Seedlings

The girls and I attempted to grow some plants from seeds this year. Unfortunately there does not seem to be much growing yet, and I'm hoping that the few patches of mold are going to go away once the sun reappears. The girls have enjoyed looking at and "measuring" the plants. Here's hoping that something grows soon!

House Projects

There is something sweet and easy about renting. Something breaks, you call you landlord. The landscape doesn't look great...well, its not yours. We are learning a lot as a home owner. Jeff and I are learning how to do things, in addition to pacing ourselves with house projects. Here is Jeff after taking out a light that hung way too low over our dining room table, and replacing it with a ceiling fan. It took us longer than the 1 hour that the box claims, in fact it took 2 days of work. BUT, we learned a lot and now it will be so much easier to replace the lights in the bedrooms with fans as well...one day...and soon since summer is approaching...

Daddy Stay Home Days

The girls have taken to calling Saturday and Sunday "Daddy stay home days" because it's simply awesome when daddy gets to stay home. The girls watch some online TV, we sleep in, pancakes are made and devoured and we just enjoy being with one another. Rachel Lee especially delights in making and eating pancakes...she asks almost every day for them, and when daddy stays home she gets the much longed for pancakes AND daddy time.

No matter how special Saturdays are though, there are some things that happen every single day, like this incredible knot in RL's hair...it's massive!! Thank goodness for detangler!! Wowzer!

Rain drops keep falling on our heads!!

One of biggest changes from southern California to northern California is the amount of rain. People here don't realize just how much rain we get here. This year we are in a drought, and are on the verge of "water restriction" (which is where the county restrict how much water you can use and charges you if you go over your allotted usage). The hard part is that I feel like we have had more rain this year than we have had any year while living in San Diego, so why are we in the midst of all this rain going to have water restriction: because southern California has had almost no rain. This is the clearest example of collective guilt, or guilt by association. Take the good, take the bad, take them both and there you have the facts of life. Roger and Cindy were just visiting this last weekend. It rained all day on Thursday, and Friday it rained in the morning. By the afternoon the sun had come out a bit, and it was time to take the girls to track practice. Hannah and Rachel Lee wanted to stay home but I insisted that they go to encourage and support Kate. the sky was getting darker, but I was hopeful that the rain would hold out. As Kate set off to do the Canyon Mile (a trail which is not visible from the track area) I decided to run to the store to get some things for dinner. Cindy was getting cold so she came along. One the way back from the store it was starting to sprinkle, so we went by the school to make sure no one wanted to come home. We went home, started cooking the meat when the heavens opened up and rain began pouring down. I left Cindy with the food and hopped back in the car to rescue my soaked family. When we go there we piled in and Kate had water dripping from her nose. Roger said it was an adventure that he will never forget. Rain drops keep falling for sure!

Tub Time

RL is just a little girl growing up in an older girl world. BUT, every so often I make sure she gets time to be 3, time where we do not have to rush the girls to school, help make photocopies or in their classes, when our time is not full of grocery shopping or laundry. Time when we fill up the bath tub and play with water and shaving cream. As you can tell, she enjoys these 3 year old playtimes as much as I do. What a blessing she is!!

Other Moments with the 60 Year Old

While we were visiting my dad for his birthday, we also had a sleepover with the girl cousins, and of course made at least two coffee visits. Good people, good coffee, good playtime...I'm pretty sure it was the kind of weekend when God looked down and said, "It is good."

60 Years of Goodness

This is my dad turned 60!! It was also the first year that we live far away, so I decided for his 60th that we would skip school and drive down toe surprise and celebrate with my dad. My aunts and uncles also drove from Fresno, Riverside and Irvine to surprise him. It was so fun to see him and celebrate him on such a special day! We left the house at 6am, and we arrived at 12:30 in Brea. It was impressive timing! We only stopped once, and when we arrived in Brea we called dad to sing to him and to get him on the phone and surprise him. Late that day Jenna and the girls arrived, then all the other family from Fresno, Riverside and Irvine. We all went out to dinner and then back to mom and dad's for some cake. Good times for a good man! And here is Dad describing a fond memory... And telling a joke... Thanks, Dad, for being such a good father with a joke and funny story to share. Thank you for keeping laughter in our lives, and for being an easy going and loveable person that everyone enjoys being around. Thank you for coming to get me anytime and any place, and for doing it without complaints and with grace. Thank you for all the love you have poured into my life, and into the lives of my girls. We love you, dad, and are so glad we could celebrate YOU on such a special 60th year. Here's to 60 more!!

A time for Catching Up...And a Kate Burn

Can you believe I am three months behind? I keep thinking about all the funny moments and stories that I have forgotten and it makes me a little sad, but thankfully my girls are endless sources of humor and delight, so I know there will be more the come. The problem comes that I have hundreds, literally, of photos to sort through in order to post my favorites, AND I have priceless videos to share as well, including some from my Dad telling jokes at his birthday party.

But to start off, here is a funny story from today. Kate came home from school and as I asked all kinds of questions trying to figure out what she did during her 3.5 hour school day, she said proudly, "Today I asked a question that stumped my teacher." I  perked up because I don't often hear about Kate initiating a conversation or asking questions (according to her teacher she is very quiet in class...big surprise, right?) She looked at me and said, "I asked her why moms are tired all the time and she said she didn't know. Can you believe that? She's a teacher and she doesn't know everything!!" It was a good springboard to explain that no one knows everything, but OUCH! She so innocently burned me when I wasn't even there to defend myself! To be fair, I am tired a lot, but I DO a lot...yesterday I did 4 loads of laundry (and that's washed, dried, folded and put away!), two dishwasher loads of dishes, 3 meals for 5 people, helped out in a class and ran 3 miles. There is more, but I can't remember because I'm simply too tired from my day today to recall. Maybe one day I will be well rested...maybe...but then where would my wee ones be, the ones who keep me so busy and entertained?