a wonderful Girls Weekend in Seattle with my mom and sister (and of course my dad)... Derek was at home with the boys. He invited some of his guy friends and their kids over on Saturday to hang out.

Derek took this video of the kids dancing in our bedroom (please don't ask me why they ended up dancing in our bedroom?!) and lil Oliver is a little bruiser/troublemaker!!! What is his deal??? First hit takes a few sucker punches at sweet Morgan (clearly he needs to learn that you do NOT hit a girl!) and then he tries to ride Will like a horse! Derek said that he had to stop recording the video so he could get Oliver off of Will. LOL! He seems to be a true (John) Ramstetter! This guy could be trouble!!!

Goo Goo's birthday celebration

We had Lisa (Goo Goo), Kevin and his g-friend Mai, and Hao-bu (Derek's mom) over for Lisa's birthday celebration on Monday night. It was a really nice night - the weather was perfect for dinner outside and it's always nice getting together with family.

The food was very yummy, if I do say so myself. By the request of the birthday girl, we made babyback ribs which we slow cooked in the oven for 4 hours and when they came out of the oven, they were falling off the bone. Also by request, we made pork chops which we brined all day and then grilled them. With the chops, we made a onion-peach marmalade to go on top of the chops and they were delicious. It was very easy and sooo good.

Here's the recipe for the pork chops... I highly recommend it:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1816274

We finished the night with a birthday cake and Miles and Oliver loved helping Goo Goo blow out her candles.

Happy birthday, Lisa! Here's to a great year! XOXO

CC's baby shower

This past weekend, I had the honor of co-hosting a baby shower for one of my dear friends, Christina (aka CC). Christina is expecting her first baby, a boy, on November 11th and I cannot be more thrilled for her and Justin (aka JMan) to start their family! They are going to be amazing parents and their little bean is going to be so cute! It was very special for me to throw her baby shower -- Christina has done so many wonderful things for me and my family over the years (to name a few... throwing me my baby shower when I had Miles; cooking so many incredible dinners and desserts, and, most importantly, she is always there for me) so it was such a treat for me to do something special for her. Her baby shower was in San Francisco at Mary's (her sister) house. It was so nice to see Christina surrounded by her friends and family who love her so much. It was a great day! We can't wait to meet you lil baby Mauch!

Here are a few pics from the shower...

{Christina, the glowing guest of honor!}

{The soon-to-be grandmas... Christina's mom and Justin's mom... talking about who gets to babysit first, hee hee}

{Christina and Wendy... who came all the way from Boston!}

{Christina's BFF from LA, Seem, and other guests}

{The beautiful flowers and the yummy food}