another gem from natalya

Natalya and I were looking at a website today that outlined some of the things that happened over the course of 2009. She was particularly interested in the Michael Jackson stuff so we scrolled through the MJ photos. Natalya stopped at a picture of Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson together and said, "Wow... this picture is cute... and kinda gross at the same time."

Out of the mouths of babes...

Feeling Thankful

Natalya has been talking a lot about her cousins and how excited she is to see them next month. So I've been sharing childhood stories with her (edited versions of course!) about my cousins and me. My brother and I had great relationships with all of our cousins. However, we had particularly close relationships with the cousins on my mom’s side of the family. We all lived within 20 minutes of each other and were close in age as well, so we were together a lot.

my brother and me with our cousins and grandparents

Thanksgiving day with my cousins was always a blast. We spent a lot of time picking on the youngest member of our group: April Melinda (sorry April)! Nothing delighted us more than agitating April to the point where she ran from the kids’s table to the adult’s table and tattled on us -- which was when the five of us collectively shrugged our shoulders and claimed complete innocence.

There were many other great bonding moments growing up with my cousins: like the time we thought it would be a good idea to turn off all of the lights in the basement and throw stuff at each other in the dark. Someone got hit with a coffee can and ended up with a nasty head wound. Our first response to someone getting hurt was strategically planning what we were going to tell our parents. It was one for all and all for one.

I also remember the creation of the boogie step. I'll spare you the disgusting details but at some point we decided that the second to the last basement step at each household was the boogie step. We were forbidden to step on it. To this day, when I’m going down the basement steps at my folk’s house I skip the second to the last step from the bottom.

When my Grandmother passed away I fully comprehended the bond that my cousins and I shared. I couldn't have made it through the grieving and loss without the support of my cousins. I'll never forget how I felt when the six of us served as pall bearers and carried our Grandma's coffin at her funeral. Our parents were a little concerned about us having this responsibility given the loss we were suffering. But we wanted to do it — it just felt right somehow. On that cold Michigan January day, sharing the experience of losing our Grandma, I realized just how incredibly special the bond with my cousins was.

And now I am witnessing my daughter’s growing relationship with her cousins. She absolutely adores my brother’s boys. They accept each other fully and they love being together. It warms my heart to know that Natalaya's life will hold the same experience as mine: a strong bond with her cousins.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! And especially to my cousins: Rodney, Vicki, Kelly, and April — I’m so thankful to have grown up with you and for the bond that we share!

my 23rd season at shoreline comes to an end

The Official Bridge Benefit Pumpkin

Wow! Another season is over. This one really flew by. Lots of festival-type shows meaning lots of photographers and press to deal with: Live 105's BFD. Mayhem. Cruefest. Rock the Bells. Warped tour, etc.

Highlights: The Killers stage and lighting design; No Doubt; seeing old friends at The Bridge School Benefit; Gavin Rossdale's set at the Bridge (more on that later).

Lowlights: Getting screamed at by the Security supervisor from Coldplay (it was about something really stupid).

The Bridge Benefit 2009 - Overall it was a fairly quiet Bridge weekend. I enjoyed Adam Sandler's set on Sunday. His cover of Powderfinger with Neil Young was fantastic! Gavin Rossdale's sets on both days were amazing. That guy can sing. And talk about stage presence... His cover of Prince's Sometimes It Snows In April was chilling. Gwen Stefani is a lucky woman!

Gavin Rossdale aka Mr. Gwen Stefani

My Shoreline partner Laura Parks, with awesome photographer/ friend Barry Brecheisen from Chicago (and me)

say what?

Natalya and a friend at the aquarium

Natalya has a nasty blister on her left palm. She spent too much time on the monkey bars at school. Last night I was putting a fresh dressing on her wound and we had a funny conversation.

Natalya: are you going to use goose tape on my hand?

Me: Huh?

Natalya: You know -- goose tape.

Me: Do you mean "duck tape"?

Natalya: No. I mean goose tape.

Me: No. I'm using this tape and the other tape is called "duct" tape not "duck" tape.

Natalya: Oh. Then why does everybody call it "duck" tape?

Me: Because when people say "duct" it sounds like "duck".

Natalya: And what about when people say "goose"?

Me: Umm -- it sounds like "goose" doesn't it?

mastercards and milky ways

Natalya strikes a pose at the San Francisco Pride Parade

Earlier this week while driving Natalya to her summer day camp I noticed that she was unusually  quiet. (She usually serenades me in the car with the latest Radio Disney hits.) I looked back at Natalya and she appeared to be deep in thought.

Me:  What's up Natalya? What are you thinking about?

Natalya:  Candy.
And -- credit cards.

Me:  Huh?

Natalya:  I said candy and credit cards.

Me:  Oh. What about candy and credit cards?

Natalya:  Can you use credit cards to buy candy?

Me:  :)

natalya finishes first grade!

natalya and her dance partner jacob wait for the music to start

Natalya finished First Grade yesterday. We're really proud of her. The last few days of school were jam packed with parties and performances. The entire First Grade at Bubb School participated in an International Dance performance one evening. Natalya and her dance partner looked great together and of course, Natalya wasn't nervous about performing in front of over 100 people :) She really seemed to enjoy herself -- and we certainly enjoyed watching her!

natalya shows us why we could hear her voice over all the others

jacob swings his partner

When my brothber and I were kids, my parents took us out for ice cream after we finished the last day of school. I've continued that time honored tradition with Natalya.

natalya enjoys her ice cream sundae after school
(and mom waits for the chocolate and sugar to kick in)

bathtime chats

Bath time with Natalya is something that I usually look forward to. We tend to have some good conversations while she bathes. Sometimes we use it as an opportunity to just be silly or sing little songs that we make up together. And sometimes she says things that leave me speechless.

The other night, Natalya and I were chatting about her day at school while she was in the tub. At one point she looked down at herself in the water and then looked up at me and asked "Mama -- When am I going to get cubix hair?"

Needless to say, this was one of those speechless times for me.

natalya's refrigerator messages

Natalya is campaigning for a dog. She wants a dog more than anything in the entire world. Everyday she says Mama -- I still want a dog. If I catch her staring off into space it's because she's thinking about having a dog.

Andrea and I want a dog too but for various reasons, we're not getting one in the near future. We promised that we would however get a dog someday. Natalya replied that Someday means never. I told her that we'll see means never and that someday means later.

In the meantime, Natalya has taken her dog campaign to the refrigerator. She's been leaving us messages on the door. We get a new message about once a week.

You have to admire my daughter's persistence!

it's over and we're sad

Jayne Appel reflects after the loss to UConn

The good news: Stanford made it to the women's NCAA Final Four again this year. The bad news: they couldn't get past UConn this time. Stanford 63, UConn 84. Ouch! And UConn went on to win it all by beating Louisville in the Championship game.

We Stanford fans are sad and so is Jayne... her teammates had an abysmal game. They barely showed up to help her out. Such a bummer.

In the meantime, I'm counting the days till the opening game of the 2009-10 season :)

E.T. phone home

We watched the movie E.T. with Natalya the other night. She'd never seen it before. There's a scene where Elliott calls his older brother Michael "penis breath".

When we heard this Andrea and I just looked at each other and gulped nervously waiting for Natalya's reaction. Natalya started laughing and said "That was funny!"

Me:  "What was funny Natalya?"

Natalya:  Elliott called his brother "peanut breath". That's really funny Mom.

Me:  (breathing a sigh of relief) Yes Natalya -- it's hilarious!

march madness: here we go again!

Stanford Center Jayne Appel - Pac 10 Player of the Year.
(Jayne also has the honor of being Natalya's favorite basketball player)

It's tournament time and the Stanford Women's Basketball Team got the number two seed again in their region. Last year we rode the two seed all the way to the final championship game -- where we were soundly defeated by Tennessee :( What will this year bring? Several sports writers and analysts are predicting another trip to the Final Four for The Cardinal. I just hope my nerves can handle it!

Go Stanford!!!

a gem from natalya

The other day Natalya asked me about breasts and how old you are when you "get breasts". We talked about breasts for a little while and then I said something like, "you like boobies don't you?"

Natalya answered, "I don't like boobies Mama -- I like cleavage!"

natalya rocking out on-stage at shoreline

Dustin Black's powerful and poignant Oscar acceptance speech

Farewell 2008

Happy New Year everyone! It's January and time for me to list some of my favorite things in 2008.

Kaari's Favorite Things: 2008

Movie: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Humorous. Great dialogue. Amazing cast: Javier Barden, Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz. Interesting, complex characters. Woody Allen at his best.

penelope cruz in 'vicky cristina barcelona'

New TV Series: True Blood on HBO
I've always loved vampire stories and True Blood delivers a fantastic story in every episode. There's also an amusing and interesting gay sub-text thanks to Allan Ball the man who brought to us Six Feet Under. Example dialog: "What's the world to do now that all the Vampires are out? The next thing you know they'll what the same rights as humans." And really -- how can anyone say no to a handsome vampire named "Bill"? :)

my favorite new television show

Concert: REM at the Greek Theatre, Berkeley
Gorgeous night in the great outdoors. Special seats thanks to my connections :) I've seen REM several times. Some shows were fantastic and some were just okay. Michael Stipe really brought his A-game this time! Are you surprised that I didn't choose the Madonna show in November? Well, the sound quality at that show was pitiful. So -- sorry Madonna -- I'm going with REM this time.

andrea enjoying one of our thrones at REM at the Greek

Restaurant: Cascal in downtown Mountain View
Sitting outside with friends enjoying the California weather. Excellent food and unbeatable service.

Spanish fries at Cascal -- Yum!

Favorite Natalya Moment: Watching Natalya meet the Jonas Brothers
The look on her face was truly priceless! This favorite moment is followed closely by the time that Natalya told me that she loved me "as much as a jellyfish".

natalya and her new best friends