ode to

One humongous advantage to living amongst farmland: unbelievable strawberries.

No seriously, they taste like candy right now.

May is peak season. The little stand near our house will only have strawberries through June, a date which will inevitably sneak up on us.

We buy them by the half flats and devour them (you have to, they go bad within days).

We'll make jam toward the end of the season after Jam Berry Day. Other than that we don't "make" a lot with them.

What do you do with strawberries? Ideas please.

selling it

I don't know what I like better the fierce look on her face or the arms.

Our friend Teddy used to do these crazy things with his arms when doing the Mambo.

"You got to sell it," he would tell us.

I think Katie's taking a page from the Teddy Handbook.

Sell it Katie.

it's raining dogs

Yesterday we visited Uncle Scott and Amy. Uncle Scott BBQ'd yummy turkey burgers and skirt steak for lunch.

The girls were more than excited to take a dip in the pool and hot tub.

But perhaps the biggest highlight -- please don't take offense Uncle Scott and Amy -- was the newest addition to their family: Bella.

Maddie was smitten by this 2 lb. dog (just didn't manage to snap a photo of the two of them).

Even Katie who is often scared of and has been known to yell "Dog off leash!" at people at the beach and park was completely taken by this little dog.

I also found out this weekend that one of Katie's best little friends Lia got a puppy.

Papa and the girls want a dog and yesterday's visit along with this additional information is likely to renew their quest.

I'm the holdout. I love dogs but another mouth to feed and body to keep clean?! I'm having a hard enough time with the task at hand without adding more to the mix!

Do you have a dog? And kids? When did you get your dog? Recommendations?

strange case of

Dr. Jekyll

and Ms. Hyde

Madeleine is my "mellow" child. As many second children are, she has often been subject to sitting through gymnastics, ballet and soccer practice and pushed through her nap time in addition to other indignities that Katie rarely had to endure.

Mo generally takes it in stride and is pretty much a trooper 99 percent of the time.

But, when that girl gets ticked about something -- she is TICKED.

And yesterday, she was apparently ticked a good portion of the day. Unfortunately for Papa he had the girls yesterday as I was gone (see soccer, flea market, outing reference below).

Thank you Papa, guess you were the trooper yesterday.

i'm "it"

I was tagged by Jozen over at Lola's Girl to give a little information about me in 3's.

In case you just like to look at pretty pictures, I've thrown in some I took out the window on the way home from a recent trip through the central coast.

Here goes...

3 names I go by:

1. Becky
2. Rebecca
3. Mama

3 jobs I have had:

1. Freelance writer
2. Director, Burson-Marsteller
3. Mom/Chef/Chauffeur/Maid

3 places I have lived:

1. Chicago
2. San Diego
3. Pleasant Hill, Calif.

3 fave drinks:

1. Tall nonfat latte
2. Room temperature water
3. 7 & 7

3 TV shows I watch:

1. Rules of Engagement
2. Glee
3. How I Met Your Mother

3 places I have been:

1. New Zealand
2. Tahiti
3. France

3 places I would like to visit:

1. Spain
2. Japan
3. Australia

3 fave retro TV shows:

1. Bewitched
2. Charlie’s Angels
3. Cosby Show

3 fave dishes:

1. Gnocchi at Trattoria Contadina
2. Roasted chicken with stuffing
3. Anything chocolate

3 things I am looking forward to

1. Sunday – soccer, flea market, girls afternoon/night out for Miyo’s birthday!
2. Katie’s preschool spring show
3. Our San Diego vacation

3 people I am tagging:

1. Miyo
2. Jen
3. Kati (assuming she's not in labor right now).

p.s. Anna, I would have "tagged" you if you had a blog.

little mutts

I love that my Little Wickies are a mix of three different ethnicities. They have two grandpas, one halmoni and a po-po.

Unfortunately, we're pretty "American," with zero languages other than English being spoken in the house (I know, what a waste. At least we know our way around the likes of good Shepherd's Pie, Dim Sum and bulgolgi.)

I do know looking "different" especially in our town will most likely play a role in their lives in some way or another.

But I guess in the end my Little Wickies are made from and surrounded by love and that's all that matters.

happy birthday machelle

When I moved to our new town a little over four years ago I had a brand new baby and knew no one.

I found refuge in a mini mommy community and found a fantastic core of women who I have come to love like sisters.

Miyo is one of those ladies who make me feel like I belong somewhere.

Today Miyo is "almost 40" (she's so not. And yes, I'm going to keep teasing you about that).

To my crazy cleaning, beautiful, talented and wonderful mother and wife of a friend -- Happy Birthday!

rock on

One of the prettiest landmarks in East Bay is Mount Diablo. I used to love seeing it every morning on my way to work.

After a good winter rain it would often be dusted with snow, but I think it was even more beautiful in the spring when it was all green.

This last trip up north we trekked up to Rock City on Mount Diablo.

The girls liked climbing.

And, jumping around.

Maddie, who loves the stairs at Halmoni's house, played on the stairs a good portion of Noah's Red Egg party.

I am convinced she would have climbed these all day long if we would have let her.

happy weekend

Go ahead, indulge a little.

fried food and cheese buffet at our recent bowling outing in the Bay Area.

disgusting the few friends we have

I'm a self-proclaimed DIY-er.

This means I do things myself. It does not mean I do them well.

A couple of weeks ago I gave our ledges a fresh coat of paint.

before

Last week I started spray-painting the shutters black.

I called our friend Ray who is a professional painter to ask a quick question. He immediately started laying into me about how I was doing it all wrong.

He is a very passionate person and I daresay can get a little rilled up at times.

An encapsulated version of our conversation went like this:

"You're what? With spray paint, why?! What kind of spray paint?!"

"Um, the can says wood, metal and more."

"Ugh, I'm getting nauseous hearing about all this."

after

Recently the crest from Katie's cape starting falling off. (Yes, we still have this cape -- and mask I might add).

So I pulled out my pathetic-excuse-for-a-sewing kit and set to work.

Suffice it to say, I am a terrible seamstress.

Hey Miyo, does this make you want to throw up in your mouth a little?

And, no that's not extra thread, that's a knot which I somehow created. If I cut it off, I fear the stitching would probably all come out.

swim forrest, swim!

I know a lot of kids Katie's age can swim now -- and, I mean really swim. But, there is just something about watching your own kid swim.

It just makes me beam thinking about it.

Katie almost making it the width of the pool by herself.

noah's big day

Noah's red egg party was what took us up the Bay Area on our last trip.

Papa and I were pretty excited about heading into Chinatown for some good grub.

Red egg card by Katie

Katie was excited about the other kids that were there. This included her all-time favorite "older" friend Mantha.

Baby Noah must have had 10,000 pictures taken of him. The little man was tuckered out by the end.

Later during quiet time Katie and I commandeered Halmoni's fireplace and built this.

I still have no idea what the giant black "X" is about.

I just loved Katie's pink giraffe.

And, the world's largest turtle who looks like he's scaring the bageezes out of the girl in our sailboat.
Coincidentally you won't find it shocking that we went through an entire ream of construction paper over the course of the weekend.

serendipity

Sometimes there's no other word for it.

My case in many points begins with the fact that it is WINDY today in Southern California. I mean it's blow-your-one-year-old-off-her-course-windy.

But, at our favorite beach....

No wind, low tide and these gorgeous yellow wildflowers on the hillsides.

Also, there wasn't a soul on the beach but us.

Until our friends got there.

The weather was warm but clear, which is rare.

You could see the islands beautifully today.

Then, a ladybug landed on Katie.

Although, as a disclaimer I do have to tell you that it is not uncommon during the Spring to find ladybugs on our beaches.

Not sure why but there have been a handful of times when we've been and there are literally tons of them.

Lastly, BOTH my kids kept their hats on the entire time at the beach.

All I can say is wow, the beach is definitely where we were meant to be today.

further tales from the city

We had a lot of fun little outings when we were last in the Bay Area.

One morning we headed into the City on the train.

Last time, we unnecessarily brought a stroller prohibiting us from getting on a cable car.

This time we knew better and ditched the stroller all together (and we had Papa with us which greatly helped).

So the Little Wickies ...

got to go on their first cable car ride!

We watched them turn the car around, just like in our book.

Katie at the turnaround

Then we headed over to Mama's old house of worship to catch a bite to eat.

yes, that's Nordstrom's.

The girls loved the train, the cable car and perhaps even more so all the elevators and escalators in the city.

When you live in a town where there are probably no more than a handful of elevators that go more than four-stories high this is big.