Grandpa Heins

This summer Aaron, the kids, and I had the opportunity to spend three days in Minnesota with Grandpa and Grandma Heins. It's not often that we have the opportunity to spend time with them. Every Thanksgiving most of Aaron's family flies out that way for a big celebration. Having three small children, we usually don't have the financial means to make the trip.

However, for Grandpa and Grandma Heins 60th wedding anniversary we made sure to be there. I'm glad we did. Amelia fell in love with her grandpa. The two of them were inseparable.  Wherever Great Grandpa Heins was Amelia could be found. 

At least once a week she will ask when she will get the chance to see him again. Sadly, he passed away tonight.

He was an amazing man, the kind of person that made you smile just to be around because he was so full of light.  I adored him.  He will be missed.

My daughter the Patriot

Being a parent is akin to daily attending a stand-up comedy show. My kid's crack me up every single day.   For instance, last night while Amelia was going number two, she decided that it was perfect moment to belt out the pledge of allegiance.  Clearly there is no truer statement for loving one’s country then taking a deuce. 

I love her!

Work!

I have been hired on by a local web company to do the content writing for a pretty amazing new website.  I am having my first ever client meeting on Tuesday. Hopfeully I don't screw it up! 

Also, I have been contacted by a local newspaper over the prospect o freelancing for them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I land the job. 

Finally I am gainfully employeed! 

note: my employment has nothing to do with Peggy Olson but I am fond of the dress she is wearing.    I wish everyone dressed like it was 1958 again. 

For the Love of Meg Ryan's Face

Every single day people across the country Google things like: Meg Ryan plastic surgery, why not to get plastic surgery, and Meg Ryan's scary face. They are directed to my little ole' blog. So hello there Meg Ryan enthusiast’s, the plastic surgery curious, and those who are opposed to the Meg's new face.


For you, I gift the following:

“I think when Hollywood is done with me, I will probably be done with it. I’m not interested in playing those stock characters any more and I don’t feel sad that I don’t get those kind of offers.”

Marc by Marc Jacobs

While the kids are having fun at our neighbor's house, I should be taking advantage of this moment by being productive.  I should be putting the finishing touches on my english report on the decline of the United States school system, scrubbing my floor, reading the hand-out my histroy teacher gave me on the Salem Witch Trials.  But no, that's far too level headed. Instead, I am staring at photos from Fashion week.  There is something wrong with me! 

Here are my favorite Marc Jacobs runway looks:

Over there

Here are a few of my recent Zelda Lily posts:
Your baby could be Lady Gaga, Dudes that love Maxi pads ,
I am not impressed with Morrissey ,  and lastly Tampons in your cereal

N.Y Fashion Week, Derek Lam

I love Derek Lam.  Here are my favorites from his Spring 2011 collection:

A day in our lives

I fall in love with places so easily that I am certain if it weren't for the stability of Aaron I would move, at the very least, twice a year. I love moving. I love purging my home of unneeded things and packing everything neatly into boxes. I like the idea of starting over and reinventing what our idea of normalcy is.

During the one hour drive to Julian this afternoon, I convinced myself that we needed to pack up and move to Poway, a slightly rural community in the boonies of San Diego. Within ten minutes we were in Ramona. The charming dirt roads, mail boxes lining their quaint streets, and the adorable old fashioned shops had me rethinking Poway.

Finally we arrived in Julian, rich with the smell of autumn and brimming with denim and cowboy boots. The layers of mountains that frame Julian's horizon took the breath right out of me.

"I love it here,” Andrew announced.

He is a mini-me. Andrew tends to voice exactly how I feel at any given moment. The two of us are so very much alike that I worry for the little guy. Every failure of his echoes similar childhood defeats of mine. Nearly daily my heart breaks for him because in his struggles I see my own. It's funny how children can fill you with so much happiness combined with overwhelming worry all at once. I wish that someone had sat me down when I was pregnant with Andrew to tell me all of this.

I will never forget a conversation I had with Aaron's Uncle the week before my wedding. Very matter of factly, he laid out what he thought it meant to be married. He told me that Aaron and I would have the greatest moments of our lives together but folded inside that happiness would be anger, resentment, and sadness. That was okay he assured me. "Marriage is no cake walk but it's worth it!" Uncle Rick told me.

His words have stuck with me.  During those moments when Aaron and I have bitter arguments, I often remember that marriage isn't perfect. I have to love my Husband, my kids, and my life, flaws and all.

Through the years I have learned to cherish the flaws of my family, sometimes even more than our moments of brilliance. Often, It's the flaws that make us beautiful.

So today, while the kids and I explored Julian, laughing, and smiling with the occasional cross word or a whine here and there, I remembered that perfect isn’t interesting or the least bit real and I love that about us.  

It's a sad day

Perhaps it's a sign that I should give up on checking my son's homework when he recieves a 9 out of 14 on a math assignment I looked over before he handed it in.  It's official: I am not smarter than a 6th grader.  So sad

Mexico

We spent our labor day in Mexico.
When I have time I will write an extensive blog about our visit. For now I will simply post a couple of photos from the trip:

Amelia's First Day of Kindergarten

I had a vision in my mind of what Amelia's very first day of kindergarten would be like. I imagined waking up early and enjoying breakfast together as a family. There would be picture taking and a long tearful good bye at her classroom door. Upon picking her up form school she would happily greet me and go on and on about how great her first day was.

That's not what happened.

I attempted a family breakfast this morning but Jacob was cold and insisted on wrapping up in a blanket and collapsing on the couch, and Andrew was thoroughly grouchy. Amelia was the only one slightly chipper, although she was peeved that one of her butterflies in which we decorated her kindergarten bag with had gotten smooshed by Jake's backpack.

Once we got to school there was no time for pictures because school was set to begin in two minutes. Amelia's kindergarten teacher wanted to know where her morning snack was and why I hadn't placed it in a separate bag, hadn't I remembered this from when Jake was in her class (3 years ago!). Didn’t I read about it in the kindergarten handbook (I arrogantly ignored because I have already had two kids go through kindergarten) I was flustered by the time I left her at school.

When three o'clock rolled around I couldn’t wait to hear about her day. Upon picking her up in her room so had a mini melt down "why are you here so early, all my other friends are still in the classroom!" She fumed.

Before long she ran off to the playground to play with the other girls, only to have another temper tantrum on the playground when another kid accidentally kicked her. She left school in tears demanding that we stop at seven eleven to buy her a Slurpee.


I demand a redo! Maybe we can pretend that tomorrow is her first day?

An Army of Siobhan's

I am coming to grips with the idea that I have a generic face.

Two nights ago while walking to my car with groceries in hand, a man in a nearby deli stuck his head out of the door and started waving frantically in my direction. I looked around and upon realizing I was the only one in view, I slowly waved back.  I studied his face hoping to recognize him.

“How have you been, Heather?” he shouted

“I’m not Heather,” I shouted back

He looked as confused as I did.

That happens a lot. People think they know me. I have been stopped on the street, asked by professors if I have already taken one of their courses, told I look like a cousin, a sister, a co-worker, even,an Olympic skier, or a friend.

Luckily my parents gifted me with an ethnic name that has a strange spelling: S-i-o-b-h-a-n.  So, I have that piece of uniqueness going for me.

Oddly, I kind of like the idea of a million me’s running around out there with my face. I wish I could run into one of the mini me's but I have yet to meet one.

Reading: It's What all the Cool Kids are Doing

Aaron, the kids, and I read a lot. We have five bookshelves filled to the guts with books, books, and more books. Also we have boxes of them in our attic storage.

As a result I have started a new project: Found a book. I have been leaving books that I have read and loved in public places. Inside the book's cover I have left instructions on what to do next.

My hope is that other people will pay it forward. The idea is to carry on the trend. Once you find a book you are supposed to leave another book. I instructed the lucky individual that has scored a new novel to go the above website and leave a message all about it. We will see if it catches on. So far I have left behind two books, one on my school's campus underneath a really beautiful tree, and the other at a Starbucks.

If you’re interested in being a part of my experiment let me know and I will e-mail you the instructions you should write in the inside of your left behind book. It would be cool to get people in other states involved.