Taking Shape

Our concrete contractor has been busy at work, forming the area that will soon be our new patio.  The block wall guy is also hard at it, building the cinderblock structures that will soon be a seating wall and a waterfall backdrop for our pool.  It is so exciting to come home each day and see what has been accomplished while we were away.  

I am so excited for the pool contractor to start next week!  

And the nicest part is that it has been such crappy weather here in Sacramento that we haven't felt like we've been missing out on swimming season due to our pool remodel.  

Care-Mom

Happy Birthday to my wonderful step-mom, Carrie!  My parents are off boating around the east coast, so we didn't get to spend the day with her.  But something tells me she had an okay time without us - which you can read about here on my parents' travel blog.  We love you, Care/Grandma Carrie!  Hope your day was a great one!

Helping Hands

Due to budget cuts, we are putting our kids to work helping the contractor on our backyard project.

Courtland Rib Cookoff

Our friends John and Kerri hosted the 4th annual Courtland Rib Cookoff this past Saturday.  It was our first year, and Darrin was one of 24 contestants in this increasingly popular event.  We were pretty intimidating pulling up with our wood burning Royal Electric BBQ (BBQ-001) towed behind Darrin's truck, with the made-for-the-event smoker box on top.

Just as the BBQ was hot enough and Darrin put the ribs on the grill, the rain started pouring down.  So we all huddled under the cover of John and Kerri's patio while the guys tended to the ribs for over four hours.  At six pm the entries were due, the potluck was served, and we all feasted on succulent pork ribs.

And, as many of you know, Darrin won 3rd place!  Not bad for being the newcomers to this event.  I'm sure in preparation for next year we will be trying out different homemade sauces and techniques.  There's no way Darrin's leaving without the first place trophy at the 5th annual Rib Cookoff in 2012!

Patience

This cat seriously deserves some sort of award. 

Here's A Quarter

Tonight Darrin taught Ben one of the male rights of passage.  Yes, how to balance quarters on your elbow and catch them in your hand.  I knew my husband was a man of many talents, but you can be sure I did not know about this one before today.  He actually demonstrated with thirty quarters at once tonight. 

I know, I know, I should rent him out for parties. 

And the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, folks, because within ten minutes Ben was catching two at a time.  A little practice and Darrin will have some serious competition. 

Down Memory Lane

Three years ago, Darrin and I bought the house that I grew up in.  Even though we completely updated the interior, the place felt like home the minute we moved in.  It doesn't feel like I'm living in my parents house at all, but somehow everything just feels so familiar and comfortable to me. 

Lia has been begging us all week to ride bikes as a family, so tonight while Darrin worked on the backhoe getting our yard ready for the contractors that start tomorrow, the kids and I took to our bikes.  Riding back and forth on that old dirt road made me feel like I was ten years old again (the age at which I actually learned to ride a bike).  I used to ride up and down that road by myself a million times. 

Tonight I had my babies riding with me.  Seeing them race up and down the rocky terrain, I just smiled, and thanked God for bringing me back home, and allowing my children to experience the wonder of a Wilton country evening. 

Horrible Service, Awesome Computer

For my entire life I have been a PC computer person.  But when I found out the MacBook Air weighed only 2.9 pounds, I traded in my 8 pound Dell Laptop and decided to make a switch.  That was less than a month ago.  And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my MacBook Air.  Like I'm totally devoted to it.  LOVE IT.  Obviously I can't say that enough. 

But then it had a problem.  The fan started running like crazy in my bag and the thing overheated.  I made an appointment at the Apple Store in Arden Mall, where they got me right in, ran a diagnostic test and determined the PBus was bad (no idea what that is), and the repair would be covered by warranty.  Of course they would have to order a part.  Two days later I got a voice mail that the part was in and I had five days to bring my computer in or they would send the part back. 

So on Wednesday I dropped my computer off and told them I needed it back the next day - to which they said "No Problem".  Yesterday, not a word from them.  I tried calling the store twice and it rang into eternity.  This morning I got a live person on the phone and they took my info and said they'd call back.  No call.  I just called again and got the same live person who told me that the part they ordered wouldn't be in until tomorrow.  WHAT?!?  I was very nice and asked for an explanation since I still had the voicemail telling me my part was in, and he said he would transfer me to the repair department.  That was 20 minutes ago and I'm still on hold. 

There has to be a better way.  The reviews on yelp and Google for the Arden Apple Store are TERRIBLE, and I see why.  The reviews for the Galleria Apple Store are not any better.

Somebody, please tell me where in Sacramento I can get my Apple Computer fixed without going to the Apple Store.  PLEASE!  I love my Mac, but I could have had my Dell fixed in 10 minutes by my IT guy at work.  What is the benefit of Mac if I have to get this frustrated every time I need something fixed?!?

Um, Now What?

Ben has lost five teeth now.  The tooth fairy has come all five times, but only has four teeth in her collection because one was lost before she ever had the chance to pick it up.

Tonight I thought to myself, what does one do with these?  Does it somehow make me a bad mom if I don't keep them?  And if I do, then what?  Hand them over the night before his wedding as some sort of symbol of growing up?

"Hey Ben, so proud of you for choosing that lovely lady to be your bride - now here's your box of teeth!"

Seriously.  What do I do with them?!?

Earning A Dollar

Darrin offered to put Ben to work today, paying one dollar per hour.  Ben jumped at the chance.  So the boys went outside to tackle demolition of the existing brick coping around the pool.  Since safety comes first, Darrin outfitted Ben with the proper personal protective equipment:

No, Ben didn't get to use the jackhammer.  But he did get to load the bricks into the backhoe bucket.

Ben took his work very seriously, only took a couple of breaks, and at the end of the day he earned a total of $1.75.  Darrin continued to work and has almost finished removing all the bricks.

Lia and I stayed in the house doing inside chores:  laundry, dishes, clean sheets on the beds, vacuuming, organizing toys and cleaning bathrooms.  A productive day in the Kimble household to be sure.  

A Girl On Every Team

Yesterday was Ben's last baseball game of the season, followed by a party to celebrate the last game of the season.  At the party the coaches handed out a trophy to every kid on the team, telling a little bit about what each kid was good at or where he improved.

For Ben the coach said:  "Ben, the kid who had a girl on every team.  If only Ben paid as much attention to baseball as he did to the girls!"

In our eyes, Ben had a great season.  Sure, he still only has the attention span for about one inning (they play three at this age).  But he has a competitive spirit and really tried his hardest every time he was up at bat.  He just got a little bored in the outfield.  And he did get distracted by all the girls he knew on the other teams.  It's just part of his social nature - Ben LOVES people.

Hopefully for soccer season we will only play other boy teams.

Another Reason to Celebrate

I picked Ben and Lia up from daycare today and told Ben how proud I was of him for achieving his goal of no cards pulled in May.  He said "Hooray, now I get a treat!", beaming from ear to ear.

Lia looked at me and said, "Do I get a treat?"

I asked in return, "Well, have you earned a treat today?"

At that point Miss Paula, our daycare provider, said "I think Lia earned a treat today!"  And she handed me Lia's graduation certificate from her preschool program!

Hooray for Lia!  She is officially (more than) ready for Kindergarten!

So tonight we celebrated Ben's behavior, Lia's graduation from preschool, and Darrin and I for a job well done, at least for this moment in time.

A Night For Celebration

If you didn't read my blog post about the 1st grade behavior cards, please read this first. 

Earlier this month, Ben told me that he was going to work hard to get no cards pulled this month.  I told him that if he did that, we would celebrate. 

Check out what I got in my inbox today:

So, don't bother calling us tonight, we'll be out celebrating!

A Star Is Born

Lia hasn't actually had her recital yet, so I don't know if she's any GOOD at tap dancing.  But she sure poses well for pictures, right?  Big shout out to Shawna who got Lia and Ella ready for their moment in the lights.

These Boots

Are great for out on the airfield construction zone.  Not so great for fitting in the Vegas atmosphere.  So I'm heading home.

Demolition

Darrin has been busy tearing everything out of our backyard except the pool.  Looks nice, doesn't it?!

Just in time for all the rain.

The good news is, we've signed a pool contractor!  Things are moving along people.

Autism, Vaccines, ADHD and Feingold

I am reposting this from a recent Feingold newsletter.  This information is worth sharing.  Please take a minute to read it and pass it on to anyone you know who may be interested.

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EBCALA press conference

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The Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law & Advocacy (EBCALA) held a press conference on May 10, to reveal a clear vaccine-autism link based on the government’s own data. They demanded immediate Congressional action. The entire video can be seen here.

In a two-year study, EBCALA found that many claims of brain injury were approved for compensation as long as the word "autism" was NOT used; but those who used that word had been turned down - because while vaccines can cause brain injury and death, they are not allowed to cause autism. 83 clear cases were identified in which the "brain injury" is clearly autism; although considered only the tip of the iceberg, this number alone means that the rate of autism among the compensated children is at least three times higher than in the general population -- thus, the governmental claim that vaccines "cannot cause autism" is simply untrue, based on the government's own records.

Each speaker, and each parent of a vaccine-injured child, was careful to say that they were not anti-vaccine; one added she wanted safer vaccines. Several said parents had the right to know all possible dangers in advance, and one parent (a psychiatrist) said it was "immoral" not to take care of children injured "for the public good" by the vaccine program. Her child is being taken care of, of course, so I assume she means those whose case files included the word "autism" and were turned down because "vaccines cannot cause autism."

Another point - almost said but somehow missed - is that with at least 83 children admittedly suffering brain injury/autism following vaccinations, no study has been done to find the common thread among them; to identify what piece of DNA or family history or metabolic difference could be used to identify other children at risk for damage -- to identify and protect children BEFORE they are injured. Where is that effort being made? Who is doing it? Nobody, apparently. To know some children will be sacrificed "for the public good" and yet make no effort to identify those children at risk in order to protect them -- THAT truly is immoral.

We hope that this press release will result in a Congressional investigation, and that all these points will be clearly and loudly made - and dare we hope acted upon?

After the press conference, Mary Holland of EBCALA was also interviewed on Fox News, and you canwatch it here. 

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What's the connection between vaccines & the Feingold diet?

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Back in the 1950s and 1960s, when Dr. Feingold was using what later was called the "Feingold diet," he didn't talk about autism. As an allergist, he dealt with children and adults with asthma, hives, and rashes of unknown origin. He paid attention when parents began to inform him that a "side effect" of the diet was an improvement in behavior - a side effect never noticed before, probably, because children were not getting much in the way of additives until the 1960s. At that time, autism was rare with only one in 2,000 babies becoming autistic (compared to more than one in 100 today - and one in 38 in a recent survey in Korea!). And sure, there were vaccines back then - but they were also relatively few, with the measles vaccine only first introduced in 1963.

Over the years, parents of children with autism began to ask us if our diet could help. We told them we didn't know. Many parents tried it anyway, and found that the Feingold diet and the gluten/casein free diet together were so effective that they began to ask us to include gluten/casein free products in our Foodlist, and track them in our product questionnaires. It was a major paradigm-shift for us, but today this information is available in our Foodlists.

A haunting question, however, has always been, "Why should the diet help autism?" Why should a perfectly normal child, apparently poisoned by mercury or aluminum, or colonized by a measles virus - or suddenly attacked by a rogue gene, according to some - now need the Feingold diet?

Research has shown that children with autism are often low in an enzyme called phenol sulfotransferase (PST) which is needed by brain neurons as well as for processing salicylates and food dyes in the gut. It is suspected that people with ADHD are also low (or borderline) in this enzyme, but it is not something generally measured by doctors in the US. Dr. Stephen McFadden back in 1986 found that many chronic diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimers, involved a decrease in sulfate metabolism, and he claimed that the success of the Feingold diet was due to it being low in compounds requiring the PST enzyme.* Since salicylates actually suppress this same PST, as well as requiring it, eliminating salicylate makes sense too.

What this means, apparently, is that the damage done is somewhere in the system involving sulfate metabolism or PST production -- so taking the stress off this metabolic system begins to make perfect sense.

Almost 12 years ago, Dr. Mary Megson, MD, claimed a G-protein deficiency (often indicated by night blindness) in parents makes the child more susceptible to vaccine injury. She was also one of the first to say that ADHD - not just autism - may be related to vaccine injury. See her testimony before Congress in 2000.

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* See McFadden study abstract or full text. Username/password = myfile/4Studies. 

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Dear DOA . . .

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Last month, we asked you to write the Department of Agriculture to ask them to include banning food dyes as part of their planned improvements in school lunches. Many of you copied me on what you submitted - and I thank all of you for your caring and effort. There were so many great letters!

Below I want to share with you the very special letter submitted by Dr. Richard Carlton, expressing his experience as a doctor treating ADHD:

"I am a physician who routinely treats children (and some adults) who have ADHD. For 35 years now, I have observed that food additives make the ADHD symptoms profoundly worse, for a very high percentage of the children I treat. I have also seen them provoke seizures. I also saw one case where they provoked encopresis (accidental BMs).

"I think the FDA is totally off base when it states that additives only affect a small percentage of children, and therefore they are OK to leave in the food supply in general, and in the school lunches in particular. The double-blind studies that used dosages of additives that TRULY reflect the amounts that children ingest on a daily basis typically show 80% and more of the children reacting. These are drugs! Dr. Rappoport at the NIH showed that some of the dyes caused rat synaptosomes to release dopamine. These are drugs! You do an injustice to our nation's children when you allow these "esthetic" products to remain in the diet, in the face of considerable evidence that they disrupt many children.

"Some critics say that the additives affect "only 10%" of ADHD children. There are an estimated 4 million ADHD kids in the U.S. Even ten percent of 4 million is 400,000. That's far greater than the number of active troops we have in our armed forces!" 

Odd Selection

This is the cats' bed.  Seriously, her own bed is about four feet away.

Loving What I Do

Sitting here in my hotel room in Vegas, having just left our job site office at 9pm while our crews head out to the airfield, I can honestly say I don't think I've ever felt more pressure in my career.

This pressure has been building for three years and the recession has most to do with it:  our revenue is down 13% from 2008, we have downsized staff which means everyone has taken on more tasks and responsibility, we are having to do more jobs to try and achieve our revenue (large jobs are harder to find these days) which means more work for less people, the jobs have very little money in them, and the owners/customers are pinching pennies and making everything a fight.  After three years of fighting the recession, there were days when I would find myself feeling really down and burnt out.

Then, over the course of a month or so, I had an awakening.  I realized that because of the recession, because of the downsizing and sharing of responsibilities, I had lost sight of what it is I love to do.  And I had become bogged down in paperwork, contract negotiation, administrative procedures and labor laws.  It was a very necessary thing to do because I needed to become the expert in these things for our company, and establish procedures that meant I could someday hand the tasks over and yet understand them enough to manage them.  But I hated every minute of it.  EVERY. MINUTE. OF. IT.

And so I made a conscious decision to start getting myself out on our job sites.  Out where the action happens.  And every time I stepped foot on a construction site, or met with a customer, or talked to our crews about what they were building, I would feel that spark.  That spark that used to keep me working until midnight without feeling tired.  That spark that would wake me in the middle of the night with an idea on how to approach a particular challenge.  That spark that motivated me to motivate and mentor teammates to their full potential.  It was still there, buried beneath the contracts, lawsuits and labor laws.

Luckily, I'm in a position to rearrange our organizational structure.  Slowly but with a conscious and deliberate plan, I am finally shifting the paperwork to someone who likes the analytical details.  I've taught our team the ins and outs of the labor laws so now I only need to give refresher courses.  And me, well I'm out doing what I love:  building things.  My tools are not drills, backhoes or screwdrivers.  My tools are communication, strategic planning, experience, and a love of our industry.  I add value by supporting our project teams when they need a strong arm negotiator or help working through a particular challenge.  A love of learning allows me to research details, probing and asking questions until our team comes to a collective AHA! moment in the face of adversity.  My continuing goal is to align the members of our team according to their natural talents, and then support, encourage and challenge them to acquire the skills and knowledge they need to become experts.  This is what I love to do.

A friend of mine sent this quote to our project team that is facing a very challenging situation and after my recent journey from downtrodden to energized, it really hit home.  It's from this book "Today We Are Rich" by Tim Sanders (It's a free download on my new Kindle - a mother's day gift from my hubby!):

"Much of what you call bad news is actually get-busy news, information that gives you a reason to spring into action and focus on solutions. . . Very little news is truly bad (meaning the damage is permanent and there's nothing I can do about it).  It's news that simply means, 'You need to get busy and do something about this.  The status quo will no longer work.'"

I keep hearing people say this recession is like nothing they have ever seen.  It is truly nothing I have ever seen in my career.  But reframing the situation in your mind surely helps.  This recession, no matter how much pressure it has caused, has made our company much, much stronger over the last three years.  And because of that we are currently firing on all cylinders.  The jobs are still scarce, they are still lacking margin, everything is still a fight, but our team is talented and we are ready.  We communicate, we work as a team, and we are all heading in a very similar, if not the same, direction.  More than that, we love what we do.

Yes, it's pressure.  But it's the pressure that keeps me up until midnight without getting tired.  I had forgotten the secret of doing what you love.  Makes me think of a note I once got in a fortune cookie, that I didn't understand at the time but kept anyway:

Happiness is doing what you enjoy.  Loving what you do is Freedom.

Biscuits And Gravy

One of Darrin's favorite breakfasts is biscuits and gravy.  And I've never liked it, so we never have it.  This morning he took matters into his own hands and made this classic recipe.  What do you know, it was actually really good.  The kids liked it too!  Ben actually put it in his top three favorites.







Darrin used this recipe, from allrecipes.com (we doubled the biscuit part of the recipe for our family of four):

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon butter or margarine, melted
• GRAVY:
• 1/2 pound bulk pork sausage
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Combine milk and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until blended. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, cook the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. Stir in butter until melted. Sprinkle with flour. Gradually stir in milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Serve over biscuits.

An Evening With The Newbys

A picture says a thousand words.  

Mother's Day Card

 My Mother, by Ben Kimble
(the underlined words are how Ben chose to complete the sentence)


My mother is good at  loving us.
My mother likes to  mack stuff.
My mother likes it when  I love her. 
My mother and I like to  play.
My mother is  24 years old.
My mother is  prity.
I love it when my mother macks food.
My mother is great because she maks stuf.

Disclaimer:  I don't mack stuff - I make stuff.  And I am not 24 years old.  However, I do love this card and will cherish it forever.

Not Picky

In doing the demo around our soon-to-be-remodeled pool, Darrin ripped out a pipe that was poured into the concrete of our old planter area.  Which meant the pool water started leaking all over the yard.  Which meant Darrin had to pump out the pool water to just below where the pipe came into the pool.  Which meant our kids wouldn't swim in the pool had NO problem swimming in the pool.

Two Ladies

For Mother's Day, as much as we love our families, my best friend Shawna and I asked our husbands if they could take the kids for a few hours so us girls could go relax and have a Mommy-Day-Out.  Our husbands said yes, and we were off before they could change their minds.  We did what any Mommy of two (or three) kids would do - no, not take a nap - we got pedicures and lunch out!

We had an awesome afternoon.  Not only were our feet gorgeous, but we had a great lunch at Bistro 33 in El Dorado Hills, accompanied by two glasses of wine (each - which probably goes without saying for those of you who know us), followed by a little fun at the local jewelry shop trying on some amazing diamonds.  Since we couldn't afford to buy them for each other, we had to call it a day.


I love spending time with my friend.  Shawna and I can totally relate to each other, whether it's the stress of kids, husbands (no offense, babe), households, our childhoods, life in general - we just get each other.  Shawna is a beautiful sexy mom of three beautiful, fantastic children and wife to a great guy.  Even with three kids and a husband with a crazy work schedule, she still finds time to work out, build a garden, keep her house gorgeous, start her own successful business (see her website here) and drink wine with me.

Our day out was a great gift from our husbands.  When they asked us if we enjoyed our time out I don't think they expected to hear that we were going to start doing it weekly.  Ha, I wish!

My Three Moms

Now that I am a mom myself, I have a much greater appreciation for my parents.  I am lucky enough to have three moms (my mom, my step mom, and my mother-in-law).  All three of these ladies bring happiness and insight to my life in completely different ways.  And I love each of them dearly.

This is my real mom.  What an incredible, beautiful, humble, strong woman she is.  I cannot fathom being a single mom, but she did it.  My mom spoiled me rotten - toys, clothes, outings and adventures.  She took me to Disney World and Hawaii.  She made sure we ate dinner together every night at the kitchen table.  We would often color together while watching the evening news, put 1000 piece puzzles together, play tons of different board games together.  In grade school my mom would let me invite my seven best friends over for a slumber party for every birthday.  These days, my mom, known as Mimi to my kids, is the same sort of grandma.  From the minute she walks in the door she is playing games with the kids, reading to them, and spoiling them rotten.  My mom is a huge part of my life and I have so much respect and gratitude towards her.  I have always loved her immensely.  I probably don't tell her that enough.

This is my step mom Carrie (holding Ben), and no way does she fit the "wicked step mom" profile.  How lucky am I to have a step mom that I love so much!  Carrie has been in my life since I was a little girl.  There are two things she has done that have made the biggest impact on me and our relationship:  she loves my dad dearly, and she has never tried to take the place of my real mom but instead carved out her own special place in my life.  Carrie is the world's best hugger, and I think she may hold the world's record for longest hug.  She is incredibly warm and sensitive and caring.  I call her the "Baby Whisperer" because she is the best I've ever seen at comforting and playing with little kiddos.  When I was a kid, Carrie would sing to me at bedtime.  I can't sing like she can, but I absolutely learned to give my kids big, giant, Carrie-sized hugs.

This is my mother-in-law, Dixie.  She is everything I could ever want in a mother-in-law.  Dixie was a stay at home mom of three boys, and supported her husband's construction business at the same time.  Darrin tells me that Dixie had dinner on the table every night when Digger got home from work.  I love to listen to Dixie laugh, at Digger, Darrin and his brothers, or my kids.  Dixie shares some awesome recipes with me, teaches us about chickens and gardens, works hard around their property constantly painting/mowing/cleaning/cooking, and kicks our butts playing the card game "31" on a consistent basis.  Our kids love staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and we miss Dixie and Digger dearly for half the year when they live in Washington.

The type of mother I am has been completely shaped by each of these amazing women.  I am so thankful to have each of them in my life, and I hope I can be half the mom/wife/woman that they are.  Happy Mother's Day to all three of my moms!

The "Before" Photos

Our backyard project is officially beginning!  Two and a half years ago, Darrin and I bought the house that I grew up in.  My parents had sold it about eight years before that, but when it came back on the market, in a little town in which Darrin and I had tried unsuccessfully to purchase a house during the boom years, we snapped it up right away.  Due to some neglect and vandalism during vacancy, we had to clean up the interior before moving in.  New carpet, paint, plumbing fixtures, doors, light fixtures, tile, and exterior paint later, our house was perfect.  But the yards still needed some work.

When my parents left the house the landscaping was gorgeous.  Full grown trees, beautiful planters, a lovely pool.  But ten years later when it became vacant, the water was turned off and the landscape started to die.  Before escrow closed, Darrin and I would go out there almost every day to manually water the trees - trying to save as many as possible.  But a total of 14 had to be removed when we finally got the keys.  So sad.  In addition, the pool was a lovely shade of pond green, and actually had fish living in it.

So over a year ago, D and I hired a landscape designer to put together a master plan for us.  Last summer, Darrin planted our front yard planters, because the hardscape and lawn were okay to leave in.  And this summer. . . well, we have our massive backyard project to look forward to.  Darrin is tackling the demo on his own (it's nice to be married to a heavy equipment operator), and once that is done, it's a pool remodel and brand new hardscape.  We're in the process of narrowing down contractors but are very close to locking one in.

I had to hurry and get these "before" photos, as Darrin was itching to rip everything out.  I can't wait to share the "after" photos, hopefully in the not-too-distant future!