Author: pazmeyer

private plane

Gwyneth and I got quite the treat — we rode on the private jet with Poppy and  Melissa back to Colorado. It was FABULOUS! I tell ya, there’s no better way to travel. No security, no restrictions, no waiting, and all the pb and j’s  and chocolate chip cookies a little girl could ask for. Now that’s the life. Gwyneth loved every minute of it and I can’t say that I blame her.

The plane has 8 seats and Miss Gwyneth took a few minutes to sit in each one of them. She really liked riding backwards….me, not so much. That makes me really sick. Another high point is that the jet we were on is the fastes made for non-military travel so we made it home from California in less than 2 hours. How do we go back to flying Commercial? I do believe we are ruined!

Commerical Airlines are for chumps. This is the only way to travel!
 Ready for take-off!
 When this plane takes off it has a lot of get up and go. Gwyneth thought it was a roller coaster!

 Dare I say spoiled? Miss Gwyneth received her very own lunch box that includes a pb&j, fritos, a fruit cup, two chocolate chip cookies, and an apple juice. She is excited to her take her new lunch box for show and tell. 
 Not bad, not bad at all….
 Making her way through all the seats. She sat up front with Poppy for a bit and they watched Cars together. 

baptizing gabriela

Gabriela was baptized at the Methodist Church in Palo Alto. It was a very nice service and I’m glad that Gwyneth and I could be there to celebrate with her. She’s a sweet little girl and considering we live in different states we get to see her quite often. I feel very lucky for that. 
After the baptism, we had a delicious brunch at Il Fornaio in downtown Palo Alto and then hopped off to the airport. Talk about a whirlwind trip….about 20 hours in California! 

Shelley and Chris are Gabriela’s Godparents. They live in Colorado also and Shelley and Stacy have been friends since their first jobs out of undergrad.

Gabriela is wearing the family baptism gown. She is the 9th Paz girl to wear that dress for her christening.

Wish my Annabelle was here…

Me and My Sisters

back to cali

Weren’t we just in California???? Well, yes, but this is how we roll. Gwyneth and I headed back to California for Gabriela’s baptism. What was intended to be a quick weekend trip turned into a quick, less than 24 hour trip because of a stomach bug I caught on Friday. I recovered quickly and we flew out Saturday. My little Gwyneth is quite the jet-setter and wouldn’t miss a chance to see her cousins.

favorite things

My girls are crafty. Makes me quite proud. They are quite content to color, makes crafts, and write out their letters all evening. I converted one of the storage buckets in our family room to a craft bucket for them. Lovely, really lovely. Oh how I love some well organized crafts (yes, sad I know, but it really is the little things in life). 

Another favorite are puzzles. Annabelle flies through the them. We have boxes and boxes and boxes of puzzles. They keep her challenged and entertained. It’s nice to see that along with Ipads, DVDs, and all things “techy” my girls can still enjoy some old school, no batteries required toys!

red nosed

I spoke to soon regarding a healthy Gwyneth. She caught a cold and we just couldn’t get her little nose to stop running. What do you get when you mix a runny nose, a dry cracked little face and lip, and Hawaiian punch?
You got it! This face. 

My poor little girl. Her little face is just so dry from her cold, but I assure you the Hawaiian Punch mustache is what really makes it look so painful. We’re keeping her lotioned up and steering her away from bright red sugary drinks!

beauty and the beast 3d

There seems to be some illnesses going around preschool and Miss Annabelle caught a bad cough. She was doing fine during the day, but the cough was keeping her up at night. I kept her home with me several days this week and when she got restless I decided to take her to a movie. I kept Gwyneth in school because I hoped that keeping them separated would keep Gwyneth healthy….so far, so good. 
Gwyneth doesn’t care for 3D movies, so I didn’t feel horribly guilty for taking Annabelle to see Beauty and the Beast 3D without her. (I felt guilty, but not horribly guilty). We had the theater all to ourselves so Miss Annabelle spent the majority of the movie dancing in the aisles. I’m not sure I have ever seen Beauty and the Beast in its entirety before now. It was a good one. 

Check out the bling….the “diamond” dollar sign ring. It feels good to be a gangsta.   

shake weight

We FINALLY were able to exchange Christmas gifts with Gus and Missi. I guess mid-January is better late than never right? This was a tremendous challenge for me because I love giving gifts and I was so pleased with what we got for Gus. My powers of secret-keeping are improving with age…slightly. 
If you know Gus and you’ve ever seen the commercial for the Shake Weight you will share my enthusiasm for this gift. Quite possibly my favorite purchase this holiday season. Could there be a more perfect gift for this guy? 

phone stack

My sister shared this article with me and I fell in love with the idea of the Phone Stack. The basics are when joining friends for dinner everyone puts their phone in the middle of the table with the ringers on. As the meal progresses the phone will surely ring and buzz with text messages, emails and facebook pushes. The first person to pick up their phone, prior to the completion of the meal, picks up the entire bill. I absolutely love it. I know that I have had my moments of rudeness when it comes to my phone, but for the most part we keep our phones away from the dinner table and away from social settings. It’s nice to have a little extra incentive.
Our phone stack and although there were definitely temptations I’m pleased to say that no one had to pick up the entire bill and the phones stayed stacked through the entire meal. 

Annabelle and Gwyneth had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa Meyer’s and we met up with some friends for dinner and a movie. Well, about15 minutes of the movie and then ended up at the bar. Thank goodness we were at Cinebarre which has a bar in house.  We went to see Contraband and my goodness that movie was painful. I like me some Marky Mark, but I couldn’t even take it. So very, very bad. B, Tom, Amy, and I sat at the bar and chatted while Gus, Missi, Abe and Wendi finished the movie. I don’t know how they did it!

little chefs

Our neighborhood hosted a family cooking class at the rec center. The menu included gourmet grilled cheese, sweet potato fries, and an avocado and yogurt dip for the fries. The chef was great with the kids and had everyone involved. It was a hands on class and the girls enjoyed spicing the apples and making their own grilled cheeses. There were many, many cheeses and extras to add to their sandwiches. I shared with Gwyneth and she created a delightful concoction of mozzarella cheese, brie, spiced apples, and bacon. Yum, yum, yum!! B helped Annabelle with hers which included lots of cheddar cheese and ham. (yep, that’s a ham and cheese sandwich but we didn’t feel the need to steal her thunder, so shhhhh!). 
We scarfed down our sandwiches and look forward to our next cooking adventure together.

Chef Johnny — he looks and talks very similarly to our friend Seth. It was almost eerie. Either Seth has a twin or this is his doppelganger. 

champagne

My extremely brilliant sister, Stacy made partner at her law firm this year. She received a bottle of Dom Perignon as a congratulations gift and saved it for my visit. How did I ever get so lucky??? I love, love, love champagne so I can’t think of any better way to celebrate. It really was quite delicious. How do I ever go back to cheap champagne now?
Miss Gabriela is being raised right! This has to be my favorite picture of her!