Santa Fe Redoux

Victoria & I rendevous'd for a weekend in Santa Fe to boost the decor of their vacation rental. We had a GREAT time and found that we work very well together!

Upon arrival, we had a freak hailstorm greet us. It was SO cool to see such wierd weather...especially coming from southern California!

This is a picture I took of the entry from this past February - the place looks awesome in snow!

First we had to get some healthy faire for the kitchen...we bought some goodies at the Farmer's Market at the Railyard.

Here was our blank slate...time to get started! Main House living room - the new furniture arrived on day 1.

Vic contemplates the seating placement.

After ALOT of running around town, looking for bargains, we get the living room dialed at about 12:30am Monday morning.

We focused on the main living spaces with the limited time we had, but found a few items for some of the bedrooms...The Kachina dolls were adorable so at the Farmer's Market so we had to get them for the kids' room.

We didn't do anything yet to the master suite upstairs...It was in pretty decent shape. Maybe we'll get some new bedding when we return next February!

View from the deck off the Master Suite.

The Casita (Guest House)

Living/dining room...we decided to put the dining table on this wall...

...it just felt better.

Fireplace wall with TV - new hutch, but still needed some "umph".

The dining table on the back wall seemed lost in the corner...

...so we swapped the dining table & couch to better fill the space...

The bedroom was in need of some updates as well...so the old bedding got replaced with....

new bedding that had more of a Santa Fe feel. We also found a cool triptic that told a poem in Spanish from a local artist at the Farmer's Market Art Fair, named Ganzo. We LOVED the story & the pieces.

...a nightime shot...

...and one of my favorite details - a tin rooster.

...and a daytime shot.

Lucas Bennet - the Next Justin Timberlake???

Lucas & Kai had their first recital this weekend at Lutheran High School in Orange. They have been working VERY hard on their Hip-Hop number and were so pumped afterward! Enjoy the show! (sorry for the poor quality...pics & videos were not permitted...I sneaked this from our seats in the audience).



Kai, Paul (instructor) & Lucas backstage before the performance...

The Stage Parents get in on the fun before the show!

The entire cast...guess who made front & center in the cast photo!!! (we're just a little proud of our boiz)

Preschool Graduation

The time has come...Lucas has officially GRADUATED from Preschool. We're not sure how it happened, but it did. He simply grew up. Right before our eyes. We knew we shouldn't let him stretch or eat every meal. For those were surely ways for him to grow and gain wisdom. Not only is he writing his name, he recites the "Fif-ty Nif-ty United States, from 13 Original Co-lo-nies". Maybe we should have kept him in his crib longer. Or make him have more sick days. Guess there's no turning back now. He's headed for Kindergarten. What then? He'll be writing sentences and reading on his own...what use will his parents be? Well. I guess we'll just have to live with the fact that he's moving on. Even though we want to keep him forever young, we know in our hearts that its all for the better. And we're mighty proud of our young scholar. From your Daddy & your Poppa. Congratulations, Graduate. We love you more than you'll ever know. Let's have a fun summer before Kindergarten gets "rolling" this fall!

Lucas receives his diploma from his teacher, Mrs. Denise.

Blessed Beginnings Preschool Class of 2009 L-R Mrs. Denise, Paulo, Sophia, AJ, Sophie, Lucas, Grayson & Kai.

The graduates prepare for life after PreK. Lucas said he wants to be a "skateboarder".

Marriage Equality Rally

Day of Decision Rally at the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana

Our dear friends and supporters, Michelle (holding Kate) and Annie

Lucas has changed his "Equal Rice" to "Equal Rights"...what a difference a year makes!

The California Supreme Court recently decided on the validity of Proposition 8, a statewide voter initiative to define marriage in CA to only be between one man and one woman. Fortunately, for us, they allowed the 18,000 same-gender marriages that occurred last year to stand. For those couples who would like to formalize their relationship through marriage, it looks like they'll have to visit a more progressive state. I never thought I would find myself saying that there are more progressive states than CA :o(

I recently engaged in a pretty intense discusssion on FACEBOOK with a woman who insisted that this isn't anything personal against same-gender couples...just a religious distinction. After many entries & points being made on both sides, I think I might have helped her understand our dilemma - separate never is equal. One of the points she argued is that the "natural" order of humanity is a bond between a man and a woman for the purpose of procreation. In response, I asked her if we should only allow marriages for those heterosexual couples whose intentions were to procreate. She agreed that would be ridiculous. I also asked where she received her marriage license. Her church or her county clerk's office? My goal was to clarify that this is a CIVIL RIGHTS issue. Not a religious one. If we were to follow the CHRISTIAN bible to establish the legal definition of marriage, women would be property of their husbands, etc. etc. There is so much in the bible that simply would not make sense in our lives today. Plus the fact that we are a country of many religions - not just Christianity. This country was established to escape theocratic oppression from a single church. Our founding fathers intentions were that there should be a separation of church & state in our life, liberty & pursuit of happiness.

She then got on the subject of education. "Our children will be taught about these same-sex marriages....the hundreds of dollars I pay each month in taxes that goes toward education will be spent on this" I replied that I ALSO pay hundreds of dollars in taxes toward education each month and I don't have a problem with age appropriate education about all of our citizens...we DO EXIST. You can't bury your head in the sand in the hopes that we will just go away. If PUBLIC schools are providing information to your children that you are not comfortable with, you can a) appeal to the school board and opt out or request they modify the curriculum or b) take your child out and put them in a private school that is more aligned with your goals.

I think the comment that helped the most in our mutual understanding was when I asked her why her children get to call their parents "married" but my children have to call their parents "unioned". Separate is never equal.

Please check out our PSA on the subject & VOTE for it! (if you like it, of course!). It is up with many others for a spot on TV, depending on which one wins.

http://vimeo.com/4958690