the little things

My "Slice of Pi" Quilt

2012-02-15T09:36:00.000-08:00

I've discovered more time. Did I tell you that? Well, maybe that's not entirely true, but I've found a fabulous way to multi-task, which is almost as good. I've always said that I don't have time to listen to audio books, since I'm never alone--no commute, no quiet time--but I'm discovering that's not completely accurate. A few days to myself at the beginning of the year spurred me to try Audible.com, and since then I've found that I actually have more time than I thought.

One of the things I love (apart from reading) is quilting. I love the feel of the fabric, the creativity in the design, and the colors (oh how I love colors).

When my kiddos were little toddlettes, I quilted much more than I read. It was easy enough to sew & watch kids play, not so easy for me to read and watch kids play. I taught myself to quilt (& ended up with some bragging rights even--what a shock!) but as my kiddos grew up a bit and I started home-schooling, I began to do much more reading and much less quilting. Life is like that.

I'm doing less schooling at home now. My 7 year-old is at home with me, but she loves having her creative time just as much as I do. Thus I find myself with bits of time to start using those fabrics and finishing up those projects and not feel guilty because I'm MULTI-TASKING (said in a big, booming "God" voice of course--it's that huge) by listening to a book while I sew. Why didn't I think of that before? Brilliant!

My latest project is what I'm calling my Slice of Pi quilt. I had a lovely stack of gorgeous modern-ish fabrics that I was dying to use but dreading cutting apart. I wanted to come up with a quilt design that showcased and complemented the fabrics, but nothing seemed good enough. Finally I decided that 2" strips would still show off the fabrics enough, and I went about drafting a pattern on graph paper (love graph paper.)

My original design (below) was a random placement of strips that would run horizontally, creating a column down the center of the bed. But then my husband (the math/science brain) asked if the placement was based on any sort of mathematical algorithm (um, no) like Pi (hm, good idea). I'm impressionable, and so decided to see what it would look like (see photo above). I ended up finding the first 50 digits of pi quite interesting. (I'm also somewhat of a people-pleaser, so orientation of the strips changed so that it would make more sense to Chris.)

I decided on a base line, and used 2" intervals to determine placement. Therefore, the first strip is 6" above the base line, the second is 2", the third is 8" and so on. Each strip is 40" long. The fabrics are arranged in a nicely organized, pretend-random manner.

Sewing the binding...kitties and quilts go together well.

Overall, I'm quite happy with how it turned out. Quilt design can do a number on my creative senses--I want it to be perfect, but because quilt construction is a pretty long process, (with no easy way to change your mind midway,) I go through waves of alternating excitement and fear about how it will end up. Will it be wonderful? Horrible? Listening to a book while quilting, I've found, does help even out some of these emotions (wonder of wonders!) I'm still debating about the pillows, but meanwhile my husband is sure that he's going to get smarter by osmosis each night that he sleeps under it, and I'm thrilled to have found a way to combine two of my hobbies.

(this post was also posted on my book blog)

A Quick Trip Up the Coast

2012-02-06T13:54:00.000-08:00

I love that my kiddos are finally getting to ages that don't require constant supervision. I didn't think they'd ever get to the point where they could stay home alone for a few hours. I really, truly didn't. But hey, it happened (thank the good Lord!) and that means that I can be a person again (occasionally) instead of only always being mom. I like being mom. But sometimes it's nice to just be Melody.

This came in handy recently, when we were able to go on a brief outing up the coast without forcing everyone to come along with us. You wouldn't think that you'd have to force kids to go on a plane ride, but there it is. They don't like french fries either, for whatever that's worth.

We flew from Long Beach to Santa Barbara, had brunch, and flew back. That's it, basically. But it was so much fun. I love seeing everything from the height of a small plane, and Chris is such a good pilot. The weather was perfect, the company was perfect, the food was perfect. Happy sigh.

Chris (pilot) and Mr. Cessna

Lovely friend Andrea and lovely daughter Audrey (co-passengers)

Is it just me, or does Los Angeles not look so intimidating from the
air? A miniature Lego village only a hop away from Long Beach...

Santa Barbara. Even from the air it's prettier than L.A. Oh well, I
don't think L.A. ever tried to claim "Prettiest City" anyhow.

Peaceful. Happy. Pretty.

Ready for some good eats!

The food didn't disappoint--was incredible actually--but
Audrey couldn't bring herself to enjoy it. She had a
sleepy-head-ache. :(

Mustache. Tee-hee. (snort) (melody--->easily entertained)

AND...that's me looking all official and plane-y. Andrea and Audrey chilling
on the flight back.

My Home Acquires an Adjective

2012-01-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

You know how it is when you sell a house? All those things you've been meaning to do for years are completed in the blink of an eye, (comparatively,) and you wake up one morning and see the house that you wish you'd lived in all those years. You chide yourself for not doing all those things earlier so that you could enjoy them; you vow that next time it will be different.

In a way, that's what this week has been like for me. Now, I'm not selling a house...I'm extremely grateful that I'll get to enjoy the fruit of my efforts actually...but even so, my home (in Tahoe [as opposed to my house (in Long Beach) which I still really like but it isn't quite as homey]) has gone through some great changes in the last month and it feels so nice. (Actually, it feels Nice --with a capital N-- iykwim*)

The whole thing began when I was lucky enough to get a new bed & mattress for my bedroom in Long Beach. That huge treat resulted in transporting the old bedroom set back up to Tahoe where it is SO much more comfortable living life as a Guest Room**. Here's proof: (isn't it lovely?)

For a variety of reasons, when we came up to Tahoe for Thanksgiving week, it really struck me that I no longer live at home. I haven't for 3 years, actually, but it turns out that denial is a tricky, sneaky friend who'll weigh you down without you even realizing it.

My home is no longer simply my home, it is my Vacation Home. Now, I'm sure that sounds all glamorous and omigoodness-I-Want-A-Vacation-Home-TOO! ...and a good 10 years ago that's about exactly how I felt. But now? Now, "Vacation Home" has a different connotation. Where it used to mean 'a lovely spot in the mountains where I can unwind and appreciate nature' now it means 'my home that I only get to live on when I'm on vacation'. It's different.

Regardless of the nit-picky particulars, a Vacation Home needs to function differently than the place you live all the time. Namely, it can't be cluttered with STUFF because that Certainly Isn't Relaxing. So Christmas break (a.k.a "Vacation") saw us back in Tahoe, with a bit of time to get things in order. I've been blissfully enjoying a few days here myself whilst my valiant husband attempts to be mom AND dad in Long Beach for a week (mostly--our littlest (Audrey) is spending the week with my parents) God bless his generous soul. I wish I could say that the bliss is due to an inordinate amount of reading and quilting and watching chick flicks, but it is actually due to all the stuff I'm getting done.

That makes me sound old. Oh well. Carrying on...

We've replaced carpeting and a microwave, we've pulled out a ridiculous amount of junk to donate to the yearly yard-sale fundraiser for Spread the Light Puppet Ministry (hi mom and dad!). I've cleaned and cleared and now I'm finally on the brink of having a proper, well-appointed Vacation Home. It's still home, but all those things that fell by the wayside before it acquired its adjective are being completed--how fabulous is that?

It's actually a bigger deal for me than it might seem. For the first time in the last three years I'm able to fully enjoy my time at home, and more importantly I'm able to think about it with an overwhelming sense of thankfulness for such a blessing rather than only feeling sorry for myself that I can't be here more often. You see, I wanted my kiddos to grow up with an appreciation for the mountains and God's creation, and in my mind that meant having them spend their childhood in Tahoe....not living here for a few years and then growing up in the city. I'm coming to see, however, that perhaps my concept of perfection isn't as perfect and fully-rounded as God's (shocker, huh?). We were able to live here full-time for 6 years, and by moving back to Long Beach, I think that my children have been able to grow an appreciation that they may not have been able to otherwise.

In the end, I suppose I mustn't be bitter towards a simple little adjective. That just sounds silly. Besides, it's much happier to be happy.

*iykwim = if you know what I mean
** Guest Room = a.k.a. Timothy's room that he never sleeps in because he's a nomad at heart and much prefers a couch. Seriously. I finally caved and accepted the fact.

A Caribbean Family Vacation

2011-12-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of November we took the kiddos to the Caribbean to celebrate Chris's brother's wedding. Heat and bugs aside, it was a beautiful trip. I don't have much to say, because it's been over a month and I'm deep in the middle of lists (gift-buying, party-preparing, trip-packing etc etc) but I thought (especially as today is a lovely rainy day) that a photo tour of our time at St. John would be just the ticket. Enjoy!

We flew into St. Thomas, and then Jon picked us up and we boated to St. John

Andrew in the water before the wedding.

Chris transported everyone from the villa to the boat to the beach (and back)
for the wedding.

Michelle's mom, Pam, became one of Audrey's new favorite people.

Secluded beach wedding @ 11:11am on 11/11/11

Jon and Michelle, with his boat, Alcyone, in the background.

Andrew and Audrey were straight off-with-their-clothes-and-into-the-water
as soon as the ceremony was done.

Picture perfect couple--and a new sister-in-law! Yay!

The view from our villa--so lush! It gets unbelievably loud at night, the
animals in the jungle are quite amazing.

Iguana in the tree top.

Quotables

2011-11-16T09:01:00.001-08:00

I find such joy in discovering how other minds work, (well, usually...reading Lolita introduced me to a mind I could have done without knowing,) and every once in a while someone says something succinct that makes me pause.

Chris is usually pretty level-headed, rational, etc. but every once in a while he'll come out with a bizarre thought (like space elevators...which turns out to be more scientific than bizarre in some circles,) that leaves me giggling. Recently, Chris expressed frustration at how much time he wastes in tying his shoes every morning...and how much cumulative time is wasted by everyone that has to tie shoes each morning. He is absolutely certain that the world would be much more advanced if it weren't for being hindered by shoelaces. We could be living in space right now if it weren't for shoelaces.

Someone who is always good to quote is Andrew. Andrew always comes up with insightful observations. Ever since he was a toddling 2 year old (or somewhere thereabouts) wondering about what was inside of blue (!!!), up until yesterday afternoon (a good decade later,) he's always impressed and entertained me with the way he looks at the world. So we were sitting in our living room, filling boxes for Operation Christmas Child, when he said this: "War is such a small, simple word for something that is neither small nor simple. It deserves at least a four-letter word."

Think about that for a while. Very true, isn't it?

There's Always More to be Thankful For

2011-11-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

because really, it's all a matter of perspective. For every thing there is to be frustrated with or discouraged by, there is at least one way of seeing the opposite.

#1-26
#26-50
51. That there IS a bright side.
52. That there is rain to be distracted by...even though vehicular accidents are a common result.
53. Pumpkin Spice ANYTHING
54. Mexican food (have I listed that one already?)
55. Sebastian Barry
56. Willa Cather
57. teenagers (really. mine caught a mouse in my house. with tongs!)
58. giggling girls (especially Melindas and Audreys)
59. meow-meows
60. apple blossoms
61. not feeling guilty about not answering the telephone
62. sewing machines
63. quiet
64. cursive handwriting
65. clean water
66. that it is snowing somewhere, even if I'm not there
67. it is still possible to snail-mail a letter
68. sleep
69. waking up without an alarm clock
70. bulbs peeping out of the earth
71. flowers that you can eat (like artichokes--amazing flowers!)
72. people in my life that understand me (like Andrew!)
73. veterans
74. the faithfulness of God
75. scarves

In Which Hamsters Run Amok*

2011-10-07T15:58:00.000-07:00

One uneventful day, Audrey and I walked into Centinella Pet Supplies to buy some hamster food.

No, let me back up.

When Melinda was 9 1/2, we--by which I mean I--bought her a hamster. A small furry little Roborovski Hamster who was subsequently named Candy.

Candy lived a happy little life, for what hamster lucky enough to be owned by an adoring child would not live in bliss? At a ripe old age of almost 2, she keeled over and breathed her last. It was a difficult time for Melinda, but was helped when we brought home a new pet a few days later. This time, we (ahem, I) with amazing argument-avoidance-foresight, bought two hamsters: one for Melinda and one for Audrey. Two little female Robo hamsters that were used to each other, and no risk of being suckered into buying a different pet later on that required more cages and different supplies--perfect!

Contrary to what you may think, this is not a photo of a
dead hamster. One of them simply enjoys
looking dead whilst sleeping.

Thus Rosy and Snoozy joined our household. They got on so well, and were such adorable things to watch. For about a month or so. At which point they started "fighting" (quotes necessary as you soon shall see--or may have already guessed.) Fighting hamsters plus out of town trip equals very worried girls, and therefore more cages and different supplies. Sigh. Foresight not so foresightful after all, perhaps.

Everything seemed to be moving along quite nicely, and we went on our second out of town trip, leaving Chris and Timothy to take care of the house and all it holds. One morning I awoke to a text:

*slaps forehead*

Quick research told me that Robo Hamsters usually have 4-6 babies. We were blessed with 7, and Rosy was soon re-dubbed Peter. We found a website that gave us the necessary information to become quasi-experts in rodent rearing. A good friend took one of the babies, a teacher took another two, and now we have 6 hamsters total: 3 boys and 3 girls. In our early baby-raising-phase we happened across an interesting scientific phenomena: how is that a small creature who can barely walk and whose eyes aren't even all the way open can somehow find a wheel and know that it would be a good thing to run on? It is all very perplexing. What did hamsters do before wheels??

Which brings us to the beginning of the story: One uneventful day, Audrey and I walked into Centinella Pet Supplies to buy some hamster food. To Audrey's delight, we discovered that the store would soon be hosting Hamster Races! We could enter as many hamsters as we wanted (for free!) and each would receive a free ball to race in. Oh the anticipation!

It was quite a bit of fun to watch, actually. Some hamsters just wouldn't move. Some hamsters were about 800times as big as ours combined. We ended up entering the boys: Peter, Cotton, and Fang.

A brag on my Linnie: While we were there, Melinda noticed a boy and his dad next to us who were enjoying the races. Something they said led her to inquire, "Are you just spectating?" The dad looked at her for a few seconds and then said, "What?" Melinda rephrased, "Are you just here to watch?" Recognition dawned and the man nodded, answering, "Yes," with a smile. (Aren't vocabulary/smarty stories the best? Who said eavesdropping is bad? Eavesdropping on that conversation was delightful.)

Anyhow, Fang won 2nd place and brought home a fancy princess carriage for his sisters and momma to run in. They've enjoyed learning how to run in their big huge orbs--something Shasta (Ana & Jack's dog) has greatly enjoyed as well.

But the story doesn't end there. With all the excitement, the cages must have gotten bumped around because the next morning as Ana was leaving the house, she saw a hamster dart across the entryway floor. Forget trying to catch it, those things scamper like nobody's business. Sure enough, the girl's cage (which, by coincidence, is not the pink one--the boys get that pleasure) was housing only two furballs. We figured she was gone for good, because the part of the house she was seen in the lowest portion, with insurmountable stairs.

There is, however, one section of the baseboards that had a moderately-sized hole drilled in it. I had assumed that the hole dropped directly underneath the house, but started to get skeptical when two days later I saw a shredded Nerf dart in the adjoining room. Sure enough, the next morning as I was stumbling back from my alarm clock duties, I saw a little hamster sitting outside the two hamster cages. Hungry, I assume, the little one was caught without too much fuss and now we are back at full hamster capacity.

Anyone up for a little furry pet?

* (As an aside, the title of my post alerted me to the fact that amok is yet another English word in which one is allowed to choose whether to spell it amok or amuck. Ah, the freedom of spelling choice--what fun! Both variants derive from the Malay work amoq: "a psychic disturbance characterized by depression followed by a manic urge to murder". Thank you dictionary.com, that was fun!)

Back to School

2011-09-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

This year is the first time Andrew (12) and Melinda (10) have been in a classroom with over 10 students or a school with over 30 students. This is the first year they have schooled outside our home in the big, sprawling city. Little by little it is getting easier for me to drop them off and drive away, but I do miss them. On the flip side, Audrey and I are enjoying our days together very much.

Timothy was a bit blindsided by the amount of homework he had in his first week of 10th grade, but seems to be getting caught up as his classes even out and get into rhythm. He is regretting not having much time to work at Traffic Management, but did manage to go in all day Saturday, and put in a few hours after school on Wednesday. He's done a fabulous job this summer with work and responsibility. Chris was very happy to have him as an employee, if only temporarily. Tim saved up enough to pay off a debt he acquired due to a stolen bicycle, and went on to buy himself 2 surfboards (!!) and an iphone (with money leftover to pay for those monthly bills). He impressed me by being bold enough to figure out the city's bus system (motivated by a desire to get to the beach and surf) and now isn't intimidated by it at all. He walks about a mile from our house to catch the bus to Bolsa Chica, and even manages to catch a bus back. I guess he's really growing up.

The most difficult part of adapting to school for Andrew is waking up in the mornings. Now he understands TGIF and the loveliness of weekends. He has made friends (is going to a birthday party this weekend in fact) and enjoys his classes. He's in 7th grade now, and the middle school he attends has only 7th and 8th grade (love that!). One of his favorite classes is Novels...an elective for people who just love to read. He says that the environment in that class is the best, since it is filled with people that are there because they want to be there.

Andrew hasn't had any problem in organization, and does an excellent job at getting his homework done without being asked. He says that one reason he likes going to school is that it takes up part of his day. His least favorite part of school is his math homework. Not the class or the difficulty, but just how long it takes to show your work and do everything thoroughly. The hardest part socially has been the direct exposure to people who are unkind or unjust to others. Already Andrew has confronted 8th graders for teasing a boy for his looks. I love that he isn't intimidated and is willing to stand up for others and what's right. He amazes me, this one. Brings tears to my eyes actually. What a guy.

Poor Melinda was out of school for most of her second week of 6th grade with an icky Back-to-School virus...so far nobody else is showing symptoms. She's back today, but a little stressed at the thought of trying to catch up (in fact she actually wondered aloud why she ever wanted to go to Valley in the first place--that's how you know she's stressed!). She has some friends (mostly due to a summer craft day-camp she went to at the school) but is still working on finding her place. The elementary school operates so differently from the middle school or high school that it has taken me some getting used to. Melinda hasn't been very impressed with the hot lunch system, so we are going to have to do some shopping to aid our daily lunch-making process.

Melinda has decided to be in band this year, and is very excited to learn to play flute. When I was growing up I felt like the only girl who didn't play flute or clarinet (always had a thing for the piano) so it's fun for me to have a flute in the house. Math is going to be a struggle for Melinda the next couple of months as she tries to get used to a new curriculum (Everyday Mathematics, yikes) and new ways of thinking. She's always been great at understanding the concepts, but some of her math facts still elude her. She is growing into such a beautiful young lady, and is doing a wonderful job at handling the surges of conflicting emotions. She loves people and loves to serve. Wonderful things are in store for this darling.

Audrey couldn't wait to start school, and has really loved getting to spend the entire day with me. It took her a little while to "get her math brain on" (as she says) but as soon as I told her that I'd scheduled extra math because she had liked it so much, and offered to decrease the amount, she perked up and plowed through. She said, "Nope, that's okay. I can do it." And she has. I'm using Math Mammoth 2 and Jump Math 3 for her this year, and she's doing great. We used Math Mammoth 1 last year, and she had no problem making it through all the work (the program seems more advanced to me than others I've tried.) She discovered regrouping in double-digit addition on her own...when I told her she wasn't supposed to know how to do that yet, she glowed.

Other things we are using and enjoying include Moving Beyond the Page (which I find to be too Social Studies focused rather than History/Geography focused...yes, there is a difference...but Audrey is enjoying it, and it is on track with what Valley is doing, in case she wants to give it shot at some point in the future.) The photo above shows a 3D map that we made when we were talking about Communities. We are also using Queen's Language Lessons for the first time, and I'm enjoying it so far. I started her at a lower level in order to build confidence, which seems to be working. We're doing 4 lessons/day right now! At this rate we should be moving onto the next level before Thanksgiving. I adjust the pace of her work as we go, speeding up or slowing down each subject to make it fit her just right.

That's about it! The last two weeks have been craziness, but I'm sure everyone can relate. We'll get settled in before long.

More Things to be Thankful For

2011-09-12T11:25:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping I'll get around to posting more family happenings this week, but in the meantime I wanted to add another installment of things I'm thankful for. It really has been a good exercise in changing my thinking around...there are so many little things to be thankful for.

26. thunder storms
27. snow
28. mexican food yummm
29. textiles
30. bird nests
31. dew
32. vacuum cleaners
33. brownies
34. choice in how I spell GREY
35. finished projects
36. organized garages
37. thimbles
38. artistic friends
39. lotion
40. elastic
41. pianos
42. trees
43. ponytail holders
44. the self-healing power of our bodies
45. comfortable couches
46. thermometers
47. water
48. fever reducing medication
49. band-aids
50. aloe

A Crazy Little Thing Called Camping

2011-08-11T16:05:00.000-07:00

I always expect summer to be a time of slow days, relaxation, and a chance to get caught up on all those things that the school year doesn't allow. In some ways summer is like that, but I've come to the conclusion that the warm months will likely never pass as slowly as they did back when I was nine. The very fact that there is so much that I want to do is guarantee enough that time will pass all too quickly.

We did manage to go camping with my parents this summer, and it was a fabulous trip (apart from the stomach bug I had and the head wound Chris had). We all relaxed, enjoyed nature and each other, cooked food over a campfire, etc. Here are some highlights:

Hey Tim, Hug-a-Tree!

A duck's head? crocodile? very strange knot in a fallen tree?

Giants in the midst

Papa and Andrew walking into a Giant Sequoia.

We made it to the top of Moro Rock! Piece of cake.

Mmm...campfire food...

Summer is already coming to a close, I suppose, and our family may not get another chance to enjoy nature and each other for a few months, but these few days were great. The kiddos seem to have been growing by leaps and bounds the last couple of years; sometimes it is these times out of the fury of life that we are able to make memories and connections that last.

A Matter of Perspective

2011-07-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

This may look like any other tree...until you see
Audrey at the bottom. Puts it in perspective!

Isn't it amazing how a story changes depending on who is telling it? Not only do we all process and interpret things differently from each other, but something as simple as the passing of time can make our own viewpoints change drastically.

The last couple of years have come with extra challenges for many of us, and throughout that time I've found that I tend to default into cataloging the negatives instead of the positives. I have found myself subconsciously listing the imperfections of these years, as if focusing on those will make future years seem brighter in comparison.

But I don't think that's how it really works. I think what happens is that a habit of looking for the bad points forms, and the all of the positives flit by without much notice. I've realized that not only do I have a choice as to how I look at things, but my change of focus will affect how those around me view life as well.

I can't help but feel that this should be elementary. I should have this down by now, you know? But I don't. So in hopes of training myself to refocus, I'm starting a thankfulness project. There really is so much to be thankful for--big and small--and they deserve a larger place in my life and mind than the pitiful things I've found myself dwelling on in the past. Here are 25 things I found joy in this weekend:

fresh air
hot showers
strong coffee
overcast mornings
silence
books (duh)
rustling leaves
my husband & kiddos
sense of humor
bunny rabbits
imaginations
extended family (be they related or not!)
dishwashers
English
ice
internet
purple
tulips
creativity
refrigeration
men who cook
curry
cool night air
stars
sleep

I plan on building this list to an unwieldy size...until it topples over and I'm buried in thankfulness. Sounds like a happy problem to have, don't you think?

Another School Year is Over

2011-07-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

Completing a school year is no small feat, whether student or parent, so I thought it would be good to take some time to reflect on it. Maybe that will help prepare me for the next round which is quickly approaching! The next school year is bringing big changes for our family, as Andrew and Melinda venture into the world of schooling in a classroom with more than 4 students (technically they've experienced that at Tahoe Montessori, so perhaps I should have said that this will be their first time in a daily classroom with more than 10 students.) They are both positive about going, and Melinda (in true Melinda fashion) is thrilled. I am alternately relieved (preteen is not my favorite age, as it turns out) and depressed (I'm going to miss them!). Audrey is pretty excited that she gets me all to herself next year, although I find myself wondering how long it will be before she wants to be at Valley Christian too.

Audrey was in 1st grade this year. Structurally, this was the year that Audrey became accustomed to doing school every day, even when she didn't feel like it or didn't enjoy the material. She [mostly] completed her Headsprout Phonics program and is doing a good job reading, but where she really shines is math. She worked through Math Mammoth 1 this year, and just loves being able to figure out her own math tricks. We used Sonlight for history (cultures) and science, and both of these she finished early. She also listened in on history for the older kids, as well as most of the other books I read to them, so she got in more school than she realized. Next year we're going to use Moving Beyond the Page to keep us on track with Valley Christian's topics.

Timothy completed 9th grade this year, and officially passed his dad up in the height department. 9th grade was much easier for him than 8th in some regards...especially in the time and attitude management department. This isn't to say that this year was easy, but that somewhere in the 3rd quarter he seemed to come to terms with the fact that school is not fair, easy, or fun. He will be continuing on at Valley Christian for his Sophmore year, which we are all hoping goes more smoothly still. He is glad that next year will not include band or Spanish, bummed that it will include English. You can't win them all.

For Andrew, this was the year of blissful sleep--one of the things he most loves about home schooling (another thing being his delight at being able to finish all of his school work in a fraction of the time a normal school day consumes.) He made huge progress in his writing skills, and is no longer afraid of a 5 paragraph essay. He's looking forward to making friends and taking electives in 7th grade at the middle school next year, even at the cost of early mornings. It's going to be hard on him, but hopefully the benefits will outweigh the frustrations. Personally, I'm glad that it will force him away from his computer--where he's been contentedly immersed much of the year (even with time restrictions!)

Melinda will be in 6th grade next year, which I'm having a difficult time comprehending. She's young for her grade, and sometimes struggles to keep up--especially in the area of comprehending instructions...next year should be fun. :/
She loves to be busy, so hopefully the jam-packed school days will be right up her alley. This year she amazed me with how much school work she can pump out. She loves earth science and creative writing, merely tolerating history and math. She's growing a lot emotionally right now (translate: hormones are kicking in!) but we'll figure it out. We'll survive!

NOW I'm ready to start summer. If only it weren't already half over. :(

7 is SO Much Older than 6

2011-07-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

As very wise and learned adults, we enjoy teasing children about how much bigger they suddenly become on their birthdays. Wow! Look how much you grew! Well this year the trick was on me, since Audrey really did seem to get so much bigger and older overnight. She was really looking forward to turning 7, and she did a great job. :)

We let her choose a place to go out to dinner (doing that this year instead of throwing parties) and her first choice was the small Indian restaurant we like to go to...but she ended up changing her mind so that she could bring more family along. Gramps, Tutu, Grandma Barbara, Uncle Jon, and cousin Drew were able to join our small celebration. She was thrilled to be with her family for her birthday.

The Ruby's staff sings Audrey a Happy Birthday.

Audrey loves her goofy brother!

She's opening presents, but if you ask me, she's the real gift.

She had a thing with cards this year...kept reminding me to get
her one to go with each gift.

Audrey designed her own cake. It went
through many shapes, forms, and colors
during the design process, but she ended
up with mega-chocolate.

Spring Cleaning

2011-05-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

If you've ever been to my house, you may understand the overwhelming prospect of trying to keep the landscaping neat and tidy. Not only is there a ton of square-footage, but it is filled with old, overgrown plants. Finally, this month, we had a major cleanup of the front yard. I wish I'd taken a picture of the container the gardener and his helpers filled with the trimmings; it was an impressive sight.

Just for comparison's sake, here's a "before" photo of one section taken about a year ago (before clean-up, but also before another year's growth compounded the problem) followed by an "after" photo of how it looks now:

Hey look! There's a dry creek under all that mess! Fascinating!

There was more taken out (and in a quicker, less thorough way) than I'd have done myself, but it'll soon fill back in, I'm sure...just in time to be excavated when we begin our remodel. Hrm.

Wish I had a "before" picture for this area--such a difference!

Love this little pathway!

Melinda was sad to see her jungle taken away, but since she never made use of it, she has lost her right to an opinion on the matter. :) Overall, I'm very pleased....it's like my "To Do" list sunk exponentially in a singular Saturday. Of course, now the trees need trimming. Sigh.

My Almost Driver

2011-05-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

All of a sudden I realize the terrified look in my parents' eyes when we finally approached legal driving age. This stuff is scary. This is the age when The Hardest Part is Letting Go really kicks into high gear. Timothy is now 15: the countdown is in full swing.

It has actually been a fabulous adventure--seeing Timothy grow and mature. He has a brilliant sense of humor and a great big loving heart. This year was the first (in quite some time) that he not didn't plan out (months in advance) which presents he wanted from whom. Not only that, but he didn't want a huge party (which worked out quite well considering the fact that I'd declared 2011 to be a non-party year). We went to a restaurant for his birthday dinner, and then came home for Key Lime Pie and some Lime Sorbet. A simple night, but spent with some of the best people around.

Lime-a-licious

Cue the crazy singing!

Lime and Fire: 2 of Tim's favorite things.

This guy has a great smile and laugh!

What a goof. Isn't he great?

No complaints from Andrew.

nom nom nom

Serious thoughts? or serious dramatics?

The Dingle Peninsula

2011-05-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

The last leg of our journey in Ireland was spent on the Dingle Peninsula. While there were myriad sights to see in that region of Ireland, we found ourselves winding down and enjoying the town of Dingle. The only driving and sightseeing we did, in fact, was Dingle Peninsula itself and a brief stop in Cork on the drive back to Dublin.

All over Ireland, scattered throughout the countryside, are sheep. Scraggly sheep with character. Sheep decorated in bright colors that, if you are as lucky as I was, just might pose for you, and reply with a weary "Baaa" when thanked for their cooperation.

I love how the houses are comfy cozy, smooshed up together. It could be a problem, however, when it comes to searching for a business in a town you aren't familiar with. Many times during our trip we experienced the frustration of not being able to find something that came with quite simple directions. You see, we are used to finding things in California...where most cities are laid out in a grid and buildings have street addresses...not so in Ireland. In Dingle we were to be staying at Murphy's B&B--no street number, only a street name. When we arrived we found 2 Murphy's B&Bs Right Next to Each Other. What??? We went into one, they acted like they had our reservation and showed us to our rooms. An hour later, as we were eating dinner downstairs, we got a call from Murphy's B&B wondering when we were going to check in. Apparently we were at the wrong one, but really had no way of knowing. We moved our things over, and were much happier with the new place (which is not the one over the pub, just in case you ever go! Look for the smaller sign next door.)

2 Murphy's B&Bs next door to each other--novel idea!

Just a pleasant row of houses. Smooosh!

Chris in Foxy John's--a very traditional pub, complete with
hardware store and bike rentals!

The bartender at Foxy John's was my favorite!

The drive around the peninsula was amazing. We weren't expecting to encounter anything awe-inspiring, which made it even more incredible to find. The two-way road way very narrow, which made it quite an adventure.

Beehive huts built 3,000-4,000 years ago, inhabited until
around 1200AD

A cross etched into stone at the beehive huts.

This is one of the scenes that took my breath away.

My favorite Ireland scene. I just can't look at this enough.

What was the best part of Ireland? Well, the natural wonders abound, constantly reminding you that there are bigger forces at work. I love nature, so this was a huge thing to love about this country. Also, there are a lot of rosy-cheeked people there, so for the first time in my life I didn't have people asking me why my cheeks were so red--I looked normal! And the music was so much fun... But mostly it was just the people. I know that you hear all the time that the people are so friendly, but the people we encountered were more than friendly, they were interested. They approached us to find out who we were, what we were doing, what we thought. This is why you'll hear people talk about the pubs--the Irish pubs are great because they are a place for people to connect.

I procrastinated putting up this last post about Ireland because I don't want to say goodbye to it just yet. This is the place I've longed to go since I was young, and it's the first place that I've so sorely missed upon returning home. To think that some of the people and places now exist only in my mind is a sad thought, so I counter it with the promise of returning someday. Anyone want to go? Let's plan a trip!

The Burren & The Cliffs of Moher

2011-04-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

After our stay at Ashford Castle, we made our way down to the Dingle Peninsula (you can see it on the map in my previous post if you are interested). There was sight-seeing to be done on the way, however. How else to fit in half of the places we wanted to see? We drove through Galway and then down through the Burren. The Burren is quite an unusual place. To say that this area has rocky soil would not be an understatement, it would just be plain incorrect. The Burren is rocks, not just rocky soil. For mountains of rock, however, an incredible amount of life and history is present. These aren't just your typical rocks either. Imagine the rock walls you could build with such a supply! We were very happy to be able to get out of the car and climb around the mountains a bit.

Chris was wearing his "I Am Mr. Darcy" shirt made by our friends Justin and Brooke (get yours here!) when we stepped out of the car at a visitor's center...the girls who worked there were very entertained by his shirt. Come to find out, one of the girls was named Liz Darcy. :) Lots and smiles and laughs, I assure you. :)

Not far from The Burren are the Cliffs of Moher. Or, the Cliffs of Insanity, for all you Princess Bride fans. These cliffs are so impressive that it is difficult to take a picture of them that properly represents the awe one feels seeing them in person. We were, however, frustrated to find that a huge amount of bugs were also visiting the cliffs (judging from the smell, they were there to visit a recently fertilized field) and that made the visit not quite as fun as it could have been. You can't really tell in the photos, but there were also quite a few people there, even though it wasn't high tourist season. The visitor's center is large and new, I can only imagine how crazy the crowds must be here during the summer.

See that blip on the top of the cliff? Castle remains. These are
some BIG cliffs!

And because we get a kick out of signs, here are a couple that were at the Cliffs of Moher.

You really should look at some of the professional photos of these places, they capture them far better than I did. Google Images is a good place to start!

After seeing these two incredible sights, we raced to catch a ferry that would shorten our trip to the Dingle Peninsula. We made it with no time to spare (the gate was already closed, and reopened just for us--they started moving just as we turned off our car!) and enjoyed the rest of our drive. One thing Ireland is by no means lacking is beauty. There is so much variety, so many extreme beauties, and the Dingle Peninsula is no exception. I'll get pictures of that up soon!

Connaught: Ashford Castle and Beyond

2011-04-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

After our brief time in Northern Ireland, we jumped back into the car and drove over to the west coast of Ireland--to the Connaught area. The drive was lovely, even though Chris spent much of it being frustrated because he hadn't fully researched his route (I'm not actually sure if the route on the map below is the actual one we took, but if it isn't, it's pretty close.) I'm so glad that we rented a car, and so glad that Chris is such a confident driver. Driving from one location to another ended up being a great way to see some of the countryside.

The area of Connaught (Connacht) is varied in landscape and quite beautiful throughout. It wasn't until we drove into this province that we began to see the rock walls that I assumed covered the entire country. (In the places we'd seen before, properties and fields were divided by hedgerows. I could probably write a whole post on American misconceptions about Ireland...no green beer on St. Paddy's Day, no corned beef and cabbage, and much better food than I'd anticipated.) Roscommon and Galway counties (2 of the 5 counties in the Connaught province) are where my mother's maiden surname, Curley, seems to come from (Roscommon has a town called Ballymacurley, supporting that idea) although I don't have family records indicating a tie there. Whether it is because of that predisposition, or simply because the area is magical, I felt drawn to this area.

View Ireland in a larger map

We stayed near the small village of Cong, on the shores of Lough Corrib, at Ashford Castle. Not only were all 3 of these things (the village, the lake, the castle) drop-dead gorgeous, but we found plenty to do and tremendously enjoyed our stay. The entrance to the castle grounds (which were extremely large grounds, by the way) was meandering and unfolded in a way you'd expect to happen only on film. The castle was originally built in 1228 and eventually was purchased by the Guinness family in 1859 (they extended the estate to 26,000 acres, and added two Victorian wings to the castle) and stayed in the family until it was sold and re-purposed as a hotel in 1939.

Ashford Castle...view from the back by the lake

Inside the lobby.

I want a little tunnel pathway!!

Now that's a driveway.

A view of Lough Corrib.

Rosy cheeks and bagpipes!

While at the castle, we were able to bake scones with the pastry chef, (I loved being able to go into the service parts of the castle...it another of those weird dreams come true. I'm fascinated with what goes into making a huge estate work.) learn to be falconers at the school of falconry, ride horses, and watch The Quiet Man free of charge at any time (this is where the movie was filmed!)

The School of Falconry was one of the best experiences ever. We learned so much about the birds and falconry in general. We even got to meet Dingle the Owl...quite awesome when you're a foot away from him! The birds we flew are Harris Hawks, which work well for hunting with multiple people because they naturally work as a team.

Wow, this is a long post. Sorry about that! There's just so much to talk about in this area and I couldn't conceive of how to split it up. What follows are some pictures of Connemara, which we saw on our drive from the castle to Clifden (where we got a flat tire that was--amazingly--replaced in only a couple of hours). Connemara is beautiful. All the pictures I see of it look a little like Nevada, which is funny because it didn't look like that when seeing it through my eyeballs. :)

Remnants of potato farming still exist on the mountains.

Love this area...lot's of good memories, would love to go back and explore more!

The Causeway Coast: Northern Ireland

2011-04-04T16:58:00.000-07:00

I don't know if there is that much to say about these pictures, but the northern coast of Northern Ireland is spectacular, and I must share. One of the highlights for me was seeing a peak of Scotland in the distance. I pictured Shawna and Greg over there waving right back at me. :) We took the scenic route up the coast, stopping at the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the Giant's Causeway before heading back toward Belfast.

Some of the coastline--I love the colors!

What a cute little tunnel!

Coastline at the Carrick-a-Rede rope

Chris and Andrea crossing the rope bridge.
It was pretty steady/reinforced, but still so high!

Perspective.

Chris and I.

Some of the stone @ Giant's Causeway--an incredible
natural formation from ancient volcanic cooling.

The scale on some of these formations
are overwhelming in person.

Bushmills is the oldest licensed whiskey
distillery in the world. Fun tour!

After our tour at the Bushmills distillery, we were feeling rather peckish (hungry) and asked some people who worked there for a recommendation of somewhere to eat in town. They pointed us toward a pub that, as we found out, did not serve food. But the barkeep did invite us to sit down and eat at their tables if we were to find some food to take-away. We walked down the street and each ordered some fish and chips...thinking we'd get a nice snack sized meal. We were wrong. We were sent out with parcels of food wrapped in big brown bags stuffed full enough to feed a small army. We popped back into the pub, and the barkeep was super friendly--he brought us flatware and napkins, salt and drinks. We shared our food with a guy at the bar who was three sheets to the wind. (it was about...5pm? No biggie, it's Ireland. time of day is relative for things like alcohol.) The greasy food probably did him well! He couldn't believe we'd bought cod, (the good stuff) and a 1 minute conversation at the bar about cod must have included the word cod at least 100 times. Maybe 1000. I was a little dizzy with all the cod flying around and lost count.

We left the town of Bushmills with enough food for a 4th and 5th meal, even after sharing it all around. Who can stomach cold greasy food when you've already had too much of it, though? If we'd only known, we could have gotten by with one meal for sure! Oh well, it makes for a fun memory. :)

Belfast, Northern Ireland

2011-04-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

After our time in Dublin, we rented a car and drove up to Belfast in Northern Ireland. We enjoyed our time in Dublin, but were eager to see how Northern Ireland might differ. The people that we'd spoken to in Dublin said that the mood was a little darker in Belfast, but that there was no real difference between The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (part of the UK). They said, It's all just Ireland. And they were right. I was surprised to find that the border wasn't even marked, let alone observed. The main difference seemed to be the fact that we now needed British Pounds instead of Euros for cash.

The City Hall in Belfast was beautiful. The picture below shows one part of it with a monument to Queen Victoria in the foreground. The grounds around the building seemed to be a popular teen hangout, funny enough. Like we'd heard, the air did seem to be a little heavier in this area. We didn't have a lot of time to explore the city, but we did quite a bit of walking and discovered, if nothing else, that there isn't a whole lot open on Saturday nights. When we looked at store hours, they seemed to close earlier on Saturdays and stay open later on Thursdays. I wish I knew the "why's" on that!

Belfast City Hall

So many places available to rent or buy.

The Irish Breakfast.

This guy never ceases to crack me up.

We arrived in Belfast on Saturday (March 19) and on Sunday (March 20) we drove along the Causeway Coast. We left Northern Ireland on Monday, so you can see that we really weren't able to really get to know the area at all. I am glad that we were able to see it, however. Next post: the incredibly beautiful Causeway Coast.

Dublin

2011-03-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

Apart from the Saint Patrick's Day Parade, there were a lot of other things to love about Dublin, whatever James Joyce may say about it. It is not only beautifully historical, but it is literary. (sigh) I actually posted about all of the literary merits of the city on my book blog, Fingers & Prose, so I won't go into all that here. I'll spend this space to talk about all of the other things we saw and enjoyed.

Our driver's name was Jimmy.
I always wanted a driver named James.
It was a dream come true.
Yes, I'm weird like that.

Our first day of sightseeing took us to Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle, the Chester Beatty Library (with many ancient religious texts--very cool to see) and more of the River Liffey and Temple Bar Area.

Christ Church Cathedral

Dublin Castle, taken from the Chester Beatty Library.

The River Liffey, taken from our hotel room.

Our other days in Dublin were filled with other explorations: St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Writer's Museum, the Garden of Remembrance, Trinity College, St. Stephen's Green.

We stumbled upon some French Jazz type street music--lovely!

Ha'Penny Bridge

The Powerscourt Townhouse is now a lovely
little shopping center.

Garden of Remembrance

Saint Patrick's Cathedral

Saint Stephen's Green

And one little bonus picture...the only sign I happened to see of the Curley surname in Ireland. Look closely. You may have to get out your magnifying glass. (or I'll just tell you...that is simply a realtor's sign whose surname is Curley. made me happy.)

After our 4 days in Dublin, we got our rental car and began the drive up to Northern Ireland. Stay tuned for that installment!

Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin

2011-03-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

The Paddy's Day Parade in Dublin is no joke. This is no small thing...tons of people crowd in to see the amazing creativity on display. We arrived Tuesday night (March 15th) and the difference in crowds between that night and the following nights was incredible. During this week especially, Dublin is an international city. We actually got to the point where we were wondering where all the Irish people were--everyone seemed to be from somewhere else. And everyone was wearing something green. From a simple green scarf or shirt to the fully costumed leprechauns, there was a sea of green.

First thing in the morning was apparently a rowing race (is there a proper name for those things?) on the Liffey, directly outside our room. This was accompanied by bicyclists and tour buses cheering them on. Good morning! Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Go Team! As we were soon to find out, that was only the prelude. When we ventured out of the hotel for some breakfast, the city was already filled.

(my attempt to capture the crowd)

When the parade finally started (at 12 noon) we had been walking and standing and waiting and crowding in for hours. Everyone was ready to start celebrating.

Apart from the marching bands, people waving, and bagpipes, there were some monstrous horses (pictured here for the sake of my horsie-loving 6 year-old) that these pictures don't do justice. They were intimidating.

There were also some of the most unusual costumes and floats (if one could call them that) that I've seen. I certainly wasn't expecting them! I wish I knew the significance, but alas I've not had time to research. They were extremely creative, however. I forgot to take pictures of many of them simply because I was busy trying to figure them out!

A mechanical marionette-type feature.

Another marionette-type thing. This
was amazing! So realistic!

One of the costumes--don't ask what they
are, because I've not the faintest idea.

Eyeballs?

A mobile platform for drumming. But of course.

Yep, no idea.

And there you have it--snippets of the Paddy's Day Parade in Dublin. After the parade ended I was ready for a nap, but I think that everyone else was ready for a stroll and a pint. After a quick cappucino, it was back to the hotel for us. We were still close enough to listen to the crowds of people as they continued to celebrate. Saint Patrick's Day in Dublin may not have been what I was expecting, but it certainly didn't let me down!

Forced Family Fun in February

2011-03-07T23:12:00.000-08:00

It has been a month since I've posted here. A month! Believe me when I say that I'm entirely guilt-ridden about it (which, as horrible as being guilt-ridden may sound, it isn't quite as terrible as being flea-ridden--which I'm not. So it isn't all bad.) The problem wasn't that February lacked things to talk about, it just lacked interesting, social type things to talk about. There was plenty of the "Oh! So many things to do!" and "I just can't get ahead!" type conversations flying around here, but those are not inspiring-blog-worthy diversions. At least it looks as if the February doldrums are finally gone, and we can now get on with life.

Which is exactly what we did last weekend. We were kind enough to warn the kiddos ahead of time that we'd be spending Saturday OUT of the house and AS a family (we don't always warn them...sometimes it's just nice to limit the amount of time they have to complain). This announcement elicited cheers from the girls, groans from the boys, no surprise there.

First on the agenda was a hockey game. Now, let me explain something. We are not a sports family. (Sorry, dad!) We tried baseball and soccer when the boys were little, and still haven't come to terms with the fact that we were expected to be up and raring to go at 7am on a Saturday. [shudder] I should probably be apologizing to all the families that had to deal with our uncomprehending ennui during all of those weekends, but I'm just not there yet. Maybe someday.

Right, so we aren't a sports family. This means it wasn't entirely outrageous that all of our kids were wondering why on earth they were required to go to a hockey game. The answer was that we were gifted some box seats to watch the LA Kings at the Staples Center, and it was a perfect excuse for some of that infamous Family Time. Turns out, they kind of enjoyed themselves. They actually apologized afterwards for complaining--they didn't know what to expect, and it was actually rather fun, they said. Of course, those apologies came after we all got free McFlurry coupons on our way out--they had their ice cream goggles on and the gratefulness was being poured out freely.

Yeah, back-of-the-head pictures is all I've got. Sorry.

They may not look excited here, but
they are, believe me. Or they would
be if they knew about the ice cream.

As if one major outing in a day weren't enough, we jumped right in to another family event. We had bought Medieval Times tickets as a reward for studying the Middle Ages to death (to quote Melinda, "No more minstrels, PLEASE!") After reading The Minstrel in the Tower, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!, Castle Diary, Saint George and the Dragon, Ethelred the Unready, Tales of Robin Hood, The Door in the Wall, and Adam of the Road, not to mention our regular history reading, they'd had enough. Or so they thought. Until Medieval Times.

(Actually at first, when we were heading in and there were some people dressed up and ready to take our photograph, Timothy was dreadfully humiliated. As we walked in further, however, I pointed out to him that there were quite a few adults there (young and unaccompanied by children) and he seemed to adjust fine. Especially when food was slapped on the plates and the sword-fighting and games began. What boy can resist a good sword fight when the sparks are flying and people are yelling and you have a plate full of food?)

We had front row seats and the girls were honored to receive gifts from our knight (a flower for Melinda, a special sash for Audrey). Not just honored, but flattered and overjoyed. At one point I saw Audrey wiping away a tear. When I asked her if she was okay, she said "I'm just crying for joy." Before it was even over, they were begging to go back.

A Full Day of all six of us together, and you'd (I'd?) expect them to be more than done with the close quarters. But we came home peaceful. Not only that, but the kids all wanted to go out together again the next day. So last Sunday we took our farewell trip to the Borders down the street and then ventured in to McDonalds (a place I haven't been inside since...???...2004?) where they apparently play classical music nowadays. (It's that high-fallutin' coffe-shop image they want to adopt, I guess?) It was a weekend of experiences, of family, and yes--of fun. And now you know that which was worth knowing during the month of February.

Indie Lit Awards

2011-02-07T20:42:00.000-08:00

As I'm sure you are aware, (from all the big pictures and flashing neon signs on my sidebar, if nothing else,) that I have a book blog in addition to my family blog. (That's why you aren't being inundated with annoying posts about books anymore.) It has been great fun; book bloggers are a fabulous crowd of people: diverse, yet overwhelmingly kind, and always ready to talk about books. (score!)

There's a possibility you may not be aware that back in September I was offered the opportunity to be involved with the Independent Literary Awards on their panel to judge the Literary Fiction nominations. How exciting, right? There is such a huge number of book bloggers, and it is only right that their opinions should have a unified voice. Wallace, at Unputdownables, is the one who came up with the idea to accomplish this through an annual award, and then proceeded to create the website and team of bloggers to help launch nomination process.

A brief note on how the award process works: any book blogger may nominate one book in each category. This list of nominations is called the Long List. The top 5 most-voted-for books would move on to the Short List. The panel would read all 5 books on the Short List, discuss, and decide which deserved the honor.

As the months passed, it was exciting to see the books start to add up on the nomination list. It made me realize that I'm not very good at reading new books, (something I'm working on changing,) because I hadn't heard of many of the books. Mid December came around, the nomination deadline passed, and there was a tie for the last two slots in the Literary Fiction Short List. We voted on the tied possibilities, (a couple o' times because the first vote created another tie,) and finally had the list of books to read and judge.

It was fabulous to read the top 5 books of 2010, based on book blogger's opinions. There was such a variety! Here are my reviews of the 5 in Literary Fiction:

The award went to Peter Geye for Safe From the Sea, published by Unbridled Books, and it was well deserved. This is a book that I would encourage anyone to pick up. It is a quiet book, in the sense that it is more about the characters and setting than a rip-roaring plot, but the plot isn't absent, and is written very well (evocative without being overly complicated). It was a pleasure to find out about this book, and I will definitely be hoping for more from Peter Geye in the future.

If you are interested in the others genres, here is my post about all the award winners. I had such a great time being involved in the awards, and hope to be involved with them in some capacity in future years. And I've begun reading newly published books already, getting ready for those nominations at the end of the year!

(There was even a small announcement about the Awards in the Minneapolis Star Tribune--check it out!)

Milestones

2011-02-03T10:36:00.000-08:00

I was prepared for some of the major milestones of my kids growing up: no more kids in diapers (yay!) and no more hassling with carseats (yippee!) and first kid in high school (yikes!) but this one happened upon me quite stealthily. My baby just taught herself to ride a bike without training wheels. I was watching her ride her bike, thinking that this summer was her summer to take the trainers off, when Melinda ripped into my thoughts and spoke the suggestion aloud: "I think Audrey could learn to ride a two-wheeler." Audrey agreed. I took the training wheels off, and Audrey changed her clothes into what she deemed to be perfect bike riding clothes.

I moved the cars out of the way so that she could ride in the most level place around us: the lower part of our driveway (the streets around us are surprisingly hilly for a plain old neighborhood in LA county). At first I was helping her balance and ride--holding onto the back of her seat--but we both soon realized that she would do better on her own. She wasn't afraid at all, she just kept trying and trying.

I love the part of that first video where she looks up, takes a deep breath, and keeps on going. The amount of time that passed between the first and second video was maybe 15 minutes. I'm so impressed.

My baby is growing up, for sure and for certain. I was surprised how sentimental this made me! Now I'm looking at my kiddos with new eyes--when is the next hidden milestone going to jump up and surprise me?

According to Audrey

2011-01-27T10:22:00.000-08:00

#1: "Timothy doesn't realize that slobber is the point of a kiss!"

#2: "It will take a long time to dig to the middle of earth. We will need a lot of children for that."

Andrew Turns Twelve

2011-01-26T14:49:00.000-08:00

Andrew couldn't wait for his birthday to become his birth-night...that's when the real fun happens. Dad gets home from work, allowing presents to be opened, dinner to be eaten, dessert to be enjoyed. The most important of these being the presents, of course. The first thing he opened was a quilt I'd just finished making for him that morning. Last minute projects are not an unusual thing for me, but unlike some last minute projects, this one went surprisingly smoothly and I'm not real sure why. It was fabulous.
Andrew tends towards sentimentality in some ways. I've always found this to be an endearing quality of his, so I had made a point to save some of his shirts and other clothing so he could look back at them some point in the future. I decided that the best way to hold onto some of these things that would never be used again was to turn them into something that would be used: a quilt. T-shirt fabric is much too stretchy to be an enjoyable fabric to sew, but it all went together quickly and easily.

Andrew was really pleased with it. He had no idea that it was coming, and I think he's slept with it every night since. The best part is that all the T-shirts are already broken in--what a comfy quilt!

Audrey created an audience (of horses, of course) to watch Andrew open his gifts. Andrew received books: Artemis Fowl #6 (which he'd completed by the next morning) and some classics (Call of the Wild, The Jungle Book, Treasure Island, Sherlock Holmes, Shakespeare, Wind in the Willows) since he's recently read The Lord of the Rings series, The Hobbit, and Robinson Crusoe (have I mentioned that he amazes me?) He also received some video games and Pokemon cards.

After presents, we took him out to Ruby's (his choice of dinner, super yummy chicken strips) where he ended up with another audience, although this one wasn't comprised of horses. In this case, it was his Nintendo DSi XL that was being ooohh'd and aaahhh'd over.

When dinner was over, we swung by Krispy Kreme Dougnuts to get the makings of a birthday cake. Andrew designed his Holey Tower, and Chris inserted the candles.

We had an extremely lively rendition of "Happy Birthday" sung, and then Andrew made his wish. One year from now, I'll have two teenage boys in my house! (If I keep repeating that, it is simply in hope that I will come to believe it. Who was it that said "There's nothing so absurd that if you repeat it often enough, people will believe it." William James? I'm hoping he's right.) I really don't understand how it takes them 10 years to get to their 5th birthday and then the next 8 years pass overnight. I guess I'll be working at savoring this year with my 12 year old. Happy Birthday, son.

Bowling for Birthdays

2011-01-25T07:13:00.000-08:00

I officially declared 2011 a Birthday Party Free Zone...no extensive lists of guests, no invitations and party favors. Instead, the kiddos get to take a friend to a place of their choosing. Andrew chose to take his friends Shawn and Ryan bowling followed by Yogurtland.

Andrew was pretty impressed with his bowling shoes. If they had offered to let him keep them, I'm sure Andrew would have jumped on the opportunity.

They all bowled for an hour, ate pink birthday cake leftover from a birthday party happening in the next lane over, and then dumped some money into the arcade. Andrew kept commenting on how much fun he was having--it was so great to see him really feel special.

Yogurtland was nuts--busier than I've ever seen it--but all the kids did good. Andrew's friends spent the night, though I'm sure they didn't get much sleep. All in all, it was a very successful non-party.

Big Ginger Cookies

2011-01-11T08:23:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this recipe during the holidays, since the flavors just go so well with the holidays, but they are fabulous at any time of year. I always make a double batch because they seem to disappear faster than cereal around here (and that's saying something).

Big Ginger Cookies
INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and molasses and stir together slowly. Add dry ingredients, a little at a time.

Dough will be thick--makes it easy to roll

Shape into 1 1/2" balls. Roll in sugar.

A light coating of granulated sugar

Place 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes or until brown and slightly puffed.

For chewy cookies, remove from oven when
the centers still look slightly uncooked--
UNLIKE THOSE PICTURED!
(They are still good if cooked fully, they'll
just be crunchy instead of chewy.)

These do keep rather well if stored in a sealed bag or container, but good luck keeping them around that long! These guys are addicting.

White Christmas

2011-01-06T13:49:00.000-08:00

As far as record amount of snowfall, these holidays weren't record setters. We did get a fair amount of snow, but the remarkable part of the weather was how warm it was when it snowed, and how cold it got during/after snowing. One morning I woke up and it was -8 degrees! Unusual for Tahoe! The trees stayed frozen and covered with snow for days (bad news for our fruitless plum tree--you can see in the 3rd picture that it is heavy laden and slightly broken). These bright blue skies and bright white trees remind me of my mom--we love these picturesque days!

We had one full day with the power out, and another full day with decreased/unstable power. We have a generator that is supposed to kick in if the power goes out, but it wasn't working. Not a big deal, except that our house is heated entirely by an electric furnace. We were fortunate enough to have the generator serviced and working by early afternoon. Andrew commented that all the electricity unreliability made it feel like we were living in a cabin. I'd have to agree. That, combined with the fact that many of us were sick (some weird cold/tummy combo) made us eager to be done with the holidays and onto 2011.

All the snow compiled on our deck.

Christmas Day

2011-01-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve brought a new board game to our family: the new generation of Monopoly. The kids played together happily for hours! The fun part of the game is that it uses something akin to Debit Cards instead of cash, eliminating much hassle, confusion, and argument. Other Christmas Eve gifts: a page-a-day calendar for each of the kiddos (Timothy: Would You Rather? Andrew: Stupid History Facts. Melinda: Origami-a-Day. Audrey: Cuteness Overload) and some music for Chris and I from Eric (Blind Pilot and The Radio Dept.) and a Wii game for the kiddos from Eric. The only bummer about Christmas Eve is that I forgot to initiate Christmas Carol singing-round-the-piano time. :(

Christmas day was very nice. I loved having my family around. Matthew and Siri and Lucy (and Greta) arrived mid-presents, and got to join in the chaos. I'm missing a good picture of Andrew opening a gift because there was simply so much going on. I have to remind myself that when there are fewer pictures at moments like these, it simply means that we were having a good time.

It was great to see Chris, Eric, and Matthew cooking up great food in the kitchen. Also great to see: my sweet little niece Lucy playing with everyone, and my girls watching a movie with my dad.

Timothy gets creative in his "sammich" making

Melinda gets creative with some little people

Gingerbread and Stockings

2011-01-03T17:59:00.000-08:00

Decorating Gingerbread Houses is one of those fun Christmas traditions that the kids never want to miss out on. Why would they? They are miniature sugar castles! All the sugar aside, they do really enjoy the creativity involved. I wanted to let them each do their own miniature house, but I just didn't have the time and brain cells to make it happen this year. There's always next year, right? They did a great job working together (after the initial frustrations were addressed) and came up with a very fun design.

Our time in Tahoe was filled with great food. I love it when Chris has time to cook! Oh, the things he creates! Pictured is a bowl of soup that could have won awards it was so yummy. All of the kids agreed that it was delicious. That's saying something! I liked how the tomatoes and zucchini made it look all Christmas-y, Chris liked how the stock was made with the leftover turkey wings and pieces we froze after Thanksgiving. We had so much good food during these two weeks...now we get to go back to me "cooking". (yes, those quotes were absolutely necessary.)

I also ended up reworking Audrey's stocking, since it had been completed in such haste last year (I think it was last year...?) that it needed some attention. I'm now happy with the four stockings, though they are heavy in beauty and light in capacity. I was looking for pictures of them on my blog and computer and didn't find what I thought I'd find, so here they are for the record:

Eventually I will get caught up with all these Christmas posts, I promise! Next up, family time and presents...and then the lovely, gorgeous, fabulous snow.

Preparing for Christmas

2011-01-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

So, Decembers are crazy busy, right? Do you know when that started and why? I didn't, until my dad told me (and we all know that everything my dad says is true). You see, when parents started taking over Santa's job, (presents and Christmas cheer,) they brought the whole mess on themselves. And so now we are stuck with this huge task better suited for the man in the red suit who knows how to add more hours to the day.

And the elves? Where are those elves when I need a house decorated and un-decorated? We couldn't find it, so we went about it all by ourselves...and the un-decorating has yet to be done (first we get to drive 10 hours, jump back into the rat-race, and then we get to un-decorate.)

The huge tree is really cool-looking, but boy is it a hassle...not just to adorn, either...attempting to get it (and keep it) straight is quite the challenge.

Another huge addition, that made this huge house seem more a home, was simply the best Christmas present I've ever received. A month or two ago, when Chris asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I told him I only want 2 things: my watch fixed, and a piano. And although this was true (gifts aren't a huge deal for me) I realized that I was unlikely to get either...too time intensive, especially for this time of year. I think that is part of what makes this gift so special. Anybody have any idea how hard it is to pick out the perfect piano without a second opinion? Chris did a fabulous job. He found this 1922 Steinway that looks and sounds beautiful. It simply wonderful. And somehow, as you are playing it, you can hear the character and personality come through. And it fits perfectly in the corner of our great room.

Oh, and here's Timothy looking Oh-So-Handsome (even if he isn't really smiling...this pic was the best of the lot) in his tux, ready for his Christmas concert:

Before heading to Tahoe for family and Christmas, we had a fabulous 60's Christmas party...of which I still need to scrape together pictures. Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later, but we're dealing with a bit of Spano-timetable, so it may be August before I actually get good pictures up. The party was for Chris's mom's side of the family, as well as some other family/friends, and we made everyone dress up Early-60s to match the house. We had some catering help as well as a jazz trio that was amazing, and a photo-booth set-up run by Jon and Michelle (brother-in-law and almost sister-in-law) with great success. Here are the few measly pictures that I have, look for a better selection at some point in 2011. :)

December's Projects

2010-12-20T16:13:00.000-08:00

December has been absolutely packed full of projects of all kinds. Small and large, new and old, fun and...otherwise. One of the first things I finished was the Blankie Project. Audrey's original blanket was getting so worn out that it was obviously only a matter of time before my continual mendings would no longer be enough to hold it all together. She's 6 years old, she could stand to set aside the blankie. But she's my littlest and I couldn't bring myself to make her phase it out. I'm going with the idea that she'll do it herself when she's ready. So I ended up making a new one. Audrey went to shop for the yarn with me, and checked my progress quite often to make sure that the bumps all felt right. She was thrilled to have it finished, although she doesn't use it much. It's so fluffy that she's not used to it. I should probably run it through the washer to get rid of the new, fluffy feeling. I did end up confiscating the oldest blankie without her knowledge or consent. Surprisingly, she hasn't mentioned it yet (it has been a couple of weeks) so we'll see how that goes.

Another project had to do with two trees that we inherited when we moved into our house nearly a year ago. They are actually real branches with silk flowers hot glued on. And covered with decades of dust. I didn't manage to transform both of them (mostly because the perfectionist in me wasn't entirely happy with the results...I think I need to find different pots to put them in.) We pulled off the flowers, removed the old containers, then I spray painted the branches and chipped off some of the plaster that the branches were set in. Then into the new pot, a few Christmas lights and ornaments later, and voila! A new modern addition to our decorations.

We also did some furniture shopping. The family/friend Christmas party was to be at our house, and we had a rather empty great room. We ended up finding some great pieces on sale. I fell in love with the green recliner, and then soon after we found the sofa/chair set, so those had to come home with us too. The original brown couches that came with our house were slightly regrouped in order to make better seating areas.

All of a sudden our great room feels like a Great Room! It feels great to have done something to make the house more personal. It is such a huge place, and there are so many things that we dream of doing to it at some point, that it can often more like a house and less like a home, if that makes any sense. Homey is a nice way to feel in December.

Where Did Thanksgiving Go?

2010-12-17T08:18:00.000-08:00

I've been remiss in keeping this blog updated. :(

Yes, I've been crazy, nuts-o, reee-diculously busy. Am still, actually, but somehow almost a month has passed since we enjoyed our Thanksgiving spread and I haven't even addressed the subject, let alone anything that has happened in the month of December.

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday. It was great to see family and friends, and as always, the food was fantastic. (is the word "fantastic" supposed to sound so plastic and elastic and spastic? hm.) My mom and dad got to visit before the actual day-of-the-turkey, and we had a wonderful visit. The snow kept coming down, piling up like an end-of-the-year storm instead of a beginning-of-the-season storm.

The Thursday in question was spent with great friends, cooking all day long. Of course, everything was homemade. Is there any other option? (....oops, just remembered that the cranberry sauce this year was canned.) So then, almost everything was homemade. I made yams, rolls, pumpkin pie, and cherry pie. Chris made the turkey, mashed potatoes, and some of the best dressing and gravy on earth. Mmm.

That weekend, I finally watched Breakfast at Tiffany's all the way through. Every other time I've tried to watch it I get distracted and disengaged. Melinda and Timothy joined me in being amazed at the quirks in this movie, as well as the fashion of the very early '60s. I'm sure that 1961 New York (setting for the film) was different from 1964 Southern California (when our house was built) but it was still fun to draw on any possible similarities. Oh, and I happened to get a picture of Audrey with Audrey Hepburn in the background.

Now on to December...

Like Snow

2010-12-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

My established love for snow is joining my new found appreciation for poetry today. When we were in Tahoe for Thanksgiving, we had some great snow storms, the kind of storms that usually wait until Christmas/New Years. I hope it was just a practice run...we'll be back there soon and hope that the snow keeps falling! This poem is by Wendell Berry, and is called "Like Snow". I thought it would be fitting for my snowy pictures.

Suppose we did our work
like the snow, quietly, quietly
leaving nothing out.

Randomography

2010-11-16T10:15:00.001-08:00

Bits and pieces of Autumn 2010: the random photo version.

That's me...fell asleep while reading.
Chris was so kind as to take a picture
of me. Thanks hunny. <3

Timothy's favorite spider...you should
have seen the web! and the photo
just has great perspective.

Yes, with Timothy it's all a matter of
perspective. This is the costume he
wore to school--he looks huge!

This is a picture of Andrew's pocket...holding a book.
That's my boy, figure out a way to bring some good
Lit with you wherever you are.

There's my sweet boy. 11 years old and
reading Lord of the Rings! Amazing!

This is Audrey trying to look all serious.

Yeah, serious didn't last long.

I think this is supposed to look appetizing.

One of three raccoons hanging in my
backyard and climbing on my roof.

There's those Disney Princess Eyes this
girl was famous for when she was little.

And that, my friends, is a can of tuna.

Happy Birthday Melinda!

2010-11-12T12:09:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to my girl for making it into the double digits! What a major stepping stone on her quest to make it to adulthood. She is becoming such a little lady!

For Melinda's birthday we went out to dinner at the place of her choosing: Ruby's. Apparently they have the best chicken strips? The hat her brother gave her off his own head just might be her most treasured gift ever.

Melinda also had a small birthday party that Gramps & Tutu, and a friend from church came to. This started off with a cake of her own design: homemade chocolate cake with homemade frosting, decorated with mini M&Ms. Decorating done by the kiddos of course, since they know how to do it right.

The girls could hardly wait do beat up the piñata...they wouldn't wait for proper rope and ideal location, but it didn't really matter since the important thing was getting at the candy inside.

Gifts and swim time followed, with cake and ice cream shortly after.

(One of Melinda's gifts was a keepsake trunk that belonged to her great-great-grandmother Amy. What a treat!)

Happy Birthday my beautiful girl!

Festive Festivities at the Festival

2010-11-04T08:37:00.001-07:00

Joshua Fest 2010! May the rain be with you!

Yes, this year's festival was the 7 Year's Storm version. This was the 7th JFest we've done, and it rained THE ENTIRE TIME. But despite people getting flooded out of their tents, they moshed on. In big huge muddy puddles. With big huge smiles on their faces. What a great crowd of people! And what a great, positive, hard working, supportive staff we have. God definitely schooled me about attitude that weekend.

Because my time in the rain (midday Friday through Sunday night--heavy and constant) was spent either sleeping, eating, working the coffee shop (Joe Bean! Yay!) or making mad dashes through the torrents, I mostly have before and after pictures. But that which I have, I give unto you:

Trying to level the RV...we never
did get it to work.

Happy hang-out time before
the rains came down and the floods
came up.

Setting up Joe Bean--let the craziness begin!

Melinda was beyond thrilled to be
able to help and learn in the kitchen
with Sam this year.

15 minute break. Good times on the golf carts.

Great fun at Camp Jericho--it was dry inside!

So much fun to have family by me
during church service!

Story time. Is that cute or what?

Really odd bathroom encountered on the drive
home. (sorry. the post wouldn't have been
complete without it.)

Exhausted!

Pre-Festival Concert #2

2010-10-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

The second concert was a newer favorite: Mumford and Sons. They have one album out, and every song on it is great (although I suppose I should add the parental language warning about the song Little Lion Man...Do NOT blast this song with kiddos in the house!) This group hails from London, and the style of music is sort of a bluegrass/Irish/rock concoction. This concert was at the Hollywood Palladium and was totally sold out and packed.

I'm sorry to say that the openers at this concert were rather dreadful. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I found out that the first opener had been featured on the American Idol rejects. Not that he had an excruciating voice, just he wrote songs only a mother could love and his whole get-up was simply preposterous. The second opener was a little better, but still--for a crowd of 4,000 people waiting to see a very talented and popular band, they just weren't up to par.

All was forgiven (though the scars remain) when Mumford and Sons got on stage and said "We hope you enjoyed [the opening bands] as much as we did." [wink, wink]

Anyhow, the performance was great, and it was tons of fun to hear thousands of people singing along to some great songs. The four guys in the group are all great musicians, playing a variety of instruments: drums, keyboard, guitar, upright bass, accordion, banjo, mandolin. The song where the lead singer was also drumming, and the bass player was playing while holding the upright bass above his head left me amazed.

Pre-Festival Concert #1: The Weepies

2010-10-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

As a pre-cursor to the weekend of concerts coming up (countdown to Joshua Fest 2010!) we've attended two concerts by some favorite bands. First was The Weepies. We were at the first concert they'd done in four years--having taken touring time off in order to start a family. They have four albums (in order of release): Happiness (2004), Say I Am You (2006), Hideaway (2008), and Be My Thrill (2010).

We had a great time at the concert--it more than lived up to my hopes. You know how it is when you really enjoy a musical group? Seeing them live can prove how great they really are, or it can destroy your view of them altogether. (Similar, I guess to the book/movie relationship. The recorded/live contrast can be great.) Musically it was great, but it was also a lot of fun. Steve and Deb are from California, and are warm, fun people. It made for a great night.

When first appearing on stage, Steve was amazed at how packed the El Rey Theatre was. He said something to the effect of: You don't understand...we've been in our living room for the past four years. There are a lot less people there. It was a night to remember; my fan-hood has been solidified. I loved the background on the song Can't Go Back Now--it was written for their niece when she began to walk. Here are the lovely lyrics (I was going to link the YouTube video, but the graphics are weird...oh hey, look, I linked them anyhow):

Yesterday when you were young

Everything you needed done was done for you

Now you do it on your own

But you find you're all alone, what can you do?

You and me walk on, walk on, walk on

'Cause you can't go back now

You know there will be days

When you're so tired

That you can't take another step

The night will have no stars

And you'll think you've gone as far

As you will ever get

You and me wak on, walk on, walk on

'Cause you can't go back now

And yeah, yeah, you go where you want to go

Yeah, yeah, be what you want to be

If you ever turn around, you'll see me

I can't really say

Why everybody wishes they were somewhere else

But in the end, the only steps that matter

Are the ones you take all by yourself

You and me walk on, walk on, walk on

Yeah, you and me walk on, walk on, walk on

'Cause you can't go back now

Walk on, walk on, walk on

You can't go back now

Here's a little video I took of one of their songs at the concert, (although the quality is a bit sketchy since it was done on my phone).

What Season is it Anyway?

2010-10-11T19:05:00.001-07:00

I've proof that the plants are more confused about the weather than I am. From record setting heat to chilly days and nights in less than a week. The trees are convinced they are doing their job: letting their leaves loose right on schedule (thankyouverymuch).

(yes, that's about all the leaves we have. don't make fun of me. So. Cal. never made claim to amazing autumns.) But the bulbs are beyond bewildered. Is it spring already?

Iris and calla lilies in October? What is going on?

Nursery Rhymes With a Twist

2010-10-06T20:23:00.001-07:00

Flashback to 1980...where bizarre combinations were all the rage. Let me introduce you to the tiny booklet: My Jesus pocketbook of Nursery Rhymes.

This small treasure includes all kinds of adapted nursery rhymes, but I have just the two best to share with you. The first, Little Miss Muffet, is kind of sweet, really.

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet

Eating her curds and whey.

She's afraid of a spider,

She needs Jesus inside her

To take all fear away.

Aww. Right? The next, however, is a little funnier.

Wee Willie Winkie

runs through the town,

Upstairs, downstairs

in his nightgown;

What does he see?

The children don't have

time for Jesus;

They're watching TV.

Ouch! Strong feelings, anyone?

(this great bit of church history generously brought to you via my friend Sarah. Thanks Sarah!)

Living Room Remix

2010-09-28T17:15:00.001-07:00

Perhaps the record setting heat yesterday addled my brains, but I could take no more of the sameness and monotony of my home design. The filthy smelly curtains have been ripped down and the furniture rearranged. That, and the fact that the weather calmed itself back down, has me feeling so much calmer. (breathing a sigh of relief)

Back to School

2010-09-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

Enough slacking already, it's past time for me to acknowledge that school is in full swing again. This week is our home school's fourth week, and Timothy's third week of high school. Everything is already starting to settle in, from the inevitable adjustments in schedule, structure, and curricula at home, to the decline in spirits of my teenager who has just realized that even with better teachers and less hormonal swings, school still requires responsible behavior and decisions.

Timothy seems to be adjusting to life on the high school campus fine. Chris and I met his teachers on Monday night (Back to School Night) and found that he has:
   1 amazing teacher (Geography)
   1 very good teacher (Health)
   5 good/standard teachers (Band, Spanish, Science, Algebra, English)

The hard part is simply trying to help Timothy learn how to help himself. How to not feel overwhelmed and put a little effort into getting through high school. He's such a smart guy, but he really doesn't like school...except the social part. (I haven't taken any pictures of him since I'm still bleary eyed when he leaves in the morning. Sorry. But take my word for it--he got a hair cut and looks quite handsome.)

School books--just a sampling. :)

It always surprises me that regardless of how much planning time I put into the home school year, it is always immediately apparent that some adjustments are needed. I'm adding in a first grader this year (Audrey's kindergarten year was a little less formal) which has shaken things up a bit as far as scheduling the day goes. I had some time this weekend to reorganize our history schedule, since all of my desire to use a pre-made schedule couldn't make up for the fact that my kids would be much happier (and learn much more) with some minor changes.

Looks more tranquil that it is--imagine leaf blowers, sirens...

Everyone has had a change in math and English, which has prompted Melinda to look for places to do her work that will help her to eliminate stress. The adjustment in English has been small and easy for her, but math has really thrown her for a loop. We are pressing on, however, since I made the change in order to help them adjust to how math is presented in brick & mortar schools (at this point we are planning for Melinda and Andrew to attend Valley Christian next year).

If there is to be a mess, let it be with books.

Andrew has done great with all of his changes. He had a big change in English and Math, but he has adapted well. He is currently reading The Fellowship of the Ring (of his own choice) which is something I've never done...he's almost done and loving it. The thing Andrew has to work the hardest at this year is eliminating careless mistakes in his math, and being responsible in completing all of his work on time.

Audrey made sure to finish her K workbook before moving on.

Audrey is loving school. Every once in a while she sighs about a specific task, but overall she is eager to do more than required. She is speeding through her science and history especially. She loves being read to and loves having a schedule just like the big kids.

Did I mention I'm actually doing better at cooking too?

As far as organization goes, I'm using a method similar to what I used last year: binders with weekly checklist/schedules for the kiddos, schedules for me (used rather loosely) and weekly folders for organizing some of our work. We've been much better about timelines since I've organized them better, and maps are getting done regularly thanks to the Story of the World Activity Guide.

I actually have "Completed Work" binders set up.

All of the kiddos got haircuts before getting pictures taken. Most shocking of all is Andrew's hair cut, since his hair was so long before. What a handsome guy!

End of Summer Garden Update

2010-09-12T12:21:00.001-07:00

Before I jump into planning a fall garden, I thought I'd do a final update on this year's gardening adventure. There have been some things that have done great and some that haven't, but I've learned so much overall that I can't help but be pleased.

One major thing I've learned: this place could make a full-time gardener feel worn out...there's SO much to be done!

I've cleaned up the herb garden, and even half empty it is better than the ivy that was living there last year (and which, I am pleased to say, has not tried to make a comeback.)

The pineapple basil really took off. I cut it back some, but it's still big, and now it's flowering too.

Tarragon, boxwood basil, lemon thyme, cinnamon basil:

The artichoke plant was done for the season, so I cut it all the way down, layered compost over it, and already it is getting ready for the next go round.

Outside of the herb garden, I am still harvesting tomatoes, the basil and flat leaf parsley are thriving, my bell peppers have hung in there, and some of my melons are still attempting to grow--although they have struggled all season long. Soon I'll be giving these raised beds a layer of compost and getting them ready for some peas, carrots, and lettuce.

My little chipper shredder made starting new compost pile a breeze. Finished compost is really an amazing thing.

Oh, and a new discovery! My little baby apple tree has one little apple on it! Yay!

Toothless Grin

2010-09-10T19:19:00.001-07:00

Wish I had on video how this brave little girl ripped her wobbly tooth out of her mouth--it was amazing! There's no doubt that my baby is growing up!

End of Summer Update

2010-09-07T21:40:00.001-07:00

I can't seem to keep up on all the little things (ha, see what i did there?) that have happened at the end of our summer, hurtling us back into an undesired regimented existence. Rather than blog blasting (I considered it, believe me, but it seemed tremendously inefficient) I've decided to post and end-of-summer montage.

We went to Chris's cousin's baby shower where Chris got to play poker with all his cousins...it was great to see them all surrounded by their sons: a new generation.

Melinda was beyond excited to go to kids camp, and she had an amazing time. Here's a pic of her with her counselor, and one of Audrey with all the luggage ready to be loaded onto the busses.

Audrey had a ton of catch-up dental work done, and did a fabulous job throughout it all. I'm glad we made the decision to pay a little extra for a great children's dentist.

We've been car shopping (no success yet) and found out two things. 1.) Some headrests are quite uncomfortable. 2.) Melinda has just about perfected her goofy facial expressions.

We've had blankie emergencies: this poor thing has been loved hard and well. I'm not real sure how much longer I can keep patching it up! I crocheted another preventative border around it, to which Audrey declared "This makes Blank feel so much better." I don't think she was talking about the blanket's texture, either.

And, we found out that when on the roof of a hotel in downtown Los Angeles, boxed water is better.

Never fear, back-to-school and fall garden posts are on their way, now that I have the tidbits taken care of.

Tea Party

2010-08-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

I walked into my bedroom last night, and saw that there was a tea party going on...I love kids with some imagination.

Whaaa?? Summer is Over??

2010-08-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

I just realized that next week is my last week to prepare for the school year! Talk about stress inducing! This is what my office looked like AFTER I cleaned:

Obviously I don't yet have it all together...school is still being planned and books are still being corralled, last minute curriculum decisions are still being made. The view from the spot on the floor where I sit shows my monstrous binders of instructor's guides and student's work ready to be plowed through, as well as the hefty To-Do List I'm trying to make my way through.

Yes, my mad procrastination skills have been put to good use, (you should see the stack of books I still need to schedule and pre-read!) but at least my aquarium got set up in the process:

Now I just need to convince my procrastination skills to give way to my organization skills, and all will be well. And if I can add some discipline and schedules into the mix, I'll be all set!

Upon Our Return

2010-08-10T18:39:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd provide a snapshot of our garden on returning from our vacation. It fared remarkably better than it did last year, (though in need of some TLC) with the only casualty being the butternut squash:

We didn't arrive too late to harvest tomatoes, and we ended up pulling the corn off the stalks because they looked like they were dying...funny looking little things:

Our bell peppers and melons are still growing, though they are small.

It's been a great first gardening year. We've discovered that we need to plant much more than we did in order to get the harvest we were thinking of. Also, a drip system would be fabulous. I'm ready to start planning my fall garden!

Good Things to Fill the Time

2010-08-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

Our time in Tahoe is coming to an end, and there is still so much I want to do! Everyone else is about ready to get on with life, though. Timothy misses his friends, Andrew misses his computer, Melinda misses her hamster.

I have loved being able to organize the house and finish a great many projects, such as adapting some of my skirts to fit the girls, and making pillows.

I even taught Audrey how to sew! She is an incredibly fast learner, and is already doing every step (including the ironing) by herself.

We took the kids to the Amador County Fair, site of JoshuaFest 2010, and enjoyed the horses, alpacas (?) and hand crafts.

(where are my boys in all these pictures?? They are much less enthusiastic photography subjects.)

In a few short days we will be back in So.Cal. and ready to be done with driving for a while...unless it's to head back up here!

Very Much, Thank You

2010-07-26T00:10:00.000-07:00

We ARE enjoying Tahoe! The summers here just can't be beat: warm in the sun, cool in the shade; cool star-filled nights; startling blue skies and animated clouds; refreshing afternoon thunderstorms; constant wildlife sightings; streams, lakes, trees and mountains; and the blissful absence of sirens. There is something magical about these mountains.

Exploratorium

2010-07-22T12:36:00.001-07:00

It has to be the busiest week at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, but is that any reason not to go? We made a detour on our way to Tahoe, allowing Chris to attend a business meeting and the kids the experience the Exploratorium. It had been YEARS since we'd been, but it was still the educational, engrossing, exhausting day I remembered.

The drive wasn't so bad (don't let the grumpy face fool you.)

Melinda was thrilled with The Palace Hotel and the free jam that came with breakfast (even though the room service guy was convinced she was speaking a different language.)

Once we got to the exploratorium, the kids were instantly hooked.

They discovered a new use for a traffic cone.

They even did some things all together.

They all enjoyed the exhibits, even if the crowds were stressful at times. Andrew especially was hungry to see and understand everything. We contributed to SF rush hour traffic, but still made it home (to Tahoe) before 10:30 or so. Feels so good to be home!

Left Behind

2010-07-19T17:48:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we go on vacation for two weeks or so. Here's a peek at what we are leaving behind:

Not quit ready heirloom tomatoes:

Roma tomatoes: (some of those are coming along with us)

Cantaloupe:

Watermelon:

Butternut Squash:

Cucumber:

Corn:

Bell Peppers:

Basil that has valiantly withstood the grasshoppers:

What will we have when we get back? I don't know, but hopefully more than we have now. We'll see!

Quote of the Day

2010-07-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

"I can't wait until I like sour cream and guacamole."
--Andrew

A Weekend in Napa

2010-07-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

For our anniversary this year, Chris and I drove up to Napa (which took longer than it should have) and spent the weekend enjoying good food and good wine in beautiful surroundings. It was my first time there--I enjoyed it very much! Can't wait to go back. Here's the proof:

Hey Dad! Look What I Got!

2010-07-03T16:36:00.001-07:00

Are you worried?

A Trip to Urgent Care

2010-06-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Today Audrey earned for herself the honor of becoming the first of my children to get stitches! Poor sweet girl! She was goofing around with Melinda and then her feet disappeared (this is my hypothesis on why she falls so often) and she landed on her chin.

For being all wide and gaping and scary looking, it actually didn't bleed much. But there was no way a band-aid was fixing that boo-boo...off to Urgent Care we flew!

All said and done, it was a 3 hour event. Mostly waiting of course. The worst part was the three shots to numb the area, but Audrey did very well. She never once cried. When I told her she was brave, she admitted she was scared. I told her that being brave doesn't mean you aren't scared, it just means that you do it anyway--even if you are scared. And she did it! What a brave girl!

Time for a Friendly Garden Update

2010-06-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

Finally, it seems like things are starting to grow! Even though I don't have any red tomatoes yet, I finally see the promise of harvest.

My artichoke plant has just skyrocketed. I have somewhere around a dozen artichokes growing!

I think the center artichoke is about needing to be harvested. It's hard to know, not ever having grown artichokes before, but everything I read says to harvest while before they open up too much. (Artichokes belong to the thistle family, and the artichoke itself is the flower.)

My poor green beans need to be harvested. The plants haven't really thrived where I planted them--I'll be looking for a new location next time around.

The corn is still growing strong, and is finally developing fruit as well:

I have one fat cucumber...how do you know when to pick these things? Do they just keep growing forever?

Here's my biggest bell pepper, it's maybe 2" in diameter. Purty cute.

And lastly my tomatoes...the Roma tomatoes seem to be doing the best as far as the actual fruit goes:

And my heirloom tomatoes have finally decided to show some fruit as well. I have three varieties of heirlooms: Black Krim, Mr. Stripey, and Pineapple. The Black Krim has had a bit of a hard time getting established, although there is one little tomato on it finally (no pictures of that one, sorry). The Mr. Stripey seems to be doing well all around. Here's some of the little tomatoes on it right now:

The Pineapple variety is doing pretty good, although the plant itself has a couple of issues. The baby tomatoes are sure cute though:

My peas are mostly sun-scorched (need to find a shadier place for those little guys) and I don't have any melons growing yet. All in good time, the weather here is still solidly in the low to mid 70s. I do have some blueberries ripening that the critters haven't seemed to have discovered yet...unlike the strawberries which I am apparently growing for the exclusive enjoyment of squirrels.

A Week Without my Boys

2010-06-20T13:16:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness this week is coming to an end! I've been without my boys for far too long. Although we girls have kept busy, life just isn't the same with my man and my little men. While they were in the BVI (British Virgin Islands) on a sailboat, getting another stamp in their passports and getting tan (well, maybe not Andrew) we have been holding down the house here in So. Cal.

But like I said, we have kept busy. We:

had a friend of Melinda's stay the night for the first two nights
had a lovely dinner at the grandparents-around-the-corner's house
went to church (and will go again tonight)
ate dinner at Mimi's Cafe
went to Yogurtland
painted our toenails
slept in
bought new movies to watch over and over
had a day out: the girls with TuTu watching Marmaduke, me at CostPlus
went shopping for craft supplies
bought audio books and headphones
had a shake at Ruby's
weeded and gardened
read and cooked

I'm sure there was more. I made a lot of progress on my book blog, and did some writing as well. I didn't keep up on my exercise (oops) nor did I get any quilting done (drat) but it was difficult, what with concentrating on making it through the week and all. Well, I can sigh with relief and get on with my life because my hunny will be home soon. *sigh*

Homeschooling: A Year in Review

2010-06-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

This school year has been a difficult one for me, due to a lack of solid preparation in the curricula/planning department, combined with an unplanned move that left me mentally swamped for the first half of the school year. Those things have definitely colored our year, but will hopefully affect next year in a positive manner. Generally speaking, we had such a great time with WinterPromise's American Story 2 last year that I switched almost everything over to WP this year, which didn't work out so well. Item by item, here's the deal:

HISTORY: I chose WinterPromise Quest for the Ancient World for history because the age range was right (4th-6th grade), it covered the right time period (Ancient History only), WinterPromise was great for us last year with American Story 2, and the spine, Mystery of History, looked great. In the end, we loved the Illustrated Family Bible and had fun with the Hieroglyphics Treasure Chest but the large majority of the program just didn't work well for us. Mystery of History, although I loved it, bored the kids to tears. In retrospect, it would have worked better if I'd pre-read each weeks lessons and taught it in my own words instead of reading the lesson together...if I'd had the time and mental where-with-all. Overall, it lacked the variety of non-fiction books that we loved in American Story 2, and that--combined with difficulty in organization and implementation (separate schedules for the students, notebooking pages)--made it less enjoyable. I realized that it was those NF books (rather than all the hands-on craft type things that WinterPromise is known for) and the website/dvd suggestions that I really liked about WinterPromise last year. I will probably use it again at some point, but not next year. [next year: SL Core 2 and K, Oh California, miscellaneous additional books, as well as geography study]

LITERATURE: Really, nothing beats Sonlight for great literature. We used much of the first half of Core 6, and all of Core P4/5 and loved most of it. We will absolutely continue with Sonlight. [next year: second half of Core 6, all of Core 2, Readers 2 Advanced, Core K, various beginning readers]

LANGUAGE ARTS: Whew. I don't know if I'm ready to talk about this one!
--Audrey started the year using McRuffy Language Arts K. She enjoyed the different workbook pages until they started getting repetitive, and enjoys the readers for the most part. We discontinued using it because too many words were popping up in the readers that didn't follow the rules she was learning. Also, some things seemed to be taught in an illogical order towards the end of the program. [next year: Phonics Pathways, Writing With Ease 1, Handwriting Without Tears 1]
--I started Andrew and Melinda out using WinterPromise's Language Arts, hoping that using WP for history as well as language would streamline our day. There were, however, too many frustrations with unexplained topics, and we quickly reconfigured our language curricula choices. Next year we are trying something completely different.
--Andrew, for most of the year, used Junior Analytical Grammar, which I loved for it's logical progression and simplicity, but Andrew felt it to be complicated and difficult. He used IEW's writing lessons for a while, but then we switched to Wordsmith Apprentice, which he seems to tolerate better. That boy just doesn't like writing! He also used Words are Wonderful for vocabulary which was fine, bordering on busy-work. SpellWell for spelling--I like their word lists, but don't know that the execution worked so well for Andrew. [next year: Character Quality Language Arts]
--Melinda also used Junior Analytical Grammar, and it went over her head sooner than Andrew's. She used Just Write for writing, and All About Spelling (the most amazing spelling program ever). [next year: perhaps/probaby Character Quality Language Arts]

MATH: Andrew and Melinda used Math-U-See, which I have been very happy with. It presents everything in such a logical, sequential way that they don't struggle with the concepts at all. Towards the end of the year, when I realized that they could use a little more drill/refresher on the basics, I started having them do Math Minutes as well. Audrey has used RightStart as her base, which is a GREAT program, and added in Horizons and Math-U-See because she can't get enough. [next year, continuing Math-U-See and RightStart, undecided on supplemental program]

SCIENCE: We started out with WinterPromise Rock Around the Earth, which I was really excited about...until we started. I was very interested to learn more about the earth and geology with the kids, but this program was BORING. I tried to stick with it for quite a while, and then ended up switching to Sonlight Science 2 and 4, which has worked out great. [next year: finish Sonlight Science 2, 4, and K, then undecided]

ELECTIVES: This year we learned how to play Chess with WinterPromise, and Piano with Pianimals and Bastien. All worked pretty good (Pianimals is great--highly recommended, especially for young beginners) and we will be continuing with piano lessons next year, adding Audrey in. [next year: at least piano, health, art]

All in all, next year I am going to attempt to streamline Language Arts, focus on math and writing instead of history and grammar, reduce stress with a better routine/schedule, and lighten up the year with unit-sized electives and interest based science.

Swirling Bits of Randomness

2010-06-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

At night, as I'm sleeping, my brain keeps churning thoughts. Normal, right? Isn't that what dreaming is all about? Well, often--instead of dreams--I end up with an interesting platter of random thoughts awaiting me in the morning. What I can't figure out is if those random thoughts are actually interesting, or if I only think they are because I've been asleep for the last eight hours and therefore am no judge as to what is interesting and what is not. Today I've decided to publish those unfiltered thoughts (scary!) so I can look back at them this afternoon and judge with an awake, rational mind. I may be posting an apology later today...or deleting a post! And with that, I'll let you be the judge. This is what was on the platter this morning:

As I was pouring out the last quarter of my perfectly-good-first-cup-of-coffee this morning and making myself a new, hot, fresh, steaming cup in its stead, I thought of my brother Matthew (who has admitted that he does--or would like to do--the same thing.) I love you, Matthew! (...and everyone else too, of course, but I'm only halfway through my coffee and not up to snuff on my equal opportunity-ness...)

One of the teachers in Audrey's Children's Church class is named Mr. Kirk. Audrey used to think his name was Mr. Curve. The funny thing is, the second name makes more sense to her. She can't understand why somebody would be called Mr. Kirk.

Raccoons walking on a roof in the middle of the night sound abnormally large and ominous to whomever happens to be sitting under that roof. Said noise is made even creepier if that person is alone with a black cat in said room, in the middle of an enormous city where raccoons ought not to exist.

I am sitting on the couch with my coffee. I have random piles of books around me. 13 books within reach, to be exact. At least 8 of those books are books that I want to read, at least 5 of them I am actually in the middle of reading, and what am I doing? Sitting with my laptop, typing out randomness. I even procrastinate the fun stuff. Geez.

If you need to do a quick job of picking up the house in anticipation of guests, (notice I'm assuming that everyone else procrastinates and doesn't do it on a continual/daily basis,) where do you begin? The room that everyone sees when they first walk in the house? The room where people will be spending the most time? The room that's the cleanest? Messiest? Can you guess where I start? Well let me just say that if you pick up the cleanest rooms first, you can cross off an amazing amount of spaces off your list in an amazingly short amount of time. I got a full 1/3 of my house picked up before I finished (dumped) my first cup of coffee! (Do you like the positive spin on that? Do you think that procrastination necessitates optimism?)

All right, all right, my 2nd cup of coffee is kicking in. Off to write grocery lists and wash towels and get on with my day. And, eventually, to get the messiest 2/3 of my house picked up.

Happy 6th Birthday, Audrey!

2010-06-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

'Tis the season of birthdays around our house! This week Audrey turned six--a big deal for her since it indicates many changes:

She is actually physically bigger. All of a sudden.
She has passed the point of being legally required to use a car seat.
She has decided to relegate her blankie to bedroom use only.
She has been initiated into the world of hair straightening procedures.
She had a friend [cousin] spend the night for the first time ever.
She has become the first--and only--of our children to have a bounce house for their party.

Her best friend [cousin] has very straight hair, which made Audrey want to turn her very curly hair into very straight hair. It worked well, although her hair wasn't convinced it should remain straight for too long. Good thing I took a picture quickly! It's amazing how much longer her hair looks when it is straight.

Audrey had a barbecue/pool/bounce house birthday party two days before her actual birthday. What do you think was barbecued? Ribs, of course!

When I asked Audrey what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, she knew immediately. She described the Claim Jumper Seven Layer Cake, but with chocolate dipped strawberries instead of nuts. There was no way on earth I was going to buy a 7-layer cake for $110 that serves 40 people! So I made a Mel-o-Version instead. Three layers is plenty, thankyouverymuch.

Blowing out the candles:

Melinda created a couple of games for the kids to play, including her very own tape-the-tail-on-the-donkey. What a great little hostess Melinda is!

Opening gifts:

What a joy Audrey is to have! We love you!

Creating an Herb Garden

2010-06-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

The first project that I undertook at our new house was pulling out a patch of ivy and turning it into an herb garden. Ivy is not one of my favorite plants. A bed of ivy brings to mind spiders, snails, and rodents at the very least. Likewise, removing ivy is not one of my favorite gardening chores. I started removing it early in the year in order to have time enough for amending and planting before the year got too warm. Good idea, right? Right. Except if the soil you are pulling the ivy out of happens to be like clay, and the weather you are working in happens to be rainy. So, with the help of my gardeners (who don't enjoy ripping ivy out of mud either) I got rid of the ivy...and the old stump it was covering up.

With all the ivy out, I set about the arduous task of removing roots from clay, and trying not to look at all the poor worms I chopped in half with my shovel. I had been planning on planting a small fruit tree in the center of the space to anchor it, but as I started digging up roots I realized that 12"-18" beneath the dirt was concrete. So plan B was to find something else with some height but without the root system of a tree: enter the artichoke. After adding a few bags of compost to the soil, I tired out and gave up. On with the hardscaping: a simple round raised bed (put together with extra cement pieces and bricks and filled with potting soil) and some slate tiles for stepping stones.

Meanwhile, I started some sunflowers from seed. I've always had a horrible time with spacing seeds far enough apart, and an even worse time at thinning [killing] some of the precious baby plants, so all of these got replanted eventually, and I now have a small sunflower forest in my herb garden.

I happened to find a blueberry bush at my garden center and snatched it up without even thinking about the poor thing's needs. I assumed that if it was being sold near me, it'd be suited to my weather. That, I'm afraid, will remain to be seen after a few seasons pass, but as of now it is doing quite well. The leaves have some beautiful coloring. I ending up sinking a pot into the ground and filling it with it's own specialized blend of soil. From what I've read, this pot should be sufficient for it's root system even when mature. And (SHHH!) I've already eaten a blueberry. DON'T TELL MY KIDS!

The herb garden is now basically complete. Apart from the artichoke, blueberries and sunflowers, we also have cilantro, boxwood basil, cinnamon basil, chives, thyme, lemon thyme, marjoram, tarragon, sage, pineapple sage, and oregano (regular sweet basil is back in the garden) in addition to 3 types of lavendar, and some marigolds, cosmos and snapdragons filling in some extra space for now.

Here's a view from the other side:

I do still need to do some weeding and mulching, but everything seems to be pretty happy right now. The artichoke has grown like gangbusters, even with the grasshoppers and snails ganging up on it. Today, actually, I uncovered an amazing treat, a baby artichoke!

Couch to 5K via the Healing Powers of God

2010-05-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

Hearing God's voice is much like hearing other voices--except that it may perhaps be occasionally easier to ignore. First, you must have a open, working relationship with God, just like with any other person. If somebody that I don't know--in Illinois or the next town over--is talking, you can bet I won't hear them. If, however, I do know the person, and have an open, working phone connection with them, my chances are much better at hearing what they have to say. Second, listening takes practice. You must force your thoughts to quiet down and focus your mind on trying to hear what is being said rather than what you think is being said. Third, follow the instructions given by all-knowing shampoo bottles: wash, rinse, repeat--in other words, practice makes perfect, or try, try again. Try to be open to talking and hearing from God even in the off moments. This is part of trying to adapt to God's timetable rather than trying to make Him accommodate yours.
   One year ago I had just gotten the results from a blood test that confirmed what I had been suspecting: my thyroid levels were very low. The thyroid gland produces the hormone that controls how your body uses energy, and hypothyroidism (low thyroid) is something that is solved by taking medication for the rest of your life. I had hoped that my low energy level could be changed by exercising more, but that would only leave me so exhausted that I could hardly get up off the couch the rest of the day. I felt defeated and hopeless; I didn't want to be on medication.
   One year ago, while I was in the process of procrastinating talking to my doctor about medication, my church was devoting a month to teaching about healing. It was great teaching. I learned that the bible clearly shows that God wants us to be whole and healed. I learned how important it is to make sure that you take care of any unforgiveness and/or bitterness in your self before really trying to talk to and hear God. It was a great month for learning stuff, I tell you! During one service, the thought of my thyroid completely out of my mind, I was praying for other people's healing needs. As I was praying I heard God say "Your thyroid is healed." Just that, nothing more. I was surprised, you can be sure, but I immediately started thanking God for the unexpected blessing.
   I knew my thyroid was healed, but I had no idea when my symptoms might change so I immediately went back to the task of procrastinating my doctor's visit (a.k.a. trying to forget I needed to do so in the first place.) Two weeks later it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't had a single exhausting day since God spoke those four words to me. My previous normal had been to alternate tired days with exhausted days, now my normal was consistent moderate energy. Unheard of.
   To date, a year later, I still haven't had a single bit of exhaustion like before. While I still haven't gotten into the doctor, (I'm really good at procrastinating) I know without a doubt that my situation is completely different. For the first time I can understand what people mean when they say "I hate exercising but I feel so good afterwards". I am able to do what was impossible before: run and not be weary, walk and not faint.
   Today I moved onto week 4 of the Couch to 5K workout and felt great afterwards (run 3min, walk 1:30, run 5min, walk 2:30, repeat). I would never have guessed that I could enjoy exercise. I am very thankful that I serve a God who cares about me and what I really need. That He cares for each one of us so much just amazes me. If you want someone to truly understand you, earnestly care for you, encourage and support you and never let you down, He's the one to go to.

Garden Update: Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

I love watching plants grow, and edibles are especially exciting--with the hope of getting to enjoy fresh produce day after day, who wouldn't want to go check on the little guys several times a day?

The corn is growing, steady and strong:

The zucchini, cucumber, cantaloupe, and tomatoes are flowering:

The quickly growing green beans and the slightly slower bell pepper are fruiting:

The radishes (and peas, carrots, arugula and green onions) have sprouted and the lettuce is still hanging in there (I'm really enjoying this New Red Fire variety):

I'm consistently harvesting lettuce and basil, which both seem to be growing well. I had replanted many plants after reading the Square Foot Gardening book, in order to give them a bit more room to grow. This is really the first year that I've done a full garden like this, and so far I'm having a lot of fun with it. I love seeing the progression of the plants.

Happy 14th Birthday Timothy!

2010-05-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

Timothy turned 14 this week. On his birthday we took him out for dinner. He ate sushi, I did not: we were both happy. Back at home, we had Key Lime Pie and rainbow sherbet for dessert.

Timothy will be in high school next year, no turning back now! (as if there were before)

MISSING

2010-05-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

MISSING:

POOL GUY AND EQUIPMENT

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR POOL GUY?

Last seen in March, 2010 removing the sweeper from the pool, supposedly for the purpose of replacing a part.

MISSING IN ACTION!

ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE!!

IMPORTANT! POOL HAS BECOME AN UNSIGHTLY GREEN SWAMPY COLOR AGAINST OUR WILL AND EFFORT, AND NEEDS PROFESSIONAL CARE.

IF YOU HAVE SEEN OUR POOL GUY, OR THE POOL SWEEPER, PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY!

REWARD!

MONTHLY MONETARY AWARD GLADLY GIVEN FOR THE RETURN OF MISSING POOL GUY OR TO THE SUPPLYING OF A NEW, QUALIFIED POOL GUY

Payable directly to the pool guy/gal. Any other monetary arrangements must be made directly between the pool guy/gal and yourself, monthly amount to be determined upon first meeting with said pool person. First come, first serve. Only one needed, if it's a good one.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

2010-05-06T18:26:00.000-07:00

How does your garden grow? In containers? In raised beds? In nice evenly spaced rows?

I think I finally have the majority of my garden going for the year, which is no small feat, I assure you. We moved into our new house at the beginning of the year, and the problem isn't lack of available space as much as it is lack of intense sunshine in the right spot. I started by deciding to clear some ivy in front of the house to make way for herbs and the like, a project which is still in progress and will have to wait to be featured in another blog post. I finally decided on raised beds, because my experience with the ivy patch showed me that clay is not fun to garden with, and because I was impressed with my brother's square foot garden. I considered attempting to make the frames for the raised beds (how hard could it be?) but decided against it (good decision) when my step-mummy-dearest-in-law told me that my local garden center had kits for sale (hurrah!). Audrey helped me put them together, and I was on my way.

I was happy to find the right mix of soil prepackaged for me, so at least there was no guesswork there.

Here are the two beds:

Many times since buying my veggie plants I've wished that I'd read the book about Square Foot Gardening instead of being so rushed and impatient that I simply scanned the website and talked to my brother a couple of times. The premise is fairly simple, but I found myself at a loss when trying to figure out exactly how many plants I could reasonably plant in each square. I actually might still buy it (I thought about requesting it on PaperBackSwap, but the wait list is almost 800 people long!) so that I know what I should actually be doing next year (oh, now look. I've gone and made myself feel guilty and ordered the book already. It wasn't so hard after all). I ended up deciding to put plants requiring a ton of space on the corners, hoping that they won't mind spilling over all the edges.

This the bed on the right. I've put corn in the back row (something I know nothing about growing but kids HAD to have it). In the 2nd row there is watermelon on the sides, and dwarf peas in the center which were grown from seed. The 3rd row has a cherry tomato, lettuces, and a cantaloupe. The front row is zucchini, more lettuces, and cucumber (don't you just love saying "lettuces"?) The peas are supposed to grow in more of a bush formation than a vine, although they may need staking at some point.

Close up of the peas. Aren't they cute? I just might like growing things from seed after all (tried to start some herbs indoors which failed miserably, sapping all my enthusiasm for the pastime...so I thought).

This is the bed on the left. In the back row I have tomatoes on the edges, and green beans in the two center squares. The 2nd row has tomatoes on the edges, and the two center squares are more peas (not showing yet). Row #3 is all about peppers: green, yellow, orange and red. The front row has honeydew melon, basil, and a butternut squash.

Okay, now I realize I have an awful lot of vining/wandering plants, and I'll just have to see how that goes. I also realize that among all of those vining/wandering plants I don't have any pumpkin--they will just have to wait for next year! I decided to try staking my tomatoes this year instead of caging them. I'm not too sure how that will go. I am also keeping an eye on the basil, since that didn't do entirely well for me when I tried to grow it in a container last year.

Acknowledgements: I'd like to say thanks to my dad for having gardens when I was growing up and first introducing me to the magic of peas fresh off the vine, also to my mom for making me snap and eat those peas. Matthew, thanks for the square garden idea! I'm excited! Eric, your creativity in gardening, composting, and healthy, responsible eating is always inspiring. Also "Gramps" for his enthusiasm for gardening in the So.Cal. area--glad I'm not the only oddball in the family that just loves to play in the dirt!

Odd Children

2010-05-02T23:18:00.001-07:00

For the last three months, and for the next three weeks, my four children all have odd-numbered ages. 13, 11, 9, and 5. In honor of easy to remember number sequences--albeit for a limited amount of time--here of some photos of my great kiddos.

Timothy, whose highest complement very well may be to say you are "random" and who values uniqueness above many other things, is looking forward to being 14 in three weeks. He is also looking forward to summer vacation with no more schoolwork.

Andrew and Melinda have become very good friends this year, verified by many tears when Andrew went on a two week trip to Papa's and MeMa's house (by Melinda at least, I wasn't witness to Andrew's parting reaction.). This was the scene when we were reunited:

And lil' Audrey was beyond thrilled when her daddy made ribs this weekend; she had been begging for them for months! (Notice how well used her paper towel is!)

Cottonwood, Kidz, and Communion

2010-04-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

Recently I haven't been blogging much, although it's not for a lack of things happening or thoughts in my head; rather, I just haven't had the time to fish the words out of the clouds in my head and pin them down on virtual paper. I am going to attempt to remedy that, beginning now. I have gardening pictures, and kid quotes, and book club thoughts to share, but today I want to talk about church.

Last Sunday I was--to quote Chris (my husband)--"recruited for the military". Said in the most admiring and respectful terms, of course, and meaning that I'd volunteered to help in our church's children's ministry (Real Kidz). I am planning on holding babies rather than teaching older kids, because I figure that I have built up patience in the baby arena. It has been years since I've been in those particular trenches, (those of spit-up and crying and diapers) and have no plans to jump into them again, therefore I figure it's a great opportunity for me to be able to provide some temporary relief to those who are still in the middle of it. Chris' comment reminded me of a song from Sunday School (good memories!):

I may never march in the infantry,

ride in the calvary,

shoot the artillery,

I may never fly over the enemy,

but I'm in the Lord's army.

Yes Sir!

Last Sunday we also took Communion. I really try to focus when it's Communion time; it's so easy for my mind to wander, and it's not something I want to do mindlessly. I started wondering about the exercise of taking Communion, and what it really means. I realize that I am most likely stumbling into an ancient and well-educated theological argument here, but 'oh well' and 'too bad'--here I go!

Looking at Communion from one small perspective, certainly not all-encompassing, I found myself relating it to physical exercise. When exercising your physical body, the act of mental concentration on specific muscles actually helps to work those muscles more. It's amazing to me that focusing your thoughts can result in a better workout. So then, in Communion, when we take the time to focus and concentrate on what action is taking place, is not the effect greater there too? In fact, Jesus even said to "do this in remembrance of me" which to me says that he wants us to put the effort in to remember and think about what we are doing, rather than just doing it...possibly suggesting a different outcome when you do.

The question then is, what action is taking place when we take Communion? I'm sure there are many answers and opinions on this, but what came to me is that the bread and drink represent his body and blood. His perfect, sinless body and blood. A picture springs to my mind of his perfect blood cells, healthy and pure, joining with my flawed self, making mine that much more pure, that much more strong. If the act of consciously taking Communion, of putting the effort into focusing on what God does for us, can make the outcome of this joining bond more effective, then you can be certain that I will be doing my part to make it happen. Whatever the action is that's occurring, if Jesus said to do it with remembrance I'm fairly confidant that it would be a good thing to do so. :-)

--Melody

Make Way For Ducklings

2010-04-18T12:03:00.001-07:00

One of the fun things about Southern California is its amazing ability to support year-round gardening. One of the fun things about our new house is the amazing amount of gardening to be done. Endless possibilities here, people!

Recently my girls and I were weeding and watering when a very flustered bird erupted from the nearby peaceful foliage. I didn't get a good look at the bird, but figured it was a dove or some other fairly common bird around these parts, and we continued with our weeding. About a week later, our cat happened to expell this same bird from the same area of our yard, and this time the bird stuck around long enough for a quick pic:

It was a momma duck! We had seen a pair of ducks by our pool a month or two prior, but no sign of them since. After the duck flew off I carefully, gently, and unobtrusively explored the area where she had flown from and found this:

A nest of around eight eggs, the size of large chicken eggs, nestled in the greenery. The miracle of life just never gets old, and this was amazing to see. In the interest of the little ducklings I didn't tell my children about them (they would love them--possibly to death) until a couple of weeks later when we returned from Tahoe after Easter break, and discovered the nest to be empty apart from some broken, empty, crushed eggshells. I am hoping they hatched and grew, and nothing bad happened...but mostly I'm just thankful I got share a little in this amazing process.

Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming...

2010-04-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

...from tender stem hath sprung...

I have had adverse feelings towards roses ever since, as a child, I enthusiastically volunteered to help weed my grandmother's rose garden. I was bored, and took the bait to earn a little money by yanking out the undesirables. I went after those weeds full force, determined to get every minute piece of greenery that dared to peep up from the compact soil. Proud of how good a job I was doing, exhausted by the work, and sizzling in the sun, I stood back to admire my work and was crushed to find that all my energy resulted in only 1/164th of the rose garden being complete. I lost my motivation instantly, (and, as it turned out, any hope of making money, for who would pay for such a minuscule amount of help?) Instead of this coloring my opinion of gardening in general, my animosity was reserved--in a dark corner of my heart--for roses alone. I decided they were not so handsome after all; quite ill favored. So bare! So typical!

Imagine my chagrin, then, when I discovered how many roses I had inherited with the purchase of our new house. Rose arbors, rose trellises, rose bushes, rose trees, miniature roses, gargantuan roses, (ROUS's...Roses Of Unusual Size,) roses of pink, orange, yellow, red, white...roses, roses, roses.

And then Spring sprung. As did the roses. And I'd be remiss if I didn't admit how wonderfully beautiful they are. Blooms everywhere, of so many kinds and colors, as to please me exceedingly. Please, know that you are welcome to stop and smell the flowers.

Introducing Audrey

2010-04-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

The truth is that recently I have no inspiration for blogging about anything other than books, so I am going to turn this post over to one of my budding creative geniouses. Introducing my 5 (and a half) year old: Audrey. She loves to create songs, games, and stories, as well as take pictures.

For example, there is no reason whatsoever that her horsie cannot play chess with her:

Or that her teddy bear, Georgia, cannot read stories:

Or that a five year-old cannot take amazingly artistic photos:

My heart goes pitter-patter...what creativity! I think it's time to print some photos and go frame shopping.

How Jane Austen Improved My Eyesight

2010-03-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

When I turned 25 I decided to start keeping track of the books I'd read. I made this decision for two reasons.

First, because I was pregnant with my third child and had realized that children do indeed suck the brain cells right out of your head, leaving you unable to remember the color of the sky let alone which books you had or had not read.

Second, because I had goals. When I told my brother that I was planning on getting 50 books read each year, he looked at me and said, "That's like one a week." No doubt he was at that moment picturing the lack of brain cells left in my head.

Nevertheless, I have records to prove that I did pretty good on those goals, and averaged reading about 45 books a year until my 4th child arrived on the scene. How many books did I read that year, you may ask. Well, the first 6 months I read a grand total of 3 small books. The Whole Next Year I read a total of 7 books, and it was only that many because I was on vacation for a whole week that year. One of those books just happened to be Pride and Prejudice. The next year I read 10 books; one of them was Persuasion. The year after that I read Sense and Sensibility, and reread Persuasion (along with 28 other books.) Jane Austen awoke a new appreciation for literature in me.

In 2008 I decided to attempt the 888 challenge: read 8 books in each of 8 different categories, and while I didn't reach that goal (I'm no good at reading only books on a preset list, I'm much more of an impulsive reader) I did manage to read 110 books that year. Admittedly, many of those books were junior fiction books that I read to (or because of) my children, but if you've read any number of Sonlight books you'll agree that they are nothing to be sniffed at. Oh, and there was more Jane Austen, of course.

Okay, so enough about Jane Austen and onto my eyesight. I got glasses when I was in 5th grade because the chalkboard at school was looking blurry all of a sudden. My eyesight worsened incrementally into my teens, and then remained the same until last year. In September my contacts were all of a sudden feeling very strong, so I went to the optometrist. My prescription had changed from -2.75 to -2.0. The doctor wasn't too concerned, she said that it happens sometimes.

In January of this year I started getting headaches, and then realized that they disappeared when I took my glasses off, and reappeared when I put them back on. So this week I finally got back into the optometrist. My prescription is now -1.5. The doctor looked at me quite skeptically, as if I was trying to pull one over on her. She repeatedly asked me if I'd been using the computer a lot more recently. I kept telling her I hadn't, but that I had been reading a lot more in the last few years than in the years previously...she told me that all that reading could be improving my eyesight.

So, do I thank Jane Austen? Maybe Sonlight for all the amazing Historical Fiction? Maybe God for an answer to prayer? Heredity? All 4? Other ideas? Maybe it's the fact that the brain cell suckage has even out to a slow steady pace. I don't know, but it sure is a nice change.