Our Christmas

Christmas morning with our presents!  Notice the milk and cookies remnants on the left.  Yea, we don't forget how to thank Santa.  The entry below is our holiday, in poem form.  Enjoy!

The week before Christmas with shopping malls humming, reminded me soon that Christmas was coming. 

So family in jackets, puddle jumpers and boots, went to see Santa in his big red suit.

The boys were excited, eyes sparkling with glee and then Santa said 

"Would you like to sit on my knee?"

Excitement to uneasy, emotions changed, so standing my children with Santa arranged

the gifts that they wanted nestled under our tree and after which ate candy canes with glee.

I knew what they wanted, thanks to an insider tip, so I braved the nasty weather for one last mall trip.  The toy strewn isles, cranky workers, the RAIN.  The broken elevators, indecisive customers, aagh what a pain!

"I'll shop for Christmas early, next year," I promised myself as I hustled and bustled around like an elf.

Finally with all of the shopping and wrapping done.  I knew I was ready for Christmas to come.

The Browning family gathering brought the feeling of Christmas to heart.  We ate lots of food and goodies to start.  

After eating our fill we all gathered round, to listen to the great prophet Luke expound.

The reason we celebrate Christmas, our Savior and king, was born in a stable and the angles did sing.  

We too sang carols and tidings of cheer and we rounded it off with small gifts from Santa and eight tiny reindeer.

Fast forward, if you will, to Christmas Eve day.  It came fast and went faster I really must say.  The family, the presents, the food and the fun.  Catching up with relatives, cracking jokes, promising more visits to come.

Jesse's family was first, and oh all the toys!  His family knows how to spoil two little boys:) 

 We all exchanged gifts, had grown up conversation, in leu, of the boys watching a video...Toy Story 2.

We sang happy birthday to Jesus and ate angle food cake.  With whipped cream and strawberries  mm.... it was great. 

After eating and packing up all of our loot to Grammie's and Papa's our family did scoot.

Grammie's and Papa's was Christmas dinner, round two.  Ollie and Frankie knew just what to do.  

They decided to play instead of to eat, knowing if they held out, soon there would be something sweet. 

 Oh mischievous children, already on a high, from all of the sugar they've consumed by and by.  Curse you Christmas goodies!  It is you that I blame for creating such monsters out of children so tame.  

Our family exchanged gifts, with a twist.  This year all gifts were home made... you should try this.  

 Grammie and Papa, of course, were exempt, so with glee a little money they spent.  Two brand new scooters for the boys, how grand!  Who needs Santa with such giving families on hand?

Once again, loading up our green "sleigh", with gifts, tired boys, and our dog we did say

"To the edge of El Cajon, past royal we go.  To bed to await Santa and a day in the snow."

Seven in the morning, and I hear a peep, so to the boys bedroom I did now creep.

"I think Santa came."  I said "Do you want to go see?"  Hoping they were excited for what lay under the tree.  "No," they replied to my gentle bade.  They were playing with the new things they already had. 

When I finally coaxed them and Jesse out of their rooms, we all went downstairs to see what would loom.  

Mater and Lighting Mc Queen were just two of the stars on the big morning scene.  Cars, board games, movies and comforters for their beds.  Man, Santa really pack that big sled. 

The boys played with their toys, ate breakfast, and then we all hoped to go up to Julian to play in the snow.

Oh the gray clouds, the rain, the puddles and such!  The hydroplaning, winding roads, no snow!  What rotten luck:)  But with all those lemons we made lemonade.  We returned, watched movies, ate pumpkin bread, yes at home we stayed.  

Our Christmas was grand and we hope yours was too.  May the reason for the season not be lost on you.  Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior and King was born, and that is no little thing.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !

Love, The Wattsons     

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Camo Christmas Tree hunting and "Puddle Jumpers"

Ok, moving in December is not my favorite thing to do.  Though I seem to do it almost every year, I am commited to this new place.  We finally got our tree on the 12th and decorated it the next day.  Our family has a special tradition for our tree.  The tree, in my opinion, offically starts the season.  It gets me into decoration, baking goodies, giving gifts, Christmas mode.  Our tradition is going out to eat and then going to get the tree.  Everyone is fed and happy AND more willing to hang out outside and shake out prospective trees.  Frank was so excited to get the tree we had to promise him fifty times over that AFTER dinner we would get the tree. We went to Applebee's this year.  Little shout out for the Applebee's:  We ordered mac and cheese for Ollie and it came out looking like it had been sitting in the pot for an hour or two and it tasted like it too.  Everyone, knows what I'm talking about.  You stick a fork in it and pick up half the bowl all clumped together.  Anyway, the manager was totally cool about it.  He comped the mac and cheese and let Ollie pick at it while they made him a grilled cheese.  Hey, you try telling a 2o month old he has to wait even longer for his food!!  They rock.  After we ate dinner we all got back into our jackets and drove all the way... across the street to Home Depot.  As soon as we got inside the fence the boys were off like a shot in different directions both yelling "There's a Christmas tree, there's a Christmas tree, there's a Christmas tree."  We were able to convince Frankie to stay close to us but Ollie wasn't having it.  Eventually we played a little game of hide and seek to keep them where we were.  They LOVED hiding in the trees with their camo jackets.  I would call "Where are you, I can't see you," and here them giggling standing between two trees with their faces to the wall.  After Jesse shook out about half a dozen trees for scrutiny I chose one.  Frankie held the "ticket" and Daddy and Ollie hauled the tree to the truck.  So now we have my favorite symbol of Christmas in our living room, fully decorated.  I would put a picture up but with the boys and the dog's help the decor changes almost everyday. 

This last week has been a really wet one.  Frank, like most little boys, loves jumping in puddles.  I, like most moms, hate changing my son's soaking socks and shoes three times a day so we decided to buy golashes aka puddle jumpers for the boys.  They were not easy to find but boy were they FUN!  Yes, I still had to change my son's soaking socks but my kids were able to play outside instead of getting cabin fever inside.  Sane mommy is a happy mommy!

Here are the boys, ready for action!

We had a mini lake at one end of our apartment complex that the boys loved wading/running in.  The water was almost up to Ollie's knees  It was all fun and games till Ollie fell face first into the freezing water.

Here's Frank, racing down the stretch of sidewalk, filled with puddles.

After I got both boys back inside Frank was so wet we had to strip him down naked!  So much for keeping him dry but how many other kids do you know who were out playing this week?  Totally worth it!

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Erin rocks!

I need brides for my portfolio before I go pitch to a venue.  Erin was the first to get in line and I was so excited.  Despite our rotten luck we got some great shots in and had an awesome time.  Anyone else want to jump into their wedding dress for me???  Check out the pictures on my photography blog on your left.  Here are a few of my favs.

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Did you know Hippos smile?

Ok, I've been slacking on the posts with the move going on and all and I really want to avoid packing so what better way to do so than with a post?  We went to the zoo today.  Jesse and I decided to squeeze in one more visit before our passes expire.  We walked some different pathways and ended up at the hippos.  Funani, actually.  She was in the middle of the pool sleeping, completely submerged.  The kids were excited to see the hippo but she wasn't doing a whole lot besides coming up for air every 2-3 minutes.  I love hippos but let's face it watching a hippo sleep is as fun as watching grass grow... not a whole lot of action.  Just as we were about to leave one of the keepers came walking by.  She started to call the hippo by name and slap the glass.  The hippo perked up instantly and began lolloping over to where the keeper was.  She swam right up to the glass and, no joke, smiled at the keeper.  Her eyes lit up and her lips curled back.  It was the cutest thing I've ever seen.  I was able to capture the moment check it out.

Hope you enjoyed the hippo show.  I did some still life work today, LOTS of orchids.  Click on my photography website to check it out.

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A lesson in Chemistry

Hypothesis: If I give each of my children a handful of chocolate chips at six o'clock then I will get some crazy hyperactive monkeys.

Experiment: give said stimulant to subjects, turn them loose in their environment and observe behavior.

 

I got a fishy!!!

Mischievous little monkeys 

Superman!!!

Yes, he is faster than a speeding bullet.  Especially when he is in trouble!

Funny Faces

Monkey man

Frank started to laugh when I was using the flash on my camera

Neener, neener, neener.  Ollie is the face maker.  He will try to copy anything Jesse is doing.

Funny face.  Nope, no boogies!

We kept asking Ollie where his ears were and he kept making this face.  Must have been the sugar.

Analysis:  My children experienced a "sugar high" (a rare thing in this house) which led to monkey mayhem, superman stunts, and funny faces.  Wow, that was fun.

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Wha'd he say??

You know how when your toddler starts talking you have to translate what they say to everyone else?  The garbled half formed words make sense to you but not to someone hearing them for the first time.  I thought I was well versed in toddlerese until Friday.  Either that or my brain filter was not tuned to toddler mode.  The boys and I were driving to the gym when Ollie kept saying "ie poo-boo."  

"What?  You have to poo-poo?" No, that can't be it.  We don't use the phrase poo-poo.  Try again.

"ie poo-boo."

" You have a boo-boo?"  Great probability seeing as both boys are constantly falling. 

"ie poo-boo." Obviously I'm not 100% correct because he is still repeating the same phrase.

" You have an owie boo-boo?"

"yea"

Mission accomplished.

Situation number two and three were extremely similar to one another.

We were at the store and Ollie was in the shopping cart.  As we were checking out he kept whining "suck, suck."  I thought he wanted a snack and kept telling him I would get him one in a minute.  As we were on our way out to the parking lot I notice his thumb wedge in the bars. 

 "Oh, your STUCK," I exclaimed as I realized my translation error. 

 "yea" he replied as I dislodged his imprisoned thumb.

After our nap the boys were hanging out watching a movie as I was vacuuming the living room floor.  I couldn't hear much over the vacuum but I saw Ollie begin to cry.  

"It's ok bud, I'll be done soon."  I assure him thinking "he's never had a problem with the noise before."  He keeps crying and saying "suck."

"I'll get you a snack when I'm finished," I yell over the whir of the vacuum.

"HELP!" yells Ollie

I look over and notice his arm is STUCK inside a small Nalgene bottle (mr. chubby man) and he can't get it out.

After three such failings in one day I realize I need to study harder if I am going to master this language.    

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Hard times= Time to change

Since the crash of the economy October 6th I have had to look at and seriously evaluate our situation.  Since food and gas prices went up we were barely and sometimes not living within our means.  I tried cutting everything I could think of to make a difference with no dice.  Our ever growing boys made our ever growing budget daunting.  So we have decided to take some drastic measures to get our family back in balance.  Dextrose is no longer with us.  Sad as it may be we found him an outstanding family of 2 people and 2 other dogs.  They live on over an acre of land with squirrels and lizards galore.  Personally I think he traded up, but that didn't make it any easier to drive him to a dog park and put him in the back of someone else's car when we were ready to leave.  Jesse and I cried repeatedly that day and it broke our hearts when Frankie began looking for him the next morning.  Jesse got a second job with REI for the Christmas season and I have decided to start my photography business.  The photography biz is to explore my passion and hopefully make money while doing it.  We have also decided to move.  All of our sweat, blood and curses over our lawn and garden will be there for someone else to enjoy.  Just when I figured out what grows where too.  We are moving to Lakeside to a small town home.  The only consolation will be the $500 a month savings in rent and utilities.  In doing this we hope to eliminate our debt and save up for a house.  I know everyone is struggling in one way or another and I'm not writing this because I want pity from anyone.  I want everyone to know that it's ok to "back track" to get on track.  We don't have to continually expand.  Sometimes a stunt in growth or trimming the fat is an appropriate tactic for the health of your family.  Everybody has a story but I think what I'm trying to say is if you ever feel tied down something is not right and needs to change.  Figure out what it is and be brave enough to change it.  

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Bare Naked Cooking...mmmmmmmm!

If any of you have not checked out Jessica's blog site with all her amazing recipes I urge you to do so... like right now.  Stop reading and click on the link to your right and... whoa, slow down I need to tell you why.  If your looking for ways for your family to eat right and have the food still taste good this is a site for you.  She has maple pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, chocolate peanut butter ice cream, all the goodies that are amazingly guilt-free.  There are other recipes for squash soup (yum), spinach salad, and so much more.  I made her chocolate peanut butter ice cream today and one word... AMAZING!!  The ingredients are simple and the final product is delicious.  No one would know that your not using mounds of sugar, butter and fat.  Check out her site and try one.  She lives at a higher altitude so if you pick a baking recipe give your feed back too so she knows what works for sea level:) 

Happy Cooking

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Whad do you wanna do?

My kids are brilliant when it comes to beating boredom. I caught a few of these examples on camera. Enjoy!

The second video didn't work, sorry!

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Happy Halloween!

What a night!!!  Frankie decided he wanted to be Ol' Mac Donald for halloween so I made a checkered shirt.  Ollie was so cute in his chaps and vest with all the fringes.  These were some of the easiest costumes I have made yet.  Jesse and I got into the act as well.  I was barbie, fake hair and all.  Erin is a beautician and glued in extentions for me.  The hair totally made the costume.  Jesse was GI Joe.  Come on everyone knows that's who Barbie really wants.  We went to my mom's for dinner and some trick or treating.  Frank got really into it once he understood the drill.  1. Look for lit houses  2. Knock on the door.  3. Say "trick or treat" Presto, candy in the bucket!!!!  4. say thank you.  5.  Repeat steps one through 4!!!!!!!!

We could hardly keep up with him.  Ollie got a sucker on the first house and was content to walk along with the sucker in his mouth while Frank did all the work.  My mom loved taking her cute grandkids around to all the neighbors and there were some pretty cool decorations.   We went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat too.  The turn out wasn't all that great but the candy was awesome.  I hope everyone had a happy and safe halloween.  

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The Fire Department? at our house? Nooo!

It was your typical monday with nothing special to do.  Just house work and letting the kids be kids.  Frank woke up from his nap, quietly closed the door so Ollie could continue sleeping and came down stairs.  I was also enjoying an afternoon siesta when I heard.  step..step..step.. "Mommy, mommy I had a good rest."  Seeing that as my cue to get up I promptly rolled over and pried open one eye.  "That's good, why don't you go play."  With a cute smile he wanders off and starts to play while I wrench my tired self from that oh so comfortable mattress.  I begin the never ending task of LAUNDRY and we continue on quietly for about 15 minutes or so.  After a while Frank wants to go upstairs and play... by Ollie's room.  I am hesitant but I extract a genuine vow of silence form my three year old (laughable, I know).  As I'm putting yet another load into the dryer I hear Ollie upstairs through the vent but he doesn't make his way out of the room.  I know he can't reach the door knob very well so I call up to Frank to let Ollie out.  Silence... Ollie begins to whine.  I call again, let Ollie out.  " I can't, Ollie's stuck."  What?!  I race upstairs, thinking he's wedge between a bed and a wall or something.  I reach the top, run for the door and turn the knob.... it's locked... from the inside.  I run around trying to find the right size screwdriver to take off the door knob.  Curses!  Jesse actually put his tools away.  I end up using an eye glasses repair kit and finally get the door knob off.  "Did you lock the door?"  I ask Frank as I try to release the bolt.  "Yea."  I wanted to say so many things to my older one like "never do that again" and "time out" etc. but I was more concerned with the pacing, tear stained blond boy I could see through the hole in the door.  He stuck his fingers through the door trying to get to me and cried.  Frank began to cry and try with all my might the useless tools I had could not get the bolt out of the jam!!!  The wheels in my mind began to turn.  What would Jesse do?  He's a fire fighter.... fire fighter.... fire department.  Why not have them get him out?  We know almost every single fire crew member that works out of our fire station thanks to Jesse's career and Frank obsession with fire trucks.  I called 911 and they sent out the engine.  Captain Williams jumps down from the engine and the first thing he says is "So, is Jesse at work today?"  Ha, ha.  Boy do I feel like a nerd:)  "My brother is stuck," Frank informs them all as they come inside.  They walk in and within a minute Ollie is release from his room and sniffling in my arms AND the door is still intact.  Hurray for Engine 18, you have saved the day.  Ollie looked at all the guys, curious as to why the fire truck is at our house and not "sleeping" at the station like it usually is.  As they walk back out Captain tells me to "call any time" and I retort "next time Jesse's not home, you bet."  As we wave at the departing fire truck I realize this is the second time this year they've been called to my house for an emergency.  I think we've reached our quota.   

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Frank is 3!!!!

This weekend was Frankie's Birthday weekend.  He turned three on Sunday.  My little boy is three!  I am a little weirded out by that.  Anyway on Saturday we when up to North County to spend the day with Jesse's mom.  We stopped at Buchaneer Beach first.  What a beautiful day.  The sun was warm, no marine layer, and a cool fall breeze blowing.  The water was a bit chilly but the boys had fun playing in the sand and throwing sand clots at each other and Dad.  I got to sit on the sand and watch:)  We brought Frankie's dump truck and let him run it up and down the channel.  Don't worry, we didn't let them play in the stagnant water, although they wanted to.  Ollie discovered that sea water doesn't taste good and Frank figured out that if he runs fast enough he can kick mud up from his dump truck's tires and get doubly dirty.  After hanging out at the beach we went to "wee-g's" and crashed.  When we were all rested and fed a trip to the park around the corner sounded like fun.  On Saturdays most parks in San Diego turn into fiesta central.  There are bounce houses everywhere and mariachi music is blaring but we got lucky.  There was only one party going on so the playground wasn't swamped with kids.  Frank is becoming more adventurous, and as you can see from the pictures below he learned to climb to the top of the jungle gym.  Ollie has always been a little monkey.  He plays on the bigger equipment all the time.  On Sunday we woke up and I told Frankie it was his birthday.  "It's my birthday?!"  He exclaimed, "Oh, thank you very much!"  All day he kept telling everyone "It's my birdday!" We had a great family party at my mom's that night complete with cake and presents.  Whenever Frankie would open a gift he would get a priceless look on his face, quiver with joy and say "thank you very much!!"  I have never seen a child more grateful for his gifts.  What a sweet little man he is turning out to be.  

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Cowboys

I have the cutest cowboys on the block.  I know their garb may be modern but they sure do love their hats.  I know that they are excited to wear the whole shebang for halloween.  

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budding photographer

Frank loves to take our little point and shoot and click away.  Most of the shots are blurry, too close and insignificant....but sometimes he captures something impressive.  Take a look.  Speaking of photos I did a photo essay.  Click on my photography page link and go to my porfolio.  Enjoy.

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Money, money, and more money

That seems to be the only thing that we do not have in our lives right now.  It's nothing crucial but it does seem to be making for a bleak Christmas.  I was at my mom's today talking about Christmas and here is what my humongous family is doing this year.  We are drawing family names, not just person to person but family to family.  Then, we are to use the talents of everyone in our family to create a gift for the people we drew.  This is a really good idea and maybe it will help some of you out.  I'm hoping to use some of my children's artistic abilities to create something truly unique.  When we know what we are going to do I will post our ideas.  We usually do home made gifts every year but this is even better because we can put time and thought into one big gift instead of spreading ourselves thin to come up with something original for everyone.

Besides money, life is great right now.  Frankie is turning three this week and we are going to have a costume party this year.  I hope I will be done making their costumes in time.  Ollie's babeling is turning into understandable english and he loves wrestling with his brother.  I am working hard at the gym and trying to book my first client.  Jesse is still with Barona fire and is looking to find a new fire department with overtime and call volume.  We have our fingers and toes crossed!

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Poop!

I have a gripe!!! Why is it that my almost three year old won't poo in the toilet?? He's been potty trained for months and he still would rather hide in a corner and poo in his underwear. I've tried timing him, punishing him, taking toys away but to no avail!!! I don't know what else to do. I've even started making him wash out his poopy underwear. I have come to the conclusion that I really hate poop. If anyone has any tips for stubborn little boys let me know!

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Bag Tag

BAG TAG!!!

I was bag tagged by Erin Hoy and to be honest I don't know which bag to use. I have a rotation between my gym back pack aka "work purse", a regular purse, and of course a monster Sunday bag that carries toys, books, snacks, and my Sunday calling (nursery leader). I think I will go with the regular purse so I don't have to actually clean out my gym back pack. Well, first off I realized how many lip glosses I lost because I just found them all. Here are the details.
Toy truck and crayons- you never know when you'll need them
Phone Protector for my Treo and car accessory for a blue tooth I don't own any more.
Plug safety cover, bit of random trash-gifts from my children
Receipts- Wells Fargo, See's candies(I only bought one piece...I swear), Petco, and MTS trolley ticket for the day we went to Old Town.
Business card- The Sticker Shop
PMS medication
Three lip glosses, two lip liners, and one lipstick (melted from being in my car for too long)
hand lotion
two pens and a stain remover pen that I have used once but had it forever.
Now the black "mini purse"
My Treo- can't leave home without it but I rarely answer it.
Two checkbooks and another pen
Change purse that doesn't hold change but every card I own.
A hands free mic for my new phone....that I never use either.
That's it! Man, that was therapeutic! Ok, I tag Jessica Barnum, Erin Phend, Melea Logan, Kara Browning, Heidi Browning, Lura Coyne, Augustina Wilcken, and Ivy Clinger. Two rules ladies! No exclusions and no cleaning before you start! Have fun.

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It took all the courage I could muster but...

I did it! I am taking the leap into the business world and trying to be a photographer "for real" :) Check out my blog and give me some feed back. Prices, blog look, whatever. I can use all the help I can get. The name of my business is "Capture the Moment Photography" my blog is CTMphotoSD.blogspot.com. Once I get things flowing I hope to build an official website.

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Just like Daniel...

We all have people we look up to and Frankie looks up to all of his uncles. When we do his hair for church he wants to look like Uncle Dave. He loves to swim with Uncle Stu. He thinks Uncle Robbie is hilarious. I could go on and on. I can't help but laugh at the way he tries to emulate one or the other. Today we were coloring using markers. Frank is relatively new to using markers and last night he was extremely concerned about the marker left on his skin after coloring. Well today he wasn't as worried about it. In fact, as he and Jesse were coloring Frank intentionally started drawing on his forearm. Jesse was about to tell him that we draw on paper when Frank turned to Jesse and said "Look! Just like Daniel!" My son gave himself a "tat" just so he could be like Uncle Dan:) That's hilarious.


Update: he thought that one tattoo was funny so more would be even better. Jesse found him downstairs, after his bath, with marker all over his legs, arms and the walls. "Just like Daniel" to the extreme. I guess he's more like Daniel than we thought:)

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Who knew?

Life throws us curve balls so often you would think I would be a better batter by now. We signed on to Barona fire about 6 months ago and in stead of relieving our financial burdens it has increased them. Believe it or not, Jesse is making less than he did at AMR. The income is the same every 2 weeks and there is no overtime to speak of. Well, that means we get to be more creative and have a little more faith. I am taking a huge risk and starting up my photography biz. It has been a long time in coming but this need for green is giving me a push. Stay tuned for a website and other goodies. My angle or the thing that makes me marketable is that I am cheap. I can't build a business before I build a porfolio so if anyone needs family or wedding pictures let me know.

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Fun in a Tunnel

A tunnel is the perfect place to hide in...

though walking can be tuff...

I'll pose and take a picture...

but I think I've had enough!

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Our newest family member

Meet the newest member of our family. Our first "child" Dextrose, received a brother of his own last week. Dextrose was a lonely soul and we felt he would do well with a companion. We looked, and looked, and looked but could not find the right dog... enter Willis. Yes the dog's name is Willis. He's a mix of who knows what. He looks like a German Sheperd with Bassett legs and Doberman markings. We met him on a sunny Saturday morning. I took the boys and the dog to Petco to check out some prospects. We came walking up to the front of the story and all the dogs in the cages start barking like mad. Dex was freaked out. We walked one dog around the store and much to my dismay the dog was just as unruly as my two kids around the fish tanks. I was perspiring with frustration by the time we came back to the cages. Cue barking dogs. While shouting at my kids to not stick their fingers in the cages, and shouting at the lady in charge that we didn't want dog #1 I saw Willis. Amongst all the hyper maniacs he was sitting quietly looking around with a "what's the big deal?" look on his face. We decided to give him a go. What a great little mutt. He is only a year old but I was able to train him to sit on command within a five minute walk around the store. The boys loved him and Dex liked him too. We decided he had to be ours. He took to our house as if he has lived here all his life. He wrestles with Frank, Ollie and Dex and can keep up with Dex when we play. Who knows why someone gave him up all I know is we're glad they did because now he's ours.

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Let's RIDE!!!!

We are now a motorcycle family! As you can see the boys haven't taken to it as well as we would hope but they are getting use to the idea:) Their favorite thing to do is to hop on Daddy's motorcycle and "cruise". I have never been too fond of motorcycles. The crashes and ER stories that I have been exposed to as well as seeing some of the after math made me a little skitish when Jesse was thinking about it. I told him he could get a motorcycle when pigs fly. Wouldn't you know it, a pig landed in the branches of our sycamore the very next day! I don't know if I halucinated or not but what was real were the sky high gas prices and his commute in a gas guzzling truck. We did the math and it would cost us less to buy a bike, insure and put gas in it than it would to keep fillin' the tank on a truck. Jesse was all too eager to agree with my figures and I put him to work to finding a bike. He found a V-Star cruiser. He now loves to run errands and will find any excuse to go "down the hill" into town for me. As one can see from the picture there is room for two on the bike and that second seat is not wasted. This is our date night vehicle almost all of the time. There's nothing quite like cruising down a winding road on our way to do something else fun:)

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