Merry Holidays!

Ezra Anecdotes

Ezra said in response to listening to Peter and the Wolf and when the hunters emerge out of the forest,
"I will shoot them." (E has a hefty and healthy amount of empathy for the wolf)
"Hmmm," I said. "What is shooting?"(I wanted to hear E's version)
"I will shoot them with 'guns'." E said
I had to ask, of course, "How will you do that?"
E replies, "I will chew, chew, chew and blow the biggest bubble and it will pop on them and pow!" Many a hand gesture is flailing.
"I see, you will shoot them with your gum(s)." I said.
E shakes his head vigorously.

Another one of my favorites.....

"Sometimes it rains when I spit."

Baking and Making

Repeal 8 - Nice to know we have such great friends, even if our statewide neighbors are still a little fuzzy on the whole civil rights thing.

We feel so high maintenance. Our friends took on our wedding like it was their own, planning, consulting, cooking, cleaning, dreaming about our wedding. What we thought would be a carefree day was a lot of work and our friends worked their butts off on October 18, including our families. It was the most beautiful day I could have ever imagined and we have all been in a state of bliss/shock ever since. After our family left we all settled in for the most historical election of our time. We woke up on Wednesday morning with much excitement and with much sadness. We received phone calls and emails from friends expressing their sympathies as well as their glee about Obama. What California felt about our love and family, all in the name of religion, was a bit hard to swallow. This past Saturday, our friends came out in support again. They arrived early at our house. We made signs, we ate bagels, we marched outside to the train with signs that read, "My family loves your family." We made it down to the rally on a sweltering November day. We could hardly hear what the speakers were saying. Our kids were melting down. But, everyone stayed in support. They watched Ezra while Jess and I moved closer to listen to the speakers. We yelled. We cried.

Obviously we are feeling like rather lucky newlyweds. We are pretty high maintenance newlyweds that have pretty darn amazing people in our lives. We are immensely grateful for the gift of friendship that has been given to us. Despite what 52% of California thinks, I think god likes us quite lot. 

We Are Still Married

Check out the organized and peaceful protests springing up all over the State.

No matter what 52% of Californians may think, our family is strong, unique and bound by enormous love from our friends and family. If 52% of the people can change the constitution, then so be it. We will continue to teach love in our family and to never discriminate against anyone. 

We have hope. An African American man is president. He mentioned us in his amazing speech. As Obama continues to do, he gives us that bit of hope. Yes we can.

As he quoted from Lincoln last night, “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. and it continues....The mystic cords of memory will swell when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature.”

 In NYC last night, Nov. 13, 20K people showed up to protest the passing of Prop. H8 outside the Lincoln Center Mormon Temple. Photo by David Shankbone (flickr photostream).

The Big Bad Wolf Says You Better VOTE!

....the role of the wolf is played this year by Ezra. Peter by Po, Cat by Momma, Grumpy Grandpa by Mommy. 

No one wanted to be the duck. Bird flew the coop. Hunters in the forest....

Voters out on Tuesday. Vote No on Prop. 8. It is unfair and wrong!

3 million in 3 days?

Yup, can you dig in your pockets just a little more? We can't have these hate ads dominating our airways discriminating against our families. They are appalling and just plain sad. I know it feels like we have given all we can give at this juncture, but we have until Friday. Equality for all!

We did!

"The stars come up spinning every night,

Bewildered in love"  Rumi

"As we were strolling through the “richer and older” end of our neighborhood with the kids yesterday and seeing all the “yes on 8” signs in the yards of the homophobic republicans, I couldn’t help but think that they might just change their minds if they were at your wedding. " Vote no on Prop. 8!

Old School New School

A few weeks before E started his new school, we had a little graduation for the old school, The Chicken Coop, our family created co-op. The kids point of view in the photo is of their teacher, Olli, dressed in a brilliantly funny chicken costume, reading a book about a chicken named Lulu. This is the collective look that we all got to witness as we ran our little school. And, as they all venture to their new schools, they will always have the bond they created with one another, and the Moms will have a sense of pride for creating an environment for our babes in which they truly thrived.

Vow to Vote No

After weeks of being in a wedding-planning haze I realized I hadn't posted on E's blog in a very long time. Well, there is so much going on in our family right now. But, more is going on in our Golden State that we should be concerning ourselves with. I couldn't resist to post this video on Ezra's blog. Afterall, it is a crucial issue for the basic rights of our fellow LGBT families. If you haven't given a little bit....$5 goes a long way ......
Equality for all is all it is.






p.s. No matter what happens in Nov., we will have a rockin' wedding, celebrating our 10 years together and the family that we've made. We are so proud and always will be no matter what.

Smart Cookie

He uses the mouse. He's vacuuming as I blog. He knows how to use the to the cd player and plays "I want to be 'elated'" by the Sippy Cups over and over again. He cracks his own eggs, kneads dough and even uses the big potty to poop....


He is....Smart Cookie!



He took this picture on our digital SLR. He hasn't quite mastered the giant lense, adjusting the settings for low light and looking through the viewer....so that's why our pose is leaning a bit. But, we are certian he will be taking master pieces before long.

Not Ready

Last weekend Ezra did something remarkable. I know, we are always saying he does remarkable things, and in fact, it's true. The boy does things worthy of remark just about all the time. He's three. They're like that.

But last weekend we spent the afternoon with his friend Argus, and they had their usual blast. Slides. Skate boards. Apples. Chasing. Jumping onto the couch in ways that make my neck twitch. So when Karen invited us to stay for dinner, we were absolutely game. And it was about then that Argus began his sleepover campaign. Not with Jackie and me, but with E. We were sure he wouldn't go for it, but some time after his third helping of orzo, Ezra said yes.

We let it pass because, well, Ezra still sleeps in our bed most of the night, so how on earth could he sleep in another bed at an entirely different house? With different parents? But he stuck with it. After at lest 20 "Are you sure?"s from us.

And so we left him there. In another house. AT NIGHT! We thought about going to a movie or something like that, but we assumed there'd be a call in an hour. And when we were finally able to lie down and had our phones turned up all the way and waited for the call, it never came. And I checked every hour until morning. We slept in no significant way.

At 7:30 Karen called to say E was still sleeping and to ask if we'd like to come for pancakes. So we did, and he was great, and we ate pancakes on the most surreal of mornings. What on earth was he thinking not needing us? What about the attachment parenting? Does this mean it worked? But which book tells us how to detach?

Our Giving Trees

The giant pine in our backyard was removed last week. The lean was too great to fix and little too dangerous for our arborist. So down it came....only 14 years old.

Of course, Momma had a grand idea and took E to the hardware store to procure a new hammer, some nails and some goggles. E was going to hammer some nails into the stump of the tree.

He's been hammering for days now. He's had friends come over and hammer. He hammers in the morning, and yes, he hammers in the evening. He is, after all, a "worker man."
Worker Man takes breaks after much vigorous hammering. I have never seen him so calm. Ezra and the word calm are not necessarily synonymous.
In fact, after all the pent up hammering energy is released, he's down right giddy. He was thinking of ice cream here.
We have also been initiating our Orange Blossom tree with lots of little feet climbing on its trunk....
....and swinging on its branches.

In Need Of a Band Name......

....we are already booking tour dates.

The Winner Takes it All.....

...yes...the ABBA song is running through Ezra's Mommies' minds. I guess it could be Dancing Queen or, god forbid, S.O.S.. You are wondering why these songs are running through the minds of an ABBAless household or you are wondering why we have placed these said songs in your head and why would we do such a thing....well...

....it was date night. And, a very special one at that. Our cool babysitter was coming over to put E to bed while we saw a late show. Yup...a LATE show. Being at the movies after babe is in bed is a whole new world for these Mommies. It was our first. Imagine, two bug eyed parents running through the theater, giddy with excitement to the ticket window to purchase tickets for Dark Knight.

I know...you are asking,"you purchased them ahead of time, right"?

No.

We were those naive parents standing in a line with SOLD OUT flashing in our woeful eyes. What to do? Well, there was another movie at a time that would work and we would be home in time.....I think the conversation went like this,"Mamma Mia, Sure! We like musicals and after all we are getting married too."

We race each other up to the top floor (Momma took the elevator while Mommy took the excalator...it was a race. Mommy lost, but a darn good sport about it) and took our seats with popcorn and soda in hand for what would be the most interesting cultural events we have had in a very long time.

Mamma Mia! Holy Moly! We know we've have been out of commission for a while...but, we do believe we left Earth for about 2 hours.

First of all, as we settled in for the ride, Momma mentions to Mommy, "You know, I don't really like ABBA songs." Mommy shrugs it off and grabs the popcorn bag.

As the movie begins, and the first song is sung, we start to notice that the people next to us are singing along. People were laughing and clapping at every joke with much vigor. Meryl Streep flailed her body with much vigor. By the 8th song, the people next to us are still singing wildly as well as the people behind us and we are noticing that maybe we aren't so IN to this movie. We start searching the crowd and it appears we may be the only ones, but we hold each others hands and laugh till we cry at our situation. No one noticed....we hope....we are sure they thought we were enjoying the movie as much as they were. I think people stood up and started dancing at the closing credits....people were so into this movie. Sadly, we were not. We were virgins to being out late without Boy. Three whole years of movie theater deprivation....and, we so looked forward to it. And, I guess you can say we will never forget it.

We made it home after a glass of wine at our favorite neighborhood wine bar and a discussion about whether we know movie culture anymore and admitted to enjoying ourselves at least a little. Then as we pulled out the check book to pay our awesome babysitter, we did the math.

movie tickets + popcorn and soda + babysitter + a healing glass of wine = we will see Dark Knight on DVD.

A Weekend of Pride

(Full disclosure - Jackie usually writes these posts, but today I am sneaking in with some pictures I just uploaded from my phone - Jessica)

I have to say that over the past five or so years, I have not been that excited about Pride or the parade that goes with it. But we did march a few years ago with Project Open Hand, and to have thousands of people clap for me for no reason at all, except that I was walking upright, was a pretty cool feeling. I guess I'm a sucker for recognition.

But this year, we decided to march with the Our Family/Colage contingents. We figured Ezra could use the applause and the connectedness.

It started like this:

Ezra started out on his scooter and soon learned to navigate around the tracks on Market Street. But he soon tired of that and just walked.

I think he found this boring until he realized that if he waved, people waved back. And if he combined the wave with a little scream and a wave of his sign (above), he was a kind of a hit with the crowds.

Our friends and 'allies' Viru and Plum met us for the march, and they were very convincing and supportive members of our family.

After a walk through the Mission and a good tapas meal, we headed to Bi-Rite Creamery.

He ate the whole thing. We were very proud. And nervous.

Fancy Schmancy

Ezra's Mommies and Ezra himself got dressed up to celebrate our friends, Wayne and Franks's nuptials. Woohoo!
Momma sported a polka dot dress that David (at her side)stated, "If I were a woman, I would wear that dress." He made this statement in Italian. If you know our David....then you can only imagine the scene.
Mommy and Ezra were clad in their wedding finest.
But, the stars of the day were the beautiful and ever youthful Wayne and Frank. They too have been together for 10 years and were glowing grooms.




Congratulations you two! We are so happy for you!

Step On Up....

Get your tickets here for the train to Wedding Land. Scheduled arrival will be October 18. Everyone buckle in for a wild ride.



















(Disclaimer: Mommies are allowed to be super silly and sometimes over the top during the next 4 months)

Big Basin Bound

After schools ended, Ezra and his mommies had a couple of pajama days out on the hammock. We took pictures of each other and just relaxed. No place to be. Lunch for breakfast, breakfast for lunch.....structure was set aside.

This is a face of complete bliss.
But, we couldn't just sit around, so off to Big Basin we went for a little camping trip. These were the trees around our tent cabin.
Ezra discovered that we are but little ants in a Redwood forest. He climbed under....
.....and up and over these amazing trees. It was the ultimate climbing playground for Ezra.
And, when the sun set and the mosquitos forced us indoors, we read books and fell asleep while little critters visited us in the night (yikes). A group of Stellars Jay's took a liking to Ezra on day one. They hung around our camp and came very close to us to check us out. A raccoon came into our campsite one night and the Stellars Jay's squawked and circled the raccoon until he ran away. We think E might be a little animal spirit.

It Wasn't A Scooter Accident....

E and Mommy have a conversation in the bath after a very long day. E says,"I fell down again." Mommy says, "Well, even the best climbers fall. You keep climbing, buddy. You are a really good climber and jumper." E says, "but, I hurt my head." Mommy says, "Yes, yes, it hurts sometimes when you fall down." Mommy adds," Well, I imagine that people will ask you about your face when they see it. What do you want to tell them?" E says, "I don't know (he really emphasizes his "t's"...so cute)." Mommy says,"You can tell them you were on a lion hunt." He gives a blank stare. Momma later says,"Tell them you were climbing Everest, the tallest, snow covered mountain in the world."

The next day E is asked several times about his wounds, and he replies, "I got snow on it."

Mommy and Momma look at each other and shake our heads with agreement.


Map of wounds:
Forehead wound: Forehead met sidewalk while jumping off of a structure.
Nose area: Nose also met sidewalk while jumping, but also met sand when climbing on slide.
Cheek: Good imprint of sand at Dolores Park playground underneath big slide.

Carnaval in San Francisco 2008

Fat Tuesday and Lent are long past when Carnaval happens in San Francisco. Memorial Day weekend is when we celebrate our "letting go of the flesh." It's either dramatically foggy and cold or sunny and hot, but this year brought a little humidity and overcast skies. We found a nice spot on a curb on Mission Street.

As you can see, Ezra sparkled, clad in his festive outfit. He liked to drum along with the many drumming contingents.

The Friday prior, The Chicken Coop had its own parade. The parade route was simply out the door, up the street and back for snacktime (these kids are always hungry).



Fortunately a couple of neighbors came out to join in our revelry. They were so darn cute!

Now, back to the big parade. As we watched dancers, drummers, fancy cars and floats, occasional pieces and full packages of candy pelted us in the head and the heads of our curious children. Realizing that for the past 5 months we have attended at least two birthdays a month and have managed to indulge in only a minimal amount of sugary treats, which took much consideration and strategic planning by Mommy and Momma, we were caught having to think fast while kids scattered for Red Vines and Jolly Ranchers. While Ezra pulled and tugged on the packaging, Momma was able to trade the Jolly Rancher for a stick of cheese, stomp the hard candies into the ground, and save the Red Vines for after dinner (at which he chose a scoop of ice cream over the twizzlers). We were pretty successful making it only a moderately sugar filled day.

We asked him later what his favorite thing about Carnaval was....to which he replied, "The treat trucks!"

Good news on the Equal Marriage Front! If all goes as planned, we anticipate an Oct. celebration!

m.u.d.

I Do!

Today the California Supreme Court ruled that Ezra's Moms could actually get married. They said that the same-sex marriage ban violates the "fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship."












In 30 days we can have a ceremony. In November opponents to this ruling will no doubt have a initiative on the ballot to change this historic victory. It may be short, but dammit, there's definitely going to be a big party this summer.

Ezra says that we should celebrate by pouring chocolate on our heads.....our ceremony is going to be very interesting.

Dude, Look At My Cool Room...

Yup, what was once Momma and Mommy's Bedroom before we were Mommies, and then The Office, and for a time Grandma's Room, then The Cat's Room (and Storage for everything that doesn't quite fit anywhere)...is now Ezra's Room. He only naps in it for now. But, one day he may sleep in it through the night.

Dude!

...."and I am 3 years old, and this is my new scooter....

.....and I have this helmet to match...it keeps me safe....and it's blue.....it's a nice day today....."

Our boy turned three this passed week and not only is he big and strong and beautiful, his verbal skills have vastly changed. He is now having conversations with people on the street. He tells them about his age and his birthday gifts. He tells them about the safety of his helmet and then comments on what a nice day it is. We are blown away. He's been talking a lot but not to random people. The shy gene might be disappearing.

Well, we have been celebrating and the cows have not come home yet. Whoa! Ezra's 3!

He ate lots of coconut cake with ginger snap ice cream.

And, he shared his moment with his pal Argus. His birthday was a blast and we missed those who were not able to be there with us. There was lots of dancing and lots of eating.

Ezra's Po broke the plastic rule and Hot Wheel Tracks are now part of E's toy assortment. No worries Po, you aren't fired. The joy on these little boys faces says it all.

And, since E had been reaping the many prizes for his birthday, he and his civic minded friends (and Parents) exercised their right to protest being sprayed with an icky pheromone for the Light Brown Apple Moth. Chicken Coop pals were at the Play Not Spray Play-In at the Civic Center on 4-28-2008. If you haven't heard about this, please read about it here. Sign the petition, call or write Schwarzeneggar and your Senators. There has to be a better way to take care of this issue other than spraying our kids and pets.