Aunt Janis came to visit!

So my sister-in-law came to visit Sacramento on Thursday. Really she came for a ceramics conference at UC Davis, but she was kind enough to come spend Thursday afternoon with my family.



In case the ceramics reference didn't clue you in, Janis is an artist - and a really good one. She claims she cannot draw, but I have seen her draw to keep my kids occupied - so I beg to differ. What took me a whole book and months to learn (how to draw a horse) she does on the fly. It is amazing.

Anyways, she's explaining about Amish people and her cabinets to my children and she just takes one of those large crayons and starts doodling what an Amish person looks like. And then draws a buggy and horse and explains to Nicholas that they normally don't drive cars, they ride buggies. She does all this with Abby on her lap, listening intently and not moving at all. I don't know what special powers Janis has, but I totally need some of those.

We went to the park in the afternoon and the kids loved it and got totally messy. It was fabulous. Janis just laughed at them and enjoyed her time watching them play. I know it wasn't a great outing or anything, but my kids love the park - and the mud. Abby can find mud anywhere; her brother taught her that.

Then, to make it a more perfect day, she babysat so Jon and I could go out to dinner. Without kids. We saw a couple at the restaurant with a baby and it was so wrong of us, but our only thought was, "Thank goodness that isn't us this time."

Thanks Janis for making it a wonderful day to come have you here!!!

P.S. - Nicholas didn't want to go to bed until his Cars pictures (and who knew she could draw Lightening McQueen and Mater so well) were in frames on on his wall. Not that I did it that night, but he was trying to get me to do it.

P.P.S - Now they don't want me to draw for them anymore. I pulled out the crayons and Abby looked at me like I was crazy and then ran around the house looking for something - well I think she was looking for Janis. Nicholas told me I should "draw like Aunt Janis does. She's a mommy and she draws better than you." Nothing like being compared to a professional artist to make my day :)

Immunizations

Oh how I am so tired of this. I'm all for people who want to slow down immunizations with their child. Who really wants to hold down their child so they can get stuck with 4 needles at once? No one. But to not do it? Okay, now we have a problem.

I went to Tilden Park in Berkeley recently (fondly called Bezerkley). It's a hot bed of the "natural" mothering movement and it is not unusual to see older children breast fed, organic snacks and food made by mom's own hands, and smell composting everywhere. The moms were talking about immunizing their children and how they didn't want to do it. And turned to me and asked my opinion.

Let me clarify - I didn't know any of the moms. I'm not from there (we live in Sacramento - which has it's own things about immunizations). They just turned to me and asked.

Here's my response: When mothers of babies in 3rd world countries will walk for a while to get immunizations; when not immunizing my child could cause them to come to more harm than the shots - then I am for it. And hey - what did you know, that's what happens.

The moms looked at me with these horrible looks on their face and proceeded to try and change my opinion.

It is not going to happen.

A bill is working its way through the CA Legislature to tighten up the reasons for which you can justifiably refuse to vaccinate your child and still enroll them in public schools. I think it's a good thing. Your child is partaking in a public good - public schools - so you should have to do your part to protect the public health  - immunize your child.

So the diseases that we immunize for are mostly gone - that's great! All anyone has to do is think back to their chicken pox experience and decide that a little stick with a needle is better than a week or more of misery (for both parents and children). Not to mention the risks are very low. The "science" linking the vaccinations with other things (like autism) has been debunked. If you are against them for religious reasons then I don't want to hear that you are also for antibiotics, epidurals during labor, and pediatricians. These are all medical advances that are great -just like vaccines.

My children's generation is going to lose - if it hasn't already - the herd immunity that those who don't vaccinate rely on. That means these diseases could make a come back; the children won't be protected.

Vaccinate your child. Choose the schedule you want to do it on, but vaccinate your child. It is more harmful to them to get the disease than the vaccination.

I know there are people who disagree with me, but that's too bad. If you are for medicine (which most people are, since they take their children to pediatricians), then you should vaccinate. If you are going to use a public good, do your part to protect the public health and vaccinate.

I think it's a good idea to vaccinate your child. Too many people are abusing the exemption that allows them to not vaccinate their child simply because of mistaken beliefs. It should be a religious exemption only - and that should be limited to religions that don't believe in vaccinations or medicine. To say that not vaccinating your child is a personal freedom, you are abusing the concept of personal freedom.

Vaccinate your child!!

Baptism dress

So I'm expanding my dress creation abilities. I made this dress for the young Mis Lopez to wear for her Baptism today. Congrats on being Baptized and I'm glad you liked your dress.

Tilden Park adventure.

We love Tilden Park.

1. They have the Little Farm. The animals get close enough to touch and you can feed them. As a bonus- the animals pooped when my kids could watch. Nothing makes a 4 year old excited like a vow pooping.

2. It is stroller accessible. So when they got tired of walking on our hike, they rode. Hikes are harder with a loaded double stroller.

3. Water fountains, picnic tables, and bathrooms are plentiful.

4. The playground is by the parking lot so they can tire themselves out just a little extra before rising home.

We had a great time and I plan to be a repeat visitor.

The Easter dress.

Abby's Easter dress is finished. I learned some things.

1. When in doubt, buy the thread and serge the ends rather than doing the "suggested" embroidery hem and trimming the excess. What takes me minutes on the serger took me an hour by hand.

2. Iridescent ribbon stinks.

3. Full skirts are awesome.

4. A little tulle goes a long way.

5. A 14 inch zipper isn't needed for a size 3 dress.

I'm happy I made it though. Now on to Nicholas' vest before midnight.

Marine World. .. Or Six Flags

Whatever the name of the place is. It was fun. A big thank you to the Shupe's for letting us use their free tickets. We had a blast.

The weather was perfect. The kids wore sweatshirts all day. I wore one while sitting. While pushing a double stroller - fully loaded - up a hill I didn't need a sweatshirt.

When we got in without a question about Abby being under 2 I thought I was home free. But it turns out management was only waiting until the Shupe's left us to stop me and make sure she was under 2. Having been through this with Nicholas - who was also big for his age - I carry birth certificates with me. Besides, shouldn't this be asked before we get into the park?

Abby loves the rides. Nicholas took a while to warm up to them but eventually we did them all. I got to take in all my food - and the kids food. It turns out belong allergic to gluten has a nice effect at theme parks. I get to take in all my food.

We spent a lot of time with the animals. The lions were out and active. The giraffes hung out close to us. The dolphins in the Dolphin Experience area were playful and easy to see. There was even a penguin who followed my kids around their exhibit

A great time was had by all. My children now have Superman and Batgirl capes and are having an identity confusion moment. I want a Supermom cape, but they didn't have one.

It was a blast.

Fun run race!

Today was the first Sandpiper Park Fun Run. Everyone who ran - even just a little - got a necklace and certificate. We ha a blast afterwards playing with everyone at the park.

Even though Abby didn't run, she did help herself to everyone's treats afterwards. People are going to think I don't feed that girl!