Sitting in a Tree

The Snows Came to Play

2012-02-08T15:35:00.000-08:00

With our crazy schedules, believe it or not, the most convenient time for all the Snows to come for a visit was right before Christmas. They were in and out but we love every second spent with those guys.

Christmas came....

2012-02-03T15:27:00.000-08:00

....and went.

4kids+tara&tucker x 9weeks=

2012-01-30T11:45:00.000-08:00

playing house, school drop off/pick up, park playing, storytime, bedtime stories in forts, car pooling, daily beach playing/walks, trick or treating, arts and crafts, violin practicing, pizza night, scooter riding, dance class, yoga class, packing school lunches, audio books, homework time, Fun Zone, chore charts, flag football practice/games, library books, tutoring, singing, time outs, squinkies, movie night, swim lessons, legos, naps, Taco Tuesday, California Science Center, Sundays off duty, herbal remedies, meal planning, little boy's rec classes, tons (literally) of laundry, etc.

Our great friends planned a 9 week Bikram Yoga training in Los Angeles. With much discussion and phone conversations Tucker and I agreed to watch their four beautiful children. Not aware of what the future would hold we ALL went into the experience with eyes wide open. Needless to say that it was a trying 9 weeks we ultimately ALL..... how do I say it?.... survived. In hindsight, we had a blast loving and nurturing these wonderful children and wouldn't have had our September to November spent any other way.

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Griffin Cannon

2011-12-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

griff + allie = getting married

2011-11-11T08:21:00.000-08:00

This handsome and honorable stud is marrying this effortlessly beautiful and graceful girl on December 3rd.

All Hallows Eve

2011-10-31T20:58:00.000-07:00

The front light post was transformed into a spooky scarecrow (and I'm still deciding if I like this guy on the post instead of the ugly undestroyable ivy that the post usually sports year round).

The pumpkins were all carved (all seven of them).

The costumes were draped and tromped around the neighborhood (Tucker's the guy carring the bloody ax). The children can be explained (but that's a whole other post).

Landed-SLC

2011-10-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

Why does terminals B5-B22 smell like home baked vanilla cookies?

Going to War

2011-09-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

Killer Wasps? Nothing a hoe, wasp spray, and my man can't handle.

Madness in NB

2011-09-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

People as far as the eye can see.

Loose Cannons in San Diego

2011-08-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

Last year Jackson Hole, Wyoming this year San Diego, California. I love the Cannon Clans commitment to spending every summer together on one all-family trip. There were 15 of us this year because Cole could make it and Griff brought his chick-a-dee, Ally (she's a brave soul). We had so much fun adventuring around San Diego and spending quality time with a nice, respectable game of Catch Phrase (NOT, it got crazy) and campfire hotdogs and smores.

*Please, pretty please, excuse the excessive pictures all used with the fancy Super Pop Cam App on my iphone. Some little birdie forgot the camera on our way out of town.

Excursion 1: Sea World

It was a mad rush to catch the boat that delivers patrons to the secret back door entrance of Sea World. 13 Cannons walking at a brisk pace and a screaming grandma and blonde grandchild running down the dock surely stopped the boat. Once aboard the day turned out lovely.

-These are pictures of the ducks we fed outside of our hotel room. I love the way they talk, I tried to talk like them, I don't think they understood a word I said.

Excursion 2: USS Midway

When you have a Navy expert like Garrett who needs a guided tour?

We really only saw a small part of the massive aircraft carrier while we were there. We did see the sleeping quarters, the anchor room, the deck, and the captain's command/control room (I'm saying that wrong for sure).

Excursion 3: Paddle Boarding

Dayna and Garrett had a great idea to rent paddle boards for everyone to use and the friendly neighbor at the hotel let us borrow a couple of theirs. Some things we learned include: Cannon is such a good help when launching off the shore, Roman is a natural adventurist, don't try to do your paddle board dance-off move with your sunglasses on, Griff and Ally love each other so much that they couldn't even risk being separated long enough to use separate paddle boards, and paddle boards are so much fun that I can't wait to buy some.

Thank you, again, Mom (and Dad) Cannon for planning such a wonderful vacation that we could all enjoy. We are so grateful for you and the family bond that you have created.

Tucker can use the front door now.

2011-08-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

After 2 years of hoping, wishing, praying, Tucker finally cut off the hair.

Before:

After:

He came, he did, and he conquered long hair. My fear is that a new obsession of his will be upon me to fight off....a mustache. God help me.

Fourth of July 2011- NB Style

2011-07-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

We stayed local this year.

We missed the Santa Clarita 4th Parade viewing with the Cannons and the BBQ-Cultasac Firework Show with the Cashmans.

But, it was worth it because we got to see the Newport festivities and hang out with our cousins.

We biked, BBQed, beach tanned, baked goodies for ourselves (and some for our favorite nieghbors), and enjoyed every second of being at home this year.

Beaching:

Parade Watching:

4th of July Skewer Treats and Cupcakes:

4th Chopper Flyover (from the rooftop):

4th of July Firework Show:
Coming Soon

Happening as I type this....

2011-07-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Babe!

Pressure Makes Us.....

2011-07-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

....a-men

PS- Bye, Bye Brazil

Becks vs Thierry Henry

2011-07-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

A while ago the LA Galaxy played NY Red Bulls.

These peeps came with us.

Tucker came to see that guy

and, well, I came to see that guy.

We lost, but will be back soon to sing a few more "Hiel the Galaxy" soccer club chants.

Big Waves

2011-07-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

Tis the season for the Wedge to get huge swells. *

*This event happened 6 weeks ago. We are a little behind on posting.

our 3 year anniversary road trip

2011-06-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

this is the short of it.....

we visited mo's grave site (malibu)

drove past where we got married (pretty good shot for driving at 65 mph, it's just in the background there)

drove up the 1 to Morro Bay

took some pictures and stayed the night

fed the barking seals at the "aquarium"

learned of the plight of the snowy plover and how some elementary kids are trying to save them

drove high and far above morro rock

arrived in paso robles where the first stop was one of tucker's favorite spots

stayed the night and then went to one of my favorite spots

got back home just in time to snooze and get back to work the next day

3 years and counting

Farmer's Market

2011-05-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

Farmer's Markets are so underrated. Fresh produce, homemade treats, handmade art. It's a hard habit to get into. But, God willing, I'm going to try my hardest to get there once a week to stock up on my fruits and veggies.

When mom, dad, and B came down last time we went to the Huntington Beach Farmer's Market that they have every Thursday.

some little birdies know us well

2011-05-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

...no offense taken

thanks for the gift Snows

And They're Off....

2011-05-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

All those fancy yachts are racing to Ensenada and back in the 64th annual Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race.

Then Kelly's Baby Shower

2011-05-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

Kelly is due with Baby Hayden Irace just a week after Jennifer. So, a week after Jen's shower in Malibu we went to Kelly's shower in Valencia.

Kelly looks great.

And Kim's dream of planning her best friends Baby Shower came true.

Kelly & Tanya

Jen (not looking 35 weeks), & Tanya

Me & Kim

Jen's Baby Shower

2011-04-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

Jennifer is due with Baby Ashley Jayd Lyons in a few short days.

Jen's sister threw the lovely shower at Gladstone's on April 15th. (The original location, Duke's, was flooded by those crazy rain storms that hit Southern California). We chatted, laughed, ate, drank, and enjoyed possibly the last girls' get-together we'll have without half our clan attending to a bunch of precious babies.

The original OOII gang!

Diana, Jennifer, & Tanya

The girls all grown up (one just had a baby, another two are pregs)

Jen's sister is pregnant too!

Life's a Beach!

2011-04-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

Many weeks ago now, our good friends came down to our neck of the woods, or shall I say our neck of the coast, and spent some time at the beach house. We took their 4 children for the night so that our friends could get some much needed alone time.

After cleaning up all the toys, the "little beach" looked desolate. Who knew 4 kids and their beach toys took up so much space?

Please Forgive Me/Us

2011-04-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

Surprisingly, the life of a 3rd grade teacher and school therapist is one that is busy. I'm not ignoring the blog, I've just completely forgotten about it all together. If I have had a free second it has been spent laying in bed for an extra sec, catching up on all my Ellen shows on DVR in fast forward, or trying to finish "The Book Thief," which I started reading like 4 months ago (embarrassing).

Time has definitely gotten away from me/us. The alarm goes off at 5am and most days I don't get home until 6pm-ish. I've been absent from the blog for so long that even my brother commented on the influx of posts. I will try my best to catch up as quickly as possible on all of our happenings here at Sitting in a Tree. Stay tuned....

Blown Out

2011-03-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not referring to a hair salon term, when you have just gotten a fabulous cut and you're waiting to get your hair blown out to see the results. I'm actually referring to a term that surfer dudes use to describe unsurfable storm induced waves.

I couldn't stand up.

Tucker couldn't stand up....

....but that family decided that it was a good day to fly a kite.

The kite flew....

....but that family's dog made sure to stop by the only people on the beach to let them (us) know that his owners were insane.

We agreed.

Happy Super Moon & first day of Spring.

4:00am

2011-03-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

At exactly 4am on Friday morning the home phone rang. The caller ID said Newport Beach. In a daze I asked Tucker what to do. He said to answer it. I pushed talk. The recorded message said something like this: "This is an emergency. A tsunami alert has been issued for the Newport Beach area. Expected land fall at approxamatly 8:45am. [heart races.] No evacuations have been issued at this time. [feeeewww.] Coastal beaches are closed until further notice. Stay off the beaches! [noted.] " So much for falling back to sleep.

Luckily.... the city of Newport was able to test out their tsunami warning operations incase a real coastal threat occurs. Not so luckily.... have you seen the images of the tsunami serge in Japan? We are screwed.

Yummy!

2011-03-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

Griff came to town last weekend for a hot minute thanks to President's Day. Additional company to our normal Sunday dinner shenanigans is always a joy. Griff brought his newest girlfriend, Ali, and Bryon & Ashley also chowed down with the Cannon fam.

We brought the boys bags of candy from the candy shop and they added their goodies to Garrett's homemade mint and chip ice cream.

FYI, Lola laying down is a rare occasion. That's why I had to include this picture.

Mallory Lyn Funk

2011-02-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

We met Kim & Dustin's newest addition last weekend. Kim looks great and Mallory is beautiful. She was born February 11th at 11:45am, weighing 7lbs 13oz.

Our friends Kelly & Jon Iris are also expecting their first baby. Hayden is due in late May. (Kelly is the one whose shirt says bumpalicious.)

Walking

2011-02-21T08:29:00.000-08:00

My New Favorite Things

2011-02-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

1) COFFEE

How did I go on without you for so long? You helped me stay awake through those night study sessions in college. You gave me the extra kick in the bottom that I needed to jump start my day. Did you miss me like I missed you during the last four years? I'm sorry that you were replaced with Yogi Green Tea each morning. I needed understand my gluten free lifestyle better. Now, thanks to the 5:00am alarm we can now be together again.

2) My 15" MacBook Pro
Once you go Mac you can never go back. Is that the way the saying goes? Regardless, I think this maybe my new best friend (sorry Marsha).

3) Skidless
This should be number one on my list. I bought it yesterday and used it in yoga class today. Changed my yoga life! Hum, now how to improve my balance poses....

4) Crutchless, Bootless walking husband
Tucker drove us to breakfast this late morning, bootless and smiling. I brought his robo boot just in case, but he didn't need it. Ciao, robo boot, in a week you'll be absolutely useless.

The Story of My Life

2011-01-30T09:52:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles Unified School District called my cell phone a couple weeks ago.

The message said, "My name is "so and so" from Local District 2. I'm calling to let you know that your job number is up for immediate rehire. There are several openings at our schools. If you are interested in employment call me back at blah blah blah as soon as possible."

I was sitting in my car, jaw open, eyes wide. I closed my eyes took a deep breath, and a huge grin came across my face. Of course, LAUSD calls to hire me back...... I was just getting used to this stay at home, house cleaning, dinner cooking, laundry doing wife that I have turned into. I just signed up at YogaWorks, I just decided that every girl deserves to get her nails done at least once every couple weeks, I just found happiness in contentment.

So, what did I do?

I called so and so, got transferred to the Local District 8 (LAUSD is so huge it is separated into GINORMOUS sub districts) office because it is the closest Local District to our new home. The guy over at Local District 8 gave me two pros and two cons. Pros: 1) There are schools that are looking for teachers immediately. 2) I am number 25 in the "pool" of swimming (treading) teachers waiting for the phone call that I just got. Cons: 1) If I haven't been offered a position at a school by the time my job number comes up I will be placed at any school with an opening. 2) If my number comes up or I decline a job offer this opportunity for rehire will never be offered again and ultimately I get kicked to the LAUSD curb for the last time.

So, what did I do?

I researched the names of the schools I was given by the Local District 8 guy, talked it over with Tucker, slept on it. A school called Normont Elementary wanted me to interview (not wanting to look bad) and I said yes, thank you. I didn't want to work there. I called the school where I wanted to work, Point Fermin Marine Science Magnet, faxed over my resume, the principal called me back an hour later wanting me to come in for an interview, an interview sooner than the school I didn't want to work for.

I went to the interview thinking 1) if I don't get an offer, I really don't want to go back to work anyway 2) if I do get an offer I'll have a feeling if it is or isn't the right fit at this point in my life.

I guess I nailed it because they offered me a job on the spot.

I said yes.

It's 3rd grade. My classroom has a wall of windows with an ocean view of the Long Beach Harbor. (<- that pretty much sealed the deal.)

But, the best part of the whole deal is that when I walk out of Point Fermin Magnet tomorrow afternoon I will be a permanent LAUSD teacher. No more layoffs, no more getting kicked to the LAUSD curb.

Good Bye Christmas

2011-01-26T11:35:00.000-08:00

Grandma Castronova has the most Christmas decorations that I have ever seen. Each year we put up and take down her monstrous collection of snowmen, lights, ornaments, Snow Village houses, snowglobes, poinsettias, poinsettias in pots, bells, large red ribbons, wreaths, stands of holly, candles, angels, and porcelain statues. I'm missing a few categories, but let's admit that you get the idea.

Since these two days a year are such a task we just simply throw up and tear down with no method, then high five when it's done. This year we decided that enough is enough, bought tubberwear bins, took hours, and categorized and organized ALL of grandma's Christmas decor.

Yikes!

Ahhh! Much better!

Because of this master organizing session we will hopefully have an easier time putting up and taking down grandma's decorations for her favorite time of year.

Brendan's Birthday

2011-01-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

My little brother turned 24 on January 11th.

To celebrate this momentous day mom and dad treated us to a Yamato dinner.

8 Years in the Making

2011-01-13T17:10:00.001-08:00

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Year 7

Year 8

There are so many memories and so many pictures of all our adventures. One picture of each year doesn't even sum up what we have been through. That's why I'm going to start a "Before the Blog" posting, just so I can archive the past mischief of our lives together.

Anyone want to take a guess as to where all these pictures were taken?

Baby Funk 2 is on Her Way

2011-01-08T18:55:00.000-08:00

Our great friends, Kim & Dustin Funk, are expecting baby number two on February 11th.

But before Baby Mallory Funk's arrival, as girls do, we celebrated with a Shower.

Happy New Year

2011-01-04T16:20:00.000-08:00

We celebrated the ball drop and promptly went to sleep. The older we get the more difficult it is to stay up past our bedtime.

None the less, we are more than excited for the New Year. Tucker is still recovering from his Achilles surgery and I am still hard at work being a serving wife. He plans to return to work next week, a couple of days a week with me as his chauffeur. And I plan to get back to my tutoring as soon Tucker is 98% (which is what the Doc says will be his range of motion with full recovery).

Bryon & Ashley Yamamoto came to visit us on the first day of the new year. I toured them around the peninsula on the bikes, while Tucker sat at home, leg elevated, envying our ride.


first sunset of the new year

This new year has begun so beautifully and we, here at Sitting in a Tree, have so much to look forward to in 2011, continuing to archive all the hub-bub of the Cannons. Happy New Year!

This brings joy to my heart.

2010-12-27T06:25:00.000-08:00

2010-12-25T01:05:00.000-08:00

2010 Newport Beach Boat Parade

2010-12-21T16:58:00.000-08:00

Last year Tucker missed the 2009 boat parade due to a bachelor party. So, this year he wasn't going to let a recently repaired Achilles stop him from making it.

The 102 Annual Newport Boat Parade can be viewed from the Balboa Peninsula harbor and we are lucky enough to view it by crossing the street. It was raining most of the 5 nights that the parade circles. I made it to 3 viewings and the fireworks finale and Tucker made it to 2 parades.

Tucker put this quick video together of some of the boats from Saturday night's boat parade. (Warning-Tucker was the videographer and some of his jerky motions can cause dizziness):

Good News (& Gross Pictures)

2010-12-18T16:59:00.000-08:00

We went to the surgeon's office this week awaiting a cast for Tucker's Achilles. We even spent the night before deciding what color he wanted for his cast.

When the doctor took off the soft cast that had been put on him after surgery he was more than impressed with how well Tucker was healing. He has 13 staples going down the back of his foot, there was little swelling, good color, and no infection. The doctor made the decision that Tucker was healing so well that he wouldn't put him in a cast for the previously discussed 4 weeks. Instead, Tucker has a nice boot that he will remain in for the next few months.

We have another doctors appointment a couple days before Christmas to get the staples out (pictures below).

Tucker is so positive about his current situation. He is quarantined to the couch or bed with his foot elevated for at least another 2 weeks. And he doesn't even complain.

Last Night's Sunset

2010-12-12T10:21:00.000-08:00

We went outside because our living room was glowing orange.
From our rooftop I could quickly see why.

Even the ocean seemed to be glowing orange.

A beautiful crescent moon showed its face eagerly awaiting the Winter Solstice in 9 short days.

Brave Man

2010-12-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

Tucker had surgery to repair his torn Achilles tendon last Friday. I was a nervous wrench and was almost brought to tears when I had to leave him.Tucker never looked scared or showed signs of worry. He had a fabulous surgeon and was in good hands at the new "state of the art" orthopedic wing of Hoag Hospital Irvine. Mom Cannon met me at the hospital waiting room and distracted my nerves with light conversation and gossip magazines. After an hour or so in recovery we could go up to see him and sign release papers. He was in good spirits and looked extremely tired. He slept the rest of the day and awoke at 4am when the nerve block on the lower part of his leg wore off. Every day he seems to feel better than the last. He is such a brave man for going through this with little complaints and lots of thanks.

HOW WE ENDED UP HERE...

2010-11-30T17:50:00.000-08:00

...AND OTHER THINGS WE ARE MORE THANKFUL FOR

I'll start from the beginning...

We picked up Cole, on Wednesday, at the Long Beach Airport on our way up to Valencia. He looked great but a little tired from his studies in San Fran. When we got to mom and dad's house Cannon said, "Oh Tara and Tucker are here..... and (confused look on his face) Uncle Hadyn." Uncle Dirty had been away so long that Cannon and Roman didn't even recognize him.

To keep our active nephews entertained we went to Valencia Lanes for a riveting hour of bowling.

Ro was very serious about his bowling. By his body language you can tell that this was a good roll down the lane.

That night we went to see Ryken's cute little face and have dinner with his mom and dad.

Kim and Dustin are the best and planned a gluten free dinner for me. I was to bake dessert, dairy free for Dustin's dietary needs, and of course I missed the milk chocolate chips ingredient in the batter. Therefore, I'm officially the worst house guest ever.

The next morning we rose bright and early for the annual Turkey Bowl. After waiting with Michael for the Triple A guy (it was so early I'm surprised that I didn't lock my keys in the car too), I saw the norm on Hart's football field.

The boys playing football (Tucker played quarterback and is seen to the right of the picture with green shorts).

The little ones were bundled up eating doughnuts.

I cuddled baby Boden tightly because I can't get enough of him.

Then, just as the second half was getting good we learned that one wrong step on the football field can wind you up here...

Yep, a ruptured Achilles tendon on the right foot. For a stressed, worried, and anxious wife I held it together pretty well.

As the ER (no urgent care was open in the area on Thanksgiving) doctor explained the injury and the recovery Tucker quickly realized that his snowboard season went out the window and that it would be even more difficult to track down his clients at work. After the ER, I dropped Tucker (and mom) at the house where Cannon and Roman promised they'd take care of their brave uncle. Cannon even sympathized with Tucker by pretending his swords were crutches.

From there I fled to LAX to pick up my pretty cousin, Danielle, in town from DC.

I had a great time with my side of the family at my grandma and grandpa's house but was so worried about Tucker I knew I had to get back to the SCV. Tucker is so sweet he even pretended that he was deeply saddened about missing out on Thanksgiving at my grandparents house.

Back at the Cannon house we had a fabulous feast filled with all the fixings of a perfect Thanksgiving dinner.

We then played Turkey Bingo with the whole family (except for Griffin, who didn't fly down from Utah this year).

On Friday we celebrated Mom Cannon's birthday. Her birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year. Since she wouldn't let us move Thanksgiving to Friday and she couldn't convince us to just skip her birthday this year we celebrated it on Friday.

First things first, I packed up Brendan (since Tuck was out of commission) and headed to grandma and grandpa's house to set up all of grandma's Christmas decorations. Grandma decorated the tree, Brendan set up the Snow Village, and Danielle and I set up everything else. Pictures coming!

Danielle stayed with us in Newport Saturday night, I drove her back to grandma and grandpa's to drop her off Sunday, where I picked up Cole, drove him back to stay the night with me and Tucker, then I dropped him off at Long Beach Airport Monday. Feeeeewwww!

Tucker was such a trooper with all the holiday festivities. I was so grateful to be able to take him to the orthopedic surgeon today and set up his surgery. The sooner my hubby is as good as new the better.

Better Luck Next Year

2010-11-22T18:45:00.000-08:00

We went.

We saw.

We got disappointed...

...then excited.

Our LA Galaxy lost 0-3 last week to FC Dallas in the semi finals for the MLS Cup. We had front row seats and Galaxy scarfs around our necks willing our home team to win, but it didn't help much. Next year will be ours boys.

Post Halloween

2010-11-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

I realize that Halloween was weeks ago.

But I couldn't skip this post because our announcement is too important to skip.

We had a record number of trick or treaters this year! It surpasses our previous record of 2 whole treaters at our previous residences.

54!

We did all the same Halloween decorations and carved our fun pumpkin designs. I bought 1 bag of M&M/Skittles mix and 1 bag of mini Hershey's mix. By 8:30 we were out of candy and I was scrounging for extra candy around the house. I couldn't just close up shop! After a quick analysis of the remainder of the treaters out on the streets we swiftly (10 seconds flat) blew out all the candles, brought in the walkway tins, and unplugged the lights. After a good laugh, Tucker and I thought that we'd have costumed rioters hungry for candy pounding at the front door. It boils down to location, location, location. Next year I will be armed with plenty of candy to go around.

Fall Heat Wave

2010-11-04T12:09:00.001-07:00

This is what weather.com says for our area today.

Right Now	Next 36 Hours

	Today	Tonight	Tomorrow

Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Sunny
95°F	97°	65°	85°
Feels Like: 91°	High	Low	High

Tucker was working and me, well, I had an open agenda. So, I grabbed my beach chair and walked to the beach. It was quite arguably the most beautiful day since we moved here. The beach was empty of beach goers, boats were motoring out of the harbor, dolphins were playing, and I was tanning. I'm very sure that it never got to 95 degrees, thank heavens.

This was the view to my left....

and my right.....

15 Things Tara is Doing

2010-10-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

1. blogging here

2. painting this

and this

to this

3. potting these

4. missing them

5. planning for holidays

6. going to concerts

We went to a Chuck Ragan concert 2 weeks ago at UC Riverside. We recorded some of his awesome songs and even a conversation with Chuck after the show on our Flip camcorder. When we got home I accidentally deleted all the video clips while trying to load them on the computer. Well, we still have the memories, right?

7. playing with Sean

8. decorating the bedroom

9. hanging shelves

10. to lazy to workout....darn, sorry cute running shoes

11. baking gluten free bread

12. trying to find a perfect lamp shade

13. wearing these

14. loving Tuck

15. watching football

RoRo's Big 3 Shoot Out Sheriff Birthday Party

2010-10-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

Dayna's more than creative mind and eye did up yet another unforgettable event.

For Roman's 3rd birthday she created a Sheriff themed carnival style party geared especially for preschoolers and youngsters.

Tuck and I headed up to the Snow's house on Friday where we had play time and an adults night out dinner. At night all the boys snoozed while D and I loaded up the goodie boxes with hand cuffs and Sheriff badges.

The morning was filled with the set up of plastic table cover canopies (no help from the wind), candy filling (and eating), and the creation of all the booths in and around the house.

Tucker entertaining the boys all while checking his Fantasy Football.

Cannon practiced his dead guy face with a nail through his head.

Us fixing the plastic table cover canopy while Boden supervises.

Dayna is posing for a test picture at the mug shot booth.

Yummy candy table

Tucker and Garrett had more fun inhaling the helium then filling the balloons.

Tucker maned the squirt gun balloon shoot out, I ran the artsy fingerprinting station, Garrett traced the children's bodies with chalk at the body outline station, Dayna was taking the photos at the mug shot corner, Hadyn collected the kids tickets in exchange for candy at the candy table, and the parents sat to socialize.
Then, the moment where all the other moms were sure that Dayna was the best mom ever.....a real life Sheriff showed up at the door to show the kids his big boy toys and cool cop car.

Roman and Cannon got to get in the driver's seat and push the siren buttons.

Roman tore through the gift wrap.

It was such a fun filled day that Boden was pooped and couldn't help but to take a well needed nap.

Thank you Ro for letting us share in your special day with all your friends and family and please don't grow up too fast.

Yessssss! It's Crock Pot Season!

2010-10-23T15:40:00.000-07:00

I dug deep into the cupboard and dusted off the crock pot a couple of weeks ago. There's nothing like a cold Fall evening with a fresh meal stewing in the crock pot.

A New Dawn, A New Day, A New Blog

2010-10-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I make a decision if I can still stand hearing five letters strung together ....L A U S D. I've been through the ringer in the last three years, trying to start my career as a elementary school teacher, to struggling to keep my career, to getting the boot, to finding happiness in a temporary job as a substitute teacher, to yet another predicament.

The Employment Development Department notified me last week that LAUSD is disputing my unemployment claim. And I quote, "You do know that your previous employer is disputing your claim, right?" Uh, NO! So, tomorrow I have a phone interview/hearing so that I can plea my case to why I deserve to get Unemployment reimbursement.

LAUSD's case is that they are providing me with work as a day to day substitute teacher, therefore I wouldn't need any EDD reimbursement. What kind of (excuse my French) CRAP is that? In May I received another layoff notice (certified mail) notifying me that my long term substitute position won't be extended to the 2010/11 school year. Duh. In addition to the layoff notice, I am on LAUSD's sub list yet haven't had one phone call to substitute this school year. My case is simple, I received a layoff notice and haven't been provided with any day to day work as a sub. period.

If it is that easy tomorrow I will keep my negative view of LAUSD mum for the time being. I've shed too many tears over the last few years because of LAUSD and I realize that I am as meaningless to them as the actual students who occupy their schools. I'm just a stat that they don't want to pay another dime for.

My new life plan is to look for full time work as a full time classroom elementary school teacher while running my own tutoring business. I started this business last school year, I've been on hiatus, but I'm back- in a different city, with no clients, no word of mouth, no pressure. I'm starting with a new blog @ livelearngrowtutoring.blogspot.com that I plan to debut sometime in the next week, I have cute little business cards that I created, and cute community board tear offs to post at local librarys.

Stop by my new elementary education blog. I would be so grateful if you left a comment and/or became a follower. Tomorrow is a new day, a new start to what should have been ended much earlier.

Staycation at The Wild Animal Park

2010-10-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of September Tuck and I took a fun day trip to San Diego Wild Animal Park. We were very hesitant because we have a soft spot that makes us want to cry when we see caged animals. Who doesn't? But, we sucked it up and went to the Wild Animal Park because it was initially not created as a zoo but as a breeding and healing sanctuary for endangered and hunted animals in the wild. The exhibits and enclosures are very large, some are acres rather than crowed and relatively roomy. Next time we venture to Escondido we are going to pack a lunch (Pirates Booty was the only G-free food item) and maybe think about going when the temperature is under 90.

A Greater Power

2010-10-01T17:20:00.000-07:00

As adults we have a great power to instill equality, peace, love, and acceptance to future generations.

Pass it on.

Ellen did.

With Fall Comes the Fall Line Up

2010-09-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

I love my fall shows. I watch too much TV in my down time but I would never miss these shows.

They are recorded on a series just in case.

Modern Family

Big Bang Theory

How I Met Your Mother

Dexter

Ellen
She makes me laugh!

Regis & Kelly
They make me laugh!

While Waiting for Tucker's Post

2010-09-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

I promised that Tucker would make a post about the boys' canoe trip in Wyoming. Well, he hasn't done that yet.

While I am waiting for Tucker's post I've been busy doing some other posts on the new blog I am going to start once I get it up and going. It will mainly be for the tutoring business I hope to start running again, but it will also be a blog for elementary education.

I'm not ready to give you the site yet. I'm ready, however, to share a post that I put up last week. It is, of course, about LAUSD. Enjoy:

Caring or Crime: LAUSD Goes Back to School

Robert F. Kennedy Education Complex

Los Angeles Unified School District opened its doors to over 700,000 students today. The local news stations portrayed this late school start as joyous and monumental. The late start was do to 14 mandatory furlough days implemented at the end of last school year while other furlough days will be taken throughout the year and for the last week of school. A new complex in downtown housing seven schools with a sticker price of $579 million also opened its glutinous gates with Mac equipped classrooms, state of the art educational supplies, and housing students with the lowest API scores in the nation including a 24% high school drop out rate.

In other times, I would praise new, safe schools. LAUSD's super intendent, Ramon Cortines, was interviewed yesterday morning saying how eager he was and how he made several advancements with a 60 million dollar budget this year, and "the layoffs of thousands of teachers," all said with a kindly smile across his face. I'm sorry but where am I wrong here? A $60 million budget? teacher layoffs? increased class sizes? What Mr. Cortines forgot to mention was: his personal scoffer (district paid), the $250,000 bonus he gave himself last year (after he laid off those thousands of teachers), that teachers at schools with an API scores of 800 or over receive no, I mean no, money for school supplies and spending freezes are placed on the offices of those schools so that no further supplies for the students could be purchased (thank heavens for the PTA), the district purchased a new completely ineffective math program (with many of the developers names being on LAUSD's board of directors), and to top the ice cream Mr. Cortines himself is rarely ever seen at an actual school site to see the real magic happening...learning (unless there is a camera crew or the UTLA is catching him at his latest "improvement").

I could be heavily opinionated on this subject because I was one of the thousands of new, fresh, talented teachers to be laid off. In the classroom, I see eager, sensitive, talented children whose image doesn't match the other side of the coin. Outside of that school safe zone hides villainous, money hungry bureaucrats reaping most, if not all, of the benefits that should be handed down into the classroom. LAUSD has just as much opportunity to excel as any other school district in our nation. Opportunity to excel is a long shot while the 2nd largest school district in the nation is in the hands of the wrong people whose minds are not on the best interest of the students, teachers, school staff, and schools.

Cannon Canoe Adventure on the Snake, by Tucker

2010-08-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

Well I have to admit this bloggin' thang aint something I'm used to, considering Ive never even had any interest in having a 'myspace', 'facebook' account... But I'm going to give it a shot here and there, since I do enjoy reading my wifey's posts and the idea of having some type of journal that documents our adventures through life, and this particular adventure was special in a lot of ways. The CannonMen spent at least 6months planning this canoe adventure-getting permits, coordinating transportation and daily meals, scouting campsites, budgeting, and gathering camping supplies. All of this to get away from the rat race that fills our busy lives and get back to basics-life on the range, with those who we love most. As I get older I realize how incredibly difficult it is to coordinate these 'get aways' with everyone you love-almost has to be a lucky combination of schedules, available funds and chance, which is exactly why we missed out on having Cowboy Cole attend this adventure, who began Grad school at USF the exact day we had committed to start our adventure months before.

Our destination was Wyoming and our mission to survive 3 days, 2 nights on the Snake River, with no river guides or destinations. Row until we find a spot to camp, fall asleep, get up and do it again the next day with some fishing in between. The trip began at Jackson Dam and as we put our canoes into the cold water of the Snake River, we were immediately struck by an incredible backdrop and magnitude of the Grand Tetons and blue skies of Wyoming and knew-we were not in 'Kansas' anymore. I teamed up with brolaw Mike throughout the adventure and after a rough first day of embarrassing ourselves by being the only ones to flip our canoe twice and in the process lose a fishing pole, we avoided all other river hazards for the rest of the trip, mastering canoe maneuvering as we watched the rest of the boats spill and spill again.(although there was one instance I recall being sling-shot out of the back of the canoe by a whiplashed errant log that overhung a left river bend-but I was okay and still... the canoe didnt flip.) Each night once we reached camp, we would camouflage our canoes to avoid detection from the park rangies as we were camping illegally in state parks or private property. Once our tents and camp were set up, Chef-Boy-ar-Hadyn worked his magic. This was one of the biggest surprises of the trip, as each night after a hard day of rowing on the river we were treated to chicken fajitas, chili and rice dinners with homemade deserts(not to mention lunches, snacks, trailmix, gatorade). For those who know what hard camping and hiking is like, you know what a huge deal a good meal is and THESE WERE GOOD MEALS. Another highlight for me was simply being able to actually canoe the Snake River that my dad had been a river guide on during his younger years. For so many years us Cannon kids have heard the many, many stories of his adventures on the Snake and I found my thoughts reflecting back to those stories many times while we floated down the river and retraced his 'oar strokes' in different rapids, whirlpools and bridges.

The river trip concluded with sunburns, sore arms and backs and with farewells to Jake and Gary (our friend and river Savior). The fun was not over though, as we met the Cannon ladies, nephews and spent some time in Jackson. Meeting my wife, mom and sisters was truly a perfect ending to the river trip and I cannot not express what a sight for sore eyes my beautiful Tara was. I've rambled for WAY TOO long and even my wife is looking at me like "WOW and you said you didn't like blogging!" so just a quick summary of my other highlights of Jackson: the SnowKing Condo, Rodeo, the late night meal at the Snake River Brewery Company and Million Dollar Cowboy Saloon, Alpine Slide, Yellowstone's Old Faithful and when someone mistook me for Pro Snowboarder at dinner with the fam!

9 days & 48 hours in the car

2010-08-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

We got back last week from the one summer vacation we planned. The Cannons (Snows included), 13 of us in total, locked and loaded in four cars headed for the great wide open. Well, it was desert until we reached St. George.

There were many car changes, driver changes, DVDs, CDs, people napping, pit stops, and laughter on our way to SLC. The boys rested their heads for a night with us at Nels and Shirin's house before they hit the road for their boys canoe trip down the Snake River. The canoe trip will be a separate post by Tucker.

When the boys left for Wyoming the girls (luckily for us sometimes with the newphews) got to play. We partied down at Grandma Slagle's birthday party, shopped, ate Wendy's Frosties, shopped some more, got mani/pedis, had an all girls dinner at Ruth's in Immigration Canyon (Bo was the ladies man), napped, relaxed, and then packed it up to head to Jackson Hole to meet the boys.

Another long car ride through some of the most beautiful land I've ever seen and we were there. Us girls missed our men so much we drove up and down the banks of the Snake River to suprise them. Well, we found their truck and a Bald Eagle, no boys on canoes. Our condo at Snow King was so beautiful, with views of the Tetons.
After the boys returned from their trip of a lifetime, tired and sunburned, the Cannons hit the ground running for the next four days.

We went to the rodeo.

The girls went white water rafting down part of the Snake.

The boys arn't the only ones who ride the white water.
Click links for the photos:
Big Kahuna

We rode down the Alpine Slide.

Had a knee slap'n time at Bar-J Chuckwagon.

We took a trip to Yellowstone National Park.

Never having been there before we quickly realized that the park was a lot larger then expected. So, we ventured to no more than a fourth of the place.

We ended our last day in Jackson Hole with a good ol' cowboy shoot out in the town square.

If you look closely you can see Cannon running away from the cowboy gun fire like the rest of the kids and then you'll see Roman staring admiringly at the cowboy with a top hat.

When we got home from our trip I found Tucker on the computer. When I asked him what he was doing he said he was trying to find a way to move to Jackson Hole.

Thanks mom and dad Cannon. We had a blast and would never have been able to have as much fun with out the whole family there.

PS- Cole, we missed you more than you know!

US Open of Surfing

2010-08-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

Thank heavens this huge tournament doesn't occur on our pier. Thousands, I mean thousands, of people gather for this yearly event. We were going to beach cruise to it. Yep, no biggie, it had to only be 5 miles at the most, we are in shape, young people. Well, luckily we clocked it in the car when we took a recent drive to Huntington. 7.5 miles? That's a 15 mile round trip on our cruisers. No thanks! So, we racked the cruisers on the FJ and parked a couple miles from the Huntington Beach pier ( that's the closest parking spot we could find at 9:00am, yes I said thousands). We watched Slatron and the final heat of Men's surfing, ate at Duke's, bought some useful tourist gear (I love my $5 Hurley canteen), and then watched Caballero shred in the skate comp. By the end of the day I was so grateful for our couple mile bike ride to the car. One day of the Open is definitely all we can handle a year, I can't wait for next.

Happy Shark Week!

2010-08-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

Discovery

Bryon & Ashley

2010-07-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

Think way back to June 26th. I am just now posting pictures from our great friends Byron and Ashley's wedding. They deserve much more than to have me post about them a month after their wedding. Their service was short and sweet, and their reception was appetizing and intimate in the Yamamoto's backyard. They have so many wonderful adventures to be had together.

Done and Done

2010-07-16T17:13:00.001-07:00

We've been delaying on cleaning this BIG mess in our family's Beach House garage. It consists of all our belongings that don't fit in our home and all my classroom boxes, not to mention the family's other belongings collected over the years.

But first we had to sell grandma's Lido out of the far side of the garage. Bye, bye boat I will remember you fondly. The nice man who bought it turned to me before he got in the car and said, "Don't worry I'll take good care of it for you." Did he see the tears in my eyes?

Then, we had to clean the vintage belongings (for the sake of a nice term to call junk) out of the garage. It's safe to say that most of this stuff originated in the 60's including the green toilet (which my dad swore was worth money). We love the garbage men here in NB they take everything away on trash day. Amazing.

4th of July

2010-07-09T17:31:00.001-07:00

We spent the 4th of July in Santa Clarita with our family. The most eventful day was not Sunday and fireworks, instead it was a bang out on the range at "A Place to Shoot."
My dad has raised my brother and I around all things outdoors and one is spending the day at the shooting range, learning about guns and mainly how to safely use them.

My eye is on the prize. Whoever shot a better round at the target got a foot massage.

Tucker still owes me that massage....

Tuck and B are loading rounds for their next shot.

Even though my dad has the best aim in the west Tucker also hit a clay pigeon or two.

Our Newest Nephew

2010-07-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

....was born today.

Boden Garrett Snow

Toy Story 3 Extravaganza

2010-07-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

Danya planned a Snow/Cannon family fun day at the El Capitan theater in Hollywood. Not only did we get to see Toy Story 3 in 3D, we got to go to the Toy Story Funhouse after the movie. My nephews were in heaven, there was a huge bouncy house, a ferris wheel, tricycle races, rope swings, logo building, a "Dancing with the Toys" show, and so much more. The boys even got to meet Buzz and Woody. Roman loves Buzz, he even wore his Buzz costume to the big day. When it was time to meet Buzz he couldn't stop pressing Buzz's buttons long enough for us to get a picture. The boys are growing up so fast and in less than a week (fingers crossed) we'll have another little nephew to play with.

Soccer Fans

2010-06-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

Heartbreakingly to these guys, USA lost Saturday.

Just to give you an idea of how incredibly important this World Cup is/was to Tucker:
Me: Hey hun, I found these in the car. (I hold up Tucker's blue USA World Cup shirt and his red and blue USA scarf)
Tuck: Thanks (of course not paying too much attention to what I was saying)
Me: I'll put these in the wash tomorrow so that you can have a clean soccer shirt for the next game. (I know I'm a nice wife)
Tuck: Noooooooo! (everything happened in slow mo as he practically dove for his dirty USA gear as it nearly hit the laundry basket)
Me: Why not? It smells...
Tuck: It's good luck, we are on a winning streak here.
Me: Huh?

I'm typing this from my new iPad!

2010-06-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

Tuck got me an iPad for my birthday! I'm still playing and it is exactly what I wanted.
For those of you that watch Modern Family, all week long Tucker was telling me, "low expectations, low expectations!"
I can't wait to play and read on this high tech gadget all summer long!

Marsha's Married

2010-05-31T10:10:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Marsha married Craig Brown in Marina Del Rey.

Beautiful weather, loving friends and family, an adorable 2 year old son, and a lifetime to share with one another.

Some things in life are so brilliantly meant to be.

2 Hours

2010-05-15T17:36:00.001-07:00

in stop and go traffic
3 nights sleeping over at my grandparents
22 anxiety, stress ridden 8 year olds for 5 days of CST testing
and eyes that can barely stay open
can't keep me from coming home to see this guy.
He turned 33 this week and I can't help but think that I haven't done enough to fill his life with as much praise and thanks as he deserves. Yet he is a perfect husband, leader, and role model that even I look up to for support, advice, and a lent ear. I know the coming year will have as much surprises as this last year has given us and I'm greatful that it is only 2 hours to get home to my best friend.

*Please note, this is an outdated picture. Why have I not chosen a recent photo, you may ask? Tucker has chosen to grow his hair long and conveniently forgets to shave, therefore, I am torn between showing a clean-cut picture or showing a latter modified version of the man I married 2 years ago.

Some Things We Can't Get Enough Of

2010-05-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

I played hookie...

2010-04-23T17:59:00.000-07:00

and the mini took its first trip on the Balboa Ferry.

The Past 3 Months

2010-04-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

Everyone wonders what we've been up to and where we've been.

Here's the before and afters to answer the questions.

Bathroom

before:

*mold under the shower liner. Yuck.

after:

Kitchen

before:

after:

Office/Extra Bedroom

before:

after:

Bedroom
before:

after:

Living Room

before:

after:

* OKAY I've tried everything and cannot get the darn before and after labels right! Sorry, I guess you can figure out which room is which.

Cannons on the Move..again

2010-04-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

it took 8 weekends of remodeling a home built in 1945*gutting moldy bathrooms*repairing leaky pipes*a mission to destroy stinky smells*bargain shopping*wallpaper tear downs*35 trips to Home Depot*3 cracked bathtub liners*8 newly installed wood blinds*4 days of hardwood floor installation*1 new bathroom*2 new bedrooms*6 Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponges*an over-worked shop vac*no lost limbs or minds*5 new reasons we love our families*a few minor married discrepancies*40 used packing boxes*1 tired teacher*1 beat up overworked therapist*1 unemployed enthusiast*2 ticked off Topanga landlords*3 hired movers who got more than they bargained for*1 new place to call home sweet home

I'm Irish

2010-03-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

because of these guys.

(My grandfather, Daniel Cashman, pictured with my great grandfather [my grandfather's father-in-law] William Cobery)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

IF I HAD A HUNDRED...

2010-02-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

...as expressed by 2nd graders.

This is a compilation of the best fill in the blank answers to a "If I Had a Hundred..." worksheet for the 100th day of school.

1. If I had 100 dollars I would... buy a limousine.

2. If I had 100 pencils I would... sharpen them all.

3. If I had 100 eyes I would... blink a lot!

4. If I had 100 legs I would... kick everyone on accident.

5. If I had 100 sisters I would... run away.

6. If I had 100 moms I would... make them clean.

7. If I had 100 mosquito bites I would... have no more blood.

8. If I had 100 friends I would... have a large playdate.

9. If I had meatballs I would... eat them all in 5 minutes.

10. If I had 100 hearts I would... be happy.

Tutoring Talented Children

2010-02-23T18:55:00.000-08:00

I tutor some amazing children in my after school hours. I'd thought I'd share with you a talented family that I tutor every Thursday.
The eldest daughter Keely is a fabulous singer/song writer. She sang for President Obama the day before he was elected, sings the National Anthem for numerous baseball games, does music shows at theme parks and is currently trying to be picked up by Disney all while attending dance class, acting class and frequent auditions. All of this at the age of 13!
Fiona and Liam are equally as talented, yet not as busy as their older sister. They have rhythm and pipes. To prove this you can find their You Tube video knock off of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' Empire State of Mind on the bottom of our side bar or click here. All of this was created because they were bored during Thanksgiving weekend. They wrote the lyrics and did the editing as 8, 10 and 13 year old children (with a little help from dad)!
If we could all have genes and ambitions like these...

Finally Making The Villa

2010-02-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

We live 7 miles from the beautiful coast of California where the The Getty Villa can be found. We haven't made it there til now.

Thankfully with a little invite from Neil and Amber we made it to the top of the hill where Getty built himself a live-in museum over looking the ocean.

January 2, 2010

2010-01-27T19:10:00.001-08:00

What a better way to ring in the New Year than with some college football and a wedding?

Micheal and Erin finally tied the knot of wedding bliss at Castle Green in Pasadena on January 2, 2010 at 5:00pm on a sunny winter day. We wish them nothing but happiness and joy for all time. We are so blessed to add such a peaceful soul to our continuously growing family.

* Our cousin Ashlee took all these shots as a photographer and a bridesmaid.

Operation Beach House Jungle Tear Down

2010-01-20T19:58:00.000-08:00

From THIS:

To THIS:

.....with a little (manly) brotherly love

THE BEARD

2010-01-16T19:28:00.000-08:00

Brendan can grow a killer beard that can send any man into a fit of shame.

Catch Up Week 4: Newport Christmas Boat Parade

2010-01-08T16:46:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful night the weekend before Christmas. So we ( me, Mom, Dad, Brendan, Marsha, and Sean) bundled up with warm clothes and snacks to watch the annual Newport Christmas Boat Parade.
Every year, in the Balboa peninsula, the people who can afford yachts and everything in between decorate their floaters in crazy lights. Onlookers fill the Fun Zone so we walked to the "little beach" to watch the parade.

Mom waiting for the show to start

Brendan and Sean enjoying the lights

Not so small boats with fun toy decorations and a Christmas tree patch

Catch Up Week 3: Polar Express

2010-01-05T12:00:00.000-08:00

Grab your ticket and board the Polar Express.

In Fillmore they have come up with an amazing money making plan: name a train the Polar Express, sell tickets at a high price, have the children come in their pajamas, give them cookies and chocolate milk, have Santa board the train to hand out candy canes, and sing Christmas Caroles. Cha-ching!
Cannon and Roman had a blast. Roman's eyes were so wide when Santa came aboard while Cannon was shouting out to Santa the thing s he wanted for Christmas.

Catch Up Week 2: Erin's Weekends

2009-12-28T17:17:00.001-08:00

We are so thrilled that our little sis and Micheal are getting married in less than a week. What a perfect time to post about her fun weekends.

The second week of December we had her Bridal shower. Her best friends put on a beautiful shower at the Cannon household. For the pics click HERE.

The next weekend the girls headed to Santa Barbara where we stayed at the Canary Hotel for the night. Pouring rain, shopping, burlesque dancing class (no details will be given, except that Erin would say Dayna gives one great lap dance), dinner and nail beautification.

The girls prepping for some intense booty shaking.

Yummy dinner only because there was a gluten free pasta option on the menu!

My more than beautiful sister (-in-laws). Love the bachelorette crown!

Catch Up Week 1: Christmas Sweater Party

2009-12-27T16:39:00.000-08:00

Everyone's doing it! Put on your tackiest Christmas/holiday sweater and join your friends in holiday merriment.

We ventured to our old apartment, in which our good friends Neil and Amber Esposito now live, to hang out with cool people in old Christmas sweaters.

We played the best rendition of White Elephant that I have ever seen. Amber has been doing this with her family forever. All you need is at least one present per guest, a "Trouble" game board, a stop watch and many amped up people to steal cheap gifts.

Neil and Amber- The Hosts

Me and Nicole won cutest Christmas sweater

The craziness of "Trouble White Elephant"

SO MUCH TO CATCH UP ON!

2009-12-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

I'll start from where we left off.

The week of Thanksgiving I had 9 clients that I was tutoring after school and I had been working as a substitute in the same 2nd grade class for two consecutive weeks. On the Monday after the long 4 day weekend the office secretary informed me that I would be a "long-term" substitute until February 1st. Good for our financial status, bad for free time and relaxation.
Our routine has been like a one trick pony for 5 weeks. Tucker and I leave the house at 6:40 in the morning, Tucker drops me off at Dixie Canyon Ave Elementary at 7:10, goes to work, then picks me up at 3:00, and zig-zags around Sherman Oaks dropping me off and picking me up at my tutoring clients killing time in between. After teaching 21 7/8 year olds for 6 hours and one on one tutoring 3 kids hourly after school we would arrive home at around 7:00 each night except Friday. It takes all my energy to make dinner and take a shower just to do it all over again when the alarm goes off at 5:45 the next morning. Wah...Wah, right?
In order to get life back to normalcy I will clean house, put away the Christmas gifts, call friends, and catch up on the blog (because I know at least one person is out there reading it).

Abandoned

2009-12-12T08:28:00.000-08:00

I did not abandon the blog.
I have been thinking about it everyday.
I haven't been able to get to it because of the 12 hour days and booked weekends.
I will be back.
Happy Holidays!

Gobble, Gobble, Turkey Bowl

2009-11-26T10:57:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We are thinking of our family that are not celebrating with us. We love you!

Some Old News

2009-11-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

Aunt Paula came to do her annual summer visit to the states from Holland in August. First, she stopped into Washington, DC to visit her lovely daughter Danielle in her new home. Danielle showed her mama around her new neck of the woods. Then, Aunt Paula head to LA to be with the Castronova clan.
She saw our new place. We laughed, ate appetizer treats, and heard some stories of what Topanga was like when she was a teen.

We spent time with grandma and grandpa.

We had a birthday party for my mom at Uncle Eli's house. I my mom turned 39 again this year (she looks good for her age). PS- Please ignore the political sign in the background.

We always have fun when Aunt Paula is here. Now we have to wait a whole year before we see her again. Maybe she'll bring Uncle Gerard and Derek with her next summer.

In October my cousin Danielle came back to LA to see her family who has missed her so much. Danielle moved from here to Washington DC in June to pursue a job at the Dutch Embassy. She loves her new home and has made many new friends. She even lost her American accent when speaking Dutch (she grew up in Holland speaking American and Dutch then moved here to go to school when she was 21). Danielle was able to brag about all the cool things she has been doing for the last four months. We miss her so much and can't wait to see her in January.

*How many chickens can you count in this picture?

Hint: Danielle and I don't count.

Sunday Galaxy Showdown

2009-11-12T17:26:00.000-08:00

The Los Angeles Galaxy beat Chivas 1-0 on Sunday night and we had 2nd row tickets. We saw Becks and Donovan up close and personal this time with our Galaxy gear in hand. Tucker's favorite part was when Becks took off his shirt at the end of the game and through his shirt into the crowd.

The flop that got us a penalty kick.

The penalty shot that won the game.

The LA Galaxy play Houston this Friday and then it's off to the MLS Cup Final. Go Galaxy!

Update: Tucker and Hadyn went to the semi finals game on Friday and the LA Galaxy won 2-0 and will be playing in the MLS Cup Final.

A Saturday Morning Workout

2009-11-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

Some may think a relaxing Saturday morning workout consists of a quiet walk or a peaceful hike. Not around these parts. We climb rocks!

*Chase reaching for sky on Boulder 1

Coley and Chase were definitely showing up Tucker and I on the cliffs. Tuck is suffering from a shoulder injury due to a snowboarding mishap at Mt High yesterday and I had the only excuse of it being my first time. Rock Climbing was a childhood favorite of the Cannon boys at Stoney Point thanks to Dad Cannon, so of course they were well trained and taught all safety precautions.

I am amazed at what a crazy "sport" this is; gear, guts, muscles and balance. I can't wait to hit the rocks again.

*This is about as far as I got this time : (

*Cole looking down after powering his first climb on Boulder2

Hey, look at me! I think I just earned another Cannon badge.

*Tara getting up on stairs Boulder2

I Missed My Own Awareness Month!

2009-11-06T15:38:00.000-08:00

I know I'm new at this but it is truly disgraceful when you don't know when the month that spreads awareness for the disease you live with is!
October is Celiac Awareness Month. Celiacs Disease is a genetic disease that causes the body to react negatively to wheat and gluten when it is ingested (and in some cases topically).
Not only do I live gluten free, my loving husband does as well and it's not by choice. The gluten free diet is a healthy diet for anyone that chooses to live this lifestyle. I'm very passionate about my diet and I promise to blog about this topic more often to spread awareness every month of the year.
For now I'm attaching some links for the curious.

celiac.com
G-Free Diet
Web MD

BOO!

2009-11-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

This year we opted to not use our typical stencil pattens for the pumpkins. Instead, we came up with our own fun face ideas.

Our Halloween this year consisted of cupcake making (G-free and flour), pumpkin carving, pizza, candy, a devastating USC loss (which we don't mention), and a scary viewing of Friday the 13th cuddled on the couch.

Political quote, anyone?

2009-10-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

I am not one for email forwards, but my dad sent me a list of political quotes that get the ol' thinker thinking.

"When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation."

"The night Max wore his wolf suit he made mischief of one kind... and another."

2009-10-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

I have the book memorized, I read it to my students and I will read it to my future kids. It is a story that everyone can relate to. Fun, mischief, adventure, imagination, and taming our biggest fears.
The new PG movie, Where the Wild Things Are, is not for kids. It is a story about a troubled boy who needs an escape from is torn apart life. The story is so deeply emotional and terribly disturbing which leads kids to think the story is sad, scary and even boring. The little girl behind us in the movie theater, who couldn't have been older than 5, kept asking her parents, "is the movie over yet?" The score is complied songs by Arcade Fire and the imagery/cinematography was wonderfully done.
Kids should only have access to the book Where the Wild Things Are, the movie will ruin the grace and journey of the book.

Together Again

2009-10-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

The Snow's have made an announcement this week....They are coming back to California in less than 4 weeks!
After 3 years in Japan they are returning with: a new world knowledge, tons of Japanese kitch, a total of 10 memorized Japanese words and phrases, 10 years of marriage, and one more kid (named RoRo) in tow.
In less than four weeks we will all be together again.

Thank You Ladies!

2009-10-12T18:01:00.000-07:00

We can't wait to try the first fruits of our chicken labor.

Seeing Pink

2009-10-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like seeing large grown men in tight pants, wearing bright pink cleats, bright pink wrist bands, and bright pink gloves, running down the football field.

The NFL got me in the mood for Breast Cancer Awareness Month this weekend when the whole football nation joined in on the pink festivities. It is chances like these that allow us to remember to do our part in the great race for cancer awareness and donating to find find a cure.

So, here are some links ladies (and gentlemen) to some fun pink apparel and accessories to show your support for the cause.

Ellen Shop

Susan G Komen

NFL Shop