Shout Out

A few important items I would like to share.

Congrats to Dena & Matt for 12 years of marriage.


Congratulations to Jan & Reggie for moving to Manhattan Beach 4th street home together.
We are all very excited for you two to be living in the same town together.
(I didn't have a photo of you guys.) Something I need to work on.

Congratulations to the Degner family. I know it's a bit early but I couldn't resist a shout out to you guys. The Degners have bought their 1st house. An adorable quaint home on the Westside. There is so much potential and I know they are going to make it a beautiful home. The pumpkin photo is a little out dated but with you guys moving in just before Halloween I thought it was appropriate. Congratulations on this new chapter of home ownership.



One last congratulations is in order. My dear friend Genevieve Fisher is now engaged with her wonderful fiance Darren. A very romantic proposal on top of the Eiffel Tower. Congrats to the both of you.

Long Lost Tablespoon

Kangaroo towel.......

One of my favorite places in town. The Santa Barbara Mission.

Our day off from parenting. Beach day thanks to Jammie & Reggie.

2.5 years old, getting big.

10.5 months old.


I have a droid cell phone and I just found an awesome Polaroid application, although the application can do far more than a Polaroid can do. I love the antique style photos, makes everything look so vintage. I love it and I hope you do as well.


Shovel & Bucket, evidence of fun at the beach.

Ruby crawling to me.

Milo loves to watch the surfers.

Ruby is also enjoying the surfers.

Good Ol Bodhi, 7 years old, still acts like he is 2.

Our Summer veggie garden has finally set some deep roots and is thriving, Below are some photos that show our lettuce, basil, kale & broccoli.




So this tablespoon was part of a set that Jessica gave to me for christmas. A couple months ago I realized that I was missing the tablespoon. This mystery was driving me crazy until.............
Yesterday, Eric took our compost that has been cooking in the tumbler and spread it over our blueberry bed. He came to me with a big smile and a very tarnished TABLESPOON!!!!!!! He found it, I knew it couldn't have gone too far, funny that it was in the compost. I guess I need to be more careful. Now I am back to a full set of measuring spoons.



I am so proud of our chickens. 2 of them (Peggy-O and Jenny Jenkins) have been laying eggs for a couple weeks now. This is a photo of a 6-pack that will be given to someone.


A little synopsis of what has been occurring at the Lyman ranch.
Ruby has cut her 2nd tooth. 2.5 weeks after her 1st tooth. The right lower tooth came in on Saturday, I don't think it bothered her at all, she didn't loose sleep over it. She makes up for all the sleepless nights that Milo experienced with his teething. Ruby is also on the move. She knows how to crawl, we see her doing it when she is on the grass or at the beach but her preferred method is an army crawl/worm maneuver. It's pretty cute, I will post a video of it soon.

On Saturday evening I was playing on the computer and I stumbled upon a great gardening group here in Santa Barbara. It is called, Food Not Lawns. I love it. This is exactly where we are going with our yard. There are little chapters all across Santa Barbara, there is a Westside Chapter, Eastside Chapter, Mesa Chapter etc etc. Yesterday the Westside Chapter was holding their gathering so I went with a beautiful bouquet of basil and a big head of lettuce. This is where you talk with other gardeners about their gardens, learn some tricks and get some tips. You can take as much as you want and leave as much as you want. I came home with some grapefruit, lettuce, pineapple guavas, lots of peppers and some tomatoes. I also took some snap pea seeds. I hope to host an Eastside gathering soon. Now that Eric and I have finally learned what to plant and where, I think we will be ready for a nice fall garden.


Last week was a fun week for us adults. Eric and I and friends went to 2 concerts. On Monday night it was the Further, they consist of Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, they are from the Grateful Dead. On Thursday night we went to Willie Nelson. He really did put on a great show. Willie played one song after the next, he was the only guitar player and he was shredding it up. Very impressed. The highlight of last week was enjoying some one on one time with Eric. Eric's mom Jan & her fabulous husband Reggie came up on Thursday to watch the kids so that we could go to Willie Nelson. After the show I surprised Eric with a night at a local cheap hotel. We were able to sleep in, grab a breakfast burrito, hop back in bed till 11 and after that little mid-morning siesta we went to Summerland beach. We rested some more, took a very long walk along the water, returned to our blanket rested some more and then went home to hang out with Jammie, Reggie & the kids. Thank you Jan for making that possible. We greatly appreciated your willingness to watch the kids. I do believe this brings you all up to speed with what we've been up to. Till next time.

Purge

For a couple of weeks now I have had this big desire to clean up the house. I don't mean your typical clean up like vacuuming, mopping, & scrubbing bathrooms what I am talking about is getting rid of the baby stuff that I will no longer need. I feel so bad that my interests are to move it out of the house, some of it will be going into Tupperware boxes for the kids later on in life & into the shed for storage (eric's going to love this),some of it needs to go to good will and some of it will hopefully go into a Christmas gift exchange that a friend has been hosting for a couple of years now. It makes me sad to see the rocking chair that my mom lovingly covered in fabric to match the crib bedding go out into the shed, the breast-friend nursing pillow has been handed down to the next momma, receiving blankets that wrapped Milo when he was first born, burp cloths which have been separated into 3 piles, rags, pass on to friend, & xmas exchange bag. There are also some toys that Milo hardly blinked at so I am not even going to wait to see Ruby's response, there are so many other toys around that she can play with.

I love having an orderly home, having a small orderly home makes me feel happy. For a while now as I cruised around the house doing things I kept on seeing things that really had no home, toys that weren't being used (ever), small plastic things that Ruby doesn't need to play with, clothes that were never worn or hardly worn. So I have been slowly sorting through things and today is the day I feel like things are organized, the stuff that we have are well used items, favorite toys, clothes that get worn toys that get played with etc etc.

I am thrilled that this little task is almost complete, at least for this point in time, give it another 6 months and I will have to do another purge. What I am not thrilled about, actually I am prettty sad about is that the realization of what all this means. No more babies for the Lymans. Ruby is my last baby and when I hold her these days she really isn't a baby baby any more. She wiggles out of my arms when she is done nursing, she is ready to cruise around the house, she doesn't fall asleep in my arms like she once did. Her clothes are all getting bigger, can you believe she wears 12 month clothes? I can't. Every time I put on an old shirt it seems too short or too tight around the arms. I know she has a lovely Buddha Belly and pudgy arms but I would just love it if time could stop for just a little bit.......................

Firsts

This post is both exciting and sad. Exciting b/c Ruby & Milo have experienced some signs of growth & development. Sad b/c Eric unfortunately missed seeing it happen due to all of his travels this month. Don't worry Eric I documented the moments as best as I could.

Ruby cut her first tooth on Tuesday. The lower right tooth. I knew it was coming, she became very tender and wanted mom to hold her all day long. At almost 10 months old I figured it was going to happen sometime soon. I have a strong feeling that the next tooth is not far behind.

Ruby now travels around the house. Those days of sitting for long long periods of time in the living room are over. She has learned a way to slide across the house. She uses her forearms to pull herself forward as she uses her toes to propel her forward. It's very similar to an army crawl. I think she has figured out her method of transportation. Will she ever crawl per say? I don't know. She enjoys doors, closing them is her specialty, she also likes going to the bathroom, I think she wants to take a bath. I hope to post a video soon, I experienced some problems this morning.

I pulled out Milo's adorable wooden walker that Poppi & Papa got for him as he was learning how to walk. It is now Ruby's turn to utilize this tool. Ruby does pretty well behind it, if she bends her elbows too much then she falls to her bottom and just might tumble over backwards with the walker. The balance reminds me of water skiing, don't bend the elbows too much or you chance falling back, don't keep them rigidly straight either. She is learning this balance very well. Although she does need to jockey for time with the walker seeing as Milo & Wyatt love it even more now than they did a year ago.

Yesterday I took the kids to a new neighborhood farmers market. I needed to get some cilantro and sprouts for this weekends camping trip. I couldn't resist a small baskets of strawberries, they are so vibrantly red and sweet this year. I didn't think I would need more than one baskets b/c Ruby and I are the only ones who are eating them. So I thought, I looked down at Milo and he has a huge strawberry in his mouth. I gasped with enthusiasm, "are you really eating a strawberry" I asked? "Yepa" Milo responds. As the summer winds down and the fruit will be changing seasons he finally realized how great strawberries are. I guess it's never too late to try new things.


The last of firsts. Jenny Jenkins laid an egg. Eric is going to be very bummed about this one. This will be day 3 of 1 morning egg. Now to teach her how to lay the egg in the nesting boxes.

Annie

Donnell and I spent many hours in front of the TV watching and singing along to Annie. We just loved it. Little did I know that decades later my own kids would be enjoying Annie. Milo sitting on the couch mesmerized by the songs & dancing and of course all the little cute orphan girls and Ruby sitting on the floor listening to the music. Let me also mention that Eric is sitting with the kids enjoying it as much if not more than them. Not sure if he watched this much as a child, it's all new to him. He's liking it.
Now to get back to making Milo some waffles.

Evidence of good times

Milo, Ruby & I hit the road 2 weeks ago. We started off in San Diego to pay Poppi & Papa a much needed visit. My timing couldn't have been any better. The new Ashtanga Shala, Jois, opened it's doors in Encintas the week that I decided to visit with my mom & Matt. I reserved a spot to practice a lead-Mysore class with Sharath Jois, son of Sri.K Pattahbii Jois. I was so thrilled to practice in Encinitas with a packed room of Ashtangis'.


The weekend was hot and sunny so we did some backyard swimming, we went to a wonderful small aquarium in La Jolla, went to a near by park and watched bikers do crazy things on big ramps, Milo could have stayed there all day long. He was enamored by all the crazy stunts. We all had a great time in San Diego, it is always difficult saying good bye. From SD we traveled a quick hour north to GG's beach house in Laguna. This is where things get a little crazy.

The beach house was packed to the gills, there were 5 babies, 2 toddlers, 6 tired mothers, baskets of books, toys strewn about, eating contraptions, and so much more. Grandma Doris kindly opened up the beach house to a reunion of friends and their babies. Cathi & Annabelle were visiting from New York, her sister Adrienne came for a couple of days, Jen & Waylon, Jess & Wyatt, Donnell & babies, Eric for a couple days, me & kids and Papa D came for the last evening. We all had such a wonderful time with everybody. I had a hard time picking from all the wonderful photos that were taken of our trip away. I hope you enjoy the ones that I am posting. After looking at my pictures I realized that I didn't have any of the mom's. So sad,sorry friends.