Steve and I took the boys to explore the Los Osos Oaks State Reserve today. We love Montana de Oro and the Elfin Forest, but we had never checked out this spot. It’s located off to the left of Los Osos Valley Road just as you come into town. It is so AMAZING! The pathways are easy for kiddos (and moms who don’t feel like hiking). It’s literally a forest of dwarf oak trees growing in the sand dunes–so they grow all topsy turvy. Great for climbing. We felt like we were in Lord of the Rings–the place is magical! Then we grabbed a little lunch and headed up to see the elephant seals. They wre very noisy and active today. Lots of pups as well. We felt like we were on vacation in our own town. Anyone know any other hidden treasures we should explore?

I was reading an article in one of my home magazine yesterday entitled, ‘perfectly imperfect’ and the phrase really got me thinking. we spend so much time trying to get everything perfect–and what do we really accomplish? Sure i’d like to lose 5 pounds, have a cleaner house, and perfectly behaved kids, but the stress of trying to maintain those things comes with a high price. When I really look at my motives, i think my aim is to impress other people. The people who come across as perfect to me, I actually find intimidating! So, for the sake of sanity I’m going to make a new effort–to relax and let things be perfectly imperfect.

I got this funky japanese watercolor at a flea market near Santa Barbara (while on a sister trip!) It was only $15 and sat in the garage for a few months. Now it’s found a home in our living room. It’s a fun change and I got it for a song!

Update on the potty–after much coaxing and tempting with stickers (and after I demonstrated sitting on the potty) Matty finally agreed to try out the potty. He hasn’t actually gone “pee pee in the potty” yet, but I can feel it coming…

We are getting ready to potty train Matthias and I must admit, I am somewhat terrified! Diapers work great–why mess with a good thing?? So, I’ve created this little book (this is my behavior specialist background kicking in!) to approach the subject in a positive way. It will have photos of…

his new potty seat–notice how I blurred the edges of the photo to make the seat look even COOLER!

a sticker chart

big boy underwear!

The toilet training guide that came with the potty seat says that toilet training can be a fun and rewarding experience! I’m sure they are completely objective in that opinion! Any great tips???

so matthias and i both got david’s cold. steve’s still fine. we just laid low today–napped, read books, watched a lot of videos, ate soft foods, like, yogurt, pudding and mashed potatoes (we can’t be bothered to chew) and just mellowed out. here’s a couple pics of the boys tonight. steve and i got into a very competitive game of barrel of monkeys. matty wanted to play but he cheats–so we disqualified him (i know, it was his birthday gift, we should be more gracious!) and david scooted around with one sock off and a grubby sweatshirt. hope you are all well and more productive than we are!

here’s a few more shots from yesterday. we had such a great time, but now the boys are exhausted (i’m a little tired, too!), david’s got a green runny nose. we rushed around getting ready for church this morning, and half way there, i turned around and came home. i can’t put David in the toddler room with that yucky nose and the boys are too tired to cooperate. so we are home now. i vaccummed and cleaned the kitchen. we’ll take a nap soon. some days you just need to take it easy–like today!

We had such a blast at the Rock and Roll Diner today! The weather was perfect. We ate hot dogs and played pin the nose on Percy (which the kids totally didn’t understand and nobody wanted to be blindfolded for–but it was darling anyway), opened presents and ate cupcakes. It was every little boy’s dream! My blog will only let me load five pics–which is crazy because I’ve got at least 55 to show you Some of the highlights–the cupcakes turned out cute (at least the second batch did!), a cuddle with mommy, David eats a cupcake and LOVES it (look how Nana’s tongue is sticking out!), and Matty show David his new Lightening McQueen. Matty had a total meltdown on the way home and then crashed for two hours! It was a great birthday!

Got creative last night and made these necklaces with new silver pendants. They look really vintage! Tomorrow is Matty’s party so I’ve got to make cupcakes and somehow design a “pin the nose on percy” game. I bought some tag board, so we’ll see how it turns out. They’re 3 year olds, right? They’ll think it’s a masterpeice! What fun things do you have planned for the weekend?

I can’t believe Matty is turning three. I know it’s so cliche, but I swear, tomorrow I’ll turn around and he’ll be 17! We had David and Matthias so close together. I struggled with feelings of guilt at being so relieved that Matthias was “typical” and without any health issues. I worried that I would love him more. Then I became resentful because he took so much time away from David. I think Matthias has added so much balance to our family. I get to experience two completely different worlds (that often aren’t that different at all)-raising a child with special needs and a child who is typical. The funny thing is, sometimes Matthias can be much more of a challenge than David! And both bring so much joy into our lives. The boys really love each other.

So to celebrate this sweet, energetic and silly little boy we are having lunch at the Rock and Roll Diner-a funky little restaurant in Oceano that is made up of two train cars pushed together. It should be fun–more pics to follow!

Here’s a preview of a few of peices that will be on sale at the open house. I am trying to use up a lot of my supplies, so these are all fun, brand new peices–not things that haven’t sold at other shows!

This is new jade and aventurine-a great, simple piece that would be fun to wear with a sundress and sandels this spring and summer.

These earrings are new! They look great with a scarf in the winter and with your hair pulled back!

This last peice uses bronze freshwater pearls, rose quartz and features a lepidolite pendant. It has a nice heft and feels great on!