We’ve had a full and wonderful summer, and it’s not even over yet. Here’s the overview: Swimming, gardening, watching fireworks, moving Granny from one beach house to another, Vacation Bible School, visiting with lots and lots of wonderful people, considering moving to Texas, considering moving to Santa Ana, considering staying put...now you are all caught up on the last 2 months of our lives. We did get a job offer in Texas that we seriously considered, but the timing wasn’t quite right and the Lord didn’t release us to do that. We are keeping our eyes open for a cheaper home in Santa Ana in a beautiful neighborhood where quite a few of our friends all live. But for now, we’re just staying here until the Lord opens the next door for us.
Jon’s work is going well. He and his partner have finally merged their shops and are under the same roof. He’s busy, busy, busy.
We started off June celebrating Ben’s 4th birthday. It was fun. He requested fruit smoothies and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for his party, his favorites. It was a fun afternoon of kid mayhem. He loved it. I thought it was adorable when he thanked all his guests for coming and for his presents. It was so cute seeing him address a group of people.
Grandma Jean got to visit for a week or so with us. She intended to be here longer, but was ill/hospitalized in Kauai and had to delay her trip. Thank the Lord that she made a full recovery and didn’t need surgery!
Then we had a visit from Kelly (Ower) & Steve Eastmond. I hadn’t even met 3 of her kids or her husband, and had only seen her oldest when he was a baby. I’ve been wishing for so long that all of our kids could meet and play together. I have such happy childhood memories of being with her family and playing with her and her siblings, my cousins. I just wanted the same experience for our kids.
I had a friend cut about 8 inches off and a ton of bulk out of my hair. I’ve never had a friend cut my hair before. She did a fantastic job and I love it.
Our next visitors were Trish & Kai Blake. Caleb and Kai were best friends when they were babies/toddlers. We saw him last summer on our way through Colorado, but that’s the only other time we’ve seen Kai since the kids were 2. He and his mom Trish came for a weekend visit and the boys had a blast. They made orange juice and played at the beach and just had fun hanging out. It was a busy weekend, but well worth it.
Next to stay with us were my dear friends Laurie & Anna. Laurie came from Washington D.C. to meet up with her missionary team to head off to Kenya. She came a little early so we could have yet another girl’s week extravaganza. Anna came out from Colorado for it. I’m so thankful we all have been able to get together about once a year. My college girlfriends are just so special to me.
Not 24 hours after dropping my girlfriends off at their respective airports, we picked up cousin Anna from Kauai. She stayed with us for about 3 weeks. I’ve never had the chance to spend so much time with her and I cherish it. I really hope she gets another chance to linger here before her life gets too full for long carefree visits. Ben had a moment today when it sunk in that she wasn't here anymore and he buried his head into me overcome with sadness. It was so sad, but utterly adorable. I’m glad that he loves Anna so much! I'm relieved she’s going to come back for a few days at the end of September. We got tickets to go to a big concert together when she’s back. I'm not quite ready for a long goodbye.
Jeremy, Jon’s brother, was in town for a week to record another album. Jon spent all his evenings and weekends working on the album with Jeremy. They got a lot done and I’m glad they got to play music together. Uncle Brother, as the kids call him, took the boys on an uncle/nephews morning, so Anna and I got to have a girl date. Yay! We had a great day. We ended up chatting at Gypsy Den, one of my favorite cafes, for awhile and then browsing at a consignment shop. Then we picked up the kids and went to the park for over 4 hours. I love easy going days like this.
I finally, finally, finally opened my etsy shop. Last year I set myself the goal to open up for business sometime this year. I hoped to do it earlier in the year, but due to a very full school year with homeschooling Caleb, I knew it would have to wait until summer. But I did it! Yay! I'm very excited and proud of myself. I made 5 coffee cozies to start with. I will likely make some magnets or baby items in the future. People are always telling me "Oh, you should sell those," when I make them gifts. I've never been inclined to because of the cost & time of sewing homemade. It's a labor of love. But...I guess I wondered if anyone out there in the big, big world would like what I make. So here it goes. Wish me well.
Setting up my etsy shop took way more work than I thought...shipping costs & policies, linking paypal accounts so I can accept payments, reading rules & laws & regulations, CA sales tax...not to mention all the work taking photos, selecting photos, cropping photos, reducing photo size, uploading, product descriptions, and on and on. I was so excited though when I saw the finished shop. Take a look and spread the word.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/bucketsofblue
I’ve also been a busy sewing lots of little baby goodies because 2 of my good friends each had their babies…and on the same day nonetheless! Tracy is all settled at home now with her sweet new baby boy Noah and Meg, a homeschooling friend, also had a baby boy, Jonathan. That means I get to have plenty of baby snuggling time and that makes me smile.
I also spent a good amount of time this summer gardening. We’ve gotten the most delicious yellow squash, salad, cucumbers, green beans, and herbs to grace our dinner plates. I’m really looking forward to the corn. It’s ready. We just have to pick it and eat it. I recently pulled out the lettuce and most of the squash plants. The lettuce was very overgrown and messy. The squash was covered in powdery mildew and wasn’t doing well. But I got so much squash from that plant that I am completely satisfied. In the next month or two our tomatoes and jalapenos will be ready. Yum!
One afternoon I noticed a ton of empty flower pots that our neighbor was getting rid of. He was glad to let me have them. Anna & I went nuts at the local nursery choosing herbs and flowers to plant. It was fun getting started plants. All the other plants that I’ve grown were from seeds, which are wonderful, but I liked the instant gratification. I’m most excited about the chocolate mint plant!!! It’s really smells & tastes like chocolate mint. It’s divine. And we got a lemon thyme hybrid herb. It’s wonderful too! Oh, we got so much…oregano, rosemary, sage, lavender, serrano chile, and a few different flowers. Jon built me a shelf to put it all on. I love the final result.
Last Saturday I was spoiled with the most perfect day! Anna, my friend Kat, and I spent the day in Temecula. We did an olive oil tasting at an olive oil bar, antique shopped, and had the most delicious and gourmet lunch at Ponte Winery. Then Jon surprised me with a date he had secretly arranged. We dined at a superb French restaurant in LA. I even ordered in French..Assiette de Fromage et Crevettes a la Ratatouille. To translate, we started with an assortment of cheese and had grilled shrimp served over ratatouille for our main entrée. I thought ratatouille was soup, but it turns out, it’s vegetables in a thick red sauce. It was all extremely delicious. Then he took me to see South Pacific at the Ahmanson Theater. “Oh my goodness” is all I can really say. And I’ve had a little French song stuck in my head ever since I saw the play…
Dites-moi..Pourquoi
La vie est belle,
Dies-moi...Pourquoi
La vie est gai,
Dites-moi...Pourquoi,
Chere Mad'moiselle,
Est-ce que...Parce que
Vous m'aimez?
Dites-moi...Pourquoi,
Chere Mad'moiselle,
Est-ce que...Parce que
Vous m'aimez?
Then we had an unexpected visit one evening from Jon, Susan, and their sweet little baby girl Ella. I wish I would have taken a picture. Oh well. I’ve known Susan since Jr. High and I’m so thankful for the moments we get together. She is a dear friend and I truly enjoy her family. Her husband works for government and they usually are living abroad. It was so nice to catch up with them and see how much little Ella has grown in a year. Susan even brought me gorgeous silk from Thailand! The gift made me feel loved and known. That’s a good feeling. Thanks Susan. What to make with it?
So, one more month of summer and then back to regular life and school work. But for now I think we’ll just try to get as much time in the pool as we can.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
May 2010
May started off with a fun game day Caleb organized all by himself. He thought of this great idea to plan games and have his friends come over to play. It was all Caleb. He planned ahead and even made his own invitations that he passed them out to his friends the week before. He was so creative and proactive. He planned at least 10 different games & activities. I don’t think they even got around to play them all. I didn’t do ANYTHING other than sit back and drink tea with the other moms. They built Lego cars and raced them down a ramp, threw water bottle caps into different size containers worth different points, drew monsters with washable markers and then raced to melt the monsters off by shooting the monsters with water guns, and so on and so on. Hours and hours…and hours of fun. I am constantly aware of how lucky Ben is to have such a wonderful big brother and such a full childhood.
We had a short visit with Grandma Jean on her way to Kauai. She’ll be back in June. Can’t wait.
Then we got to celebrate Mother’s Day and my Mom’s birthday. My parents came down for the weekend and we had a lovely time. Jon’s mom came over for the morning. Jon made a big fancy breakfast to honor us moms. He knows how much I love gourmet food. He made Dutch Baby pancakes, eggs, and bacon. If you’ve never had a Dutch Baby, you’re missing out. A Dutch baby pancake, sometimes called a German pancake, is a sweet breakfast dish that comes out of the oven big and fluffy. It is then served with fresh squeezed lemon, butter, and powdered sugar. Oh my goodness was it good! And to top it off he did all the dishes! He is a thoughtful and sweet husband. Thanks Honey!
After my Mother’s Day breakfast I transplanted all my little seedlings outside into the garden bed and into pots. They’ve been growing inside for about 6-8 weeks and they’re ready for a little more room and sunshine. It was nice to have my mom’s company while I worked. I hope they thrive. I love going outside and looking at all the little plants. It just brings me joy. I can’t wait to have before and after pictures of the progress of the plants. For now they are all very little. Growing from seeds sure takes a long time. A friend of mine started growing about when I did but she bought started plants. Her plants are all a few steps ahead of mine and it’s very helpful to get a look ahead. I’ve already learned a lot about what to do different next time.
We spent one Sunday exploring the Bower’s Museum in Historic Santa Ana. It offers one free Sunday a month that we took advantage of. We enjoyed its new exhibit "Secrets of the Silk Road: Mystery Mummies from China". This exhibit is touring outside Asia for the FIRST TIME! It was really interesting. Caleb got kind of scared of the mummies so he decided to sit that part out. They had an adult mummy and a recreation of the burial site. There was also a mummified baby on display. The baby really got to me. All in all, it was fascinating for Jon & I. The museum had lots of other exhibits that Caleb really enjoyed. There was a big one on Pacific Islander masks and a bunch of stuff from head hunter tribes. He drew pictures of his favorite exhibits. I like to see what he finds interesting. There was also a Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival going on in the courtyard of the museum. The kids saw some traditional Japanese dances and drumming, ate mochi-a favorite rice treat, and made special art projects. Then we walked down the street to the Bowers Kidseum and the kids got do hands on things that related to the exhibits they saw at the Bowers Museum. They tried on lots of masks and played different kinds of drums that represented cultures all over the world. I love when fun and learning blend so perfectly.
I started an exercise regime. My plan is to go for 6 months working out daily. I figure it will be easier for me mentally to make a daily habit than to shoot for a few times a week. So far it’s working pretty well. It takes me about 45 minutes each day. I’ve amended it already to taking Sundays off. I really need that day of rest. I’m still adjusting and just doing my best to do something active and healthy each day. A few people have noticed that I look a little thinner. Our friend Tracy has challenged Jon to a weight loss contest once she has her baby. Ha ha…I hope they actually do it.
Tracy’s sister and I threw Tracy a baby shower at my house. My patio was transformed. I always hate cleaning up from parties like this because it looks so pretty that I just want to leave it that way. We draped gauzy fabric over the patio lights in the backyard and set our tables with sterling silver tea sets and porcelain tea cups and saucers. It was really special to me because I got to use the sterling silver tea set that I inherited from my Grandma Carol for the first time. I love her so much and it reminded me of her for the whole day. Add a few fresh flowers from my garden and ta-da…a beautiful and breezy afternoon tea/70’s fondue party. As strange as that sounds, it turned out wonderful. I started with a ceasar pesto salad with homemade croutons. Then, I served a creamy havarti and racelette cheese fondue with various cubes of bread. The next course was marinated steak and chicken that the guests cooked themselves in a very hot wine broth fondue. In addition there were lots of yummy veggies and potatoes to cook in the wine broth fondue. Then they got to take the cooked meat and veggies and dip them in one of the yummy dips I made: garlic lemon dip, blueberry dip, green goddess dip (very herby), and peanut cilantro dip. To end up the meal we had a chocolate fountain and I made a peanut butter white chocolate dessert fondue. Oh my…food heaven. Gifts and games and friends and fun…we had a good time celebrating Tracy and the soon arriving baby boy Flores.
Random fact: We signed up for Netflix to save a few bucks on movie rentals. For only $8.99 we get to watch unlimited movies/television episodes through the Wii on the television. Netflix gave us a special streaming disk to put into the Wii that makes this possible. It is connected to the internet so we choose what we want to watch online and then it automatically goes to our Wii. It looks and sounds almost as good as a DVD. I like that they have a big list of VeggieTale movies for the kiddos, as well as lots of Saturday morning cartoons from my childhood that I get to introduce the kids to. Additionally, we get one DVD mailer at a time. I’m so glad not to have to deal with the late fees and whatnot that we were getting with Blockbuster’s new policies for in-store rentals.
Ben’s funny antic of the month: Ben was hugging Caleb to apologize for throwing hard toys at him. Then he started squeezing too hard and I asked why and he said to get juice from him.
We had a short visit with Grandma Jean on her way to Kauai. She’ll be back in June. Can’t wait.
Then we got to celebrate Mother’s Day and my Mom’s birthday. My parents came down for the weekend and we had a lovely time. Jon’s mom came over for the morning. Jon made a big fancy breakfast to honor us moms. He knows how much I love gourmet food. He made Dutch Baby pancakes, eggs, and bacon. If you’ve never had a Dutch Baby, you’re missing out. A Dutch baby pancake, sometimes called a German pancake, is a sweet breakfast dish that comes out of the oven big and fluffy. It is then served with fresh squeezed lemon, butter, and powdered sugar. Oh my goodness was it good! And to top it off he did all the dishes! He is a thoughtful and sweet husband. Thanks Honey!
After my Mother’s Day breakfast I transplanted all my little seedlings outside into the garden bed and into pots. They’ve been growing inside for about 6-8 weeks and they’re ready for a little more room and sunshine. It was nice to have my mom’s company while I worked. I hope they thrive. I love going outside and looking at all the little plants. It just brings me joy. I can’t wait to have before and after pictures of the progress of the plants. For now they are all very little. Growing from seeds sure takes a long time. A friend of mine started growing about when I did but she bought started plants. Her plants are all a few steps ahead of mine and it’s very helpful to get a look ahead. I’ve already learned a lot about what to do different next time.
We spent one Sunday exploring the Bower’s Museum in Historic Santa Ana. It offers one free Sunday a month that we took advantage of. We enjoyed its new exhibit "Secrets of the Silk Road: Mystery Mummies from China". This exhibit is touring outside Asia for the FIRST TIME! It was really interesting. Caleb got kind of scared of the mummies so he decided to sit that part out. They had an adult mummy and a recreation of the burial site. There was also a mummified baby on display. The baby really got to me. All in all, it was fascinating for Jon & I. The museum had lots of other exhibits that Caleb really enjoyed. There was a big one on Pacific Islander masks and a bunch of stuff from head hunter tribes. He drew pictures of his favorite exhibits. I like to see what he finds interesting. There was also a Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival going on in the courtyard of the museum. The kids saw some traditional Japanese dances and drumming, ate mochi-a favorite rice treat, and made special art projects. Then we walked down the street to the Bowers Kidseum and the kids got do hands on things that related to the exhibits they saw at the Bowers Museum. They tried on lots of masks and played different kinds of drums that represented cultures all over the world. I love when fun and learning blend so perfectly.
I started an exercise regime. My plan is to go for 6 months working out daily. I figure it will be easier for me mentally to make a daily habit than to shoot for a few times a week. So far it’s working pretty well. It takes me about 45 minutes each day. I’ve amended it already to taking Sundays off. I really need that day of rest. I’m still adjusting and just doing my best to do something active and healthy each day. A few people have noticed that I look a little thinner. Our friend Tracy has challenged Jon to a weight loss contest once she has her baby. Ha ha…I hope they actually do it.
Tracy’s sister and I threw Tracy a baby shower at my house. My patio was transformed. I always hate cleaning up from parties like this because it looks so pretty that I just want to leave it that way. We draped gauzy fabric over the patio lights in the backyard and set our tables with sterling silver tea sets and porcelain tea cups and saucers. It was really special to me because I got to use the sterling silver tea set that I inherited from my Grandma Carol for the first time. I love her so much and it reminded me of her for the whole day. Add a few fresh flowers from my garden and ta-da…a beautiful and breezy afternoon tea/70’s fondue party. As strange as that sounds, it turned out wonderful. I started with a ceasar pesto salad with homemade croutons. Then, I served a creamy havarti and racelette cheese fondue with various cubes of bread. The next course was marinated steak and chicken that the guests cooked themselves in a very hot wine broth fondue. In addition there were lots of yummy veggies and potatoes to cook in the wine broth fondue. Then they got to take the cooked meat and veggies and dip them in one of the yummy dips I made: garlic lemon dip, blueberry dip, green goddess dip (very herby), and peanut cilantro dip. To end up the meal we had a chocolate fountain and I made a peanut butter white chocolate dessert fondue. Oh my…food heaven. Gifts and games and friends and fun…we had a good time celebrating Tracy and the soon arriving baby boy Flores.
Random fact: We signed up for Netflix to save a few bucks on movie rentals. For only $8.99 we get to watch unlimited movies/television episodes through the Wii on the television. Netflix gave us a special streaming disk to put into the Wii that makes this possible. It is connected to the internet so we choose what we want to watch online and then it automatically goes to our Wii. It looks and sounds almost as good as a DVD. I like that they have a big list of VeggieTale movies for the kiddos, as well as lots of Saturday morning cartoons from my childhood that I get to introduce the kids to. Additionally, we get one DVD mailer at a time. I’m so glad not to have to deal with the late fees and whatnot that we were getting with Blockbuster’s new policies for in-store rentals.
Ben’s funny antic of the month: Ben was hugging Caleb to apologize for throwing hard toys at him. Then he started squeezing too hard and I asked why and he said to get juice from him.
Friday, April 30, 2010
April 2010
We've updated April. Enjoy!
We're good. God has continued to provide for us and we've been fed and rent has been covered in one way or another for 3 months. God is more than good.
He is an amazing magician. One day, earlier in the month, we got an anonymous envelope stuck onto our front door with money inside and this message written on the outside
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
And all these things shall be added to you. -Matthew 6:33
This verse has been rolling around in our brains since. God wants us to abide in Him and He will take care of us. “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:19.
This last Sunday at church, God told me to just “praise Him.” Sing praises, speak praises...as a family praise Him. So I have, and surprise-surprise, He is holding us up! He’s already done a couple sneaky things in the last couple days to show me how! Praise God!
The summer is starting to book up already with lots of visitors! I love it. Grandma Jean is coming for a couple weeks at the beginning of June. She’ll get to be here for Benjamin’s 4th birthday. WooHoo! Two of my closest friends are going to visit at the end of June. One was able to book a ticket already. I can’t wait for the next installment of “Girl’s Weekend Extravaganza!” I love that my dearest friends and I have managed to get together at least once a year since college, regardless of wherever we’ve ended up living. They are truly part of my family. Also, Jon’s cousin Anna just booked her tickets to visit us. She's coming out for all of July. I can’t wait! She is a remarkably precious person. I love her. Yay!
I got to see Gone With The Wind on the big screen with one of my girlfriends. I can't believe I hadn't seen it before. It was amazing and I'm so glad my first time seeing it was on the big screen. I love classic movie night at the movie theater! Now I want to read the sequel, Scarlett.
We got treated to a visit to the Discovery Science Museum for Bubblefest 2010. It’s nice to have a friend with a press pass. It gets us into some fun places for free. It was an unbelievable show. Bubbles and laser lights filled every square inch of the room and we were all laughing, grinning, and just having fun (not to mention choking on bubbles)! Too bad no pictures were allowed in the show. We had a great time enjoying the rest of the museum with our friends. It is a very hands-on place of learning for the kids. It’s nice when fun overlaps with learning. This totally counts for science. Homeschooling is so fun.
I spent the week of Spring Break catching up on bookkeeping. I even reclaimed all the boxes and laundry baskets that had been filled with papers, notes, and unopened mail! Everything now has a place and is organized, filed, and ready for me to start living in real time instead of constantly being in a “catch up” state. Just a little bit more work and I’ll be fully caught up. I’ve been buried for years and it feels like I can breathe again. It’s a nice feeling.
We tilled and prepped the garden bed outside and planted corn, jalapeños, squash, salad, oregano, basil, & cilantro directly into the garden. Still have a few more weeks to wait to transplant the other seeds we started indoors last month. Now we have to figure out how to kill all the rats that live in our bushes so they don't eat our plants. That’s a project for this coming weekend I suppose. I plan to use traps instead of poison. It just doesn’t seem like a good idea to use poison around kids, dogs, and growing vegetables. So far the corn, salad, basil, oregano, & 1 squash sprouted. It's so fun watching things grow, especially when it's a noticeable difference day by day. I really hope the jalapeños and cilantro decide to sprout. The ones I started indoors never did, so I was hoping that they might if I planted them directly outside. We'll see.
And to end with the funny quote of the month:
Ben asked "Caleb, do you think I'm pretty?"
Caleb replied "No, and you should be glad."
We're good. God has continued to provide for us and we've been fed and rent has been covered in one way or another for 3 months. God is more than good.
He is an amazing magician. One day, earlier in the month, we got an anonymous envelope stuck onto our front door with money inside and this message written on the outside
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
And all these things shall be added to you. -Matthew 6:33
This verse has been rolling around in our brains since. God wants us to abide in Him and He will take care of us. “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:19.
This last Sunday at church, God told me to just “praise Him.” Sing praises, speak praises...as a family praise Him. So I have, and surprise-surprise, He is holding us up! He’s already done a couple sneaky things in the last couple days to show me how! Praise God!
The summer is starting to book up already with lots of visitors! I love it. Grandma Jean is coming for a couple weeks at the beginning of June. She’ll get to be here for Benjamin’s 4th birthday. WooHoo! Two of my closest friends are going to visit at the end of June. One was able to book a ticket already. I can’t wait for the next installment of “Girl’s Weekend Extravaganza!” I love that my dearest friends and I have managed to get together at least once a year since college, regardless of wherever we’ve ended up living. They are truly part of my family. Also, Jon’s cousin Anna just booked her tickets to visit us. She's coming out for all of July. I can’t wait! She is a remarkably precious person. I love her. Yay!
I got to see Gone With The Wind on the big screen with one of my girlfriends. I can't believe I hadn't seen it before. It was amazing and I'm so glad my first time seeing it was on the big screen. I love classic movie night at the movie theater! Now I want to read the sequel, Scarlett.
We got treated to a visit to the Discovery Science Museum for Bubblefest 2010. It’s nice to have a friend with a press pass. It gets us into some fun places for free. It was an unbelievable show. Bubbles and laser lights filled every square inch of the room and we were all laughing, grinning, and just having fun (not to mention choking on bubbles)! Too bad no pictures were allowed in the show. We had a great time enjoying the rest of the museum with our friends. It is a very hands-on place of learning for the kids. It’s nice when fun overlaps with learning. This totally counts for science. Homeschooling is so fun.
I spent the week of Spring Break catching up on bookkeeping. I even reclaimed all the boxes and laundry baskets that had been filled with papers, notes, and unopened mail! Everything now has a place and is organized, filed, and ready for me to start living in real time instead of constantly being in a “catch up” state. Just a little bit more work and I’ll be fully caught up. I’ve been buried for years and it feels like I can breathe again. It’s a nice feeling.
We tilled and prepped the garden bed outside and planted corn, jalapeños, squash, salad, oregano, basil, & cilantro directly into the garden. Still have a few more weeks to wait to transplant the other seeds we started indoors last month. Now we have to figure out how to kill all the rats that live in our bushes so they don't eat our plants. That’s a project for this coming weekend I suppose. I plan to use traps instead of poison. It just doesn’t seem like a good idea to use poison around kids, dogs, and growing vegetables. So far the corn, salad, basil, oregano, & 1 squash sprouted. It's so fun watching things grow, especially when it's a noticeable difference day by day. I really hope the jalapeños and cilantro decide to sprout. The ones I started indoors never did, so I was hoping that they might if I planted them directly outside. We'll see.
And to end with the funny quote of the month:
Ben asked "Caleb, do you think I'm pretty?"
Caleb replied "No, and you should be glad."
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
March 2010
March has been a month of God reminding us that He is our provider. He is faithful and true! I write this message as a praise and testimony to the Lord! We have not been paid since about mid-late February. As I write this, we still have yet to receive a paycheck and it is the end of March. Yet the Lord miraculously has provided us with March’s rent! Thank you Lord! The sweet Lord has also been steadily trickling blessings down onto us over the last month and a half, just when we need it; a few bucks found buried in a pile of paperwork, a bit found in my dresser drawer, money from an old debt owed to us, money from returning an unwanted product, groceries bought by my parents, birthday money in the mail, and monetary gifts from Jon’s mom and church. I can’t stress enough how unexpected and in perfect timing all this money is! It is there just as soon as we are down to our last groceries, again and again. I could never have predicted the Lord would work it out like He has. To top it all off, the Lord went beyond necessity and included blessing us with fun! We were treated to Disneyland to celebrate Jon’s birthday, to dinner for our 9th anniversary, and to Jon’s favorite restaurant for his birthday. Thank the Lord and thank all the wonderful people He used to bless us!!!
The kids and I planted a vegetable/herb garden. Dirt, sun, and air are free. Seeds and water are cheap. So far we have planted our first batch of seeds indoors. We can’t wait until they are big enough to transplant outdoors. I hope this plan works and we end up with yummy, home grown veggies and herbs. I don’t have a very good track record with indoor plants. The ones that have survived me are Very (with a capital V) hardy.
Benjamin has been really into dressing up lately. He especially loves the super hero capes Aunt Laura made for Caleb when Caleb was little. Ben has a hard time staying in any costume for more than 2 seconds though. He is constantly taking different costumes on and off and on again, at least until he gets the perfect setup. Then he doesn’t want to take it off for a long, long time.
We have pictures from a field trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. We had a great afternoon. We learned that the fossils found in the tar pits date back to the Ice Age and not to the time of the dinosaurs. We even got to see some archeologists actively excavating. They still have some active sites. A few places on the property have tar leaking up through the ground. Of course the boys loved poking at the tar with sticks.
Caleb did a biography presentation on Buzz Aldrin at his school. The assignment included dressing up and giving the presentation as if he were Buzz Aldrin. It was adorable seeing all the kids in their costumes. We recorded it, but missed the beginning with the video camera. It goes “Hello, my name is Caleb Hartshorn, but today I am Buzz Aldrin...”
I am still waiting on the KOCE website to upload the television program that Caleb and his friend Sam got to be on. It should be soon. I’ll post the clip of them as soon as it is available. More information about their 15 seconds of fame is under our “Older Posts” category in February’s news.
The kids and I planted a vegetable/herb garden. Dirt, sun, and air are free. Seeds and water are cheap. So far we have planted our first batch of seeds indoors. We can’t wait until they are big enough to transplant outdoors. I hope this plan works and we end up with yummy, home grown veggies and herbs. I don’t have a very good track record with indoor plants. The ones that have survived me are Very (with a capital V) hardy.
Benjamin has been really into dressing up lately. He especially loves the super hero capes Aunt Laura made for Caleb when Caleb was little. Ben has a hard time staying in any costume for more than 2 seconds though. He is constantly taking different costumes on and off and on again, at least until he gets the perfect setup. Then he doesn’t want to take it off for a long, long time.
We have pictures from a field trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. We had a great afternoon. We learned that the fossils found in the tar pits date back to the Ice Age and not to the time of the dinosaurs. We even got to see some archeologists actively excavating. They still have some active sites. A few places on the property have tar leaking up through the ground. Of course the boys loved poking at the tar with sticks.
Caleb did a biography presentation on Buzz Aldrin at his school. The assignment included dressing up and giving the presentation as if he were Buzz Aldrin. It was adorable seeing all the kids in their costumes. We recorded it, but missed the beginning with the video camera. It goes “Hello, my name is Caleb Hartshorn, but today I am Buzz Aldrin...”
I am still waiting on the KOCE website to upload the television program that Caleb and his friend Sam got to be on. It should be soon. I’ll post the clip of them as soon as it is available. More information about their 15 seconds of fame is under our “Older Posts” category in February’s news.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
February 2010
We had a great snow day with the Flores family. It was a fantastic sunny day in the mountains, but there was tons of snow thanks to the all the extra rain we got this year. Benjamin enjoyed sledding this year. Finally! Everyone was beaming with smiles all day.
Juan took Caleb & Sam with him for a press outing on the R/V Sea Explorer with the Ocean Institute in Dana Point. Thanks for taking the boys Juan! They spotted a fin whale. It is the second largest whale. The Ocean Institute took a sample of the sea floor and needed two cute small volunteers. Our boys fit the bill and got to dig in to examine the sludgy sea floor sediment and the animals that live there. They also got to watch a plankton dredge. Then the researcher used a microscope to examine the water sample and showed what they could see under the microscope on a larger viewing screen. The boys got to try to identify types of plankton they could see from the water sample. Caleb and Sam even got interviewed by KOCE. It was aired on television on February 24th on "Real Orange," a KOCE program. It was a very short segment and they didn’t use much of the footage they took, but their 15 seconds of fame was adorable. It is not available online yet, but I’ve been assured it will be soon. Once it is available, I plan to post the clip so you don’t have to watch the whole program. If you prefer, you can check it out at http://video.koce.org/program/1310579128 once it is available. While the boys were busy with all that, Tracy and I took the little ones to the Santa Ana Zoo. It is a very small zoo, but it is just right for a 2 and a 3 year old. Ben was anxious to find all the birds, which really surprised me. I thought he would like all the little busy monkeys that the zoo is known for. He was finally satisfied when we found the bald eagle. It had been injured and rescued. Ben was captivated and didn’t want to move on to the next animal. He also enjoyed the birds hanging out at the pond in the aviary.
Juan took Caleb & Sam with him for a press outing on the R/V Sea Explorer with the Ocean Institute in Dana Point. Thanks for taking the boys Juan! They spotted a fin whale. It is the second largest whale. The Ocean Institute took a sample of the sea floor and needed two cute small volunteers. Our boys fit the bill and got to dig in to examine the sludgy sea floor sediment and the animals that live there. They also got to watch a plankton dredge. Then the researcher used a microscope to examine the water sample and showed what they could see under the microscope on a larger viewing screen. The boys got to try to identify types of plankton they could see from the water sample. Caleb and Sam even got interviewed by KOCE. It was aired on television on February 24th on "Real Orange," a KOCE program. It was a very short segment and they didn’t use much of the footage they took, but their 15 seconds of fame was adorable. It is not available online yet, but I’ve been assured it will be soon. Once it is available, I plan to post the clip so you don’t have to watch the whole program. If you prefer, you can check it out at http://video.koce.org/program/1310579128 once it is available. While the boys were busy with all that, Tracy and I took the little ones to the Santa Ana Zoo. It is a very small zoo, but it is just right for a 2 and a 3 year old. Ben was anxious to find all the birds, which really surprised me. I thought he would like all the little busy monkeys that the zoo is known for. He was finally satisfied when we found the bald eagle. It had been injured and rescued. Ben was captivated and didn’t want to move on to the next animal. He also enjoyed the birds hanging out at the pond in the aviary.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
January 2010
This month the boys went on a field trip to the Anaheim Fire Station. It was a good time and they both got to climb through the fire engine. We also learned the difference between a fire truck and a fire engine...a fire truck has ladders on top and fire engines do not. Who knew?
Ben and Xena finally got much needed haircuts. Since I'm the one that does the hair cutting, I tend to go too long in between. Oh well. That's the busy life of a home schooling mom. So many things to do and only so much time & energy.
I finally decided to make some sewing goodies to sell. I took a poll from my friends to see what they thought might sell and the verdict is coffee cozies. In the next couple weeks I plan to whip some up and try to sell them online. We'll see how that goes.
Ben and Xena finally got much needed haircuts. Since I'm the one that does the hair cutting, I tend to go too long in between. Oh well. That's the busy life of a home schooling mom. So many things to do and only so much time & energy.
I finally decided to make some sewing goodies to sell. I took a poll from my friends to see what they thought might sell and the verdict is coffee cozies. In the next couple weeks I plan to whip some up and try to sell them online. We'll see how that goes.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
December 2009
We had a BIG December. Jon’s brother and his family came for a visit, Jeremy & Julie. They have a 4 year old daughter, Emily, and twin baby boys, Ethan & Shepard, who we finally got to meet!!! We had a very Merry “early” Christmas with them and Granny. We spent a lot of really wonderful time together, including a trip to the zoo and to the snow. It was Emily's first time with snow and she loved it. Ben loved the snow too, but he did not love sledding. Caleb and I used up the little bit of sunlight we had flying and screaming down the hill on our two-person sled over and over. The best part of the day at the zoo was watching the kids run back and forth at the hippo tank being chased by the hippos! We were so glad that our family was in town to see Caleb’s school play. He was the narrator and he and his friends had a great time. After our guests moved on to Northern California to see Julie’s family, we loaded up in Granny’s car and drove straight through to Texas. Our Hawaiian family, Uncle Pete, Tia Val, Anna & Andrew, were out there visiting on their Christmas break. We surprised everyone out there, except Grandma Jean, our co-conspirator. We got to stay in a little trailer that is next to Grandma Jean's house. The tenant was house sitting elsewhere, and was just fine with us staying there. I had a great time with all our family, but I have a special place in my heart for Anna. It was really nice to spend time with her. Caleb couldn’t get enough of Andrew. He just really looks up to Andrew. I am so thankful for that relationship. We all just love Aaron. I really appreciate that guy whenever I’m around him, not to mention all the hilarity that ensues. Xena adjusted very quickly to being a free roaming dog in a forest. Caleb received his first pocket knife and learned how to whittle, shot his first gun, and lit his first match to help the men disintegrate the burn pile that had gotten very large. I am very proud of Caleb and am glad to see him enjoying his boyhood. Anna, myself, and Ben also all got to shoot a hand gun for the first time. Jon found his childhood weapons collection stored in a shed on the land. He left them lying around for Caleb to find and when Caleb did, he asked Jon if those were Raphael’s weapons (the ninja turtle). Jon showed off his skills with the nunchucks and sais for Caleb. Impressed is putting it mildly…Caleb was filled with awe and wonderment with his Dad’s super cool skills. I just laughed.
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