Our Boy and His Cricket

Waiting

2012-01-25T12:12:00.000-05:00

Each morning I open my eyes to the deep darkness that shrouds the world outside my window and as my eyes flutter back and forth between awareness and slumber, I pray for the day ahead. I find myself dozing again as I utter a prayer for my family then am brought back to the new day ahead of me and I jump out of bed and begin what God has already planned for me.

Once I get the guys off to school and work I find myself once again sitting in the quiet of the morning and am surrounded by the darkness outside. With bible in hand I begin my morning until a small voice beckons me from upstairs...."mommmmmmy I need you". While I may not have been able to finish a single verse some mornings, I close the book and eagerly run upstairs to my waiting bit of sunshine who's burried under the covers of my bed. My daughter sleepily looks at me and says, "it's a new day mommy!" and I crawl back under the covers with her and we wait.

We wait in the fading darkness and watch the colors outside emerge in the sky. These moments are always full of the same questions...Where is the purple? Where is the pink? Why hasn't the orange and yellow come out yet. And I reply..."just wait my sweet." So we wait. We snuggle. We talk about the day ahead. We close our eyes and open them a few minutes later to see how the sky has changed. The blackness is suddenly replaced with dark blues and the beginnings of purples. The trees are turning green and we see the beginnings of life awakening in them. We laugh at the things we find silly and pull the covers over our heads to bring back the darkness and then throw them back to see what changes have happened in the lightening sky outside. There's the beginnings of pink and yellow now. There is always awe in her face. "Where'd the moon go mommy?", she asks and I reply, "to China and they are sending us the sun right now."

Finally we see the deep color of yellow flittering through the tree tops and jump out of bed to not only begin our day but to watch the finale of the sunrise downstair where we have a better view of what's being written in the sky. The sky is now that baby pale blue...the blue of a new day...one of sunshine with no grey rain....one of freshness. Looking out the window at the bottom of the stairs we see the glow of the sun rising over the hill and the white or sometimes vibrant pink or orange trails from planes flying above. There's always the comment, "God is writing in the sky mommy!!" Yes darling He is. We watch quietly for a few moments until the sky is full of the sun and just gaze outside the window...she full of wonder and me full of prayers of thanks for His beauty and the blessings He's bestowed upon me.

Fun moments with daddy...

2012-01-21T12:59:00.000-05:00

Life is full of fun times and joyful moments to savor.

Bye, bye diapers!

2012-01-18T08:33:00.001-05:00

My sweet girl,

Well it seems you've decided that diapers are not something you want to add to your attire anymore! You woke up two weeks ago yesterday and told me, "No diapers mommy!" Of course I took that statement and ran with it! As hard as I've tried these last few months, you just weren't ready until it became your idea and low and behold you finally thought it was time you made the choice. :)

We've had fun exploring many public restrooms, which for mommy is not fun especially the state beach bathrooms! But for you I'll search high and low to keep you on your goal of no more diapers. Your favorite public spot so far was Ikea....you were SO excited to see an entire bathroom for YOU! Little potties, little sinks and mirrors down low and of course now you expect all bathrooms to accommodate you. Last Sunday was the first time at Sunday school with no diapers and you did great and you were even more excited to see that the bathroom was just your size there as well!!

I can't believe how quickly you are growing up...going is the baby and in it's place is emerging this sweet little girl who's taking on the world full force!! One of the things that I'll be sad to say goodbye to are your onsies....for me those have always been a staple in my children's lives until potty training starts. So today we will pack them away and put away all the clothes that hinder the path to the potty....Keep up the good work baby girl!! Now don't let drivers training happen too soon!

Love,
Mommy

Knock knock

2012-01-16T12:30:00.000-05:00

Dear J....

Yesterday I watched you knock on the door of a young lady. On our drive over to her house you were quiet and pensive. I'm sure you didn't want me around on this your first outing with a girl let alone go to the door and knock unknowing who'd answer...your friend, her mother or her father. As I sat there and watched you wait for the door to open, I was filled butterflies for you! I wanted to look away but I couldn't until the door opened and there was her dad and I knew then and there you probably wanted to turn and run but you didn't...you shook his hand and walked inside and the door shut behind you. And to be honest I had wet eyes knowing you were nervous as heck!

It may be crazy that I'm writing this down here but I don't want to forget. I don't want to forget that I was proud of you and was impressed that you took it upon yourself to be a brave young man and do what is right when taking a girl out on a date...even if it was just for a cup of coffee at your favorite coffee shop. I also don't want you to forget this moment either. Although you and this young lady may only be friends, you showed her parents that they are sending their daughter out with a responsible young man who puts her first. You not only gave respect to yourself and the girls family, but to your family as well. Thank you!

I'm loving watching this new stage in your life unfold....you fill me with nervous butterflies sometimes but most of all you fill me with pride! Thanks for including us along on your ride. :)

Love,
Mom

Sweet dreams...

2012-01-13T11:10:00.000-05:00

My sweet girl....

Last night I got rock you to sleep and tenderly kiss you goodnight. I know how important it is for you and daddy to do the bed time routine together and how much you look forward to it but let me tell you...when I get a chance to give you your bottle and have you stare into my face as you fall asleep, I just melt a million times over. Last night you didn't complain when I sat in the rocking chair and daddy blew you kisses goodnight as he closed the door behind him. You grabbed your bottle and looked at me as I said prayers of thanks and then you said amen and closed your sweet brown eyes. I must tell you that I dropped a tear or two on your cheek...tears of happiness that you are my daughter.

I love you sweet girl!

Love,
Mommy

The winds are changing

2012-01-11T11:34:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I've been here and honestly it's been a nice break. A needed break to reevaluate this blog and if I want to continue with what it's become. And honestly, I don't. I didn't realize that until I understood the amount of pressure I was feeling from my little space in the world. My little space. My space which has turned into what I feel is not what I had intended it to be six years and 901 posts ago. You see this is the only way I've found to be able to document our lives. I am not a scrapbooker, as hard as I've tried. I am a writer but I only get through about 20 pages of a journal book then I stop. I've started baby books for my children and those books end at about 18 months old. But what has never waned is my blog. It has been my source for sharing special moments. Difficult moments. The growth of my babies and the growth of our family. I don't know exactly why but it has been constant. And something I treasure! I have made life long friends through my blog. I have changed through my blog. I have inspired and been inspired through my blog. I have learned more about life through blogging than I could have ever imagined! I don't want it to end. But I don't want to go forward with what my blog has become for me.

These last few months I've started feeling overwhelmed when I'd sit down to do a post. I worry about offending people. I wonder if it's important. I stress over what others think. I spend more time focusing on the perfect picture then I would on documenting the fact that my daughter has been thriving at Sunday school or that my son got his drivers permit and how these things make me feel as their mother. Instead I chose not to post those moments but to stress myself to no end to go take pictures and post those moments instead...the perfect picture with few words. Now don't get me wrong...I adore photography! I'm passionate about it! But blogging for me is not to showcase my pictures. I blog to give my children a story when I can no longer tell it to them. I blog to savour the memories of special moments and the silly ones too. I want to get back to blogging for my family and my family alone.

So starting today there will be changes. And I am looking forward to it! I am not going to worry about what anyone thinks about me any longer, which is a goal of mine for 2012. I am not going to stress anymore if my pictures are perfect, because I am not a professional, just an over enthusiastic amateur. I am getting rid of the followers button because it's about who I'm following which are my children, not who's following me. I'm not going to worry if my posts are only six sentences long or three pages long, because if something happened that I don't want my kids to forget, I'm going to write it down as best as I can....for my kids.

Life is too short and there is too much between the dash that I want to make sure gets accomplished and someday I'll be gone but my children will be here to continue the story and I want them to know just how important, amazing, inspiring and what treasures my family is to me.

Cookies part two...

2011-12-20T18:01:00.001-05:00

It has been a crazy week! Crazy! Big J had a doctors appointment on Monday and the next thing we knew he was scheduled for an out-patient surgery for Wednesday...as in tomorrow!!! I have been nothing but beyond impressed and SO thankful for the doctors involved. They rock! After tomorrow this whole thing will be a distant memory for Big J and for all of us worried parents. The surgery is very easy and he'll be home hopefully by dinner and should have an easy recovery but unfortunately there goes his Christmas break of fun in the snow. Please keep him in your prayers for quick healing and for the doctors to have the wisdom they need. Thank you!

So to throw in some fun we had the big kids over today to decorate cookies and let me tell ya, it was fun and a much needed time of laughter and let down. These kids are so cool and pretty darn creative when it comes to decorating the 100+ cookies we made.

My favorite part of this chaos was watching the cricket having the time of her life! She literally aged 5 years while all these girls were spoiling her! She said tonight..."I'm a big girl now mommy!" :)

First bite!

There were many icing competitions! This one between best friends was pretty messy!

And the finished results! There were some really fun ones and we had fun checking all of them out and laughing at the imagination of sixteen and seventeen year olds! My favorites were the snowflakes turned flowers, the gingerbread men done up like water polo players or fashion models and the crazy icing ones.

Thank you again for all your prayers and good thoughts. I don't thing I'll be getting a chance to blog much in the week ahead, we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and pray that all of our friends and family have a blessed year ahead of them! Lots of love from all of us!

Favorite Photo Friday - The Joy of Christmas Cookies

2011-12-16T02:25:00.000-05:00

Oh what fun it is to have a toddler!!!

What's even better is watching Christmas through the eyes of two year olds!

Nothing but pure joy! Joy and a little sugar!

We got together for our annual cookie decorating party with our friend Z and her mommy last Friday and had a sugary ball. It was a much needed reprieve from the days before...)thank you all for your prayers, calls, emails and love for Big J, it is so appreciated. Monday is our next visit with the doctor to discuss what's next...Thanks for keeping the prayers going.) But back to the decorating...This year was completely different from last years icing extravaganza which you've got to go back and see the changes! This year there was more cookies eaten than decorated...lots of missing arms, legs and heads from the poor gingerbread men.

The determination was intense as well this year. Oh so serious! Us mommy's were prepared for another huge mess of icing and sparkles to throw in the tub after, but the girls kept it pretty clean and made sure to lick their fingers instead of doing finger painting. It's amazing how much these two friends have changed in the last year...they are such amazing little treasures! SO amazing!

Of course the sugar at one point took over and the concentration ended in giggles and shared happiness. I don't think there's anything better than seeing this joy! Next week the big kids come over for a cookie decorating party and I'm pretty sure with a house full of teenagers the mess isn't going to be as contained as we were able to keep these two year olds controlled! I'm looking forward to capturing that chaos and seeing what kinds of joy the teens can make happen...stay tuned for part two.

A pause to trust

2011-12-10T16:51:00.000-05:00

Life sometimes pauses for you without your directive. This happened to me this week. God pushed my pause button and life stopped and for 24 hours I didn't know how I put two feet forward or how to even take in a breath.

On Wednesday I took Big J to the doctors to have something that we thought was minor looked at. We went in at 3:10pm with no worries and I didn't even go into the exam room with him, instead I stayed in the lobby with a sleeping child in my arms and closed my eyes for a few minutes until I was awakened by the nurse telling me that my son was scheduled for an emergency ultrasound the next day. I looked at her with confusion and told her that tomorrow wouldn't work for us due to several tests Big J had that he could not miss. I was still somewhat groggy from my little nap. Her response was..."at this point school is not a priority and the doctor wants this done immediately." I am confused and search my son out in the room. As he appears I look to him in a state of panic and he quickly led me out the door to the car where he looked at me and said, "mom the word cancer was said several times."

And then the pause button was pushed.

My entire body went as cold as if I'd just landed in the coldest part of the universe. The world began shaking. Was it an earthquake? Was it the fact that I was freezing? Was it because my son had his hand on my shoulder and telling me, "don't worry mom, it's not cancer...I'm fine." I remember looking into his eyes with tears spilling out of mine and yelling at him...."IS THIS A JOKE?? Please tell me this is one of your silly jokes? Seriously tell me the truth!!!!" And he just looked at me and repeated the words again. I started to gag and cry harder. I can't move. I can only grab my sons hands and pray with him.

And I don't stop praying for 24 hours.

I beg.

I pray.

I beg.

I pray.

My momma heart becomes consumed with fear when only a few hours earlier my world was consumed with Big J's upcoming finals and Christmas just a few weeks away. Now I see nothing outside the windows as I drive home....I don't even remember driving home. I do remember and always will remember my child's calm. His utter calm. I asked him if he was okay and he says, "I'm fine mom and I just know it's not cancer and if it is I'll be okay, I am trusting God on this." His calm calms me. His reassurance gives me strength to stop begging but just try to trust. Trust that if this is the plan God has for my son, I will rest in Him and trust that He will get me through what ever lies ahead. It's difficult for me but I keep saying...I trust You. I trust You. Over and over and over and over again.

Ironically Big J's favorite dinner is being cooked that night but the table is silent and the food is bland. I can barely eat. Later that night we have to run our little cricket to urgent care because we fear she may have broken a finger or something. I'm completely lost at this point....what is going on I ask? My trust is failing to gain strength. What is going on!? I trust You! I remind myself. Thank goodness there is nothing wrong with our sprout except for maybe a bruised finger and we make the trek home. Sleep is pointless for any of us. I pray most of the night. I begin again to trust all will be okay. When dawn nears I get up to begin what I know will be an excruciatingly long day and wonder how I will make it until the ultrasound appointment at 2:30pm. Trust.

With my husband holding my hand and my son ahead of me, we walk into the building and again my faithful child tells me to stop worrying and that all is going to be okay whatever is found. They take him back at 2:20 and he walks back out to me what feels like decades later but the clock has only moved 17 minutes. The technician says she'll contact the doctor with the results and we are sent away to wait. I'm praying we don't have to wait through the weekend let alone through the night. I begin to beg again but then am led back to just trusting God by my son. He is so calm. Again he says, "This is God's plan." We had a few minutes to spare before taking him to his class at the community college so we go get his hair cut. My world is still void of color, the coldness in my soul is still there and my head is still full of prayer. I call those who are praying and waiting with us to keep them up to date. I sit and watch the stylist cut away my child's hair. I think of the first time he got his hair cut. He looked just as small to me then as he did all those years ago.

My phone rings.

It 3:23pm.

I am outside all alone and say, "I trust you Lord" out loud before I answer.

Then the doctor says, "There is no cancer there."

No.

Cancer.

The black pause vibrates with warmth and color and I run into the salon and grab my baby boy and hug him so hard and tell him the news. And of course his calm reply is, "I told you so mom!"

The relief is overwhelming for all of us. I am grateful for the doctors quick action and getting an answer for us in 24 hours and 13 minutes. I thank God for answered prayers. I hug my child again. I grab onto my husband because I just want to fall apart and I know he wont let me. I look around and see color and notice that life is moving once again around me. My bones are filling with warmth even though I know my child still has treatment ahead of him but it's not treatment for cancer.

The pause lifts slightly.

Life is short.

In those 24 hours and 13 minutes that my life was paused, I learned from my child to just trust in the Lord. Trust that whatever life gives you, embrace it. Good. Bad. Bitter. Joyful. Hateful. Darkness. Light....just trust in God. I've never really been able to do that until God paused my life this week. Even the wait for our daughter didn't give me that trust. But He showed me through my 16 year old son to have complete faith in Him because...

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

Over the next few weeks we will find out what the next step is, either minor surgery or something else. Keep our boy in your prayers for healing and continued strength in the Lord. And today we are thankful for answered prayers and we are humbled as we know so many others in this world who have been or are now paused in life with cancer, including our family. We will take this Christmas season humbly forward and make more time to pray for those who need strength. And trust.

Filling the house with Christmas joy!

2011-12-05T11:07:00.000-05:00

We are in full Christmas mode around here and we are having a blast this year with our little cricket! She is into the holiday spirit like any small child would be...she is in awe and her eyes are full of sparkle and wonder. It is SO much fun to experience Christmas through the eyes of a toddler! We had set up our tree last Monday but didn't get a chance to decorate it until this last Saturday and our little girl was SO patient in waiting! She kept asking all week long, "is it time to decorate the tree yet mommy?" When the time finally came she of course grabbed a Winnie the Pooh ornament as the first to go up. I look forward to decorating the tree every year because our ornaments are all different and from all over the world and go back to my very first Christmas...the memories are always so wonderful as I open each box and pull out the next one and we remember where it's from.

This year we've started a new tradition and I am having WAY too much fun with it!! The Elf on the Shelf thing is a big deal all over the world but I wasn't a big fan of the little guy so I set out to find our own girly elf...She's a sweet little thing this year and is having fun making our girl spill belly laughs each morning. :) We still haven't named her yet so we're just calling her Elffy which I guess is her name. She's been found reading books, dancing with Mickey Mouse, playing in a stocking and yesterday she was hanging upside down on the Christmas tree. Little miss just thinks it's the funniest thing and now Elffy is the first thing she looks for when she wakes up. Cute stuff!

We also put up a tree in the crickets room so that she can decorate and undecorate it as she pleases instead of undoing the big tree.

She was so proud to put up her ornaments.

Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind.

To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.

~ Calvin Coolidge

There has been so much happening around here I haven't been able to keep up with it all here...my kids will look back in years to come and wonder what we did for Thanksgiving 2011...well we went to Oregon and I took a total of 13 pictures but got to spend time with family and just relax. We rushed back to town so we could make it to church services Sunday morning to find out if our pastors goal of raising 1 million pounds of food was accomplished...that goal was exceeded and 1.2 million pounds was raised! (if you have a moment you should read how some of the kids at church raised funds...amazing!!) It was such an emotional moment for the church and for our family. We had given half of what we saved during the 30 Days of Nothing challenge to this lofty goal...it was worth Mike and I forgoing Christmas presents this year. Then we celebrated my hubby's birthday last week and I surprised him and took him to dinner at the restaurant that we went to on our first date 15 years ago. And then on Saturday my mom, two of my sisters and myself enjoyed the wonderful Christmas Tea at church and had fabulous time together. It's been a busy few weeks but they've been full of joy and many blessings!! We hope you're enjoying the spirit of Christmas and taking time to stop and relish the season.

Favorite Photo Friday - The first time, times two!

2011-12-02T08:47:00.000-05:00

On this day two years ago our lives forever changed.

We looked into the eyes of a child we'd dreamed of for years.

We became rich beyond measure with love we didn't know we had inside of us.

Instantly our world as we knew it was washed away and a new terrain formed.

What we thought we'd lost, we found in the depths of these soulful eyes.

And since that moment at 1:35pm on December 2, 2009, we've grown as a family in more ways than size. The strings that hold us together are strong in faith, filled with hope and interwoven in abundant love. Each day is a complete and total gift. And after two years of looking at our daughters beautiful face, we still find ourselves filled with butterflies knowing that she is ours. Our daughter! Chosen for us...a gift.

You are our treasure my sweet daughter! On this day two years ago you made me a mommy again and seeing your face for the first time was one of most rewarding moments of my life! I love you too much!

Favorite Photo Friday - My littlest sprout

2011-11-18T15:42:00.000-05:00

Oh how I love this child! LOVE her! I am forever gazing at her in amazement and just get all weepy just thinking of our journey to her. I'd wait a thousand years again just to have this little sprout in my arms. Crazy I know, but I would. I've said it before and I'll say it a thousand times again....This child is a gift from God just for me!

While we were in Guangzhou, we would wander into the stores next to our hotel and I saw this dress and wanted it badly! The dress seemed huge at the time, especially when I looked down at this tiny bundle in the pouch attached to me. I held it up several times and thought she wouldn't be wearing this until she was at least in first grade! HA! A few weeks ago I pulled down the next bin of clothes 2T-3T and saw the dress right away. When I pulled it out I realized she'd fit in it perfectly right now and looked at her playing behind me and saw such a different little girl than the one I'd been getting to know just a short year and several months ago when I bought the dress. Of course I put it on her immediately and grabbed the camera and she was a ham!

Our little sprout is growing and growing before our eyes so quickly! It's like watching a sunflower bloom...just beautiful! My girl is now full of mischief and imagination. She plays for hours with her babies and bears and we can not leave the house without one of them in tow. She will dress up in her doctor scrubs and perform surgery on them and then tenderly kiss them and tell them they are all better. (I have no idea where she got the whole surgery concept from???) Books are still her favorite. She will read forever and that's all she wants to do in the car. We go to the library once a week but we should really be going everyday because she goes through the books so fast and tells me, "mommy we need new books again" before two days as past. Our sprout has also discovered the joy of building tents in the house and playing for hours in them. Oh how I loved doing that as a little girl. I have a great time now making up extravagant castles and rabbit holes to play in with my girl.

On top of all that imagination and sparkle she is now 35 inches tall and weighs 27.8 pounds. She is mostly wearing a 2T but still has a few 18-24 months outfits that fit her perfectly. Her foot size is a 6 but she'll wear any shoe that she can get her feet in. She LOVES shoes and hairbows. ;) Her vocabulary is soaring and she never stops talking, in fact Mike and I have a very hard time getting a conversation completed because she will stand in the middle of us just rambling away (she's a little like her mommy that way). She is in charge of saying grace at dinner and asking the, "how was your day" question. I've really got to get that dinner prayer on video...it's precious and always has us in tears. Some of my favorite words she utters are: Wooggie = woobie (think of the movie "Mr. Mom" woobie was Kevins blanket), Mickmau = Mickey Mouse, Dumbit = Summit our dog, Ben and Jerry = cows....just to name a few. We are also taking a Mandarin class and the cricket lurves it! She'll count in Mandarin before she'll count in English...love that!! And now that we are quickly approaching the age of three her most favorite word is WHY????? and most favorite string of words....what is that doing???, why not mommy?? and I love you too much. That one of course melts my heart!

Oh it's fun being a toddler on the verge of daily discovery! Everyday is an adventure and I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be able to do this again. What a gift! As we head into the holiday season this year I am reminded of where we were two years ago....waiting the last days of our wait and our nerves were fried beyond fried! This year we celebrate our second holiday season with our little sprout and will be headed to Oregon on Monday for a celebration of total thankfulness!

{God Is}...My Rock

2011-11-16T03:16:00.000-05:00

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them

into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Matthew 7:24

A few weekends ago we headed down to Big Sur to spend a day absorbing the sunshine but mostly to spend a few minutes with God. Big Sur is our heaven. Our space on this earth where both Mike and I feel as close to God as one can physically get. The redwoods come right down to the waters edge and the beaches are filled with sea creatures and rocks with the oceans etchings covering them. It's mystifying! Then we drive away from the ocean up the steep cliffs to take in the view from the sky, you can hear nothing up there. Nothing. The view is beyond imaginable. It takes my breath away every time. The wind comes up the canyon and it's as though the breath of God himself has just washed over you. We come down that windy road always feeling renewed regardless if our time up there was a few minutes or an entire day.

This view with the loss of any sound is so full of God! You can not tell where the sea meets the sky. The picture before us is in constant motion from the ocean churning below to the changing sky above. It is so full of His power and His unchanging love for the world and for ME! Little ole me! Me who sins and yet is forgiven. Me who is somewhat scared in my own walk yet is still being led. Me who has found strength in the solidity of God. I am awed beyond measure at these sentences as I am by Him. This wasn't who I was five years ago but it is who I am today and thankfully I have found my rock to steady me! God is my rock. My steady rock on which I stand.

Bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the LORD

for the display of his splendor.

Isaiah 63:3

Favorite Photo Friday - A Picture Tells a Thousand Stories!

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

The awe and pure joy in this little girls face was worth every minute of our 48 hour trip to the happiest place in the world! From opening to closing our little cricket just smiled, ooooohhhhed and awwwwwed the entire time...well except for the two hour nap in the middle of the happiest place on earth.

If you asked her what her favorite ride was she'd tell you Dumbo or maybe the train ride.

But meeting Tigger and Pooh put her completely over the top of joy! We were quite hesitant about how she'd react to these giant real life characters that she LOVES....she wasn't bothered in the least and pushed people out of her way to get to them and give them the biggest hug and kiss on the nose. The SWEETEST thing EVER!!

And then the most coveted of all meetings....Oh the awe! There were tears but only on my part as I watched my daughter give a hug and have a little chat with a mouse about his show that is her favorite to watch. The picture is horrible but I actually kinda like it....the room has horrible lighting and Big J had the camera because I was a bubbling mess of tears and I really wanted to just watch her meet the mouse. I do have to say that lugging my big camera around for 12+ hours was hard, I didn't get enough pictures and I even wacked a poor kid in the head with it once. Oops! I want to go back with a point and shoot and do it all over again. :)

This trip was more than I had ever imagined! I was worried about the overstimulating atmosphere but our girl did great! I fretted about the rides being to dangerous for our sprout, but she was totally safe in her daddy's arms and all she wanted to do was ride them over and over and over, especially the roller coaster in T Town! I was concerned about spending the money but then someone in line came up to us and gave us an extra ticket and then I knew it was meant to be and to just go and enjoy the day....and we did just that! And now we hear alllll day long, "when can we go to Disneyland again mommy daddy??"

{God Is}...Rooting

2011-11-09T03:31:00.000-05:00

For though I am absent from you in body,

I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

~Colossians 2:6-7

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you've been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You're deeply rooted in him. You're well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.

~The Message - Colossians 2:6-7

I love this picture. I love this scripture. I love this young man!

For several years our boy struggled to fit in. That period between elementary school and high school is such a challenge not only for the child but also for the parents. We as parents want to let our children begin to spread their wings and learn to fly on their own. We watch helplessly sometimes to see them fall or be knocked down. For me I couldn't stand to see the turmoil my son was going through and then watch him choose a path that wasn't healthy. Immediately I stopped giving him multiple choices and only offered one.

God.

The fight was a good one for many, many, many months. I cried a lot. He hated me...a lot. I didn't know what I was doing, let alone know God well enough to tell my child that was his only choice now. He wanted nothing to do with God and everything to do with what was now. We dropped him off at youth group meetings only to have him beg not to go back. I took him to church with me watched him practically fall asleep on my shoulder. But he had no other choice or offers and he knew the path he was on wasn't going anywhere....he was watching his friends languish in their lives and he was beginning to see things anew for the first time.

Soon he was begging to go to youth group, to church, to activities with new friends and doing a bible study with some amazing mentors. Life began to change...not only for him but for me as a person. I was watching my child change and become rooted in God. In his faith. Then this last summer he took the leap of love and accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. He came home from a busy summer and shared it all with us. He glowed. He seemed rooted. Solidly rooted. He then told us that he threw his iPhone into a pond while at camp...he said that it was the last thing blocking his relationship with God. I blanched. Not because of it's loss but because he was right...we've become so used to looking down at what is in our hands and not up at what is blessing us.

Our boy has shown us in so many ways the rooting love of God. He has taught me SO much and has guided me in my own relationship with the Lord. He doesn't judge. He doesn't regret. He is only looking forward now and follows a new friend, The One who loves him for all that he is and all that he isn't and knowing that fills our son completely.

God is rooting.

Rooting in love.

Rooting in grace.

Rooted.

{God Is}...Aware of me!

2011-11-02T01:00:00.001-04:00

His eyes are on the ways of men; He sees their every step. Job 34:21

This fact is amazing to me.

He sees my every step.

He sees the steps I haven't even taken!

This humbled me during this weekends sermon.

I, as I'm sure many do, feel that there are times (a lot) where I am all alone. It's just little ole me in my head and my heart is aching with trouble and I fret. It's so hard to grasp at times that God is always with me. Always. It's hard for me to fathom that He knows my next step. My thoughts. My hurt. My fear. My dreams.

And then I become aware.

Aware of His presence all around me.

His beauty. His blessings. His word.

And I calm.

But my calm is a struggle to maintain...unless I just give in. Give in and rest in His awareness of me.

O Lord, you have examined my heart

and you know everything about me.

You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my thoughts even when I'm far away

You see me when I travel

and when I rest at home.

You know everything I do.

You know what I am going to say

even before I say it, Lord.

You go before me and follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too great for me to understand.

~Psalm 139:1-6

Happy Hooting Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:30:00.001-04:00

From our little nest to yours....

Happy Halloween!

Our little owl had a wonderful time trick or treating last night with her best bud, Zoey. We decided to leave the crowds to their own devices tonight and enjoy a quiet night of knocking on the doors of a few folks and then have a great dinner out last night instead. Of course our little owl wanted nothing to do with her owl wings before we even got to the first door...oh well! Next year her daddy says no more tutu's and he's in charge of the costume. HA!! We'll see! :) Anywhoooooowwhoooooo....Happy Halloween!

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Favorite Photo Friday - The YiYang's take the beach!

2011-10-28T01:46:00.000-04:00

Ooooohhhh goodness did this week start of fabulous! We got to enjoy a wonderful Monday afternoon with our dear friends Z and her mommy and got to meet up CXH and her mommy who were visiting from Arizona. Well actually the first time meeting for me but this was a reunion for all the girls since the last time they were all together was two years ago...in China. These three beauties shared nine months together in a small village orphanage in Jiangxi and here they are now, as Suz put it..."Three little girls from the same mountain in China standing on the beach of the ocean they had to cross to get home." Perfect words!

We enjoyed a delish lunch at a favorite harbor restaurant and watched sailboats go out and the sea birds flying all around. Of course the crayons were a big hit and the conversation at that end of the table was pretty darn cute!

And soon we had three two year and a half year olds ready to hit the beach!

This picture has got to be my favorite of the day and of the week! Total team work! I love how Z looks like she's directing the release of this boat and the girls are working hard on following direction. :) Melt my heart with tears just looking at the three of them together. I look forward to the day that there is a big YiYang reunion with many more of these beautiful girls who shared the first months of their lives together. They are amazing girls! Not biased here! LOL!

Our little cricket was beyond happy to meet CXH again, yet for the first time and have a day with her "myZoey"! She was on fire with smiles and overflowing with joy. Our entire ride home she was non stop chatterbox about her day and her friends. Sweet sounds to listen to.

God has blessed all of us in the adoption world in more ways than our children. He has blessed us with forever friends whom once shared beds and a bottle or two and now they share amazing moments in life with their forever families and with friends along the way in joyous adventures that come along on the path God choose for them. God's perfect plan!

{God Is}...LOVE!

2011-10-26T00:59:00.000-04:00

This week our God Is series is all about the love of God and how magnificent that love is! To me that is how I profess my faith...through love. During the church service on Sunday Mike leaned over and said that the picture he took of Jenny and I the first summer she was home with us, was his idea of pure love and he said I should use it for this weeks God Is photo challenge. I jumped at the idea because to be quite honest, I've been lacking on capturing God's amazing glory with my camera this week, so if you've read my blog for awhile you've seen this capture before.

Mike did a beautiful job capturing a most intimate moment of mother and daughter and I stare at this image everyday as it hangs on our living room wall. Thank you Michael for choosing this weeks picture...I love you!

On the way home from church I asked Mike to do this weeks post (someday he'll cave!) since he was so drawn to this picture for how love speaks to him. He said 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 sums it up better than he could put words together himself. I couldn't agree more as well as see John 3:16 as the ultimate love. Our pastor broke down that passage beautifully in his God Is book. Amazing!

Ahh love...it is my passion in life! God is love!

I looked up 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 in The Message and I thought I'd share that here today...

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

   Love never gives up.
   Love cares more for others than for self.
   Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
   Love doesn't strut,
   Doesn't have a swelled head,
   Doesn't force itself on others,
   Isn't always "me first,"
   Doesn't fly off the handle,
   Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
   Doesn't revel when others grovel,
   Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
   Puts up with anything,
   Trusts God always,
   Always looks for the best,
   Never looks back,
   But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

{God Is}...There...always

2011-10-19T00:01:00.011-04:00

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

I took this picture last Wednesday night when we came home from our God Is bible study. It was an amazing moon. It was so bright and so full. I loved seeing the planet or that bright star just below the moons gaze...and I'm sorry I've lost the ability to remember (motherhood will do that do you) if that is a planet or a star or even which one it is. :) Anyone know?

Anyways..I laid down in the grass and gazed up at it's beauty. I felt completely comforted and safe even though it was late at night and all the lights were out in the house and everyone was fast asleep. I wasn't alone. I lay there for a while holding my camera and stared at the sky above me and prayed. I closed my eyes for a minute to absorb my thoughts of the day and thank the Lord for my blessings, my past and for a future unknown to me but well planned out by Him. The moon looked down on me and I picked up my camera and snapped it's light pouring down on me.

Favorite Photo Friday - An apple a day

2011-10-13T23:50:00.001-04:00

This last weekend we made an amazing afternoon with friends Wises 3, by heading to our local pick your own apple ranch for what has become an annual event...you can see last years images/post here. The girls have changed so much and watching them on Sunday was a treat for all of us parents. Our girls are most definitely the apples of our eyes and are oh so treasured! SO treasured!

This year we planned our outing to actually be able to pick apples...last year we were a week late in the season and just enjoyed the orchard and the last of the apples on the ground and the pumpkin patch. So to be able to actually watch the girls pick apples and walk the paths was a treat. I also loved that the girls did some of the same stick searching as last year. :) Moments that these two Yiyang girls are together are so special to me and I treasure the thought of watching them grow up as good friends.

Now what to do with all these apples!?! I have big dreams of making jars of applesauce to enjoy for the winter and and some apple treat a day...I just hope I can make that happen! I got A LOT of apples! Uh oh! My dear mind is always thinking more is better. Must work on that...until then I've got a lot of coring and pealing to do!

OOOOOOO! These have got to be my most favorite pictures of the week! I couldn't choose just one. :)

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{God Is} Reflecting...

2011-10-12T02:00:00.001-04:00

As water reflects the face,

so one's life reflects the heart.

Proverbs 27:19

There are times in my life where I am stunned to see the reflection staring back at me,

whether it's in the mirror, in my children's faces or in the eyes of a stranger, I am humbled.

My walk with God is new. I've always been a believer but I'd never opened a bible willingly wanting to grow until a few years ago. There were moments in my past where I read a chapter here or there but it wasn't for more than a brief moment...I always went back to my old habits and haunts and cast Him away. I pushed the thought of Him away and honestly I made fun of the mere thought of Him. Then I glanced in the mirror one day and saw His reflection of me staring back...haunted and lost.

And then I finally let Him in. For good.

God has shown me in so many ways what He sees in me through others and there is never a moment where I stop and thank Him for reflecting back to me what it is he wants me to see. It may be a harsh reality I do not wish to face or it may be the simple smile from someone who I have passed along in my journey. Either way He is telling me something. He is showing me my faults. He is telling me a story of love. He is sharing with me a thought I've only dreamed of. His reflections are always stunning. And each time I see a reflection of His amazing grace I am so thankful for that moment He reflected back that scared and anguished mother in the mirror. I can only move forward from then and not dwell on the past but make the most of what I've been shown. I can be an example to my children and hopefully be the mother, wife and friend God intended me to be to the world.

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Favorite Photo Friday

2011-10-07T03:38:00.010-04:00

This is a moment I captured while we were at my parents farm in Oregon this summer and we enjoyed this little beauty fluttering around us for quite awhile. Looking at it now makes me want run back to the days we spent there and put my feet up and relax.

{God Is} An Artist!

2011-10-05T00:31:00.001-04:00

For the last week I've been walking around everywhere looking at everything and saying, "God is....this or that". I've found myself mesmerized by each vision I have taken in. I've really been focusing on everything around me. The good and the bad. Even the ugly has been full of His beauty. Then there are moments where I'm awe struck by His artwork and they leave me humbled to appreciate the exquisiteness and the unpleasantness in life . Awe struck!

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah 6:3b

The last week we've had amazing sunsets! Amazing!! One of those nights we'd gone down to the beach to run off some toddler energy before dinner and bed and of course my hubby asked me if I was going to take the camera...we went back and forth about bringing it and as usual I fret because I really don't want to take it on the sand and this time he said you might miss a God Is moment...I ended up leaving it behind. Fast forward a few minutes and we're now on the sand and I'm full of regret. My dear love knew I wanted it and after a few minutes he turned towards the car and went home to grab my camera and our "few minutes" at the beach turned into more than an hour of watching God paint the most incredible picture in the sky! (Again....THANK YOU Michael for what you did.)

Can you compare God to anything? Can you compare him to an image of anything?

Isaiah 40:18 NCV

As the sun began to set I was struck by how little I really am in the whole scheme of things. I can capture a picture with a click but He has the entire world as his canvas and that night He used the sky in front of me to paint a picture of sheer awe. God Is....an artist! God is untamed! We are all individual masterpieces in His vision and I feel so humbled when He reminds me of this. As was said by our pastor last Sunday on our first day of the God Is series..."The untamed, wildly powerful, perfect, and forgiving God sets me free!" Amen for that!!

That's a wrap!

2011-10-01T11:49:00.000-04:00

I can not believe it is October first!!! Seriously the last thirty days have flown by yet crawled like a snail down a long road, but it's over and so is the 30 Days of Nothing challenge. And what a challenge it's been! In the last thirty days I have been positive about the challenge and I've been extremely angry and I've been humbled to the point where I've made major changes in our home. Major! This couldn't have come at a better time for us. I am so happy we did this....SO HAPPY! Thank you Christie for putting this challenge to the test for us and inspiring us to change things in our lives that needed a little clarity.

Here's our dinner from the one of the last nights of the challenge...Black Bean Burrito Bake which is a favorite around here!

This is one of those recipes that I use as a guideline.

I add LOTS of other stuff to those burritos, this time I added shredded carrots and spinach. Yum!

For us this challenge is not over, it's only just begun. Yep...we're going to keep moving forward to think about how and where we spend our money from here on out. Dinners out will be far and few between, if at all. Waste is no longer an option. Another pair of shoes is not a necessity for us but for someone who needs them. We've already made some changes that will be a challenge in themselves for all of us. We are getting rid of our big gigantic car that has been financially draining us each month with it's enormous gas consumption and payment. Yeah you read that right, we're getting rid of my car. I did say this challenge changed us right?? We may be a little cramped in the months ahead BUT the end result will be well worth the sacrifices we're making. It's all about the sacrifices in the end. They make us stronger and build a sense of pride in how we live our lives.

I've only just begun to figure out exactly how much we saved these last 30 days and go to the million pound food drive at church. We are so looking forward to writing that check! I'm also excited for my God Is photo challenge to begin on Wednesday! Come join me in capturing what God Is to you through your camera....you can click on the button below to find out more. And many, many thanks to everyone who's been supporting us through these last four weeks. We had so much family come into town for a visit and everyone was so understanding of our wishes of spending no money during their visit. Thank you for all your love!

A photo challenge {God Is...} through your eyes.

2011-09-28T02:36:00.005-04:00

This week our church starts a 50 day series called God Is. To say our community is excited about it is an understatement. The build up for this series has been overwhelming and fulllll of God's grace! Our pastor has written several books but this one seems to have filled him with so much joy...he is practically floating when talking about it! Last weekend during the preview of what the next seven weeks will entail we were told to take a few moments this week to seek God's glory around us and take a camera with us to capture that glory and of course this peaked my imagination. After sharing with my thoughts with my husband he said, "why don't you make this a photo challenge on your blog?" I love that guy and, well I think I'll give it a go!

"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." - A.W. Tozer

On Wednesdays for the next seven weeks starting next week, I'll be posting an image of what God Is to me and hope you'll join with me with your photographic images of what God Is to you. Don't worry about taking the perfect picture...just snap your vision of God's beauty around you. I can't wait to see what you come up with! Leave a comment if you're joining and grab a button too. :)

The final stretch!

2011-09-26T11:35:00.000-04:00

I can not believe this month is almost done!! WOW! I'm not ready for this challenge to be done! We have plans for moving forward with the 30 Days of Nothing challenge and making it a focus in our house for many months to come. There is a change coming in our household and these last few weeks have been proof to us that this is possible and we can save and move forward with what's been shown to us with a positive outcome. Sacrifice is how we change the world around us! God's grace is so amazing to me!

I adore basil! I love getting big bunches of it and smelling it all week as I clip away at it for meals and I might just need to make a little pesto this week too! :)

The week ahead for us is FULLLL! It's homecoming week for one and the overwhelming preparation for it will come to a head this week when the dance steps Big J has been working on are pounded out and the float that will carry our son and many of his friends passes us by on the streets of our town. I CAN NOT WAIT! I just hope he doesn't mind when his little cricket and I sneak into the assembly at school to see the dance off between the classes....GO class of 2013!!!!

We'll also be starting a new series at church this week called God Is and all of us will be joining a bible study that start Wednesday nights. I was a bit hesitant to do this evening activity since it falls right smack in the middle of our dinner hour BUT the last month has taught me how to improvise meals more than anything! So for the next 7 weeks instead of going out to grab a bite before we go, we'll have a picnic/sack dinner together before we head our separate ways for the evening. Also after much thought, we decided to have our girl do Awana this year instead of waiting a year. Even though the class is at night, it does happen during our bible study and we know miss cricket will love it! Maybe she'll asleep the night through from being so worn out?? :) I'm also excited to start a new photo challenge (as recommend by my husband) appropriately called God Is. I can't wait to share his idea with everyone! Stay tuned!!

As for emptying our pantry this last week and meals....we've got some serious leftovers! Several meals I'd planned for last week didn't happen because of sheer exhaustion on my part so we enjoyed the lasagna and the lentil soup I'd made and had froze especially for days just like that! I wanted SO bad to go out but instead I just put that money in the giveaway bowl. We also had many family visitors last week and all of them let me spoil them with a home cooked meal instead of going out. I was so grateful for their understanding of our desires to keep it simple and cheap!! This weeks meals are as follows:

Turkey Meat Loaf

Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas

Classic Beef Pot Roast

Our American Hero

Easy Baked Fish Fillets

Black Bean Burrito Bake

And one leftover.

A little leftover waffle breakfast this morning.

We'll enjoy those heros while we watch the homecoming parade along with a bag of chips and of course the click of a camera. What's on your meal plan for the week??

Favorite Photo Friday

2011-09-23T08:37:00.001-04:00

This sweet face is the light of our lives and is changing SO much!

She loves, loves, loves life!

There is nothing left undone, unseen or untouched that lies in her path.

As long as there is a breath in her, she is going non stop.

Reading has become her passion.

There is always a book in her hand and if it's quiet in the house she is usually sitting in her chair

surrounded by a pile of books reading away.

Her language has exploded!

No less than 1000 times a day she asks what I'm doing and why.

She LOVES to run through the house screaming at the top of her lungs. :)

Or passing the dogs something off her dinner plate that she's not gonna eat.

The camera is now her friend because she realized that she can see the picture right away....

she thinks that's pretty cool and so does this camera happy mommy.

Ahhhh God is good and life is blessed!

Lunch and breakfast is just boring.

2011-09-21T09:39:00.000-04:00

I know I haven't posted much during the 30 Days of Nothing challenge about our breakfasts and lunches but for good reason...we don't eat too much exciting stuff for either meal. Breakfasts Monday through Friday usually consist of a bowl of Bran Flakes and an apple with peanut butter for me or the hubbs. The cricket isn't a big breakfast girl and enjoys a piece of toast with some prunes and an apple slice or two or a bowl of cereal. Big J has that bowl of bran and a plate of two eggs, toast and kiwi or cantaloupe. Like I said...boring and not much change day in and day out.

On the weekend we might get a little exciting and Mike will make all of us his famous oh so yummy belgian waffles....YUMMMMO! But beyond that....not much else for us.

Lunches are about the same as breakfast...boring. For us though, we crave simple lunches of peanut butter and jelly on flax bread (which has 50 calories a slice!) or whole wheat for the kids and my most favorite lunch is a fuji apple and peanut butter (yes we eat A LOT of peanut butter!). We'll throw in some carrot shreds, tomatoes, some kind of chip, a fruit, some almonds and a big jug of water. I am the only one who enjoys the leftovers for lunch and usually will heat up whatever is there to enjoy unless we're out for a playdate. I also pack Big J a lunch everyday which is about the same...two PB&J's, nuts, chips, granola bar and apple or oranges. Boring ole lunch in a boring brown bag...but no money spent on school lunch unless it comes out of his own pocket. We also instilled in him in elementary school that if you don't like what's in your lunch sack then pass it on to someone who has no lunch instead of throwing it away.

Our dinners are quite obviously our most exciting meal around here. I'm not sure why I don't give more attention to the other meals of the day but I just don't. I think it may have something to do with the fact that I have been a diabetic almost my entire life and meals need to be just about the same day in and day out. It may be boring but it's consistent for my blood sugars and insulin consumption and has helped my husband loose almost 90 pounds two years ago. We aren't big snackers or eat many sweets either and again it all comes back to my diabetes and consistency. Some may think I'm depriving my family of food or treats or whatever but for us it's normal and it's healthy and it's a rule to maintain my health and my husbands weight. Now don't get me wrong, we do have a sweet tooth in this house but instead of buying boxed sweets I'll make a big batch of cookies or brownies and can control the amount of sugar that goes in them and in us and the amount of unnecessary garbage that is in processed food. :)

As for the 30 Days of Nothing challenge?? We are in this and holding strong! Monday was a super busy day of me doing my taxi service position as a mom and I was driving allllll over town, back and forth, and here and there. We had minutes to spare between Mandarin class and school pick up and doctor appointments and bible studies and homecoming practice and let me tell you I would have LOVED to have stopped in at Subway for lunch! But no we came home and made a quick lunch and then turned right around to head back out and we even drove right past my favorite coffee shop and I didn't even feel a pang. That made me feel pretty darn good. Have we created a habit yet?? I hope.

Last night after dinner we sat down and separated our salad bowl of change and began counting it all up. SO far almost $60.00 in change alone! The monies we've put away from this challenge is close to $600 and still counting. WOW!

Moving forward with a new attitude!

2011-09-20T00:23:00.001-04:00

Where do I begin after my last post...I guess by saying that I'm enjoying spending more time with my family than with my computer obviously as it's quite apparent in my lack of posting. We are moving along in the 30 Days of Nothing challenge as well as can be expected but now with a new pair of glasses to look through. We did spend a little this weekend to be quite honest but I'd budgeted this into our month and ended up spending less than I'd budgeted! What did we do?? We went to the fair on Saturday.

I'd already planned a lesson plan on farm animals for last week before we'd jumped on board for the 30 days challenge and had planned on incorporating our cricket's first trip to the fair with my lesson. I budgeted the cost for our lunch and entry cost once we'd started the challenge and thankfully I'm so opposed to spending right now we came out with almost half of our cash still in hand which went directly into the bowl for giving away.

We had so much fun in the livestock area with our friends the Wises and shared a few nibbles with the sheep. Little miss cricket was in such awe of those guys! We talked just the day before how sheep sometimes have a coat on and sometimes their shaved and their coats are used for certain things like clothes or blankets for people...Little miss was impressed they had their clothes on. She also was SOOOOO very happy to see her Ben and Jerry cows there and kept trying to run up to them to say hi, only these cows were MUCH bigger than our friends at Grans and Pops. The pigs were a big hit too, especially the momma pig with all her MANY babies fighting for a bite to eat. Our little farm lesson came to life from paper to the real thing and it was awesome to see her grasp it all.

My dream of deep fried artichokes and calamari treats was only a dream as we stuck with a sandwich each and a drink, oh and a way yummy pretzel! We'd had plans of eating and eating and eating our way through and when it came down to it...well it just didn't happen. But fun was most definitely had in so many ways and for the first time in many fair years we came home hungry and having no regrets of overdoing it on fried food and copious amounts of cotton candy...it felt pretty darn good!

My meal plan (dinners only) for the week is as follows:

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Barbecued Chicken Pizza

Black Bean Soup with Shredded Pork

Black Bean Burrito Bake

Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema

We enjoyed the Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Crema with my uncle on Sunday and tonight we wished we had more of that Barbecued Chicken Pizza. I've made that once before and it was a huge hit and it is OH SO EASY! We're looking forward to more family coming into town all week and while I'd love to take them all out to some of our favorite restaurants in town but we're going to enjoy a meal around our family table and enjoy each other's company in our own space and maybe just enjoy a walk or two on the beach after. Hopefully none of our meals will involve one of these guys below....I LOVED seeing these fruits and vegetables turned into something other than meals. :)

Hit a rough spot but found the light

2011-09-16T11:59:00.002-04:00

It seems I've hit that spot in this 30 Days of Nothing Challenge where I am angry for putting us through this challenge. There I said it. Christie said this would happen but I was too arrogant to think it would happen to me. I was so confidant in myself that I could do this...easy peasy! Not so much. There are things coming at me in all directions to spend, spend, spend. I am pressured by my children. I am pressured by my husband. I am pressured by my own self. I am pressured by mailers that come to me in the mailbox or through email. I want someone else to make dinner for me and serve it to me because I want a break from cooking. And to be honest I don't know if I would spend a dime on some of the things that are tempting me right now if I wasn't in the middle of this challenge. Is it that I want to because I just can't spend and yet I see money sitting there that I can spend? Ugg.

Through my bout of anger these last few days I realized that maybe my anger stems from the fact that all this money we're setting aside this month is just going back into material things that may or may not mean much to our kids after they rip open the wrapping on Christmas morning. Then I started thinking that maybe, just maybe this money shouldn't be ours. Maybe, just maybe this should be given away to someone who can't even save a penny because there is none after the bills are paid, there's only a hole that hasn't been filled in their belly.

On Sunday we were challenged at church to save $1.25 a day per person in our home for the next ten weeks. The challenge is to raise enough money to equal 1,000,000 pounds of food for our local Second Harvest Food Bank. Yea that's right...one million pounds of food in the form of cash donations, plus food that is donated in the food bins! But then the challenge got bigger. Our pastor said he wanted to see if we could add $.25 to that daily savings to make it a $1.50 total....okay why? Well that mere quarter a day per family member saved for 10 weeks....are you ready?

Will help to feed an entire village on the Somalian boarder....

...for a year.

Humble pause.

A year.

My anger over the week slowly becomes obsolete as I process the message and turns towards my own selfish desires and I realize just how blessed I am. I am blessed to not only be able to eat three complete meals a day with my family but I'm able to actually put away money for 30 days to save for "something". My "something" was for yet another overwhelming Christmas morning filled with over abundance. But could this 30 Days of Nothing challenge me beyond October 1st to change my selfish ways? I think so. Because what I ALREADY have satisfies me. My children have everything already. How in the world can I be angry for this challenge? How can I be so selfish to hide my eyes to the obvious that was slapped in my face on Sunday?

A home.
A warm meal.
Abundant love.
Good health.

This money we are saving can buy all of these things for SOMEONE else! Someone who has in some cases none of these things or maybe just a home but no food or much love but is sick or has a few pennies a day for food but is in a shelter. This money can put food in the belly of a child who has nothing.

My anger has turned to compassion this week. I have gone from "absolutely NEEDING" that cute outfit or yet another hair bow for my daughter...just because I can. To ABSOLUTELY NEEDING to save for something else. SOMEONE else. My focus has changed dramatically. My mind is racing to figure out things that have been on my heart for sometime. I have become consumed with BOLD ACTS OF COMPASSION.

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood. Isaiah 58:6-7

Because I can.

"If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry, the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday." Isaiah 58:10

There is profound change happening in our house because of THIS CHALLENGE. 30 Days of Nothing has changed us to not needing more material things in our lives but to NEEDING to find away to bring our love to others. To open our home to more of God's love. More of His children. More of His work.

It's a new week!

2011-09-12T02:51:00.002-04:00

After last weeks spending spree on brakes for the car I can now say I've gotten the desire to shop outta my system...NOT! Holy cow! This last weekend was hard but let me explain...we make the majority of our not so smart purchases on the weekend. We're always looking for a way to get out of the house and away from the fog so we venture out into the great wide open. Sometimes it's a mall..sometimes it's a bike ride or sometimes it's a lazy hour at a coffee shop with a stroll through random shops. Whatever it is though we spend. So instead of buying frivolously, I just went grocery shopping. I spent under $100 for the week ahead and have some yummmmmies planned! We did almost cave on the tri-tip sandwiches that were being sold in the parking lot...you could smell the grill as soon as you opened your door and we were instantly hungry! Gerrrrrr...but our peanut butter and apples were waiting for us when we got home. :) Sacrifices right??

Saturday I cooked all afternoon to prepare us for a very busy week ahead....Here's my plan for the week along with pictures from dinner on Saturday night!

Sunday - Asparagus Fish Bake with leftover mashed potatoes and artichokes.
Monday - Turkey and Spinach Lasagna - I pre-made this and cut it in half and froze some after I baked it. We'll have the other half in a week or two. Oh and yes, I used that remaining tomato paste. Pat on the back.
Tuesday - Chicken Lettuce Cups and grilled zucchini.
Wednesday - Hearty Potato Soup and a salad.
Thursday - Classic Pot Roast that will be slow cooking all day. I'm planning on prepping this while the soup cooks on Wednesday so all I have to do is turn it on in the morning. This is a LONG day for all of us and I'm so excited to not have to do anything but eat when we get home.
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Fresh Tomato, Sausage & Pecorino Pasta and a salad.
I'll also make a batch of Elvis Muffins for us to snack on all week long and use up all those bananas that didn't get eaten last week.

So there it is! Ooooo but let me share this yummy dish (pictured) that I used that jar of Mango Chutney that's been in the pantry for at least three years....Obviously I did not make the apricot chutney that the recipe called for because I had that lovely jar in the pantry which I'm sure saved me at least a few bucks. It was supper easy, supper good and I only burned my hand twice when I grabbed the pan after I took it out of the oven. :)

Here's to a great week ahead and thank goodness we're to busy to be able to stop for latte or lunch for that matter! :)

It was almost a week of nothing.

2011-09-09T04:42:00.001-04:00

Well we're winding down on week two of the 30 Days of Nothing challenge and I'm pretty sure if this were some Survivor-Biggest Looser-American Idol show, we would have been voted off this week. It's been a doozy! Unfortunately for us we had to have new brakes put on my car this week...yeah there goes the Christmas spending spree and my shining gold star for the week. I tried to wait but the ever increasing squealing coming from my car was becoming an issue to anyone remotely near me and of the teenager was throughly embarrassed when I picked him up at school. And then I caved and got a latte...but it was free. But still....I didn't want to use that free drink coupon until October...but I used it anyway. Ahhhhh is it Monday yet??

Okay...moving on and getting over my pity party and sharing in the positives...I've deleted every Zulilly and Jack Threads email without even opening them...that's great! I've spent $100 on our groceries this week and that's it....that's AWESOME! I've used up a couple of boxes of stock, a few potatoes, some chicken, eggs and sausages and last night I used up the lentils and tomato paste that have been sitting in my pantry for a.very.long.time....that's awesome great! So if you don't count the nice bill from the break man, I'm doing pretty good I think.

So here was dinner on night eight of this challenging challenge! With a lot of fog for us this year, our nights are damp and cool so I thought this Rosemary-Scented Lentils and Sausage dish looked like it would warm us up perfectly!

Once again this delish dish comes from myrecipes.com and was new for us try. With this challenge we'll be trying a lot of new things due to the oddities in the pantry, so I'm having fun discovering new tastes!

For me during these 30 days I'm also challenging myself to be less wasteful. This can of tomato paste that I only used one tablespoon out of I would normally just toss it and move on. Well I'm saving the remainder and will use it somewhere in the next week. :)

Ahh the finished dish of course served up with a spinach salad only this time I toasted some pine nuts (that were once lost in my pantry) to sprinkle on the top. Our little miss had never had these buttery tasty nuts and she wanted more mommy, more mommy now!

And you ask if it was good....It was awesome good! Thumbs up good! The toddler ate it all up good! And the best part??? The recipe made enough for another meal in the future! I've packed it up and put it in the freezer to pull out for another foggy day.

Black and White Wednesday - Saving Money

2011-09-07T01:00:00.000-04:00

We are now going into day seven of the 30 Days of Nothing challenge that A Bushel & A Peck is hosting and I'm having fun...well almost, I could use my daily latte made for me by someone but me. :) But hey, we're putting pennies in the pot for our Christmas spending spree.

So last night I put together this yummy dinner with a little help from myrecipes.com, which by the way I LURVE! By planning our meals like I do, I'm able to shop at a organic/natural market and then I buy large amounts of chicken and meats, nuts, beans, sauces and other pantry staples (did you see that garlic jug?) at large warehouse stores. This way I'm well stocked and should have what is needed for staples and the occasional batch of cookies. During this challenge I'm planning on cutting my weekly budget by $50 by using what's over stocked (or never used because we went out and believe me there's some strange stuff in there...Mango Marmalade????) in pantry/freezer. When I plan our meals as much as I can I throw in something we've never had and this Chicken with Chili-Cheese Rice was a hit right off the bat!

Part of this challenge is to empty our pantries and freezers and this recipe made it easy for me to use a can of chilies that have been sitting in the pantry and a bag of chicken from the freezer. All I had to buy was the cilantro, jalapeno pepper and the cheese....score! I do a lot of cooking and almost all of our dinners are made at home and while our pantry may be ready to be emptied, I'm hoping to teach myself to save that other half of the onion to use later in the week instead of throwing it away like I normally would. I need to stop wasting to be precise. :) I'm also hoping to make our meals to fit our family of four instead of having enough for eight and then not eating the left overs...I'm a huge failure at that! Again...too much waste on my part. I do have one meal though that I do triple and the leftovers are eagerly sought out...but that's for later in the month. Stay tuned!

One of the fun things that has been happening in my kitchen for a while is the little voice that asks me every.single.night if she can help. Oh man I'm loving this!! And of course I always figure out something for her to participate in. For this meal she helped me measure all of our ingredients and make a yummy salad and enjoyed some samples to tide her over until dinner.

We eat LOTS of salads! Tomatoes are staples on my list as are shredded carrots...they can go in anything for a little crunch and some great color! I had a bag of slivered almonds in the pantry that I found when I cleaned it out so I polished this treat of a salad off with those.

My little secret....Words while dinner cooks. ;) One thing I loved about this recipe was that it used one dish from start to finish. Big J liked that too when he came home to see what was for dinner but he quickly changed his mind when he did dishes...the cheese is not so much fun to get off the pan.

My sweet helper is always looking for a job! She LOVES to help me empty the dishwasher and she now has mastered putting away the silverware which takes her FOREVER but she's really good at getting everything thing in it's place. It's also a perfect distraction while the pots boil and momma gets a little break.

Ahh the finished product! Kinda looks a little scary to me but once I took a bite I was dying for more! When I'm making a new meal for the family I follow the recipe to the tee and if it's a hit I'll make it again with my own tweaks. For this meal I'll definitely need to double it as everyone wanted seconds but alas there was none! I'll also try to add some more color...red bell peppers I'm thinking. My favorite part though was knowing it cost me just a few dollars and a little bit of my time looking for a quick, cheep meal. I'm off to add a few more pennies to my pot.

What are some of your favorite one pan cheep dinners?? Do share!

Well this is a bittersweet Wednesday for so many out here in bloggerland...this is the last Black and White Wednesday after two incredible years. I've always loved Wednesdays and I know so many of my family did too as I often got emails or calls from them, not only commenting on my post but SO many others from around the world. Thank you Lisa for hosting this weekly bit of artwork from around the world...I always loved sitting down with a cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of wine at night and looking at photos processed in my most favorite ways. It's been a great party!

Craving the daily grind

2011-09-06T09:43:00.000-04:00

I'm a huge coffee drinker. I love coffee. I crave it. Yes I have a problem. I also get about four hours of sleep a night (thank you miss cricket) and I'm definitely in the "need 8+ hours a night to function" group, so coffee and I are best friends all day. With our no spending for 30 days challenge that we've embarked on, I'm left to my own devices on getting my daily supper yummy coffee shop bought latte to enjoy. And I can tell you the first day of this challenge was difficult! to not just run and grab a hot cup somewhere! I was stressed to the max and was FRIED by 2pm....oh and did I mention we were leaving for our weekend away and the house/dog sitter canceled at the last second?? Did I say stressed?? Where's my latte!!!!!

Several years ago my mom gave me this way cool little gadget that foams up milk in no time so that I too can make a latte in the comfort of my home. I love this thing. But I also love going to Surf City Coffee and buying a cup of coffee every day. But alas I am going off the spending money wagon for 30 days and I'm going to make my own art work at home with my little doollywig and a saved to go cup or two and cha-ching...there's $3.75 in my Christmas fund!

I think I might master the art of lattes in the next thirty days!

A Moment in Life {Ready to go!}

2011-09-02T05:05:00.008-04:00

Yesterday as I was puttering around the house and gathering up our stuff for the upcoming weekend at Family Camp through our church and I heard a little, "mommy I ready to go!"....I turned around and saw this! And thankfully my camera was literally right behind me...SCORE! :)

I've been telling her we have to wait three more days, then two more and finally today I can tell her we're going this afternoon! She's so excited and keeps saying, "daddy and mommy and bubba and Sammi coming to family camp mommy??" Yes sweetness we're all going together. (Sammi is one of Big J's bestest friends and she will be volunteering there this weekend...they're both just as excited as the cricket.) Love this picture of her....she just wants to go!!! I'm so looking forward to spending the next few days in a place that Big J holds so dear in his heart and experiencing camp once again!
I almost feel like I'm 14 again going to summer camp!! :)

Hope everyone has a fabulous Labor Day weekend!

Ours is surely to be filled with all things fun and lots of great fellowship!

Black and White Wednesday - Parts of summer we forgot to publish

2011-08-31T03:39:00.000-04:00

As I was looking through pictures the other day I realized that there was so much I never posted from our summer break. We did a lot this summer....almost too much! BUT it was fun and that's all that matters! Here's a few captures of our summer that didn't make their own post. Several pictures were taken with my phone and or other folks....Enjoy!

We shared many moments of laughter with friends near and far.

We buried our feet in the sand a few times and ate seaweed like it was store bought!

We had life changing weeks where we learned that life isn't "all about me", it's about being a buddy.

We visited my grandfather's Army platoons memorial.

We got all crazy at A.C. Gilberts!

We ate sandwiches with our friends, the Salsa girls and Miss Hannah on the beach.
You can see more pictures of that fun day on each of their blogs. :)
It was so much fun to see the changes in our cricket and sweet Hannah since last year....oh these girls are amazing!!

I'm pretty sure the highlight for our girl was this motorized ATV!
The cows at Grams and Pops were pretty cool but this four wheeled joyful toy was a huge hit!
We were hesitant to put her on it but finally caved and she knew exactly what to do and was off !

We spent an hour running through the water at a park in Medford Oregon.
It was pretty awesome and made me wish we had warm enough
weather here for something that cool in our neighborhood.

And one of the biggest highlights in the middle of summer was definitely our girls first movie in the theaters.
Winnie the Pooh was a huge hit and she loved every minute of it...well except for the popcorn.

I'm still amazed that the summer is over, schools been happening for going on three weeks and we're gearing up for fall and all the beauty that comes with the season! It's been a truly blessed summer with so much fun, laughter and love filled into each crack of the eight weeks! I was worried we'd be bored this year....HA! Not so much! And the fun continues for us this long holiday weekend as we head to Family Camp through our church. We are so excited to go and to experience the camp where Big J spends as much time as he can. Can't wait for Friday!!! Can't wait for the fellowship!!! Can't wait for the time together!

What was your favorite part of your summer??

Be sure to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and see more black and whites from around the world by jumping on over to
The Long Road to China {and back!}

30 Days No Spending! Here we go!

2011-08-29T10:58:00.000-04:00

A few years ago I was awed and inspired by a challenge that fellow adoptive mom and blogger, Christie from A Bushel & A Peck did....to be honest I'm always awed and inspired by this woman. She will have you in tears and then will leave you laughing by the end of her posts. She will make you think, do, and dream. Well besides inspiring me in other ways, this year she and her family are challenging many to stop spending for the next 30 days! We're talking use what you've got, stay away from the coffee shop, eat in instead of out and save, save, save!

I couldn't resist to jump on board and challenge myself and my family to put away some money. In fact I'm hopeful that this will just turn into a habit that goes beyond the 30 days because we need it to. This last year has been tough for us to be completely honest. We've lost a huge amount of salary and have had to cut much of our spending already. And while we have cut back on all of our monthly expenses, we still struggle with walking past the coffee shops and cafes for lunches out or steering clear of eating out on those nights when I just don't want to cook. So with this challenge our extra spending ends starting Thursday for the next 30 days and hopefully beyond! We will put away each cent for Christmas and hope to have a better holiday than we'd thought we would just a few weeks ago.

In preparation for the next four weeks I've spent the last week getting a meal plan together for the entire month. I am a big meal planner and sit down every Saturday night and plan out the week to come so doing an entire month was challenge enough! If you're looking for a great way to find new and yummy recipes, meal plan and add your plan to a shopping list, check out myrecipes.com. I've used this site for years and find it to be the best! I've also cleaned out the pantry and freezer and taken note of what we have and where to use it in my meal plan. I've sipped a few coffee's along the way and will have one or two more before Thursday I'm sure! The family is on board and ready to go...I hope!

Do you think you can challenge yourself to spending nothing for 30 days?? Can you buy just the milk, bread and veggies?? Jump on board or follow along at A Bushel & A Peck on how others are making it happen, you never know you might be inspired!

A Moment in Life {Starting the next phase}

2011-08-26T06:42:00.001-04:00

This week Big J went and got his ID card at our local community college where he'll be taking a few classes over the next two years. He'll be taking his foreign language classes there this year, American Sign Language then next year he'll take a math class here instead of at the high school. The math class idea was his and I guess when your mom says you have to take four years of math you might as well take one of them at the college level before you get to college...right?? Where did this kid come from!!??!!??

When we picked this little card up I honestly had to step back and suck the tears down....thankfully I had a two year old that kept me occupied and took my mind off the fact that my other child is starting the next phase in his life. While we were on campus he ran into a youth leader from church who was also getting his ID and of course Big J was pretty stoked to already know someone on campus especially someone who is supportive and encouraging. Made my momma heart feel a wee bit better. I guess for this round of classes I have to begin step back...I can't call the teacher and ask questions or go to open house but I can be comforted in knowing that there is someone Big J knows looking out for him already.

I also have to share one more moment from this week....

I was sitting down yesterday working on a project and had to take a picture of myself so I opened up PhotoBooth. I saw this little video of my two sprouts and just about died laughing! I know the day this was recorded but I have no idea when they did it and what's crazy is I can hear my voice in the background but don't remember them playing with my computer! Ohhh the things these two do! I do love the fact that it was a sweet little surprise for me, specially when I've been feeling as though I'm being pulled apart in two by these two! Made a tough week worth the rough moments for sure.

What was your favorite moment from the week??

Black and White Wednesday - Sights from our bikes

2011-08-24T02:49:00.001-04:00

As you all know we got a new ride for our littlest sprout last Saturday, you can read all about it on my previous post. As soon as that baby was loaded up in the car we headed straight for San Francisco for a day long ride through Golden Gate Park...a ride I've been wanting to do for a very long time and I wasn't disappointed! Even though the weather was less than perfect for me, we still loved every minute of the fog filled day and even the few sprinkles that landed on us at the end of our journey.

As we were making our way through the tourist filled streets, we started up a path that we thought was taking us to the Chinese Pavilion in the middle of Stow Lake. We soon found ourselves going uphill and winding round and round and at one point I had to get off my bike and walk. I have no idea how Mike or Big J got up that hill on their bikes!! Well I was huffing and puffing and looking down below and thinking to myself this was not what I had in mind and I just wanted to be on the path below me that wound around the lake. By the time I reached the top I was ready to go back down but was stopped by the view...WOW! My family was at the edge of the cliff looking out across the tree tops at one of the most recognizable sites in the world...I was stunned! There in the distance in the parting fog was the Golden Gate Bridge in all it's glory! Our little wrong turn up the big hill had taken us to the top of Strawberry Hill which over looks San Francisco in every direction....breathtaking!

Before long we were on our way down the hill. We stopped along the way to get a better view of an owl who was perched in a tree watching the world pass him by. Little cricket was in awe and kept whoooooing at him and finally the beautiful bird swiveled his head around to give us a nod. Our ride down was much quicker than going up and we found the path that led us to the pavilion I'd so badly wanted to see and I wasn't disappointed. For just a few minutes I pretended I was back in China and just enjoyed the moment...oh what I would do to be back in that beautiful country again! The lake surrounding the pavilion was filled with paddle boats and lots of bird activity as well as what seemed like 100's of tourists! We didn't make it to the historic boat house but I'm hopeful we'll be back during the off season and really explore that part of the park more.

After a while we'd built up an appetite and began to seek out a place to grab a bite. We rode along passing the De Young Museum (now featuring Picasso) and the California Academy of Sciences which both sit in a beautiful park setting which for the life of me I don't know the name of! Anyone know?? This part of the park is one of my favorites though...there are trees and flowers and the architecture of the buildings is amazing! The last time we were here we were just two months from referral for our girl...it was a wonderful day together as a family before our family grew...good memories! It was nice to be back with our cricket. :)

We found a little spot to sit and people watch and enjoy the many photographers capturing weddings, engagement photos and families trying to save the memory of their trip to The City. It was a perfect spot to enjoy a warm cup of chowder that warmed us from the cool and foggy day. For me this part of the park is so dreamy and romantic...on a sunny day I could stay here and wander around all day or maybe just sit and people watch for a few hours.

With our bellies full and some warmth added, we took off for the Conservatory of Flowers which is amazing! Even though we didn't make it inside we did enjoy walking our bikes around the gardens and spying on several more weddings one of which was in a tunnel which was full of candles. I wanted so badly to sneak up and capture the moment with my camera! The fog made the conservatory vanish when I took pictures so I'm looking forward to going in the fall when the fog leaves the bay and the sun shines to see if I can capture it's glass and white building in all it's glory as it sits surrounded by brick and flowers.

The wedding below was bound to be an interesting one...each person had a bike which was decked out in flowers, ribbons and other decorations. The groom and groomsmen were in various costume of some sort and looked to be enjoying the stares from onlookers. This part of the park is a stunning back drop for a wedding and would be a perfect spot to watch one as you enjoyed a picnic on the grass. A thought for next time for sure!

Eventually we got back on our bikes and on our way again. We passed through so many fabulous spots that I would have loved to have stopped and snapped a few pictures but we would have been back at the car around midnight if we had. I loved the lake filled model boats floating around, the waterfalls here and there, but my most favorite pass through was the casting ponds! Oh I could watch those fly fishermen all day! Next time we'll stop at the Dutch Windmills, the Buffalo Paddock, Shakespeare's Garden, the Japanese Tea Garden, and the children's playground which looked like it could be a day adventure just by itself! If you ever take a trip to Northern California, Golden Gate park is not to be missed!

Soon the ride was over and we found ourselves back at our car. :( It always makes me a little sad when we load the bikes back up and head home. There's something so serene when I'm out riding...I feel like I'm free and in my own little world but the best part is when I pull up along side my children or hubby and we share a moment pedaling away. We finally got a great book filled with rides in Northern California and our next ride is already planned! I can not wait for the next ride!

Be sure to stop by The Long Road to China {and back} to see more

black and white photos from all around the world and have a blessed day!

WeeHooooooo!

2011-08-22T11:05:00.000-04:00

As everyone knows we LOVE to go on bike rides and we're always looking forward to the next trip. Recently I got a new bike and while we were looking at what would work for me at a bike shop our little cricket jumped on a little kids bike with training wheels and took off like a professional biker! We were shocked and awed! She steered all around the shop and tested every single bike she could climb up on. We then realized that the sweet little red trike we got her for her birthday wasn't going to cut it much longer but she is far from riding with us on her own bike. Currently we have a bike trailer that she has really enjoyed for about a year now but she can not actually participate in the ride with us. I am always filling the trailer with books and snacks to keep her occupied inside and of course it never fails that she falls fast asleep within a few miles of the ride. While we've LOVED the trailer, we knew it wasn't what we really wanted in the long run and it would quickly become a bit boring for our girl.

Then on a ride two weekends ago I saw a family riding that had a tailer bike that the child was strapped into. Instantly I knew we had to find that and find one quick because this little cricket is all into helping and doing it herself...miss independent! As soon as we got home we started researching this type of trail-a-bike and found that there are very few of these types of trail-a-bikes out there until I stumbled on the Weehoo! Oh my goooodness! I got busy on trying to find one locally and was praying for a used one on Craigslist but had no luck there! No one wants to get rid of one of these! We finally found a bike shop in the Bay Area that just got two in and we grabbed one fast!

We picked it up and immediately headed out for a ride. We brought along the old trailer just in case little miss was unhappy with her new bike-a but she was bouncing off the walls to get in it and get going! SCORE! The Weehoo is amazing and worth every cent! The rider has a very comfy seat with a three point harness to strap them in and prevent them from falling out. There are two mesh pockets on either side of the seat to hold a few items like a water bottle and a snack or two. The seat has an easy release to move the seat forward or back to accommodate the child. We were initially worried the cricket wouldn't fit or be able to reach the pedals but at the most forward notch she fits perfectly! I've read that bike can accommodate a child up to 10+ depending on the size of the child. The seat also has some grips or handle bars and of course pedals to help with the ride. The pedals have straps on them that have to be used to keep the child's feet in place and must be used. We were also a little worried our girl wouldn't want to be confined that way but she never once complained.

Once strapped in the child can help move the bike or can relax and enjoy the ride without moving the pedals at all. Throughout our first ride little miss did a little of both and we went on a short ride the next day and she peddled backwards for most of the ride but it didn't affect the ride at all. I also love the storage packs on either side of the tire...they have enough space to store a few things including a small picnic and a diaper or two. I was worried that we'd miss the storage space that the trailer held but soon realized we didn't need to bring any books or toys to occupy our cricket...she now can be a part of the ride and that's more entertaining than anything else.

Our initial ride lasted almost four hours and not once did we hear a complaint, we only heard giggles from the back, and we got a lot of stares from people intrigued by the Weehoo's awesomeness! It's pretty awesome! Did I already say that?? :) We Weehoo, do you?

A Moment in Life {First Day - Junior Year!}

2011-08-19T03:15:00.001-04:00

Wednesday morning was a moment I don't want to forget...Big J's first day of his junior year!

Every year I take a picture of him holding up his fingers to represent what grade he's in, well this year we had to figure out how to do it...two number one's is as best as we could do for 11th grade! :) I have a feeling though that this year is going to be pretty high up there in the number one spot.

This school year our boy has a full course load at school and he is taking American Sign Language at our local community college. At the high school he'll be taking his first photography course and will be learning all about, the camera, film, black and white photography and the dark room...I think he's more excited about that class than anything else! He's also got American Literature, Trigonometry, US History and Earth and Space Science. For extra curricular activities he'll be on the Homecoming committee for the first time, participate again with Christian Athletes on Campus, Invisible Children, Volleyball and try to get as much if not more community hours put in as last year which was 160. Like I said...a full load!

My dearest J...My prayer for you this year is that you continue to follow the path our Lord has set in front of you and you take full advantage of all of the positive opportunities that come your way. I know this year is going to be a challenge for you yet you are going in head first with all your heart and soul and that is inspiring to me! Continue to be the leader you are and share your light with those who need it. Know that we are always here for you in all that you do...we are your biggest cheerleaders! I am SO excited to watch you learn, grow and succeed during this your junior year of high school!! SO excited! Go forth with all the love and joy that God filled you with this summer and make the most of this year!

I love you more than all the sand in the ocean!

Love Mom.

Black and White Wednesday - Summer of fun is over!

2011-08-17T00:51:00.000-04:00

It's official...our summer of fun is done!

We've had an amazing summer full of more fun, adventure and laughs

than we ever could have dreamt!

Gone are the late mornings filled with lazy cups of coffee, long breakfasts and no alarms breaking our laughter and fun.

We had our last summer sunset on the beach walk the other night...if we make it back to watch the sun sink into the ocean in the next few months, I'll be pretty surprised! Especially without our shoes and winter hats on! For now I'll enjoy the memories of a great, GREAT summer and relish in the fact that the safe cozy feeling of summer will greet us again before we know it.

Happy Wednesday and happy first day of school to all the kids in our town!

It's always inspiring for me on Wednesdays to get on over to Lisa's blog and see everyone's black and white offerings...go get inspired!

Summer light

2011-08-12T12:11:00.001-04:00

It's been a crazy busy week and I've only looked at my camera on the shelf calling my name. :( So I have no moments captured this week and there have been plenty of great things that should have been frozen in time....my loss I guess. BUT I do have a few pictures from a little photo shoot I did while we were at my parents place in Oregon. The barn was a beautiful backdrop, well actually the entire property is a dreamy backdrop....these are just a few of my faves from some late evening light.

The week ahead is sure to be filled with more crazy minutes in the day. School starts Wednesday and we'll be back to our comfy routine which includes early mornings and long afternoons with a few late evenings thrown in for good measure! Ahhhhh the life of a mom! Wouldn't give it up for all the tea in China....not for these beautiful kids!

Black and White Wednesday - My little baker and I

2011-08-10T01:23:00.000-04:00

Introducing my new assistant baker!

I'm so excited to not have to handle the cooking load on my own anymore and

now I can just sit back and direct in all the meals. :) Well she does need a little bit of practice and still needs help reaching the countertop and she is terrible about not eating the food as it is being prepared....but she's pretty darn cute....I think we make a good team!

So every time that I mentioned we needed to send her bubba some cookies while he was away, my little baker jumped at the words and said, "I help you mommy!!" She asks him all the time now if he liked the cookies we sent him at camp. :)

Caught red handed!!!

YUMMMMMMY!!

Finally I convinced her to pour the chocolate chips in the mix instead of eating them. :)

But then she just dug her hands in the batter and went to town!

I love the expression my little assistant has in this picture! SO my cricket!

A Moment in Life {The camp look}

2011-08-05T05:36:00.001-04:00

Sunday we packed up Big J for his last who rah of the summer. He was SOOOO excited and couldn't wait to just chill with his friends and have fun filled week at Camp Hammer. It was set to be a week of relaxing, unwinding, sharing stories of the past month and reflecting in their faith. The kids who'd been busy with Apostle Camp and then Camp Attitude right after were looking forward to playing for once, a very well deserved break.

So here he sat on the trunk that took me to years and years of camp...looking cool and a little bit like a young boy again...maybe for just a second.

Black and White Wednesday - College is RIGHT in front of us

2011-08-03T01:08:00.000-04:00

Leading up to the student union at OSU.

The reality of life right now is beginning to sink in. Our son is an upper class men in exactly two weeks. He is now needing to focus more on what is two years ahead than what is happening this coming weekend. Our lives are now revolving around college talk. Where ever we travel to over the next 20 or so months we will look at any college in our path. Our adventures have now taken on a new hue. At this point we are looking at colleges for a starting point of what feels good and what schools offer the right fields of study for Big J which at this point include education and photography. Then we'll dive in for more detailed tours and meeting with administrators. During our time in Oregon we checked out four campuses...four very different colleges that has guided us in a direction we will focus more on during our college search.

We first explored Oregon State University which is an absolutely gorgeous school! It is filled with history and gives you the sense of Ivy League. The campus was alive with students which was nice to see during the summer. Orange is the popular color and it seemed everyone was wearing it...even the fire hydrants! The Beavers are BIG up here! As are the Ducks but I'm not really allowed to talk about them since the family there are big OSU fans. :)

Posing for the mom at OSU.

The buildings were amazing and the landscape was old and deep rooted. I could have spent all day wandering around the grounds and explored every building, I could have even taken a nap in the sunshine filled parks. The town of Corvallis surrounds the school and easily melds into the streets between campus and community. The campus though was too big and too old for Big J...in other words it didn't fit him like a well worn pair of shoes.

Classrooms at OSU.

Our next stop was Western Oregon University. The campus was closed for the summer and was quiet but still gave us a good view of what we wanted to see. WOU was sweet and small. We'll need to go back for a better tour if Big J wants but this was a good quick snapshot.

Entrance to WOU.

Library at WOU.

We then went to a private Christian college called Corban University and we were blessed with a private tour with no one but us! It was a true gift! The campus is nestled in the hills overlooking Salem and has a very welcoming feeling. While the buildings were old and dated, Big J found himself liking the atmosphere a bit more than OSU. I fell in love and instantly saw our son there in the future and of course I had to reign myself in and not push or not push too hard. ;)

The clock tower and dinning hall and administrative building in the background at Corban.

All of us loved that Corban is service based and encourages an individuals Christian faith and growth in God. Each step we took, Big J heard more of what he finds valuable in his life and saw photos on the wall of places he wants to see in the world. While he thought he wanted to be on a large campus, we walked off the grounds of Corban with a new thought process and a door opened for him. Life at college CAN be more than just class work and books and Greek life! With most Christian schools there is an expectation of community work and mission trips which is exactly what Big J is looking for on top of obtaining a degree. Corban may not be the campus for him but it is a school he'll keep on his list as a possibility.

Student union and classrooms at Corban.

Corban Library.

Another pose for mom...in front of Corban's Psalm Chapel.
The piece of artwork outside is a representation of how we grow with Christ though out our lives until we are with Him in heaven.

And finally on our way home we stopped for a few days in the Medford/Ashland area to not only check out the idea of moving there but also the campus of Southern Oregon University. My youngest sister is an alumni and lives in the area and was the perfect tour guide for our visit! Again we were given a private tour with just us and that makes the time on a campus more intimate and asking questions is much easier.

Library at SOU

Big J really liked it there even though there wasn't an emphasis on service work, mission trips or studies abroad. The campus is tree filled and quaintly nestled in the community of Ashland. By this point in our tours of schools, Big J was/is pretty convinced he does not want to go to school in Oregon. BUT....I told him to have an open mind right now and keep them in his thoughts...we will see.

Doing a little pose for mom in the education building at SOU

The hall of the administration building at SOU.

As of today we are two weeks from the first day of Big J's junior year of high school. The clock is ticking and time is running out on the innocence of his childhood. The more I think about the thought of him away at college, the more I cherish this summer and all the hours I've spent driving him to and fro. In a matter of months it seems, he will be graduating from high school and I'll be helping him hang his clothes in a closet in some dormitory at the college that he'll wear like a well worn pair of shoes for four plus years. I can't wait to help find that fit for him and spend these next 20 some odd months with him exploring all his options! We are planning a big Southern California tour this Spring as well as checking out schools in Colorado and Arizona. He'll also do a four day college experience at his "dream college" (even though he's never seen the campus!) Biola University this Fall or Spring. Ahhhh if I just had a crystal ball!

So where did you go to college??

What was your dream college??

What did you like or hate about your college experience?

What advice do you have for us as we begin to find the perfect well worn fit for our boy??

Be sure to enjoy more black and white images at The Long Road to China {and back}.

Cows, goats and more cows!

2011-08-01T12:07:00.000-04:00

This years trip to my parents place was extra fun because of some new friends on the farm, Ben and Jerry! We had a ton of fun feeding the sweet baby cows breakfast and dinner and sometimes even a snack in between. Our little cricket thought she'd hit the jackpot with these cute guys! The photo opportunities were over the top not only with the beautiful backdrop but the awe of our girls first look at the farm animals in her story books.

We made a cute black and white tutu to match Ben and Jerry and went off to give the boys a snack! You know I couldn't do pictures without a tutu! :)

Here's Ben...a sweet, sweet guy who was SO great with an active toddler chasing after him.

Gotta love the determination and the tutu! :)

Raz and Sheldon.

These two thought my camera would be a better thing to eat then the acres of grass they have!

Always wanting to help her grandpa no matter what the job or what she's wearing.

Eventually we had to say goodbye to the cows and now as I sit here and work on this post, my daughter is yelling, "Ben and Jerry mommy!!!! There's Ben and Jerry!" We now have a definite country girl on our hands! She loved every minute of our time there and slept like a dream!

We had an amazing trip and the farm and cows were just one of the highlights! There's so much more to share...more smiles, more firsts and a few moments that made my heart swell.

A Moment in Life {No Fear}

2011-07-30T01:36:00.001-04:00

We returned home this afternoon from a fabulous week with my family in Oregon. It's been a whirlwind of a week and full of fabulous memories and many moments to share including this moment which happened within an hour of us getting out of the long trip...

First the John Deer was brought out and our little cricket was happy as a lark to finally be able to sit on her bubba's lap for hours on end. It had been a very long week without him and we were all SO happy to be able to see our Big J, especially his little sister! She giggled and rode around the front of my parents property for awhile and then she got brave and wanted to do it herself and kicked her brother off.

Then her brother took her around the corner with their grandpa and showed her the BIG tractor! And that was it, she wanted to get on that thing faster than a duck to water! She practically pushed Big J out of the way to climb aboard and when the engine started the grin grew wider and wider. And to be honest with you, I think my dad's grin was bigger than hers!

Soon though grandpa was not allowed to touch any part of the tractor except to hit the gas. Every time he'd try to steer, our little cricket would scream out..."I DOOOOOOOOOOOOO IT!!!!!!" This girl has NO fear! There was even a few minutes of sheer screaming and the start of a tantrum because she couldn't do it all herself! Up and down the drive they went and it was a perfect way to start the week on the farm and it was a laughter feast for her daddy and I and a moment not to forget.
We are happy to be home but missing all the fun we had, but the best part of being home is going through all the pictures and remembering all the great moments and all the fun we had. I've got lots to share and some fun, fun pictures!!

A moment in life {Going Places}

2011-07-22T10:03:00.001-04:00

Last Saturday we loaded up Big J in a church bus and sent him off on an adventure that is sure to be life changing. Just the day before we'd picked him up from his discipleship and service camp where he spent two weeks moving boulders up to the furthest part of the camp to build a water feature. The kids also cleared a large area of the camp of all fire hazard debris and yes they did have some fun as well! In the few hours we had to listen to his stories I gathered that his favorite memories were the day of silence they had, the pool/dance party when all the campers went home between sessions and the hour of solitude spent in the forest. Not things I ever remember doing at my own camp experiences but something that has made our boy happy and content.

So as I worked my momma laundry magic through the night, Big J went to catch a few hours of sleep before he had to be up and at it again bright and early the next morning for the 12+ hour drive to Camp Attitude. When dawn broke and the alarm jolted us from our few hours of sleep I began to feel a little weary and quite weepy. I crept in and sat on the edge of my sons bed and just watched him sleep. He's all grown up is what I kept thinking. I began to pray over him and asked God to give him the strength and guidance he'd need for the week ahead as well as begged for the journey north be a safe one. As I bent down to kiss his cheek I knew then that this week was going to be hard and a true test of my heart. A preparation for what is emanate...leaving the nest and flying away...college.

The few moments we had that morning were a mad dash of last minute details and getting out the door before the bus pulled away. As soon as we pulled in the parking lot our boy was out the door and surrounded by his friends, all giddy with pure excitement for what God is leading them on. They gathered in a circle (that's Big J on the far left towering over everyone) to pray and to prepare for experiencing a week that wasn't about them but about the needs of a child who may otherwise never do what our kids take for granted. And soon the bus and van were full with a few dozen kids and driving away. I'll admit I was the last mom to leave and I may have even shed a tear or two. It's been a long week and we've had no contact with Big J at all. Like I said this was a "not about you" week and the kids were asked to leave their cell phones at home. We were told when we see our children again they will have profound stories and will be forever changed. Thank you Lord for this incredible opportunity!

And today they comes home, well kinda for Big J. Camp Attitude is in Oregon and is a hop, skip and a jump from my parents so they are picking him up this afternoon and we will jump in our car and make the trek up north to bring him back home. Of course I'll get to hear his voice today at some point and hear the details of the last week and then tomorrow I'll be able to give him the biggest momma hug ever! It's been a long, long week for me and I'm ready to hit the road! I'm ready for a few days of time spent with our boy, days that I know are numbered. We will tour a few colleges together while we're there and enjoy time spent with family for the next week and I am so excited! Life is good and God is GREAT!

Take a few minutes and check out Camp Attitude....What an awesome place for children with special needs and their families. The camp I went to for 12 years was just for diabetics and I loved how special it was to me to know I'd be somewhere were everyone was just like me and I imagine that Camp Attitude gives their campers that same sense of peace along with experiences that make the long year between worth it. What a gift for all who attend!

Black and White Wednesday - Splish Splash!

2011-07-20T00:53:00.000-04:00

A bucket + A pair of your favorite boots + A sunny day. + A cup or two...

Equals pure joy and hours of fun!

We're having the most unusual of summers here and of course we're taking full advantage of the warmth, the sun and the lack of fog! On this afternoon as I was watering the flowers and doing some pruning of the roses I noticed my little cricket was really wanting to play in the dogs water bowl and I quickly jumped on the idea in my head and pulled out the toy bucket and filled it up!

The joy in her face was instantaneous as soon as I said jump in! She of course looked at me like I was crazy because she was fully clothed. I wanted to see if she'd actually get in a bucket of water with her clothes on...she did. And yes, she even wore her prized boots in as well. The giggles started. The clothes came off, well all except for the boots that is. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Be sure to hop on over to The Long Road to China (and back) to see more black and whites this week.

The camping adventure gone awry.

2011-07-15T08:49:00.002-04:00

This last week started off with excitement and a big adventure. A mommy and me adventure had been in the works for months and the time finally came for my girl and I to pack up our car and head out into the great wide open for a tent camping trip with some friends. We started talking about our adventure a few days before and shared how much fun it was going to be, just mommy and me and daddy was going to stay home. We set up the tent in the house to prepare for any bumps we might find, but found none. We looked at lanterns and glow sticks and all things rough and rugged to get ready! And of course some separation anxiety started...just a little bit but nothing to stop us. We stopped talking about it and moved forward with packing up.

The morning dawned and we eagerly jumped in the loaded car with coffee, snacks and a bag full of great entertainment to get us through our six hour drive. All was good! My cricket and I talked and sang and I listened to her read me books and we pointed to cows and birds and all that we could see outside the windows. Soon we needed lunch so we pulled over and enjoyed some french fries and a burger and laughed and giggled as she sat in the drivers seat and I in the passenger. My fears of her separation from her daddy begin to fade. Or so I thought.

Soon we arrived at our campground and were greeted with smiles and much anticipation of our time together. Introductions were made, hugs were given freely and stuff was unloaded and tents began to pop up and then I noticed something...my girl suddenly was not her smiling self. A very clingy little girl emerged from somewhere and my bubble began to leak. I instantly began to have her help me set up our tent with all the familiar girly things I brought from home. She lightened a bit but was still not quiet right and I continued to move forward in making the most of our time and the time I had with my friend who'd I haven't seen in a year.

And then after a quick goodnight call from daddy our world came crashing down and any hope for comfort was lost. After a long night and another heartbreaking episode the next afternoon I called it quits. My bubble completely popped. And calling it quits is hard for me to do but I knew I had to do it and I also knew I had to get my big girl pants on and drive the six hours home in the dark...and if you know me well enough, I don't drive at night. Period. But as soon as I told my struggling girl we were headed home she sighed and said thank you. Our drive home was full of giggles and lots of daddy talk. She never once fell asleep and as soon as we got out of the car and she saw the man who spins her world she literally jumped out of my arms and gave him the biggest hug ever. And since then all has been normal again.

Now you may ask, did this detour me from wanting to do this again? No. Will I do thing differently next time? Yes. Will I wait a while before trying again for a mommy and me adventure. Most definitely yes. And it will happen again before she's 25!! :) As you can see from the pictures that there were many times that a smile was there and I was able to sit her down for a few minutes without her thinking I was going to go too far. She did say she was having fun a few times too. She loved playing with new friends and was happy to let my dear friend and her Auntie Kelle hold her and love on her which made me smile.

A moment in life {Dog dinner in style!}

2011-07-15T02:00:00.001-04:00

Tutu's are the rage around here. We wear them often and do not think it odd to run to the mail box or the mall for that matter in our tutu. So when I saw this happening it didn't surprise me but it did make me laugh! Oh this girl is all girl and is all for helping out!

I love how Ella is looking at Mike for reassurance it seems. I wonder what she's thinking....maybe she's concerned because someone is her size is mixing her food, or maybe she's thinking of a way to help herself? I don't know but it's pretty funny! The tippy toes just kill me!! If she could get on the very tips of those toes to help cook or clean the dishes in the sink she would!

And of course once a task is started where our cricket is helping, she must complete it fully! No matter how long it takes and how much those dogs are jumping around and begging for the event to hurry up, she must finish what she started. And of course in this picture I strongly believe that Summit is very concerned that our girl is actually going to eat her dinner and not share. She didn't of course and the dogs finally got to eat even though there may have been a few extra kibble in there and a sneeze or two but definitely not a piece of tutu, heaven for bid! :)

I'm loving doing this "Moment in Life" post weekly. It has really made me take more notice of the simplest of things that go on in the house on a daily basis. It also makes me pull out my camera and forces me to snap away which is something I've been very lax at lately!

A moment in life {Sweet Sounds}

2011-07-08T05:43:00.001-04:00

As I was cleaning up from the mornings activities the other day and humming to myself as I worked, I suddenly heard a little voice in the other room. I peeked around the corner to find my cricket atop her new favorite toy and holding her treasured microphone performing for the imaginary crowd in front of her. :) A moment I'll giggle at forever!

Black and White Wednesday - Fabulous Fourth Fun!

2011-07-06T01:59:00.002-04:00

Our Fourth of July weekend was filled with fun, sun and good times!

There is never enough hours in the day when you're out camping with family and friends and the fun is on overtime!

We spent the holiday at a fabulous campground in Paso Robles called Wine Country RV Resort and it was truly wine country!

We were surrounded by hundreds of winery's and thousands of acres of vineyards all while enjoying blissfully hot temperatures!

We wore our stars and stripes all weekend and enjoyed getting our feet out of our socks and Uggs!

We had more fun in the eight dollar blow up pools than we ever could have imagined!

The smiles were contagious!

We spent an afternoon at the coast to cool down from the 107 degree heat and found ourselves in Cayucos where everyone was vying for a seat for a perfect small town parade...which was two days away! The town was jumping with excitement and there were chairs lining the streets decorated for the upcoming holiday! We ate at a fabulous restaurant, Ruddell's Smokehouse which was featured in Sunset mag this month for the best fish tacos and they are completely worth the wait to get in the two person building!

And of course we tasted wine! Lots of wine! We toured Eberle Winery and went from the hottest time of day outside to the cool underground caves were their oh so tasty wine is. The place is beautiful! And the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah is worth the stop and the wait to buy a few bottles! Oh and it's dog friendly and kid friendly too! :) Besides Eberle, we enjoyed tastings at several winery's over the course of our visit in the area. The last time I went tasting here there were only about 60 winery's and today there are over 200 including, Eagle Castle, Meridian, Robert Hall, EOS, Four Vines, Firestone, Red Rover, Frolicking Frog and 100's more!

Then the big day came where all of America dons the red, white and blue and we wave flags and enjoy hot dogs and hamburgers all the while spending time with family and friends! We did all of those things and more while we eagerly awaited the firework shows that we'd been hearing about for the last four days! We even were able to catch a few silly faces while we waited!

Several winery's do a firework show as well as the town of Paso Robles and we were lucky enough to be camping right in the middle of them all! So not only did we have vineyards surrounding our campground we had a firework show like no other! The cost to camp here was pricy but by the time we finished our oooohhhhhs and ahhhhhhhhhs it was worth every penny and we'd do it all over again next year! It was a fabulous fourth! And if I had to say my most favorite part...it would hands down be when the fireworks started and our little cricket was in awe...after a few minutes she started saying, "one for mommy...one for daddy...one for me! YEA!!" And she'd start all over again with each boom. Priceless moment which brought me to tears.

Hop on over to The Long Road to China (and back) for more fabulous black and white images!

Hope everyone is enjoying the fun days of summer!!

A moment in life {Family Together Time}

2011-07-01T00:59:00.005-04:00

Last weekend at our family BBQ I wanted to take pictures of the grandkids with their grandparents. Like I said, it's not often that we are all together like this and I took complete advantage of the situation! Of course it's harder than heck to get everyone looking at the camera! And most of the pictures are of someone laughing at the specticle behind me as those who where not in the picture were trying to hold down three dogs who wanted so badly to have their pictures taken! I still had fun and it was good practice for me and for my family! :) Now if only I could get my nephew to smile!!! Silly boy!

There are so many changes happening in our lives right now as a family and last Saturday was one of those nights that will be remembered. This was the first time we have all gotten together since my grandma passed away. It was hard for me. My grandma loved our family game nights every other Sunday or any other time I brought everyone together in our home. She'd bring a bottle of champagne and was always the first to arrive so I'd always get that first cheers with her. :) I miss her.

Like I said...lots going on...My beautiful and adventuresome niece is headed to Spain for her final year of college next weekend. We are all so excited for her travels and eagerly anticipate her coming home in seven months! She's blogging her way through Europe which makes all of us happy to be able to witness everything with her...especially me since I'm a blog lover! :) LOL!

The changes in these three is mind numbing sometimes...Our Holly is just growing more and more into such a beautiful woman and I am SO proud to be a part of her life and to be blessed enough to be her step mom. She is ready for the fall semester to begin so she can dive head first into her EMT classes which I know she'll excel at! Then there's the cricket...what can I say?? She wakes up and is different! Toddlerhood!! And our boy...Big J! He's off for the next three weeks at two different camps. First one is a two week discipleship and service work camp which he went to last year and came home a changed child. Then after those two weeks are over he leaves the next day for a week long camp in Oregon for special needs children where he will be a buddy to one child and do things with the child that her or she might never do as well as care for his/her needs. I anticipate yet another huge spiritual growth as well as positive change in him when we get him home.

Oye these kids!!! I LOVE them so!

And all through the changes going on in our lives, my mom and papa are the guiding stars for all of us. With the loss of my grandma, my mom has stepped up beautifully as our matriarch. She is such an inspiration to me and these last few months have brought us so close! Both of my parents are so dedicated to all of us. They watch us all swirl around them in our own lives and they never hesitate to bring us a smile, a hug, a piece of advice or just a huge laugh! Love this picture of my papa...posing for an old fashion picture and my mom cracking up! So my parents!

That day was a perfect moment in my life. A time captured in memory. A day filled with family. Sharing our futures and remembering parts of the past. We played games and talked about everything. The next time we're all together like this will be next year and I'm sure the picture will change quite a bit...in physical growth and maturity for all the children surrounding their grandparents. And maybe I'll even have better photo skills by then! But hey I got my nephew to smile! :)

Black and White Wednesday - Family Time

2011-06-29T01:41:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we had a total and completely family filled weekend! From Friday afternoon until late into Sunday night it was all family all the time. Friday night we spent the evening having a great meal out with our three kidos and a night of teenage shopping. Saturday we had all the aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents that live near us over for a BBQ. And Sunday was full of worship at church and a long and hearty hike in the afternoon...just the five of us, actually six counting our granddog! It's rare that we all are together for a long period of time with no other interruptions so we took complete advantage of the time while our beautiful Holly was here visiting for the weekend.

Our Sunday hike started out with lots of smiles and a cute pair of glasses! This girl was FULL of smiles and giggles allllll weekend long! As we started out on our hike there was lots of "wow's" or "I like the backpack mommy" and "I'm IN the backpack!!" Too cute for this momma!!

We hiked along a beautiful trail in a local state park, Henry Cowell. Our path was dog friendly and pretty quiet along the way. Of course I couldn't help myself and stayed back with Big J and just snapped away at everything! The backdrop was amazing. The weather was perfect! And the subjects were adorable! I even shared my camera with my hubby who captured lots of perfect moments!

With a teenage boy you can never go more than a mile without stopping for nourishment...So we found a sweet table nestled into a turnout and made ourselves at home. There were dragonflies flittering about everywhere and a few horses passed through and said their hellos. We enjoyed conversation about the church service we'd just been to and our plans for the weeks ahead while sharing a bag of chips and some sandwiches. It was a perfect space away from all that captures us when we are home...tv, phones, computers and the busy lives we lead.

Once we refueled and loaded the cricket back inside her pack we headed back out to see what was ahead of us and to figure out exactly how far we'd make it. Again I was more apt to stay behind and absorb it all in and Big J lolly gagged behind with me and it gave us the opportunity to just talk. For Mike and the girls it was more of a deep conversation of how fast can we get there and making the most of spending the time together. Little miss soon found a comfy spot to rest her legs and let daddy do all the work!

After a few miles the little cricket fell fast asleep and the path kept going as well as the hills! After more than an hour of trekking we decided to stop and head back and while our goal (five+ miles in and 5 out) to the Redwood Grove wasn't accomplished we did accomplish something better....great family time! It was a perfect weekend in every way and one I will treasure so very much. It is so bittersweet to watch our two oldest mature and begin to lead their own lives and venture off from us. We work so hard to keep them our babies for as long as we can but eventually they begin to fly away....thankfully they come back! And when they do come back for an afternoon of family time...it's priceless!

I love all of you my beautiful family!

Happy Wednesday! Hopefully Summer is full of good things and lots of family time for everyone! Hope you can make it over to The Long Road to China {and back} to see more fabulous black and whites!

Scripture and a Snapshot - Our youth are treasures

2011-06-26T02:02:00.000-04:00

This verse has been a constant in our home all week.

This verse has given such strength to our son this week and to the group of young men he studies the bible with weekly.

They have been walking their paths this week, either together or apart learning this verse in mind.

They have been sharing this verse with their friends...at the beach, in the pool, at the burger joint,

in the water, through their phones and on their Facebook pages.

They are not only filling themselves with the love of God but sharing

that fact with other youth who think they are not loved by Him.

It has been such a treat to watch a group of young men strengthen themselves with their bibles in hand and their eyes looking up to the Lord and pass that passion on to their peers!

A moment in life {The Puzzle}

2011-06-24T04:57:00.001-04:00

Life is fast.

Life is full.

Life is never dull.

If you stop too long to smell the roses life moves forward and you might miss something.

Capture each moment and make it last forever!

In a moment of silence yesterday I turned to see this happening behind me as I was cleaning up from the morning activities.

I quickly grabbed my camera and shared in a moment of concentration.

Quickly the puzzle turned a bit difficult and the box was thought to have been better worn on the head for added help.

Then I was lucky enough to witness utter frustration!

Soon the box was set aside and the moment of completing the puzzle was too much and a break was needed.

After a minute of deep breaths and a "don't give up" pep talk the task was picked up again.

I loved watching my daughters little fingers move each piece around and around until they somehow fit together.

She wanted so badly to make them all fit but of course there are four mini puzzles there

and getting all them all to fit together was never going to happen no matter how hard I tried to assist.

Life is a puzzle we must piece together with patience and love.

I'm focusing on capturing a day (at least!) a week of my children putting their life puzzles together.

I don't want to miss a moment!

A little girls hero

2011-06-22T01:43:00.000-04:00

Our annual Father's Day camp out was a blast! All of us mom's had a wonderful time spoiling our husbands with great food and giving them hours of down time relaxing, reading their Kindles, chatting around the campfire, swimming with the kids, taking naps or playing a morning game of horseshoes together. But for me the best part was watching my daughter and her daddy make memories on their second Father's Day together. I tried to "do it all" this last weekend and truly give my wonderful husband the weekend off, but as we all know with a toddler that's hard to do! And of course the cricket wont let her daddy go too far from her. Thankfully her daddy had no problem enjoying some fun times together and making his little girl smile.

What a dad! Making bubbles for the twirly dance show going on in the background that all the girls where so proudly showing the moms. With eight kids running around it was pretty much chaos all the time between skinned knees, a barbie head being torn off, a teenage drama or a child gone too far on his or her bike. Our girl was the youngest and was trying so hard to keep up with everyone and several times I found myself pushing her on her trike at a jog just so she could "go with the big kids mommy". Regardless of age, all the kids had more fun than any carnival out there!

No trip to Solvang is complete without a trip to the many toy stores or the bakery's on every corner! We had so much fun wandering the town with yummy pastries in hand and of course this year the toy stores were a bit more difficult to get out of than last year! Every store we went into our girl kept saying, "WOW!" and "thank you mommy and daddy!" even though we hadn't bought her a thing. I could have stayed all day there just watching her joy.

On this trip we took a little adventure away from all the pastries and sweet shops of Solvang and found a beautiful waterfall just down the road at Nojoqui Falls Park. It was a perfect hike for the kids and the falls were beautiful! Our lazy drive back to the campground led is through rolling hills along a narrow road that was dotted with ancient oaks and old ranches. It was one of those places that makes me smile and fills me with that sense of serenity...nothing there but simple lives and quiet moments.

Last Father's Day we were just a few months home from China and SO very tired. We had a struggling little girl who wanted so badly to trust and have fun but wasn't quite there yet. This year she grasped the experience and took off with it full speed ahead. There was nothing she didn't want to do. There was no problems with sleep. She was filled with laughter and passed on her love to not only her daddy and I but to everyone else who watched her flutter around the campsite. It was a milestone for us for sure!

So now another Father's Day Camp Out is over and reservations have already been made for next year which has plans to be filled with bigger and more exciting things! We'll pass the year counting the days until next year when we pull out the silly glasses and tie aprons for the dads and spoil them for a weekend. And the kids will all of course be another inch bigger and have passed yet another grade in school. Thanks to our dear friends for the fun, the memories and a fabulous weekend!

Happy Wednesday!

Be sure to check out more black and white photos at The Long Road To China (and back).

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T01:44:00.001-04:00

What Makes a Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,

The majesty of a tree,

The warmth of a summer sun,

The calm of a quiet sea,

The generous soul of nature,

The comforting arm of night,

The wisdom of the ages,

The power of the eagle's flight,

The joy of a morning in spring,

The faith of a mustard seed,

The patience of eternity,

The depth of a family need,

Then God combined these qualities,

When there was nothing more to add,

He knew His masterpiece was complete,

And so,

He called it ...

Dad

~~Author Unknown.~~

To all the dad's in my life...

I love you!

Each of you has given more love to the lives you call your children than you will ever know!

Thank you for not only being a part of my life and teaching me your skills but

for also making the lives of your children and grandchildren so blessed!

You are each a treasure to me and to your children!

Happy Father's Day!!

Black and White Wednesday - A day in the life

2011-06-15T01:35:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my kitchen. Come in and sit down while I cook up a little bit of something for you. Would you like some tea? I make a great cup of tea! My kitchen is my space to create and inspire! You never know what I might cook up for lunch or dinner but for breakfast it's always bread with tea. Sometimes I'll even have a little yogurt for you too or even some ice cream...yes I serve ice cream for breakfast!!

We LOVE to play in the kitchen! Not a day goes by where little miss cricket is in her space cooking up a storm. Usually she is making dinner while I am making dinner since that time of night is tough for mommy to get anything done! So I hand over a job for her to do in her kitchen so I can get the real food on the table before midnight. Sometimes I have her make bread or bake a chicken for me while I've got my own hands full of chicken and vegetables. She eagerly runs over and gets started on her task.

Of course the phone rings while she's gathering her ingredients and the conversations are more than hysterical and they are becoming more and more clear every day! She's gone from "babble, babble, babble, mommy, yea, no, babble", to "Um sure but I'm making dinner right now." The other day I heard her on the phone with Elmo while she was in her kitchen and the conversation was all about trying to get Elmo off the phone so she could "get dinner on the table!". By the time I got the Flip out she'd hung up on the poor guy.

Never fails there's much sampling of her cooking! If she's not doing it herself, she's rushing over to me to have me try her cooking out. I can get through about 10 minutes of my own prep before I've got to take a 15 minute break and sit down and enjoy a good cup of tea and enjoy a plate of something. I love how her attention to detail is spot on and her constant checking to see if I need anything is never ending. She is a gracious hostess! Now I need to see if we can work on the clean up part of kitchen work! ;)

After my 15 minute break the phone usually starts to ring again, hummm I wonder who that could be! Yea, Elmo calling again!! He calls A LOT!! I casually excuse myself at this point and make my way back to preparing dinner and I listen with joy to her kitchen conversations as they fill my soul as I watch this little girl. At some point daddy comes home and the squeals start, "DADDY'S HOME!!!" and all is forgotten in the kitchen after the cricket has given her daddy a quick cup of tea!

Linking up for Black and White Wednesday...go and enjoy!

Finding peace with sleep

2011-06-10T03:53:00.004-04:00

I've not hidden the fact that we have had a very difficult time with sleep since our cricket was placed into our arms. I've talked about it here, here, here and everywhere else!....yea I've talked about it a lot. And those posts don't even count the number of times I've had conversations about sleep with people in our everyday lives.

We've gone from sleeping (well not really sleeping) in the most beautiful crib I ever did own...

One of the few pics (pre China) I have of the bed and not one with my girl in it. She hated that crib. :(

To sleeping in the famous pipe bed.

To sleeping on a twin mattress on the floor.

To sleeping on the crib mattress on the floor with mommy and daddy on the twin on the floor.

And with each nightly wake up, mommy or daddy would come in and rock, sing, cajole, lay with, stand and sleep, rest our head on her mattress, or sleep on the floor until our girl was snoring again then we'd sneak out and crawl back into our pillow-top heaven of a bed. And then repeat the above actions every 45 to 90 minutes ALL. NIGHT. LONG. Exhausting!

Our girl also sleeps as light as a feather. Any and I mean ANY sound will wake her! We walk on eggshells around the house after she's gone to bed at night. I've only the video above of her sleeping and no pictures because every time I've tried she wakes instantly! I used to love to go in and watch Big J sleeping when he was a baby. I can't do that with my girl and believe me I've tried! And if she wakes...she's up!

We started a sleeping arrangement last December (after six very long and traumatizing weeks the Ferber Method) where mommy or daddy started sleeping with our cricket in her room, and you know what?? We slept. Like sleeping most nights through. It's not the best plan for a married couple but we found ourselves rested in the morning for the first time in since January 2010. We thought we'd try it for a few months to help her understand that sleep was a good thing. Show her how we sleep. Teach her that she is safe and nothing changes in the night and morning always comes with mommy and daddy near.

When the new sleeping set up started, for the first time we could see exactly what was happening when our girl woke up. Seeing it is heartbreaking. She would wake up wide eyed and scared outta her mind! Most nights she'd wake up jumping up out of her bed and will refuse to go back in it. She will also try to get "things" off of her. She points to her bed looking for something. She did not want anyone or anything to touch her. Sometimes she will walk to the other side of the room and sit there and cry. Again she is wide awake and did not seem like a night terror which she has also had as well. She would do this every 45 to 90 minutes. Slowly, with our co-sleeping arrangement she stopped that behavior although several nights a week she would wind up in bed with whom ever was sleeping in there. While sleeping with her, I could hear her stirring and I put my hand on her and talk to her and tell her she's okay and where she's at and that mommy is here with her and reassure her she was safe and it calmed her. Being able to watch her sleep patterns from start to finish was a first and so incredible to watch. We'd always catch the panicked screaming end to her episodes and she would fight tooth and nail to go back down or let us leave the room.

Then about a week into our new arrangement I read this. I'll let you go read it, absorb it and take a breath, and wipe a tear.....

Our daughters are from the same SWI and both were in foster care. While our cricket was not in the same foster home, you can only assume that foster homes have similar scenarios in the foster villages. Reading this was like light pouring in for us. I was also told that it is quite possible that small animals, bugs and other things could very well have been a part of that space our daughter lived in. All of her behavior started to make more and more sense. Her fear of the dark. Her fear of being left alone. Her fear when someone walks out of her room (she panics horribly!). Her fear of things on her or in her bed, (she HATES having bugs anywhere near her when she is awake too...HATES!). Her resolve to stay awake no matter what. Her absolute terror of her crib when we came home or anything that is too confining that she can't get out of. It all began to make sense and now we could focus on healing that part of our daughter's past. Taking it away from her and showing her it's okay to love sleep.

Today I sit and write this and listen to the monitor across the room of a little girl who once slept for 45 minutes at a time but is now going on hour two of her nap. Alone. Mommy and daddy are now back in the comfort of the big pillow top heaven of a bed. She has been sleeping on her own in her room for a little over a month now with little fear. She also has "free reign" to come into our room in the night for comfort. She does use that need most nights BUT she goes back to her room easily and willingly goes back to sleep as long as we stay with her until she falls back to sleep which can take up to an hour. BUT...Gone are the panic attacks. Gone is a large part of the fear. No longer are there periods of terror in her bed. If she goes all night without waking, it's a beautiful, beautiful thing! We celebrate those nights! :)

Hard to capture a jumping for joy little girl in a snapshot!

A few weekends ago we put together her "big girl bed" and filled it with all of her dolls and stuffed animals. We pulled out her 100 Wishes Quilt and together put it at the foot of her bed along with her favorite pillow. We laid in her bed after and shared a few minutes of laughter at the fact that she was looking forward to going to sleep that night...."night, night mommy", she kept saying. And yes she slept the night through until 5:30am and for her that's good. We'll take it! Since then it's been an off again on again struggle to stay asleep but still so much better than the early days. This will not be something that goes away easily. Our crickets sleep issues go back to her early days and I'm certain it will be years before the old is erased and the new is comforting. For now she loves her bed. She actually LURVES it!

As for the mommy and daddy. It's been a trying time for us to be perfectly honest. Sleeping in separate beds let alone separate rooms is no way to keep a marriage strong and healthy. Just having that comfort of knowing your spouse is right there next to you is nothing to take for granted. And yes, while the reason for our separation was for good and for the well being for our daughter and we are SO happy we did it, it was stressful but so worth the steps forward we've all made! The joy in our daughters face is worth every minute of sleep we've lost.

Black and White Wednesday - Just spinning!

2011-06-08T01:44:00.000-04:00

It has been a crazy couple of weeks around here! The end of the school year is always just a whirlwind of mind numbing madness and I only have to deal with one child in school....I can't even imagine how it is for moms and dads with more than one! Hats off to you!! Anyway...I'm pretty much still spinning and slowly coming to a slow twirl. Ahhhhhh....summer break!

Over Memorial Day weekend we had a huge garage sale and in preparing for that I'd been cleaning every square inch of our house getting rid of anything and everything that just needed to go. Of course it never fails when trying to get rid of stuff that you come across things that just MUST stay! And this Spin Art box had never been used and was just screaming for us to rip it open and let the paint fly! We had so much fun and the cricket thought we'd gone mad until she tried her hand at it and wanted to, "do it again!" After a few dozen splats we strung a ribbon along the stairs to showcase the first of our summer art projects!

And now we are day three into our summer break and the to-do's are getting done, the days are long and lazy and there are plans for adventures being finalized! Our first summer trip will be for our annual Father's Day camp out with some friends near Solvang. I can not wait for the warmer weather and the yummmmmmy treats! Then we'll be celebrating The Fourth at a new campground that is all about wine and wine tasting and wine...did I say wine? :) I can not wait to be out sitting around the campfire and watching the stars go by!

While getting us ready for our trips, I'll also be getting Big J ready for a two week service and discipleship camp then he'll leave straight from there to a camp in Oregon. This second camp is actually a mission trip of sorts and one that will make a huge impact in his life. He'll be a buddy to a camper for the week at a family camp for children with disabilities. He's been looking forward to this opportunity for months and can not wait for the experience. I am so looking forward to his homecoming than anything just so I can sit and listen to his stories. Of course I'll be even more anxious just to give him a hug since it will be three weeks straight with no contact at all except for snail mail. The best part of his homecoming will be that we'll be headed to Oregon to pick him up and get to spend a week with my family!! I can not wait!

The little cricket and I have plenty planned while her bubba is gone and we're sure to find a road trip in there somewhere so we can get out of the fog! If anything we can pull out the spin art and see what wild and crazy pieces of art we come up with! Little miss is definitely keeping me on my toes this last month, she is now all about being "a big girl" and needs absolutely no help from me what so ever! She's also into doing everything, "like you mommy" and follows my every move now. It's pretty funny to turn around and see your flaws in the face of adorableness! I've got a whole post of all things "me like mommy" to get done...if I can find some time! It seems I'm back to posting once a week again and I can barely get around to saying hi on other blogs....I'm trying! :) Now that my world is not spinning so much right now maybe I can stop and smell the roses again. One can only hope in the life of motherhood! What kinds of plans do you have planned for the summer??

As always, I love Black and White Wednesdays! Be sure to check out other's at Lisa's - The Long Road to China (and back!) Happy Wednesday!!

Black and White Wednesday - Moving on up

2011-06-01T00:51:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow marks the end of Big J's sophomore year of high school.

It's been an amazing year!

A year full of so much change and all of it good.

A year full of respect not only for others but for himself.

A year full of new experiences and adventures galore!

A year filled with physical growth...3 inches taller in 9 short months!

It's been a year that has proved to him that hard work does pay off...even if it's hard and tiresome.

For me it's been nothing but a joy to be a part of and while I often wonder what happened to my little boy, I now look forward to seeing the path his young adulthood takes him on. Here's to the end of another school year and a wonderful summer ahead!!!

Next step...The Junior Year!

Happy Wednesday! Hop on over to The Long Road to China (and back!) for more black and whites!

Black and White Wednesday - Back in time

2011-05-25T00:47:00.000-04:00

Have you ever walked into a space that made you stop and wonder if you were dreaming? Did you look around to make sure you'd not passed a sign that said, "do not enter"? Have you ever gone on an adventure only to be taken somewhere else altogether and the adventure turned into more than you could have thought?? All of these things happened to us last Sunday. We walked into a reality that didn't seem real and yet was so alive that you just sat in awe.

We'd been wanting to check out the Japanese Friendship Garden at Kelly Park for a while now, so we packed a picnic lunch and set out on our adventure. Once we arrived we set out in search of the perfect picnic spot before we headed into the gardens. We walked the tree lined path of the park in search of a sunny spot while passing other families who were setting up for birthday parties, people riding bikes or strolling along or just couples enjoying the sunny day.

Once we reached the top of the hill and made our way down past a group of girl scouts fluttering about, we spied some rooftops and thought we'd left the park and were about to enter a neighborhood but yet the path led us further along and of course we didn't stop...we're curious like that!

As we turned through a run down ticket booth of sorts we were hit in the face with a place that was deserted yet the sounds of a string band filtered through the abundance of shade trees. The streets were swept completely clean, not a speck of trash anywhere and slowly we began to see life here and there. A few people coming out of the most beautiful California cottages I ever did see. The streets were filled with roses of every color and trees everywhere. A 1930's car soon filled our vision and a little squeak of a horn greeted us as we stood there in stunned silence. I looked at Mike and said, "Did the rapture really happen last night and is this Heaven??" He laughed and pulled me further in.

After a few minutes I had to sit down and absorb everything!!!! We opened up our picnic, sat back and let our little cricket run off and enjoy the grassy area. I repeated over and over that I felt like I was going to cry because I really felt this was so real and yet so not. It was so beautiful. So perfect. Not a few minutes into our sandwiches we saw a trolly slowly going by with the driver waving his hello to us. Instantly we looked at each other, jumped up and said, "let's go explore!!!!"

Wandering down the sidewalk we were stopped by the gentleman driving the 1930's car and asked if we'd like to check it out and he welcomingly opened the door and invited us in. Of course I started in with 20 questions!!!! He filled us in on this most incredible history park/museum, (History San Jose) that is replica of the streets, homes, businesses and cars of San Jose. But this is no museum...you don't look at pictures on the walls or artifacts through a glass case....not here!! You can go into the homes and see, feel, smell, and absorb everything!!! And of course my questions didn't go unanswered because there were docents in every open building willing to tell you the history of their pride and joy.

There was nothing left out. Original homes of the founding families of the area that were filled with the homes prized pieces of San Jose's history. A gas station that was located on some corner long ago. The dentist. The stables. The trolly shed. The hotel. The soda shop. The bandstand. The bank. The one room school house. The Portuguese Hall. The firehouse. The print shop. The Chinese temple. Horse troughs. A covered wagon. Each fitting together like someone picked up a neighborhood in 1936 and put it here and treated it like a doll house. Never changing a thing. Just polishing the pieces every now and again.

After what felt like minutes we realized we'd been walking around for hours and knew we had to jump on that trolly for a ride through real life "mayberry". We weren't disappointed in the least! The trolly driver filled us in on all the details of his pride and joy and he would have driven us around in circles all day if we'd asked. Our little cricket LOVED it and kept pointing all around and saying "trolly, trolly"! Every square inch of this beautiful car was lovingly restored to it's original condition. In fact everything in this history museum was filled with pride of volunteer work and hours of dedication. No detail left out. Oh and did I mention it was free? No not just the trolly....the entire day.

So if you're ever in the area, make a point to find this gem of a history park! I'm sure you will feel like I did and be taken back to a time of slow walks through town where everyone knows your name. You'll stop to smell every rose and walk away with a sense of simple pleasure.

Ahhhhh....I'm ready to go back! Anyone want to join us?? :)

Here it is Wednesday again! Love Black and White Wednesday's!

Challenging the tough times

2011-05-22T10:21:00.004-04:00

When we came home from China I was overwhelmed with a sense of greed. I looked at all I had and was saddened for being selfish and needy while most of what I saw in China was happiness in the faces of poverty. Immediately I vowed to make changes in my personal life and in my home. It's been a struggle though, I must admit, to convince a teenager that he doesn't need another sweatshirt just because is beyond difficult. And to be perfectly honest, it's been hard for me too. There are material things in life I want but really don't need and I struggle to walk away from that desire. Then someone else stepped in to continue to guide me down this path of simple joy. The Lord.

Over the last year we have had to make some pretty major sacrafices in our lives due to the state of our current economy. My husband is in construction and I could pretty much stop this post right now because I'm sure you see where I'm going. Thankfully during this depression of our generation, the company my husband works for has been riding the wave but now the wave is getting slower and is fading. We've taken a major pay cut to our finances and with that came major changes in our lifestyle. And these changes?? These changes have been ones I'd wanted to see happen in our life while I was 7000 miles away from home and life was grand and beautiful. This change ahead was already planned for us.

So with a new budget we started cutting away at our lifestyle. We cut the cable and got rid of the DVR. We no longer have the biggest trash can on the block. We got rid of our frilly phone service. We bought a push mower when the big gas one broke. We cut out allowances. We cut out the weekly dinners out. Gone are the movies rented on TV. Meals are now prepared with leftovers in mind and you'd better eat them. Each and every credit card was shredded. And life has changed and still is. There are new paths emerging from the path we've been led to but it's scary. There are new possibilities arising and projects in the works but with those, takes confidence and the strength to move on. One foot in front of the other will get us through this period as well as the constant reminder that we have each other. Confidence will come and the strength is already there.

My incredibly wonderful husband has made huge sacrifices to allow our family to have me home to drive in the car pool, go to the park daily, watch our children grow up and to be available always for them. He comes home exhausted and beat up from work most days and my guilt builds. But he comes home with his smile and always fills us with love and never complains when the laundry is ~~still~~ not done or I'm taking pictures of the kids instead of making dinner. He gently tells me that it's okay and reminds me of the sacrifices we are making today are benefiting our children for tomorrow. And while I know this, I still wonder if I've burdened our family today for something I can not see yet? I have to trust. I have to believe and I do...in my husband and in my faith.

The path ahead of us is a long one and has some bumps ahead that we can already see....but we're going to be okay. Because we have faith in the Lord and faith in each other. This vision of change was already in my head but I was afraid to walk it's path and now that we're on it, it's not so bad. We have new ideals and a new outlook and even though our current situation is at times hopeless, our outlook is bright. Each day is a gift and each day will end with my husbands hand giving me three squeezes to my own hand to tell me he loves me as we listen to the chatter of our blessings. And for that I am most thankful and will trust that all will be good.

I love you

2011-05-20T03:25:00.000-04:00

Eleven years ago today I married my knight in shining armor.

He knocked on my door one day and took me out on a blind date, four years later I met him at the end of a path that was lined by our families and closest friends. Our wedding was a day I will never forget and all the days between now and then are some of my most treasured.

And yes, even the bad ones.

My heart skips a beat every time I hear your voice.

My body tingles when your hand brushes my skin.

My soul sings when you smile for me.

I love you Michael!

I love you!

Happy Anniversary!

Black and White Wednesday - Floral Inspiration

2011-05-18T00:40:00.000-04:00

Oh how I adore spring flowers! And my favorite flower?? Tulips.

I love when my house is full of them and this week with all the rain we are having, this bouquet has been a treat!

There is nothing that brings me more joy than to see them bloom throughout our community,

I even find myself stopping my car in front of a house just to sit and admire them.

We used to lovingly plant bulbs every fall and impatiently await them to bloom and for some reason I've not done it in years!

Actually I think the last year we did they mysteriously vanished one night...(hopefully they were admired by someone who really needed them. :)

This bouquet has inspired me to make sure I plant a few next fall so that the joy of watching

them bloom will brighten our yard next spring and of course put them on the inside of the fence!

What flower inspires you?

Happy Wednesday!! I hope the week so far has been a blessed one! We are on the end of school year count down big time around here and have full, full schedules! I can not wait for summer!!!!!! And even though the tulips will have made their quick get away by summer's start, my roses are right behind them to give me more joy! Make sure you enjoy your Wednesday and check out other black and white photos at Lisa's!

Strawberry Fields

2011-05-16T00:35:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year and when you're looking for somewhere to appease your toddler, picking strawberries is the perfect antidote to a lazy Saturday! The day started off slow and pajama clad until we grabbed the cameras and set out to watch wonder unfold in the eyes of our girl.

Our little sprout was in heaven! She wandered up and down a few aisles peeking at the red berries that poked through the rows of green. Taking care to not disturb the bee's that intermingled with us, we sat trying to capture this popular local past time.

Even though the season is young, the smell of ripening berries was everywhere! The last time we'd walked these steps was with a little boy who now towers above us and chose to welcome James Durbin home instead of walk down memory lane which was an experience like non other for him! :)

Carrying her bounty back up the row our cricket realized she needed to have a quick snack.

After the first one went down and while I turned around for just a minute she'd started on her second and would have kept at it if we hadn't stopped her so we could pay for the last of the bucket.

Picked a strawberry,
Picked a strawberry
That was growing
In the sun.
Then I washed it,
And I ate it,
And I picked another one.

~ Anonymous

Plump, fairy like, freckled things
hanging low, ripened-picking brings
Juicy, red, hot mid-day's sun
filling baskets, delightful, and fun!

~ Jon Coe

We are very much looking forward to grabbing our buckets and baskets again soon and maybe adding some blackberries to our bounty. Hopefully next time we'll be able to get some home to enjoy with some ice cream before they are eaten up!

Growing into two

2011-05-14T00:54:00.000-04:00

Oh my baby girl how you are changing every minute of every day! I have noticed lately that the last of your babyhood is quickly leaving you and you are rapidly turning into the toddler I've dreamed of for years. You simply amaze me! Tuesday we went in for your two year check up and the nurse had to measure your height twice because you've grown SO much in the last few months! You're 34 inches tall and in the 50th percentile now! SO big!! You sat so cute when you got weighed and when the numbers stopped at 24 pounds I then understood why my arms are looking so toned! Thanks my sweet!! :)

The time has come in your world where everything is yours and you no longer stop when mommy says no, instead you test me to see just how far I'll let you go before the firmness in my voice halts your actions. You explore more and more everyday but it gives me such relief to see you turn around and check to make sure I'm watching. Maybe you're checking to see if I'm gonna jump or maybe you're just making sure I'm witnessing your discovery. To tell you the truth, I'm watching you because I can't stand missing any moments! Being around strangers or someone who don't know well enough will put you into my arms in nothing flat. You bury your head in my neck and slyly stare at the person out of the corner of your eye. Seeing this behavior from you just melts me...the bond is thick and it is good! Yes we have our days and right now you are wrapped tight around your daddy's finger, but I know you know I'm always there but you are still a little afraid I may disappear one day....I promise you I wont!

Some of the things you're up to these days just crack me up as well as your daddy and brother. We love to listen to you say the dinner blessing or tell us all about your day in your garbled toddler talk...some words spoken so clear and others we just imagine what you could be saying. Your vocabulary is soaring and you are speaking more and more sentences everyday. You're up to five and sometimes six word sentences now!!! You make the most delicious meals in your kitchen and your hot tea is the best in town! Listening to you read a book whether it's upside down or not even open is priceless! When we sit down to do our school work, you eagerly await to hear what we're going to do and you take such pleasure in coloring for hours with mommy....I love coloring with you and doing fun experiments together just to see you explode with joy! And to see you jump on your bike-a and zoom around is quiet obviously your favorite thing in the world and our joy too!

I adore how you challenge me now. Whether it's in an eating duel where you will not touch what is in front of you unless it's miso soup or noodles or when you want me to take pictures but then refuse to smile for a single snap but run to see what picture I took....you smart cookie!! Your favorite thing to tell me is, "I do it mommy!!" and you mean you can do EVERYTHING yourself! You make the challenges fun and lesson filled...thank you for testing the patience I learned during our wait to see your beautiful smile and for seeing if I'm still young enough to keep up with your love of adventure like mine. I love being your mommy and love the minutes that fill our days together! Even the tough minutes.

Keep challenging me and keep bringing sunshine and joy into my life, because of you and your smile I go to sleep filled with joyful exhaustion and wake up with an exuberance of wonder! You amaze me each and every day and I am still in awe that I (little ole me!) gets to witness your growth in this world! Love you my princess....Love mommy!