I love the Olympics.

I’ve been watching the Winter Olympics online and the same 3-4 commercials come on all the time.  One of them is this one about a woman who is a full-time mom and full-time Olympic athlete training for the skeleton event at the Sochi Games.

I looked her up and her story is pretty crazy.  She missed the 2006 Torino Games because of a freak accident involving a bobsled that crashed into her at practice and broke her leg in multiple places.  Then she got back to training in time for 2010 in Vancouver and lost the bronze medal by 0.10 seconds.   She then retired to be a mom and had a second child.  She later became pregnant with #3 but then miscarried at 18 weeks.  Whoa.  After that happened, she and her husband had a long talk and decided they’d get her back in training.  Her husband even designed and made her skeleton sled (works for a steel manufacturing company).  She trained early in the morning, took care of the kids during the day, and then trained more after they went to bed.  That’s some dedication and stamina!  Sliding down a icy course head first and on your stomach on a tiny sled is not something you can do when you’re exhausted from a full day!

Anyway, after all that, she went to the 2014 games and won silver yesterday.  Here’s a link to the article. I’m officially inspired.

Funny Little Valentine

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Happy Valentine’s Day, Everyone! This is how our evening went. It started with making a card for Jes.

IMG_9961Then instead of making dinner, we actually went down the street to Umami Burger.

IMG_9962We didn’t have to wait for a table and our funny little valentine entertained us.

IMG_9963I love this kid and I think she loves us too.

Wall Art

hangingartworkI finally put up some of the wall art that I’ve collected over the past two years.  I couldn’t hang frames over her bed so I kinda sat on this project for a while.  Then I found some clear command hooks at the store and figured out that I could juset tie a ribbon on them and used some binder clips to hang the prints.  I also found these cool Scotch Restickable Dots that I used to display her artwork.

IMG_9890The prints are all from local artists.  Below are the original versions of two of the prints.  I met the artist, Genevieve Santos at a craft faire and was so sweet to offer to paint the boy’s hair black in both of the prints.

pillowfortPillow Forttreehouse“Let me in.  I have cookies.”

Here are a few from a girl named Elda The.  I love her work.

angrybirdsAngry BirdselephantI don’t know what this one is called but I imagine this is where Koa lives now.

IMG_7618She also designed the Koa pillow that Kumquat sleeps with every night.

herecomestherainThis is a cute one that Kumquat loves to point to and label “bus” and “GG”.  The artist’s name is Nidhi Chanani.  Love her stuff.

It looks a little tacky but I kept the plastic sleeves on them for now to keep them from getting greasy from the kitchen. They’ll come off when she has an enclosed room to herself one day.  For now, this will just have to do.IMG_9895Little by little, this space will be covered in scribbles…hopefully, they’ll all be on paper and not the actual wall.

Trampoline Birthday

IMG_9830James and Sylvia’s little girl turned 4 last weekend and they had her birthday party this weekend at Sky High Sports in Concord.  It was a 30-minute drive in pouring rain for us but it was worth it to see Kumquat on a trampoline for the first time.

IMG_9831I would have liked to do some jumping myself but I was too busy supervising this little girl.

IMG_9825They also served pizza and cake and I was surprised to see Kumquat stealing all my olives!

Happy Birthday, Ariel!

Wet Weekend

IMG_9748We had lots of rain this weekend and it was so nice.  On Saturday, I wanted some rainy-day food so we took the bus to Chinatown for our favorite porridge and noodle place.  IMG_9741To add to the adventure, we took the bus with Kumquat unbuckled and unstrapped. IMG_9751She sat in her own seat and walked up and down the Chinatown hills with us in the rain like a big girl.  She’s growing up way too fast.  It’s so fun to see the world through her eyes and she had a blast.

IMG_9746The porridge, Chinese doughnut, and warm soy milk really hit the spot.

IMG_9742Jes got the Singapore rice noodles and Kumquat had a little of everything we ordered.  We also ordered two dishes to-go so we wouldn’t have to cook or leave the house for dinner.

IMG_9806On Sunday morning, Kumquat and I walked down the street for brunch.  I didn’t take the stroller and we braved the rain together on foot.  On the walk home, it started to rain harder and Kumquat a fun time playing in the rain.

IMG_9711The Sochi Winter Olympic Games also started on Thursday and I’ve been watching it online thanks to my Brother who gave me access with his cable account.  Thanks, Brother!  It’s was the perfect thing to watch on a rainy weekend.

Day Off

IMG_9603I stayed home today and it was so nice to have a day with Kumquat.  In the morning, we had brunch at La Boulange Bakery.  This is one of my favorite things to do with my little girl.  She’s such a good little diner.

IMG_9618I was in major decluttering and purge mode this weekend so we went over to Target to pick up some containers and other household stuff.

IMG_9614With some time left before her nap, we stopped at the Yerba Buena Playground, which has a bunch of huge slides.  We went up and down several times before heading home.

IMG_9630The rest of the day was spent at home while she napped and I cleaned.  In the evening, we played a bit and went to Safeway.  By the time Kumquat went to bed, I was exhausted.  I realized that I hadn’t really sat down all day.  Well, at least I was productive.