One Whole Year.

Yep. I've officially been doing my blog for one whole year. :) And this is my 199th blog post.

Kind of neat, don't you think?

Crazy Cool.

Did you all see the first Transformers movie? We sure did, and I can be frequently heard saying that it's one of my all-time favorite movies. It might seem like an odd choice for me, but the special effects were amazing! So, we decided to see the new Transformers movie today, and I have to say ... it did not disappoint. Wow. Wow. Wow. It was fast-paced, and action-packed from the get-go. And the special effects were mind-boggling! We highly recommend it.

Show tonight in Lodi.

CV has a show tonight at The 180 in Lodi. Playing with: A Light in August, Afterview, and See the Light

I was certainly a fan.

The kids are in the family room watching video after video of Michael Jackson. Switching between VH1, Fuse, MTV, and MTV2. There were a lot of Michael Jackson videos. I grew up listening to Michael Jackson. I was (still am) a fan. And apparently I passed that appreciation on to my kids because as each new video begins, they are very excited to see it. Reminiscing and talking about different aspects of the song/video, what they liked about it, etc.

We all know in the latter part of his life he seemed, well I hate to say it, a little bit crazy. And then the courts of law found him innocent of all those horrific charges. Still… his contribution to music is undeniable. His story is so amazing, and so bizarre, and so tragic, all at once. I for one hope he rests in peace.

Uncle Paul (Butler).

Sadly, Uncle Paul (Roy's brother) passed away on Wednesday, June 24, 2009. He would have turned 72 on August 12th. Our hearts go out to Roy, Joan and the entire Butler family at this very sad time.

Left to right: Roy, twins Bryce and Bruce, and Paul Lee.

When Shawn was little ...

... he loved this movie. And there had been a few occasions over the last 16 years or so where he had been reminded of that fact. The first that I most definitely recall was when Austen and Kale were little. Bailey may not have even been here yet (not sure). But something sparked a memory in him, and he went on the hunt for the movie. It wasn't easy to find, and I believe we ended up renting it, but he really, really wanted the boys to see it. And they did, and they loved it. (Okay, i don't really remember if they loved it, but for the sake of this story, I'm going with "they loved it". )

So fast forward to this past weekend, 2009. Shawn, Bailey and I were (sort of) watching Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (the 2nd one). That movie is so silly and ridiculous. And there is the very funny part where Ace is driving the jeep and singing the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang song, and there it was .... the second time Shawn realized that he loved this movie as a child. And so it was that when we were heading out to Old Navy and Best Buy on Saturday evening with Roy and Joan that Shawn made it his mission to find (and buy) that movie. And he did. Shawn, Bailey and I watched it on Sunday. (The boys weren't too interested this time around ... haha.) And did you know ... it's 2.5 hours long? Yeah. I didn't know that either. But it really is so adorable, and sweet. I'm really glad Shawn found it, and that we watched it together, just like we had done with Austen and Kale. It really is a wonderful little (long) movie.

And all of this talk got us to thinking about Austen's little love affair with Calamity Jane. Yes, you read that correctly. My little dude adored that movie when he was little. So much so that Grandma Joan searched high and low to give it to him for some occasion, any occasion and never found it back then. I do believe she had it in her collection of old films, and he would always watch it there, and he just loved it so. While at Best Buy, Shawn also searched for it, but didn't have any luck. This is another one I'd love to have Bailey watch. I think she'd really love it, too. So, I will start searching on the internet, and hope that I find it.

Where, oh where, did the weekend go?

Happy Father's Day to all the dads we know out there! I meant to blog this morning, and here it is 8:33pm! The day is nearly done. Hope everyone had a wonderful day!

We celebrated these two guys (yes they were being goofy at Chevys back in April!) and Buzz, too, yesterday. Mom and Dad Butler came earlier in the day to spend time with us. Joan, Bailey and I walked around the Fountains shopping center. In Anthropologie, Bailey found a beautiful, super intricate pop-up book about fairies, and Grandma Joan was happy to get it for her. So sweet and it was really gorgeous! What a neat keepsake to have. When the Bamerts arrived in the late afternoon, we bbq'd tri-tip, had potato salad and a green salad, and then of course lots of great desserts afterwards. The Bamerts (minus Zack, who is a counselor at a summer camp) left around 7:30pm. Roy and Joan stayed the night and left this morning. Such a wonderful time spent together.

Sure wish we could have seen you, Dad, and Nathan, Brandon and Michael. Like we were able to last year. We miss everyone so much (all the mommas and children too!) Love you guys!

Show tonight.

The band has another show at Club Retro tonight!

Edited 6/21/09: Jeremiah was not able to scream, as he's been sick for about two weeks (actually since the Bakersfield show). Milo stepped in (he can scream really well, too!) and just didn't play guitar. They ended up going on pretty late (there were more bands than usual), which got them home pretty late. But all in all, they had another great show! Thankfully, Shawn was in charge of getting them picked up and I went to sleep. Haha. Kale and CJ had an awesome time. Kale said this was the first time that he actually "threw down" at a show. And, apparently, he rather enjoyed himself! He is such a great, supportive brother! Of course the day after the show (yesterday) he was super, super sore from all that serious dancing! His shoulders were just killing him. He's probably lucky he didn't throw his back out.

Roseville's way of recycling. (Odd as it is).

In Roseville, we do not have to worry about sorting those aluminum cans, plastic containers or glass bottles. We just throw our recyclables into the regular trash can. The City of Roseville picks it up. Drops it off at the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) where recyclables are hand sorted from the trash. (I do not want that job!) Trash goes to the landfill and the recyclables are sent to manufacturers to be reused. Easy and convenient. Just one of the things that makes Roseville amazing.

(Information taken from the City of Roseville website at: http://www.roseville.ca.us/eu/solid_waste_utility/recycling/default.asp

So, really ... the only reason for me to do recycling on my own would be for the money, and as previously mentioned ... it just doesn't seem worth collecting for months, having bags all over the side of the house and garage, waiting in line for over an hour, and dealing with the nasty filth of it all, to just receive $31. Haha. I imagine I would feel differently if the City of Roseville didn't have a great recycling plan in place.

Note to Darcy: I love the idea of a water dispenser or a water purifying system! I'll have to look into that. What kind do you use?

Recycling.

So, we've been collecting bottles and cans for what seems like forever. We had 7 huge bags of stuff and finally decided we'd cash them in today. Now, I'm all for recycling, saving the earth and what not, but I have to say .... never again. Never, ever again. When Bailey and I got there, there was a line (of course there'd be a line, right?) But we gathered up our bags and got in line anyway. I figured, I'm here. I may as well get this over with. So, as we're settling in to waiting, a woman drives up and the worker calls over and tells her, "ma'am, I just want you to know that there is a minimum of an hour wait." Oh crap. So, there we stood getting sunburned. And all the while the moron working the place is just taking his sweet time, talking to the person he's helping. I mean, I was getting pretty annoyed. Finally, we get up there, deal with the mess of the bags, dumping them into trash cans for him to weigh, taking lids off water bottles (didn't know they needed to be off ... that was fun), and what do you think we managed to get for all our troubles? $31.91. Like I said, never again.

Summer Fun.

Our trampoline has sure been lovingly used!
Do you love the little farmer tan she's got goin' on? Haha. That's from wearing her various shirts, with camis underneath to school. That's what you end up with.

I sure miss Kale.

Here is the first video from the Rockin Roots 2009 show in Bakersfield. This clip includes the Intro and Eyes of Desire. Jordan wasn't able to play, so their friend Mikki filled in on bass. From what the guys told me, and from what I see in the video, he fit right in and did a great job. Thanks, Mikki, for filling in!

I have to say ... I sure miss seeing Kale up there. It still feels weird to me that he isn't a part of this. And while Milo is a super amazing guitarist, and a great person, he really isn't a singer. So that is especially hard for me to see. I'm not sure how they justify having him sing, while saying Kale "isn't up to par". That makes no sense to me. Anyway, that being said, the instruments sound great and in the videos that follow this, the crowd gets pretty large, and are definitely into the band! Way to go CV! Awesome job!

Happy Birthday Danielle!

Happy Birthday Danielle! Hope your day is special, just like you.

Rockin' Roots Festival Update.

Texts between Austen and I today:

Me: 10:06am Did you make it there? How does it seem?
Austen: 10:13am Unorganized. hahaha. Will and them got lost too. I'm trippin.
Me: 10:50am Anything going on now?
Austen: 10:58am Soundcheck.
Me:12:01pm Is Dad going to record it? Is James Grant (Lodi photographer who's taken photos for us before) there?
Austen: 12:05pm Ya he is. And haven't seen James yet.
Austen: 12:32pm So funnnnn! Like ten people asked for an autograph. No lie!
Me: 12:45pm That's so cool! Did Dad record it? Was James there? I hope! I hope! Selling any demos?
Austen: 12:50pm We didn't sell em. Just gave em out. Better promotion and like forty got snagged fast. And yes Dad did, and James didn't.
Austen: 1:00pm Well me and Fairy (Jeremiah) are talkin to the singer of Martydom! A hella big band.
Me: 1:02pm Well, I'll leave you alone. Just feel like I'm missing out. haha.
Austen: 1:07pm Yeahh love you mom! bye.
Me: 1:11pm Love you too. Be careful.
Austen: 3:30pm I got a sick shirt that says "girls don't poop".
Me: 3:31pm Sounds delightful.
Austen: 3:34pm Ya, it's a clothing company.
Austen: 5:13pm You know grody Jeffree Star? Well, Milo got his/her? signature on his stomach. JS is freaky ... and so fake lookin'.
Me: 5:15pm That's funny and disturbing. haha.
Me: 9:18pm Having fun? Whatcha doing now?
Austen: 9:19pm Yea super funn. Bout to watch Friday the 13th and get some hot fudge sundaes! How you guys doing?
Me: 9:21pm Sounds fun. Bailey's updating her blog and I'm just going thru pictures. Kind of boring compared to your day. Haha. See you tomorrow. Love you.

And my texts with Kale:

Me: 12:54pm How are you feeling? (He's been feeling a little under the weather).
Kale: 12:54pm Good
Me: 12:55pm Having fun?
Kale: 1:13pm Yeah, I am.
Me: 2:56pm Does the hotel have a pool?
Kale: 2:57pm We're (he and CJ) going swimming right now.
Me: 2:57pm What's Dad doing?
Kale: 2:58pm Kickin it in the room.
Me: 2:58pm Any cute girls? Haha.
Kale: 3:06pm Nah. It's dead here.
Me: 9:18pm Having fun? Whatcha doing now?
Kale: 9:49pm Laying in bed, watching tv. How are you and Bailey?
Bailey: 9:50pm Hi Kale. It's Bailey cause Mom is on the phone with Dad. We are doing fine. Are you good? Was the show good?
Kale: 9:51pm Great. Super tired. It's a fun trip though.
Bailey: Cool. And today we went to the mall and I got a Twilight bag, t-shirt and sticker at Hot Topic. Anyways, love you and mom says love you. Bye.
Kale: 9:54pm Goodnight Bailey. Love you, too.

5 hour drive for a 20 minute set.

Shawn and the boys left this morning at about 4am for Bakersfield. Kale's friend CJ went, too. All I gotta say is Shawn is one awesome Dad! They are playing at the 2009 Rockin' Root Festival at Stramler Park today. As a matter of fact, they are probably on stage right now, as they are scheduled to play at 12:15pm on Stage 4. My clock shows that it's 12:18pm.

This is a pretty big deal. It's an all day festival. Tickets are $30, and there are approximately 80 bands playing on 8 or 9 different stages throughout the day. There's food, vendors, various contests (I'm sure some bikini-related ... haha), and wrestling (kind of weird). They are spending the night in Bakersfield so the boys can experience the rest of the festival. There are other big bands playing later: Taking Back Sunday, Anberlin, Saosin, Suicide Silence. I'm sure it will be an amazing experience for the boys. Shawn, I'm not so sure what he'll do to keep busy. Haha. Maybe go back to the hotel and sleep, or rent a movie? Call in some room service? I just don't see him hanging out with the boys all day and night. I will update later when I find out how it's going.

National Donut Day.

I saw that on MSN this morning. I guess National Donut Day falls on the first Friday of June every year. Yum.

Final field trip of the year.

Bailey and I went on her last field trip of 4th grade on Monday (June 1st). We first went to the IMAX Esquire Theater in Sacramento and saw Adventures in Wild California. I imagine this must be somewhat similar to the California Soarin' ride at Disney's California Adventure, minus the moving seats, smells and other special effects. It was amazing and breathtaking, with a little bit of motion sickness thrown in for good measure. Haha. It wasn't too bad. Next, we walked to a park to eat lunch. I had a total of three girls in my little group. Did I luck out, or what? Well, Bailey was one of the three (of course) and wouldn't you know it ... I managed to lose the other two during lunch. Well, that's not entirely true. These two were just being a tad difficult, for lack of a better word. They just didn't want to stay close to us (we were also hanging with my friend Lisa, her daughter Lauren, and their group). So we sat to eat lunch, and they just meandered over to another group. I thought, "no biggie". As long as I can see them, I don't really care. Well, I looked away for a minute and they were gone. Gone. No where to be seen. So, I casually start walking around to see if I can spot them. Nothing. Keep in mind, there's about 70 kids and their chaperones. So I'm figuring they are here, I'm just not seeing them. That has to be it. I start to move further out, asking other Moms I know if they've seen them. There's a big rose garden near by. Maybe they've gone there? Who knows why, but maybe? Nope. They are gone. Of course, I'm starting to get worried at this point. Pissed, but worried. You know? I'm thinking ... these little butts should have stayed with me. Anyway, as I'm walking back, I see them run by from off in the distance, just as carefree as can be. Oh my god. Are you kidding me? I walked over to them, and I'm sure the look on my face said quite a bit. But I really raised my voice, and said what the heck! Where have you been? Their response? Oh, we had to go to the bathroom. We asked Mr. K and he said it was fine. I was really mad and told them so. I made it very clear that I'm their chaperone, and I need to know where they are at all times. Thankfully, all was well, and after that, they turned into little angels and never left my side.
After lunch we walked to the California Museum for a tour. We passed the Capitol as we went, and Bailey snapped this photo. We only brought her small camera because I knew there'd be lots of walking.

There was a lot of interesting information that pertains to California at the museum. We felt kind of rushed, and thought it would be nice to go back in the future.

Hard to see this, but it was a ceiling mural that was quite large.

Another view of the ceiling mural.

The two stinkers (Ridge, Lexie) and Bailey. Haha.

Happy (belated) Birthday Zack!

Oh my. Where does the time go? Tuesday (June 2nd) was Zack's 20th birthday, and I had intended to do a post about it, and here we are at Friday. Oops. Sorry, Zack! We sure hope your day was great. Happy, happy birthday! (Picture taken Christmas 2008. Good to see that 19 year olds can still be silly!)

Bubble Wands.

I've been picking up little things here and there to keep Bailey busy during those times when she says "I'm bored". Haha. She really hasn't done that too much (yet), but school's not even out until next Thursday. :) And she's already dipping into what I've jokingly called the box of summer fun. Case in point ... these $1.00 bubble wands from Walmart. Gotta love an inexpensive activity.

Quote for the Day.

After recently reading Alexa's essay on the play Trifles, I couldn't help but think of her when I saw this quote. :)


“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing...By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.

-Charlotte, "Charlotte's Web"”

—E. B. White (1899-1985); author

New artwork.

I hung up some new artwork today. This was something that came home with Bailey after her open house. Dang it's cute. She pieced together this flower and sun from various fabrics, and I thought it was the cutest thing, so I put it in a frame and hung it right up. It sure makes me happy.

Say hello to my little friend.

Haha. I've always wanted to say that.

Bailey and I were at Learning Express the other day. She was in the market for a "smencil" (that's a pencil that smells ... she picked watermelon). Well, I spotted these adorable little stuffed animals called "Ugly Dolls". You can see them all here at: Ugly Dolls .

The little dude below is named Ox. Haha. See how his eyes spell it out? I thought that was darn cute. Anyway, he's mine. I couldn't help myself and had to pick one out for my office. (If you click on the link above, he's actually one of the little uglies. He's a little smaller than the classic size ugly. I told Bailey that we'd have to play around with some felt and see if we could make our own. That would be a fun summer project.