when life gives you lemons....

And I mean REALLY BIG lemons...


We inherited a lemon tree when we moved in a couple of years ago - she's not so pretty.. she's extremely THORNY... but omg... she IS fruitful! AND we love her.

I was outside yesterday tending to the herbs and veggies... and realized that I haven't paid a bit of attention to our lil lemon tree.... and WOW! WOW! She is LOADED with lemons. How and WHEN did they all grow?!? How could we have been so... UN observant?

We found som HUGE lemons... SO huge in fact... i fear through photo - you will never REALLY know the splendor of their... "largeness" - so, we will try, by capturing next to ordinary items... so MAYBE, just MAYBE, you will understand their gurth.

next to a standard box of matches..

and again... WOW - right?
OK - photographers... a humble lens cap - WOW.

ok - Mom's of boys - a standard "Cars" lightning mcqueen... WOW.

OK workaholics - next to a standard Blackberry - WOW!

and.. here's another miracle.. she seems to be... ummm... anatomically - err... "correct"??? WOW!

a sinkfull of tart goodness... WOW!

When life gives you lemons - put them in a pretty bowl, that was given to you by a good friend... and be thankful for your abundance!!!

the over-achiever, a success story

"Roughly a quarter of Border Collie Dogs end up in shelters or rescue. The top two reasons are that they have bitten someone due to their herding nature - or they are just too hyper or difficult to handle and most people are not willing to put in the time commitment it takes to adequately exercise them." This is a warning put out by the national Border Collie Rescue that we were aware of - but after having one very LOW drive Border Collie "Jinxie".. we thought we would just go ahead and get another one to give her a friend. So - Three years ago - we got Little Ace-Face... the dog who never does anything half way. About a year ago - due to some ummm... "undesireable behavior" not unlike the behavior as described in the warning message above, we started taking him to agility school at our friend Nikki's house. We knew that Border Collies are crazy nuts that need jobs - but he is what is considered "extremely high drive" and really should be a working farm dog - not a family dog. We thought that by really giving him a "job"... something to "do".... something to "learn" to work his brain and body... to divert some of his crazy quirkiness might help him to become more normal... or at least direct some of that energy into something positive, giving him a fun outlet and an activity where hs is the center of attention. When we started, he didn't even want to come when we commanded that he "COME"... we have had some set backs - and its been a slow road, but he LOVES to go to "school" and over the past year has actually become quite a good student. His teacher Nikki is amazing, and has really helped us to understand Ace and his thinking process - the whole situation has been a blessing. The most important thing though - is that he is having SO MUCH FUN... isn't he gorgeous - soaring through the air... completely OVER jumping this jump with a huge smile on his face?

i mean come on - this grin is EAR to EAR!

this student got an "A+" today at school!

grow baby grow

"WE HAVE CROPS!" is what i yelled to Kurt this afternoon - to which he sarcastically and calmly responded... "crops?".... YES, CROPS!

Remember the little garden we planted a few weeks ago? Guess what - the first little tomato and the first little strawberry have appeared!

Even Liam was in disbelief - his caption reads" "WHAT?!?!? CROPS?"

some proof - look at this little beauty...

Limabean got to tast the first sawbury... which is what he calls "strawberry"

on other "green" news - the roses are in bloom... here is our first fresh cut bouquet from the backyard. i particularly like yellow roses... aren't they lovely?

just wasting time.

these pics were from today - i picked up Liam from daycare - we had no plans, nowhere to go, nothing to do... spaghetti sauce on our shirt - but our spirits were good... so - we spent a little time... just wasting time in the backyard before dinner.



sometimes wasting time is... really really good.



i hope you get the chance to waste a little this weekend!

S.M.I.L.E.!!

this one is funny - i think i caught him in a mid belly-laugh thing... the clapping hands and crooked little smile make me happy.

he loves to go in and out through the doggie door.
do you think he possibly has a future career as a plumber??

Happy 20 months Lima Bean!

My little Lima Bean,
You are now 20 months old. Just a mere 4 months away from the date when your age will no longer be referred to in months.. but rather YEARS… I think I remember this bittersweet feeling from the times when we transitioned your age reference from weeks to months.
What is new with you this month?
Oh – let’s see…
You are still majorly obsessed with Balls and Cars – these are STILL your very favorite things. A ball at a store will stop you in your tracks as you shout “BALL BALL BALL BA BA BA BALLLLL” until you are able to touch it.
We lovingly call you our Magpie because you now repeat EVERYTHING we say. Which is good and bad… we have to consciously remember to watch all of our p’s and q’s because the “earmuffs” game which we learned from the movie “old school” isn’t working anymore!
This month you have become extremely attached to your Daddy. Most of the time he is your preferred parent… and that’s ok. You were a Mommy’s boy for a very long time, and your Daddy is so smitten with you, that he is relishing in this new admiration.
We couldn’t imagine this life without you – keep on shining our little son.
Your mama

take me out to the ballgame!

Another fabulous opening day at Dodger Stadium! It's a Menslage family tradition! Kurt and I haven't missed an opening day in 9 - maybe 10 years! This year was Liam's 2nd opening day... you can read about last years game day here.

Some things were the same this year:
- He is wearing the SAME jersey as last year... it actually fits him this year.
- The Dodgers kicked some butt again this year (9-1 vs Arizona)
- We had great seats and a great time!

Some things were different:
- He would NOT wear his hat this year (different hat... his head grew!)
- It was just the three of us this time
- He got to eat a Dodger dog! (at least a bite... and even though hot dogs are one of his favorite foods... he wasn't into the Dodger Dog... probably too much going on.

game day!

snuggling with daddy on a beautiful day

great seats (1st base side)
he was VERY into the beach ball game, he and kurt even got to hit a couple

think blue.

we lasted about 4 innings... the game started at 1pm, (liam's nap time exactly)
he did great.. we didn't want to push it.

proof...

proof of either:

a) my kid looks cute in anything

or

b) i'm his mama, and to me, he looks cute no matter what.

you decide.

he had a bit of an "explosion" at daycare today. since this is a rarity, and he no longer spits up... i don't pack a 2nd outfit to send to daycare... so, today - this must've been in the daycare "treasure chest". so when i picked him up, he was dressed in about a 4 sizes too small, about 20 years old one piece pj sitiuation...

but still... he looks cute - no?

(spoken like a true mommy!)

juuuzjhhh

Last month I posted about my best friend Kammy's fabulous designer furniture sale. If you did not get the chance to go - you missed out. (sorry out of town-ers). anyway, i picked up a few lovelies for my own pad while i was there helping out.

Kammy was nice enough to come over this weekend and help me "juuuzjhhh" (our word for what happens when she waves her magic design wand over an area and it instantly looks way better).

so, check out this awesome print that i am going to hang above the fireplace. its MASSIVE. we didn't have a tall enough ladder to get it hung this weekend... but you get the idea. can you say "statement"?!?

More of my super finds to come...

just beach-y

even at 35...

yes.... even at 35... parents RULE.
mine maybe moreso than most.
maybe i am feeling a bit sad because liam and i just dropped them off at the airport... and they are flying from california to oregon right now... but seriously. they are the best.
even if i thought at 16 i was "too cool"... even if i thought at 18 "i'm an adult"... even if i thought at 21 "i'm an adult, i can do it on my own"... i have learned that i can't do it on my own... even with a family of my own...at 35... i absolutely adore you both - and i still need you!

look what they helped me plant today...
a garden... now, its no "EAST SIDE menslage garden"... no vineyards, or alpacas or anything... in fact, it started as just an herb garden... but we expanded the crop to include two varieties of tomatoes and two varieties of strawberries too!
now, we just need to keep it alive!

lavender and rosemary lavender

strawberries!

"earlygirl" tomato plant

the little helper bean with one glove (michael jackson style)

Happy Easter!

Happy Happy Easter!
We had a great day...
The festivities actually started yesterday with egg coloring and cookie cutting and decorating... then a super exciting easter morning (peter cottontail found liams house and brought lots of goodies!) then a wonderful church service, all followed by a lovely brunch... more photos will come later this week. but for now, here are some of the family shots from today.

a very rare shot of all three of us (oh and a fourth - mr. cottontail himself) g-link, limabean and grampa-bob
grammy m and liam

so, rockie the clown isn't part of our family, but liam sure took a liking to her... she loved him too, and made him a balloon dog on a leash.

he cleaned up - at the egg hunt!

* ok... how cute is the suit? thanks ariana and jasper for the lead on helping liam to be so styling this easter!

santa barbara zoo

Liam's gram and gramps are in town! YEAH!
We all went to the Santa Barbara Zoo today.. it was good Friday, the weather was perfect.... and we certainly weren't the only ones who thought the zoo would be a great idea today... it was PACKED!!!
we still had fun!

Liam learned the swing/between... he wanted to do this all day long.

Oh look what a difference 8 months makes... the last time he crawled through this log was on his first bday.

liam and gramps

and g-link

lil monkey

feeding the animals w/ dad