shade of grey

special february tumblr

2012-01-30T13:49:00.000-08:00

february is really here. this may be one of my favorite months.

have i mentioned lately how blessed i am?

when you know the smartest, most sweetest, most sincere, most hard-working guy, most loving, most good-looking - ist guy, it can really make a girl feel real special. the kind of special to write home about. the same one that motivates you to believe you can do anything. it's that special you thought you felt when you first felt butterflies but take that feeling and throw in a home-run, a touch-down, a world-cup goal, and then times it by infinity. that is some kind of wonderful, let me tell you.

he is my shake to my bake and the blue in my sky.

:: happy love month xo ::

pH hair balancing remedy

2012-01-30T11:15:00.000-08:00

i'm always intrigued on how to make bad hair good or

coarse hair soft or a weak thing strong.

home remedies are fun especially with this recession in full effect.

to pH balance your hair there is a little trick for ya and it works!

here is the recipe:

2 quarts of lukewarm water

2 cups of white or apple vinegar

mix together

shampoo hair twice well (sulfate free)

pour mixture slowly over hair

let it sit on hair and scalp for 2-3 minutes.

condition hair.

your hair will be silky smooth, shine, the follicle will close and will be less likely to tangle.

you can do this as much as you would like but if you do chemical processes to your hair, i would advise this at least twice a month.

26beach

2012-01-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

we have been wanting to try this place near venice beach for a while now called

26 beach

it's a popular place with people coming in and out, trendy sayings on the walls, fun decor but a comfortable home-feel; like eating in your parent's dining room.

the menu choices were creative from the ingredients to the names with no slacking of details or simplicity.

you betcha we were all very happy about our experience despite the loud party behind us who all brought their outside voices and the fact that we didn't get the coloring table. next time. oh, next time... because there sure will be a next time.

especially after seeing those hamburgers being brought out to the other tables. they were the size of our faces!

nom nom.

{coloring table to lauren's right shoulder}

brady thinking about the plan of action on his pick of the full monty.

thanks for coming with us lauren and justin!

my san francisco traveling treat

2012-01-27T11:48:00.000-08:00

taking jack to san francisco was a real treat. i have to say i sort of miss the experience of it all.

he packed his suitcase full of tiny toys and nothing else.

so independent.

our window-seat neighbor attempted a nap but our fun from the little travel bag i last minute threw together, got all too rowdy :)

who knew mini-jenga and tiny-tic-tac-toe can be so loud?

we arrived to the city and had to walk by the illuminated picture of the buildings.

we played the game of coloring the town and which colors look best.

then stopped by our favorite eel in the fish tank by the perfumes.

after doing this exchange since he was 8 months, he is a perfect traveler. he came back at least an inch taller; or at least it appears to be that way.

some weekend :)

2012-01-23T13:19:00.000-08:00

in a nutshell, these pictures describe our weekend...

+ tennis after the rain

+ color me mine with jack & yogurt land

+ les miserables

+ church

+ games

+ tuna melts

+ crack the egg with the nephew & niece

+ loving asher

+ elise's dessert

+ made 5 sozen gluten free cookies

+ sunday roast

+ hugs and kisses.

some fun, you two.

2012-01-21T10:47:00.000-08:00

{busy thursday}

2012-01-20T10:44:00.000-08:00

thursday was a busy day.

i went to the temple and had a great time.

sprinkles is close by so i picked up a s'mores cupcake for my little boo, and picked him up from school.

acknowledging it would be a busy day in the car and every place possible we could fit in those few hours, a reasonable

cupcake bribery was a good deal.

stop one: doctors

stop two: mall

stop three: karate

he is the child not wearing his outfit...

it was too big.

he is pretty easy to pick out.

at the end of every practice, they have to jump over the rope over and over until they cannot anymore. he looked over at me and went for it; tongue sticking out and all!

this is my favorite shot

of the night... i caught him wiping his nose on his sleeve. my little Poi.

he ran up to the laundry room to shrink his "gee" with me. he then sat in there to watch it shrink despite me telling him the hot water and bleach would take a while. he was too excited to get it to fit.

jackisms

2012-01-19T12:09:00.000-08:00

i love the things jack says.

for example:

he was going to the beach with my mom the other day and they were buckling. he told my mom he was all buckled and she said, "jack, you are choosing the right."

his response: "sometimes i choose the left."

he probably doesn't know what he says is funny.

last night we were saying our prayers and during his prayer he blessed all the people who live in bushes that they will find a warm tent to sleep under and the people who don't have water bottles that they will find water to drink.

he tells me daily that he doesn't learn much at his school. he says he is bored because he wants to learn more. so after martin luther king jr. school day {tuesday} he says to me:

" mom, i finally learned something. i already knew white people weren't nice to black people a long time ago but i didn't know the lady wasn't allowed to sit in the front of the bus. her name was rosa parks and she was arrested. so glad i learned something today. we should always let the black people sit anywhere on the buses."

update

2012-01-18T13:02:00.001-08:00

things as of late:

pictures are more fun that words sometimes.

i rarely watch television but my sister and i watched that new bachelor season premiere together. this has to be scripted. the girls are truly all drama and primadonnas but it makes for entertainment. my television watching stopped at that one episode. while watching it, i made these little "thank you" cards. making usage of those stamps from anthropologie.

i have started back up in school after taking a good semester off from school. i'm taking as many courses as i can online before i have to do my clinics and on-compus course for my degree. i'm really enjoying the reading and the homework isn't too bad. everyone said it would be easier for me to go back to school once jack went to school but he is only there a few hours so i think it will be easier to get more done once he is in all-day school next year. my ultimate goal is to get my masters in nursing but in all reality, i'm not too far off. it's been so many years i have wanted this degree so it will be a huge accomplishment if or when this happens.

brady and i went to mozambique last weekend for dinner. this place is south african and quite tasty. they did their fries right for sure with lots of spices and garlic. brady is such a trooper for ordering gluten-free for me. we saw we bought a zoo after at big newport. if you like movies that get you feeling and thinking, this is it. i loved it! 20 seconds of courage! such a good message. i think we are going to try to visit this zoo sometime soon.

at work we took a long course for keraste hair products. i'm sold. i have been using their products for years but couldn't pronounce half of them or know what their proper usage for each were until now. i can formulate and prescribe what product works best for each person, man or woman. it gets me all giddy now when i talk about them. i also found out half of the products had some sort of wheat protein so i'm glad i know what's up now.

sara archibald and i had a girls' weekend. she is a great,

great person with so much talent.

brady was working in the hospital, jackson in san francisco so we met up for dinner. she is one of my friends i can go not seeing for a month but when we are together it's as if we didn't skip a day.

i did facials on us with a gentle milky cream cleanser, then toner, then aztec clay for 10 min, then pumpkin enzyme peel. if you want to try this yourself just take a can of organic pumpkin, one egg, and add honey and still in the freezer for 5 minutes. paint on face and it heals any swelling, redness as well as taking off the top two layers of your skin with it's lactic acid. your skin is so shinny after.

we also down a whole bag of cadbury eggs. yes, they hit the shelves already. what happened to valentines day?

sara has her own line of wedding gowns called illume.

they are all so beautiful! she will be working with our salon for our new line for weddings

and had me try on a few of her orginals {samples} from her collection so she could fix some parts of them.

she does custom wedding gowns as well.

it was fun playing dress up right after waking up + eating a huge breakfast!

everyone at work are so excited to work with her soon and get her high-end dresses out all over southern california.

m.L.k. day

2012-01-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

to celebrate our day off on martin luther king jr. day

one of the highlights is we got to see our favorite guy.

brady.

we all went to the grove in hollywood and had an italian dinner. sea-foam folding-chairs and all.

if you have been to the grove but never to the farmer's market, you may be missing out.

it is my favorite thing to do when at the grove.

every type of food there is incredible.

biggest piece of advice: bring cash.

atm fees are $$$ and most places only accept cash.

after dinner brady treated us to bennett's ice cream!

{photo from jack - i was mid-smile}

we shared their famous ice cream sundae and five cherries

and jackson enjoyed his bubblegum ice-cream cone.

he was a pretty happy camper. he couldn't complain.

the trolley came around so we climbed to the top and snuggled up!

we didn't check the thermostat but pretty sure los angeles had invisible snow this night.

we had a good monday, funday night.

bear shirt, red pants, white socks, black shoes and all.

live by the sun ::: love by the moon

2012-01-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

did valentines day come quick? it seems like we just had it.

times flies when you are happy in love.

{images found from ffffffound.com}

J A C K - 5 years 5 months

2012-01-12T23:26:00.000-08:00

"shock me shock me shock me with that devient behavior."

~ empire records

jackson has been up to all good. i think time has been put on fast-pace for how quickly he keeps growing but since there is no "freeze" in life, i'll just have to be okay with him growing up, doing what five-year-olds do.

daily, he will ask me, "how many days until my birthday mom?" brady has been able to get it down to the day within seconds but i have to whip out my calculator. he is five and five months but has been telling the kids he is five-and-a-half since a month after he turned five. here is a brief synopsis of what's been going on with him as of late....

that too expensive of race car i bought him years ago that broke down after 20 minutes, finally got fixed at disneyland last week. i didn't know that 6 batteries only last 20 minutes. so i bought a rechargeable battery so he can at least get an hour use per day. he took it in my parent's dining room and found that carpet makes it more fun to steer.

he is now officially in karate. no complaints here from a teacher who wants to ingrain discipline, fitness and self-defense. he loved his first lesson and thinks his next belt is black.

he is now in the morning class for kindergarten. he is no morning person. waking him up at 6:45am is fun and brings the creative side out of me. i've tried everything from kissing his face multiple times, singing to wake him, snapping, clapping, zerberting his cheeks, asking him, tickling him, taking off his covers quickly... so far my methods have caused him to ignore me and cuddle up closer to his pillow and neglect the time. i watch him walk into his school every morning and MAYBE i still get emotional thinking he is getting so big. i know, i need to let it go but it's not so easy.

when i dropped jackson off at the airport the other night for him to see his dad, this was the sunset that greeted me when i came out of the airport. he is getting better and better with flying by himself. he is so independent and loves ordering his own soda on the plane.

one more fun fact of lately, he has this one white shirt i gave him that he won't wear until we "decorate it." i told him let's look up images on my phone and he can save them to look at together so we can decide what to put on his shirt. here are some of the gems he picked out! i couldn't stop laughing! of course i typed in dog and cat. he has a fun personality.

happy place

2012-01-11T01:10:00.000-08:00

have you ever heard that quote...

"good moms have sticky floors, messy kitchens, laundry piles, dirty ovens and happy kids."

maybe this monday i didn't have sticky floors or a messy kitchen but i did leave the house with a large laundry pile and i'm pretty sure i haven't cleaned the oven in ages. my first priority as a mother is to have this little guy happy so the second he was finished with school, i dropped all my to-do-lists that didn't have his name in it, and we drove up towards disneyland. he spilled on his clothes so we stopped by the little mall next to the park. his favorite thing to do is to hide from me when we go into a store; however, this is my least favorite. i'm getting quicker though. it only took me 15 seconds to find him this time here.

he saw this maniquien and told me i looked like her and that i should get a pretty dress like her for when i go on dates at night. haha. such a funny kid. yeah right.

we went to downtown disney to fix his car and then played!

we met up with three sets of friends. we had our traditional dole ice cream that we share and stopped by the castle to make our traditional wishes. so cheesy, i know... someday jack will look back and think he had such a cheese ball mom but i'm okay with that. i just want him to think that childhood is full of gumdrops, sparkles, magic and as much happiness he can handle. as we were making wishes, a few couples asked me to take their pictures and jack decided to pose like this in their background!! oh my. i told them he was in their picture and apologized if they won't be able to frame it because of my little man :)

jack rode indiana jones for his first time. it was hilarious to see his anticipation quickly diminish the second the jeep entered into the dark abyss. he put his koala beanie right over his eyes and pretended like he wasn't on the ride by not moving. my friend melanie and i were laughing so hard and couldn't take any pictures. he was squeezing my arm so tight.

our passes expire in a few weeks so hopefully we can go at least one more time. we love this place!

thanksgiving {long-overdue post}

2012-01-09T22:43:00.000-08:00

i have been behind, like i've recorded earlier because i haven't had a working computer for about a month {give or take some} so my pictures from thanksgiving were on here.

the three of us drove to arizona to spend time with brady's amazing family. they really are all incredible people. i can say that about each one of them. they invited us into their beautiful home to spend one of the best holidays with them. jackson's time was mostly spent with his father's side of the family for the holiday but before we let him go, we played a sweet game of kick-ball in brady's family's court in their basement.

if you have a boy, or know a little boy, you know he can entertain himself with just a simple ball and a flat surface. jack had a slew of all shapes and sizes of every type of ball in a large enclosed flat area. his heaven. if lightening mcqueen was there, he would be complete!

we played with his cute sister whom he named her "gnarly marlee" for some time making up games... {wait, i just plopped myself on my stomach to watch outside of the court, so no WE} such as "volcano and lava" or "throw the ball but don't really hurt us" and such games made up on the fly. if there was no sense of time or patience, we could have been there all night if jack had it his way.

brady's amazing mom ran out

to get us some frozen flavored icee's

and we played "ticket to ride" for my second time. they are all very smart and make this game seem easy but let me tell you, it is no scrabble. i was on the edge of my seat, realizing how i could never organize lines for trains across america.

i wasn't able to take too many pictures of thanksgiving but one of my favorite memories was playing two touch football with his family. i have never been able to play football with the boys on thanksgiving - granted, i have never asked but regardless, it was a true experience. who would have ever thought someone would trust me with a football and count on me to run with it? i know... they did. i am use to being on the sidelines yelling out things like "defense" or "G-double-O-D-L-U-C-K." his sisters knew how to hustle. his dad was in tip top shape with at least two touchdowns! i don't know if i have ever had so much fun on a thanksgiving. i wouldn't trade this thanksgiving for a dana point turkey trot or surfing with no waves thanksgiving i've had in the past. it was some good bonding, playing sports all day, eating incredible food with amazing people.

did i mention the family scrapbooks? i am grateful brady's mom recorded brady's life and was able to look through it all. he is a great guy, yes, not one person who has met him could deny that but whilst reading these books and watching those family videos.. that sold me! you could just feel the sheer emotion of love and joy he has brought to everyone that has been in his path - especially his close family and friends. i don't remember one picture where he isn't smiling and the people around him weren't influenced by this same happiness.

the friday after thanksgiving, one of my favorite people of all time took me to breakfast and nails done! stephanie cook! i just love that girl to pieces. it was so great to catch up with her and be around her sweetness. after that, brady showed me how extra patient he was by being willing to go shopping at some of the busiest places on BLACK FRIDAY. i snapped a few shots of him on HIS ISLE. what a stink in' babe.

love this guy, so much.

i picked up my little jack man, then brady and we headed back home. sad to say goodbye to his family. during our little drive back, my car hit the jackpot!!!

99,999! kind of exciting! it's only 3 years old.

S U N D A Y

2012-01-09T04:20:00.000-08:00

sunday was a beautiful day.

we have all been heading to the beach and wearing summer clothes.

so jack and i decided to stay in the sun as much as possible today at the park.

we packed a little picnic that jack brought onto the toy...

for real!

i'm dying over this picture.

he comes up with these faces all on his own!

we are spidering... he is a happy happy boy!

then he sat on my lap for more...

he rolled down the hill with some
other kids that joined him soon after

brady, elise and drew came over that night for ice cream chocolate chip sandwiches and to play a new game called "word on the street." it was a good sunday.

sat ur day

2012-01-08T01:54:00.000-08:00

saturday was a good, good day.

we made some chocolate gluten-free brownies and made messes (along with mustaches)

i was able to spend a lot of time with jack and one of my favorite moments was at the hot tub right before he went to bed. he showed me his hand stands, we played rock-paper-scissors, we played guess-who, caught spa bubbles, counted the spa bubbles and then dipped in the cold pool. i love how together, he and i can find fun in anything. just love his little face!

then i said good-bye to a good friend nephi...

this guy -

he is heading to school soon so all of us close friends met for a going away party amanda threw for him.
he will be missed.

after snacking, taking polaroids for his book, saying our favorite stories and listening to rock band, we sat around in arches house.

we sat around so much that i had an awesome knot in the back of my head.
it was good to say hi to friends and send nephi off. he will be missed!

friday

2012-01-07T03:29:00.000-08:00

friday night was a good night with brady in los angeles at a new thai place we always drive by.

he's the sweetest. i'm so grateful for him.

he has been in charge of the clinic at the hospital that has people lined up to see him to get work or surgery done every day. he has to send people home or have to schedule them for months ahead because they are so busy where they are. he works so hard and always try his best to learn as much as he can.

i feel so lucky to be able to see him a couple times a week.

he's the best!

{this picture isn't recent but i've been bad at taking them}

a cool video

2012-01-06T02:31:00.000-08:00

my sister showed this to me and thought it was pretty cool.

2012-01-05T23:43:00.000-08:00

here are the rest of our pictures from today:

we went to feeds after running some errands and had a good 'ol time with this...

then we colored everything we could

we came home with full bellies and happy facies to charlee.

jack loves charlee so much.

so he wanted to try to take pictures with her.

the night ended with me tickling him and us both being so tired from a good day!

painting it red

2012-01-05T23:20:00.000-08:00

tonight jack and i went on a little mom + son date. it consisted of painting the town red.

red, green, blue and orange - crayola.

dates with this guy are nothing short of fun and exciting. more pictures and details to come soon!

H + M buttoned-elbowed jacket

2012-01-04T22:17:00.000-08:00

it's a new semester, it's time to grab some clothes.

jack didn't get one article of clothing wrapped this year from me, so i took him to get some new clothes before his first day back.

H+M is his favorite for clothing. their pants fit his long skinny legs perfectly and the shirts are fitted just right. he picked this outfit on his own... the shoes he picked i didn't get a picture of.

just like moms make their kids learn to tie their own shoes, i had him button his own jacket. i felt like five is a good age to teach him how to button his own pants and jackets now. hope i'm not introducing him to independence too early.

it was so cute when he asked me what the patches on the elbows were for.

i quickly replied with, "i'm pretty sure they are for when you give knuckles and elbows to grandpa."

he said, "oh, i thought it was for when i go skateboarding and fall."

i need a girl to dress up.

my child may have more miles than yours.

2012-01-02T21:05:00.000-08:00

jack was with his dad for eight days.

words cannot describe how hard it can be to say goodbye to your best friend for that long.

it has been five years now that we have been doing this but it especially isn't easy around the holidays. i was so excited to see him... butterflies and all!

driving up to the airport, irvine gave me the prettiest sunset.

it felt like a school girl, all giddy.

time went so slow... those moments until i got to see him walk up the walkway from the plane!

he ran up to me and tackled me. i didn't want to make a scene, but boy, it felt right having him back. he and i hugged and he gave me a big kiss on my cheeks! the southwest flight attendant told me, "oh you guys are getting me all emotional. your boy jack was so sweet and quite charming! we enjoyed having him! he sure likes to talk." if i had a nickle for each flight attendant he's charmed, i'd have about $2.00 by now.

i am anti-sugar, yes, but i couldn't resist... his flight was delayed and i was too excited to see him. i treated him to two 5-year-old fist-fulls of cotton candy and 2012 glittery glasses! he held my hand the whole way back to the parking lot. i felt so lucky and grateful that he's still cool with holding his old mom's hand.

so happy to have him home.

me gusta jack.

i love you.... THIIIIIISSSS MUCH

2012-01-02T00:59:00.000-08:00

something i've asked jackson since he was tiny is how much he thinks i love him.

i'll say do you think i love you this much? and show my hands parallel to each other and not too much space between... or THIS MUCH and spread my arms apart as far as they can reach. he gets his smirky smile each time i do it and i love it.

so we made a little craft tonight so he will never forget. visual props, i say, make everything better.

instructions:

1. get fun card stock paper of your choice.

2. trace your hands {right and left}

3. cut strips of paper and fold them back and forth like an accordion

4. tape the hands to the strips

5. write on one hand, "i love you" and the other "this much"

he thought it was so clever. it really took no time at all and was fun to make it with him!

New Years Eve to New Years

2012-01-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

this new years was a good, easy-going one. nothing too much to report but just a swell few days. the weather down here for the past three days has been so hazy... i kind of like it.

brady had to work most of new years eve at the hospital, but was able to take me out to our favorite sushi restaurant IRORI. if you are ever in los angeles and you dig authentic sushi or japan or perfect service, then this place will have you pleased from the beginning until the end of your experience - even after.

it was such a treat to have him with me even though he had at least 3 patients waiting for him when he had to go back into the hospital at 12:30am Saturday morning!

we watched the ball drop and he was off. what a sweetie.

he worked until 9am with only an hour, maybe two of sleep so we took sunday pretty easy...

played some skip-Bo, watched some football (kind of) napped, went to church, and made dinner with all the food we had there.

of course the new year has to start out with some sparkle or new-ness... so we wore our new kicks!

we were able to hang out at one of our favorite spots to watch the planes fly over us and feel the sun come out. it was such a pretty day!

we came back to skip-Bo and some more football.

hope everyone had a nice and relaxing new years celebration!

pizza pizza

2011-12-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

the other night i wanted to surprise brady with dinner. he has been eating hospital cafeteria food every meal and the other night when we had pizza, it wasn't super filling. so i got to his apartment before he came home to make him some homemade pizza. trader joes makes this possible... you buy their $1.50 dough, the sauce, a couple fun cheeses and decorate with all the trimmings. i had to use his doctor gloves!

gluten schmooten.

our christmas together

2011-12-26T10:35:00.000-08:00

brady has been very busy with his schedule at the hospital again so our time together for christmas was short but lots of fun! he is always the best with making sure we make the most of our little bits of time.

we first went on a hike to the pacific palisades. we have been wanting to do this hike for a while so we hurried over there before the sun went down. it was a beautiful hike, only four miles total and had the prettiest views of malibu, santa monica and downtown los angeles.

there was this cute old englishman that we asked to take our picture with the scenery in the background but instead he insisted on getting close-up without LA behind us! we couldn't hold in our smiles... it was pretty funny.

after the hike, we worked up a good enough appetite for pizza. pumpkin pizza.

.. it ended up being so small and the soup we ordered i couldn't eat so we just went back to his apartment to eat lots of chocolate and open our christmas gifts to each other.

i did the 12 days of christmas for brady - just full of random gifts but the last gift was this little deck of cards... similar to the one my friend jenn made for her husband.

it took longer than i thought it would but was fun nonetheless to think of 52 things. i love this guy!

a merry christmas

2011-12-25T11:42:00.000-08:00

christmas morning was early and exciting. jackson said he heard santa come down the chimney and heard him "ho ho ho!" he saw the plates of cookies and carrots almost finished and said, "see mommy, he loves cookies... he ate them all!" we had a very simple and quiet christmas with having family spread out but it was great! jack received his first real t-ball set and a razor among other gifts. we felt very blessed and fortunate.

we attended church where the choir did a great job portraying the life of the Savior through the beautiful hymns that were sung. jack was a bit restless so i told him to lay his head down on my lap, where he found a nap fit his mood best. i love lap naps... i hope they still continue for a little longer since i don't have another babe to take his nap place during church.

although i'm a stickler about activities on sunday, i figured we could take his new razor out for a spin together. i took his old razor out while he rode his new one. we took it to one of our favorite parks that had a large wall to climb, fun swings and even live chirstmas music. i loved this time i didn't have to share him with anyone and just chat with my little boy about his christmas.

we came back to my parent's home to my grandparents who showered us with gifts and food and lots of love. jackson calls them his great-train-grandparents since their trip from where we live to san diego on the train.

after we played outside with my brother blake and dad with his new t-ball set. my family is obsessed with baseball and so it's fun to see them take jack in as a new player in the family. jack has a mean left arm so they are training him for the big leagues. jack said this christmas day that he wants to be a professional baseball player for the angels. brady taught him how to properly throw, so blake and jack played catch to warm up his arm.

he loves his new mit that fits his right hand.

my grandparents set up their bleachers in their new volkswagon van and watched us play! so cute.

it was a good game.

a new handshake was born this day between poppi and jack.

love good family bonding over baseball.

he set up his new toy outside for tomorrow and put his bat my padres drink cooler. love his creativity.

we celebrated with some gluten-free chocolate cake and chocolate-chip ice cream. it was a memorable and happy christmas!

christmas eve

2011-12-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

christmas eve was a lot of me and jack time. i loved every second of it!

we snuggled up in the morning to some good books.

he walked around holding the gift brady gave him, ready to open it. he was so excited to see it since he wouldn't see brady for a week or so.

every year we try to visit fashion island during the holidays to see the christmas tree.

for lunch we went with my family to newport beach's fashion island for some good food at the daily grille. of course jack performed for us the irish jig!

after we treated ourselves with some gluten-free sprinkles cupcakes!

red-velvet is their only flavor we can eat, but it was the best cupcake i've had in a long time.

the drive back was gorgeous. PCH is always beautiful but especially around the holidays.

we played scrabble and nerts with jack. i love how he enjoys spelling out words and the excitement i see on his face when he gets the spelling right.

we baked some sugar cookies and prepared the carrots for the reindeer. he asked to put some of his toys out for santa to give to the children who need toys. he had me label what each plate was for. i told him santa is probably tired of all these cookies, shouldn't we put something more healthy? he said, "no mom, santa only eats cookies and lots of them."

he opened up brady's gift which was cat and the hat book as well as a little funny disposable camera. he was the happiest little guy. so far he has taken 15 pictures in two days with that camera and has read that book 6 times.

he was so excited to go to sleep that he closed his eyes tightly after we read books and covered his little body with his covers. i watched "it's a wonderful life" with my family until each of them slowly tapped out to fall asleep.

it was a great christmas eve.

home is whenever i'm with you

2011-12-23T03:31:00.000-08:00

on wednesday i dropped jackson off at the airport to fly by himself to long beach. there was a delay and so we had to wait a little more than expected. a nice family let jack play pacman to help time pass. we said goodbye...

and then friday

i waited back in the same place i did before,

and i picked him up!

just in time for christmas!

so excited to have him home!

big bear lake

2011-12-20T23:52:00.000-08:00

my family had a chance to celebrate christmas a few weeks prior together. we will be spread out with in-laws or elsewhere so we all met at the cabin in big bear lake. it was so nice to spend time where we could relax, play games, eat far too much food and make some memories.

brady and i had to drive up separate because of our busy schedules but were able to make it to day two for some snow tubing. we hooked our tubes, held hands, got fancy and had some fun.

we spent lots of time in the cabin getting warm, cuddling, playing games, celebrating micah's 6th birthday, church, playing in the snow a little bit, pictures and fun things families do.

i fed him ginger snaps so he would sit on my lap.

he's walking. i love it.

elise and linds put together some fun

christmas themed games that we got into.

gift box ornaments into the box game.

linds made the best gluten free chocolate lava cupcakes!

throwing marshmallows from the couch to the television into the small silver bowl.

brady and i made this snowman.

simon.

we took family pictures together.

{to see more pictures, you can see my sister's blog or her website for the profesh pictures}

mellow weekend

2011-12-18T03:18:00.000-08:00

this weekend was a mellow one with getting over the flu. brady came over for some candy land and candy making. we took my drew and elise's dog for a walk and i left my phone at the park. we all went to church and when i came back, three young boys were waiting by my mailbox with my phone to return it! how sweet! they left me this note! i was so impressed. it was a great, easy weekend. perfect before a busy holiday weekend.

jack's school performance

2011-12-18T02:49:00.000-08:00

{summary: sleeping, roof-raising and fist-pumping. kindergarten is the best!}

little jack had his school performance. i was super sick but came regardless because i wouldn't miss it for the world. some of my family was able to make it as well. i wish i knew how to upload videos because the songs were too cute. jack sang his heart out and even sang in german. he had a little bell solo that had me smile. he wore his ears on his own! he loves christmas and loves to talk about the meaning of it. he has been singing the songs with me every moment he could to practice prior to the performance. i love this little guy so much!

abbott kinney + santa monica ice skating date night!

2011-12-17T01:15:00.000-08:00

elise and drew came up to los angeles with me and brady to go enjoy what abbott kinney offers on their streets. we saw some celebrities, ate some good food, bought some outside market gifts and then bundled up for some ice skating!

brady has done this before and told us about it. it was quite the night. little did elise and i know that our guys were fancy skaters. drew had some spin tricks, brady had speed. they both had sightings.... drew with his justin timberlake and brady with his taylor lautner look-a-like. it was funny. the lights change every few seconds, christmas music plays, the air is cold, the ice is real and the night was fun!

no shorty

2011-12-16T23:20:00.000-08:00

oh boy, am i grateful i don't have this haircut anymore.

the seattle photographer jon madison just sent me some more pictures recently, reminding me how i may never be more bold than to do more than a trim.

flashback

2011-12-15T08:24:00.000-08:00

i have a box of pictures, notes, pages i've colored, etc. that didn't make it to my scrapbook that one night almost a year ago consumed my interest. i have had these pictures on my hard drive and just stumbled upon them again. i thought they were worth the share.

san diego when dad was finishing his masters.

a tree log on the beach? amazing.

i don't know if i have ever seen one after all the years living at the beach.

red jumpsuit with clown ruffles around my neck. yes!

maybe that ruffle was suppose to hide my triple chin?

mitch looks thoroughly entertained with his obligatory smile.

oh that chair. many time outs where we had to hold hands

with the sibling we just duked it out

while we waited for the oven timer to ding.

this is when velvet, lace and hairspray was used at it's fullest.

somehow i've kept this all these years.

remember when your elementary teachers use to laminate EVERYTHING. so thankful she did

so i can forever remember how i was a democratic child.

my sister elise made this for me.

the front was so sweet with a rainbow of more nice compliments.

if you know my father, you know he is all about contracts.

apparently i typed this up for my sister elise who wanted to borrow my stereo.

remember those stereos that were so large you couldn't move them much, had a tape deck but made a great "santa's gift" those christmas mornings?!

i dated it with time. ha!

san diego girls camp right after we finished our GREASE performance.

these glasses however, were worn outside of the performance.

along with the beaded pooka-shells!

i thought i dodged this fashion-flaw but i guess it hit me.

love cool jess in this one.

cheer pictures... always at crystal cove in corona del mar on the rocks.

always cold and awkward with how the photographer would pose us.

oh man this one had me laughing then and now.

we all grew up best friends dancing and cheering together.

i think this pictures says what words cannot.

stake dances.

i don't remember ever missing one. they were the best!

this girl julia guila came to them all even though she wasn't mormon and we would get our friends together before to get ready and put our hair in these messy buns.

my grandma would treat us for our birthday weekends to spoiling us with friends down in san diego. she let us have as much fun as we could while we were with her, so we tried our best. ate junk food non-stop, no bedtimes, scream whilst going through tunnels, water balloons, toilet papering... etc. this is just one picture from one of those weekends that my grandma dared me to fit inside this!

church roadshow. the theme was "under the sea"

mia-maids and laurels were the mermaids.

as you can see we are wearing stage makeup and not too thrilled about it.

this was a lot of fun!

laguna niguel stake youth conference.

this has to be where some of my fondest and strongest bonds were made with all my friends around here were made. i love looking at this picture and thinking almost everyone here is married and lives close. the temple looks fake. i hope when i'm a youth leader again soon that i could help more youth have a similar experience.

for junior winterformal i decided to make a

statement and be different than everyone.

i saw britney and justin show up to some rewards show in jeans, so i designed a more modest replica of theirs. we walked into the dance head-to-toe denim! it was like the movies and everyone opened the dance floor up! pretty funny. i wish i could find a picture of it. a shopper from goodwill is enjoying this outfit somewhere.

dana hills vs. trabuco hills football game!

i miss all of our friends.

our ten year high school reunion is coming up soon - we are thinking a little dance with all the girls who did cheer/song for all four years.

all the girls here have stayed in shape by either being a charger's girl or ballet teacher or cheer manager or yoga/pilates instructor. it may not happen but it would be pretty cool if it did.

alright memory lane just came to a stop.

sorry if you are bored out of your mind. these pictures just had me laughing and made me smile... and reminded me i'm getting old. sheesh.

sweetsss

2011-12-11T02:42:00.000-08:00

my little sweets makes me smile without fail. this guy has been up to no good with asking me for sugar and i cave! there's always next month, floss and vitamins to balance out december's sweets.

flying solo

2011-12-10T02:29:00.000-08:00

guess who flies alone now? jack!

i am still new to it, and he has done it only once. it was so hard the first time. i cried when the plane left and i wasn't sitting next to him. i have been flying with him to san francisco for the past four years. this will save money and time but that time we spent and the security i felt knowing the hand off goes well, will take some getting use to.

he keeps growing up way too fast.

family night

2011-12-09T02:09:00.000-08:00

for family night, we did our lesson, jackson drew me this picture and we had some yummy dinner at my favorite place - veggie grill! i love our time together and will use every second possible to be with him. he is the peanut to my butter!

randoms

2011-12-08T04:27:00.000-08:00

this is what is made when the person next to you is bored in meetings...

PCH. i love this! it rarely gives you anything less than this.

the grove farmer's market in los angeles. yum.

if you haven't tried this, you are in fact, missing out. this makes your mouth dance.

love.

this salad makes your toes curl. amazing.

my view from my "office"

randalls + some rubys!

2011-12-08T02:19:00.000-08:00

mccall brought her babes down for some playing at the park and dinner at rubys! it was such a treat for us. it was good to have some"vanilla + chocolate" time. wish they were only steps away from us like they use to be! love you guys!

chick-fil-a

2011-12-07T00:56:00.000-08:00

our first time to chick-fil-A was just today! we were invited from our friends, the prices and the gibbys who told us that their cow would be meeting santa and mrs. clause. we couldn't pass up this opportunity. they had santa crafts and fun things for all the kids to do!

edamame

2011-12-06T23:32:00.000-08:00

if you need a quick appetizer, i may be of help.

it's super easy and delish.

you take a bag full of edamame.

blanch them quickly in boiled water if they are frozen.

place on a oven-safe wood board.

sprinkle sea salt, pepper, oregano, herb of provence.

cook at 400 F for 20 minutes.

yummy!

on the run

2011-12-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

i'm always on the run, but haven't been running...

this is what i have been consuming lately...

diet drinks, chocolates and hopefully an apple if i'm lucky.

always driving somewhere and busy.

i shouldn't admit this.

twenty-seven

2011-12-05T03:17:00.000-08:00

i do have thanksgiving and other fun things to blog about but my laptop crashed with all of my pictures. i'm currently getting it fixed so for now, this will have to do.

not even in my fanciest dreams could i have imagined a birthday like this year's.

here is how it played out:

a present wrapped up at 4am telling me we were going on a hot air balloon.

drive to temecula with the sweetest guy who took the whole day off from working in the hospital.

the crew blew it up, we watched and got excited!

then we hopped in, and started to slowly float up.

it was a feeling of weightlessness. truly amazing and enthralling.

we flew over 2,000 feet of vineyards, homes, farms, mountains, lakes... just pure beauty!

i don't remember either of us not smiling.

pure joy.

a once in a lifetime experience we've wanted to check off our bucket list!

we landed in someone's backyard due to the winds which made it more interesting.

they provided some grapes from the vines and apple cider to celebrate.

after, brady had another box for me to open! i was shocked! i thought that was it...

glen ivy hot springs! i have always wanted to go.

they have 19 spas and pools. he printed out all the fun things we could do.

we tooks naps in the lazy pool, sat in the sulfur spa, tried out all the spas, went in the sauna and even used the red rock mud!

we shared a yummy salad and relaxed some more.

this was my view at lunch. a lovely one. he is such a fox.

after, he had another surprise. for real. another one. by this time it was around four pm, and i had no idea what was next.

we drove through a gorgeous sunset down to my favorite thai joint...

where we had one of our first few dates.

yellow curry and pad shrimp thai as well as their lettace wraps. whoa nelly! this place is good!

he had another surprise for me. he said i had to run back to where my parents live and grab something. naive to most things, i had no idea he had plotted a surprise party with my family waiting back there. all siblings! it was so fun to see them all there.

they were way too generous and gave me sweet gifts including this dress they had me change into. perfect, because i looked like i was playing in mud all day :)

we played a game elise and drew made:

pin the picture of melissa + brady on melissa + brady!

so we did. all of us! so clever those capeners are. they actually drew us out and cut out our pictures.

matching in-laws! yo-ho yo ho

they had me stand in front of brady when it was his turn...

linds won by getting brady's picture right on my face! $10. well done linds!

brady made the most amazing yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

gluten free.

four layers.

so impressive.

{i tried to eat the whole shebang, because it was so good... but it worked me. that is a 3x3 of heaven on a plate. you're incredible brady.}

i am so grateful for those that made my birthday great. spending the day and night with the most important people in my life made me realize how blessed and fortunate i am to have such good ones in it.

on another note, so far i've been trying out 27. it still has it's kicks.

i think this year will be a really, really great one!

thank you again to everyone.
much love,
m

pending question

2011-12-04T02:16:00.000-08:00

we live so far away. it's worth every second we are together but i do have to say the drive from where i live to where he lives isn't short. one night i didn't have jackson, i brought dinner over {simple sandwiches} and our time came and went too quickly. why can't los angles be closer with less traffic?

holiday get togethers

2011-12-04T00:59:00.000-08:00

i have been digging these holiday get-togethers with friends.

friends are in town, they are hungry and they want to meet to catch up.

here are a few highlights:

at the grove i met up with my friend janelle walker at the farmer's market.

they truly have the best mexican food. plastic patio chairs but the food tastes like it should.

janelle is a long-time friend from childhood and it felt like time hadn't past. she is amazing!

{this picture has nothing to do with our food...just a cute sign next to us}

met up with my friend sara archibald for some sodas and christmas shopping at south coast plaza. this girl is the greatest. she designs wedding dresses and happens to know how to tie a scarf. thank goodness!

my close friends from childhood all have babies... this is gavyn and noah.

corner bakery, warm food and a bunch of babies.. loved this!

ashlee and i have bonzai bowl often.

its so healthy and gluten-free. they know

our names sadly!

thanks to hawaii, i have been hooked since.

i love lunches with ash!

{happy rthday}

2011-12-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

i'm behind and skipping events but i wanted to share these two photos from my 27th... i'll explain more soon. it was the best day.

so grateful

2011-11-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

j: "mom, so since it's your birthday tomorrow, do you want me to tell you what i'm getting you?"

m: "it's okay buddy, i can wait until tomorrow."

j: "well, i need you to drive me to the store and you pay for it since i need to wrap it before i go to sleep tonight."

he wants to buy me real puppets since my homemade ones aren't making the cut.

i loved spending so much time with him today.

we climbed some hills, caught some bugs in mason jars and shared some good quality laughs.

i'll post some updates soon, when i find that time that keeps slipping through my fingers.

hope everyone enjoyed their thanksgiving.

xoxo -m

festive pajamas parties

2011-11-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

{conflicting flannel - fashion shamshion}

the other night we had a "pajama party" as jackson calls them, at my parent's house. these parties consist of everyone has to be in their pajamas, we do a craft and watch a movie.

we put together all the leaves jackson collected and pinned them to the yarn.

hung them over the fireplace.

i'll have to do a better post with instructions of how to later.

another party last night we made a gingerman come to life.

little did we know we don't really like the taste of gingermen.

little indian party

2011-11-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

jack and his teacher

little jack had his thanksgiving party at kindergarden!

we made necklaces, mats, ate popcorn, talked about what they were thankful for but most importantly - they sang the cutest songs!

week-end!

2011-11-17T00:37:00.000-08:00

so excited for the weekend!

she and him has a great holiday album as most of you probably know. if you don't, you should get it and make your season brighter. hello giggles is a website zooey works with her friend. they posted a good playlist for christmas here.

bohemian style wedding in the woods? genius. i really like the style of this wedding. simple, a few details and in the woods? romantic. {via green shoes}

west elm has the coolest monogramedcollection right now.

the pig... i wouldn't dare but would give it to my brother in a heartbeat.

i get emails from daily candy from too many cities. i like to travel and know what spot is the best for each place. they have sample sales on "swirl" and clothes like this are cheap!

i think colorful streamers looks amazing for any party. easy, cheap and colorful. i'm smitten.

an apple mirror for the kids room or your obsessed apple family office.

how to make the perfect shadow puppet show.

adventurer jack

2011-11-17T00:08:00.000-08:00

something i will teach my kids always is that magic is real, unicorns can fly and that there is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. once they are adults, they may not believe that is real so why not teach them to look forward to each day's possibilities?

the past few days we collect leaves to make a leaf garland, gave jack two new nick names, used the magnifying glass to find bugs in the canyon by where we live, talked about dragons, and other fun adventures. every day is amazing and can only get better.

simple pumpkin turkey chili

2011-11-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

pumpkin chili- yes please.

for all of the anti-thanksgiving dinner families out there, this may be the perfect recipe for your thanksgiving dinner.

- 1/2 pound ground turkey

- 1/2 bag of white corn

- 1 can of drained black beans

- 1 can of drained kidney beans

- 1 can of pumpkin

- chili seasoning (mothers has the best)

- 2 tablespoons of honey

- 1 -2 cups of chicken broth

- salt and pepper

-cheese, homemade tortilla strips, lime + avocado optional

this is off of memory from making it a month ago, so i hope you adjust to whatever you need. if you prefer making your own beans from the bag, make sure you allow them to sit in water for at least 8 hours. its super easy and always tastes better the next day.

oatmeal with a kick

2011-11-15T15:13:00.000-08:00

fall favorite breakfast:

steel cut oats or whole oats

half a pack of apple cider

small cut up gala apple

blue agave

almond milk

almonds, cranberries, nutmeg + cinn. optional

my roommate from when i lived in utah taught me this recipe and i've been hooked since.

also, here is a video for kicks:

just a normal tuesday

2011-11-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

november 15th we had parent-teacher conference, we grabbed hot chocolate, went for a walk, he went to school and then later we played with Lady, and then went to the store to make gingerbread men. tuesdays have always been a favorite day of mine for some reason and spent with jack is the best. i love my best bud.

11.11.11

2011-11-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

on 11.11.11 we were all suppose to do something really great, especially at 11:11, right?

if someone were to ask me what i did years from now, the biggest smile would defeat all others.

i spent it with a favorite person of mine

at one of my favorite quick vacations in catalina.

i have been here many times before but never have i been with someone who has had it mapped out, planned so well and with someone who can make fun out of nothing. we pretty much did everything out of the water catalina offers {due to the weather}

the order of events is off, of what we did. i'm not a professional blogger but those that are, i think you guys rock!

we saw REAL STEEL in the casino. did anyone else get tear up on this one?

lets get real, you know half the people in there were. it ended up exceeding our expectations.

++++++

i couldn't have asked for a more fun date to zipline for the first time with. brady has this desire to fly and i will try most things that are safe and fun so this had us stoked the whole time.

one of the lines.

so clever. camera through the helmet.

++++++

we hiked the "airport in the sky" trail above the wrigley botanical garden. it was about 6 miles total. we didn't see any bison but lots of birds. brady sent me a link to this 50-mile hike that looked amazing but i am a woose and have a sprained muscle behind my bad knee and the weather wasn't the greatest for the time we were going to do it.

who hikes in this outfit? i do. what?

i was cold and forgot my pants didn't go all the way down.

brady, always looking good.

there was a race going on while we were there. i cannot imagine running a marathon in the rain, the mud and those hills but those that did, were awesome.

brady pulling red out of the picture.

have you ever heard of miniature bowling?

it is pretty fun.

this guy right here bowled 4 strikes, and scored high.

bowling league anyone? we are down.

i'll make the snacks for it.

double scoop!

we could skee ball all day.

never thought a sock monkey could look so good.

we boarded the rainy, rocky ship.

we both felt sick.

we stood the whole time.

catalina, you were so good to us.

thanks for the thrills.

XOXO

tricks and tips to make your thanksgiving the bee's knees

2011-11-13T01:14:00.000-08:00

sale items for your thanksgiving printables are found here
table decor printables for your thanksgiving
to make a perfect dessert thanksgiving table, look here and get ideas.
if you give out homemade jam, here is where you can buy your personalized label.

table decor printables for your thanksgiving
free thankful sign you can print on canvas beige paper and frame.
free fall circles to cut out (picture below)

inside or outside when you eat, lights draping or harvest colored buttons glued to

string make the table perfect.

as you know, kids usually sit at their own table on thanksgiving... give them little paper dollies and crayons in the middle of the table to draw on after they finish eating. better yet, add a glue stick and feathers to have them build a turkey. eat a turkey, make a turkey - win win.

if you have been to a baby shower i've thrown, i've most likely used clothes pins.

use these vintage style kind or use a variety of style and colors and have everyone write down what they are thankful for.

i love using ribbons on chairs each holiday. try it with cupcake liners facing the outside of the chair.

it looks like a turkey.

gobble gobble.

mason jars with any brush weed coming out or

vintage flower adds the right amount of flare.

granny smith apples add the right amount of color for your

table to contrast the tan and brown hues.

you can make your homemade spiced cider recipe and add cinn. sticks.

my mom taught me this handy trick.

we only have 11 more days until thanksgiving!
one of my favorite holidays!

stockings were hung with joy

2011-11-12T00:37:00.000-08:00

this christmas, we our fortunate to be having another set of handmade stockings for the christmas season.

this time my sister is going to sell them!

they come in burlap and are pretty creative and inexpensive.

she and my mom have been busy sewing away and creating these master pieces so if you would like them for your home before the busy holiday season, you can order them here.

goodnight moon

2011-11-11T00:37:00.000-08:00

three five-year-olds

2011-11-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

have you ever had a spontaneous bug to just get up and go? do something fun?! i do all the time but never seem to have time. family night meant a night where we made yellow cake cupcakes, PB +J, i pick up two of jackson's buddies on a whim, and we run to as many rides as possible at disneyland!

we started with just two.

a carrot fight in the back.

then three!

they are using their outside voices

after giving them the cupcakes.

robot, monster + fish

these boys love maps.

we had to get dole pineapple frozen yogurt since

they all brought their money from their treasure chests!

our lucky day!

the balloon lady gave jack a balloon randomly as we were walking out.

he was stoked.

i tried to stack two boys on the umbrella stroller and one on my shoulders, and a family of four kids saw me. they came over to ask me if they could help. i talked to them for a sec as the boys started falling asleep on me and each other. they seemed like super good people and we ended up knowing the same people.

they ended up helping me bring them all the way back to the parking lot. such sweeties. we hugged.

the boys, all three of them fell asleep on each other. i dropped each one off one by one and kept one. it was a great night. i think i could totally hang with a large amount of kids but would need more than an umbrella stroller.

kids are the coolest.

i also loved this quote below:

“I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.” -Mrs. Hinckley

check, check

2011-11-08T00:46:00.000-08:00

abbott + kinney

2011-11-07T00:12:00.000-08:00

if you live in los angeles or close to it, or visiting on the first weekend of a month, you MUST go to abbott and kinney. i hadn't been in some time so brady and i went down on our bikes for a little date night.

india jones and this other taco truck with the longest line - the best!

you feel like you are in san francisco a bit but with a los angeles flare.

can't wait to take people here soon.

split screen weekend

2011-11-07T00:04:00.000-08:00

this past weekend was so wonderful and relaxing.

you can't beat a weekend like that.

like 500 days of summer, i am going to show the perspective of our weekend from jack, then from me according to the photos left on my phone.

JACK's VIEW:

jack {she better hurry. i'm giving her three minutes}

jack {here kitty kitty at the beach house. sure wish i could let it in}

jack {my mom just woke up and we are cuddled up on the hammock}

jack {view from where i stand on the stairs playing pass with brady at the baby blessing's house}

jack {view from where i stand with my mama at the beach. she's cold}

jack {drive}

jack {still driving}

jack {whoa, still driving.}

jack {i'm so bored but i'm keepin' busy}

jack {oh you like this face?}

jack {here's another}

MOM's VIEW

take your child to work for an hour day!

maybe give him a haircut?! sure, why not.

the boys playing on the hammock before we grab dinner

the next morning eating breakfast next to the fireplace, all wrapped up!

sitting next to my babe at my feet. he's trying to grab my phone.

cannot

get

enough of his smile.

leaving the beach house right when it started to rain hard.

drive back up north. sleeping like an angel.

after church, baby blessing lunch and onto salt creek park!

gorgeous day!

we had the whole place to ourselves.

the boys playing soccer!

such dapper sweets.

while brady napped, we played down at the beach :)

skipped some rocks

found some special rocks

ran more

wrote numbers in the sand

and walked some more.

such a memorable weekend either side you look at.
loved it all and would love to put them on constant repeat.

xoxo