My Life With Mr. Rogers

Instafriday yay

2012-01-13T21:39:00.001-08:00

The last couple of weeks held a lot of fun times! But, because I'm exhausted (see Instafriday boo.) I will not caption much. That being said, here are some FUN Instafriday pics!

Got into Grandma's hair clips...

Sleeping Beauty

Chuck E. Cheese!

Surprised the kids with a cocoa "tea party" at grandma and grandpas

Noah and his papa - nana and papa visited from Canada :)

Got a new app to tell my friend I couldn't come to her awesome 70's disco party due to the kids being sick... then used it to dress up another pic of my son and nephew.

Yes, there's an app for that.

Noah looking like a spoiled movie star

Instafriday boo.

2012-01-13T17:50:00.001-08:00

Today encompassed so much of what it is to be a mom....

I sit here, kids finally asleep, me exhausted - but knowing I fulfilled one of the most important roles I have as a mom.

Comforter.

I was woken up around 3:00 am this morning by my 5 year old son because he was throwing up. He was scared, his stomach was in pain, and he was obviously very sick. I cleaned up (the first of many clean ups) and due to the number of times he got sick I ended up laying with him in bed until 6:00 am. We moved downstairs but it didn't end there. Because he couldn't eat, or even keep down water, the dry heaves began. And after every one, he would collapse into my arms crying, and then I would cry too.

Being a mom is not for the faint of heart.

We eventually moved back upstairs and I put him in our bed and laid with him and continued to clean him up and comfort him. Somewhere in there was a call to the pediatrician and she explained that it was a gastrointestinal virus and the vomiting should subside around 6-12 hours.

We were at hour eight so I was hopeful.

Nine hours in, the vomiting slowed but the diarrhea started... enough to have to put a pull up on my 5 year old boy. "I know I'm not in trouble, right mom?" My heart broke. I reassured him everything was okay, it just was the best idea all things considered.

Thankfully, my husband was around to sit downstairs with my daughter so I could focus 100% on my sick boy. It is a horrible place to be when you can't help your child. Horrible.

By late afternoon, Noah was able to keep fluids down, and even began to laugh at the TV, so I knew we had turned a corner. At 8:30 he fell asleep, after a grueling 17 hour day.

Being a mom is one of the hardest things to do in the world sometimes, but on a day when your child is sick and all they want is you, and you can be there to hold them, cuddle them, pray for them, and clean them up - well, there's no place else I'd rather be.

Starting out the morning downstairs

My view from the floor next to our bed - I camped there for awhile when it didn't work well to be on the bed right there with him

The laundry that was done in the wake of today. And there is more washing right now since Darren has since been hit with the bug.

No, not a red carpet, just a towel walkway to cover where I will need to clean sometime this weekend.

Instafriday

2012-01-06T07:30:00.001-08:00

I just realized that I hardly ever have pics of Darren and myself on these Insta-days. I will try to change that! That being said, here are some phone pics from the week...

Seriously, every three months, like clockwork, I get one of these. Each time, I fill out that part that says I take care of two children full-time and send it off - but they sure are persistent!

Taking advantage of the gift the kids got or Darren for Christmas - the awesome Starbuck's tumbler that allows you to get FREE drip coffee the entire month of January!

I love hand painted mugs by children. So much that I assume everyone would want them from my children. Nana and Papa have them, Jenny has them, Daddy has them. Of course for this to happen, mommy takes the kiddos to do it. The problem was, no one was taking the kids to make MOMMY the mugs she so wanted! What is a mommy to do? Start brainwashing her 5 year old in October that mommy wants mugs for Christmas. I just knew this would work! It did not.

So, a couple of days after Christmas, mommy took the kiddos to Cafe Art in Dublin and they painted their mugs.

Noah wanted to write his name on it backwards - I just love that it says MOM.

I cried when I picked them up.

Happy Mommy.

On New Year's Eve we took the kids out front with noisemakers at 6:55 and had a countdown to 7:00pm. We blew horns, exploded confetti, wore hats and feathers, and yelled "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The neighbors even came out to join us! And the kids were still in bed on time :)

Found a bag full of my artwork as a child. Can I tell you how much I LOVE that my mom saved all of these things??? This is just a sampling. My favorite is the "all about me" book where I colored my favorite outfit on the "me". My gauchos and brown boots. I still remember them :)

I was Noah's age when I made the butterfly. There is something so cool about that.

COOKIE DOUGH!!!!

You may recall Noah made a giant cookie on December 22nd at a Christmas Tea. I found the cookie the other day - double seat belted into the back seat of the minivan :) Apparently it was worthy of such extreme protection.

Thank you, Starbucks.

I get gray hairs from this boy.

Getting ready for Faith's Mickey Mouse birthday party tomorrow!! Just finished with the gift bags :) Each one has a child's initial on it.

Keeping it real...

2011-12-30T17:41:00.001-08:00

This is what dinner looks like post holidays when mom has a cold and dad isn't feeling well... In case my blog ever makes me look like I got it all together ;)

Instafriday

2011-12-30T11:57:00.001-08:00

Someone special turns 3 today!! Happy birthday Faith Cara Joy!

Saying goodbye to Christmas until next year...

Noah trying out his first real frying pan - making a pancake!

Snowman pancakes with chocolate chip eyes and bacon scarves for our Christmas Day breakfast!

Eating snowman pancakes with construction utensils in a new transformers robe - life is good.

Great grandma and grandpa sent Noah and Faith some Christmas money - so I took them to Toys R Us to spend it :)

Grandpa gave Noah a flatbed truck - today it is carrying a wide load of building supplies for a house.

Getting some pre-Christmas dinner golfing in at the putting green

Faithy getting her giant pink dog for her birthday. Noah has had a large dog named Clifford for 4 years - he sleeps with him and takes him whenever we go on trips. He is loved on and squished and perfect. Faith has been wanting her own "pink clifford" - and this year she got one. She quickly named it Clifford 2.

Clifford and Clifford 2

A taste of a Jenson Christmas

2011-12-25T14:16:00.000-08:00

A rousing rendition of "Rudolph the red nosed reindeer" spontaneously breaks out when Santa comes to visit.

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T09:14:00.001-08:00

Heading to mom and dad's about to get our JOY on!

How Justin Bieber destroyed a Christmas Carol

2011-12-23T12:32:00.000-08:00

So the Little Drummer Boy, an amazing song that exudes humility and a sweet offering, has been overhauled by none other than Justin Bieber. And I hate to say it, but he has ruined the song for me forever.

It's not just that it has a fast beat, or has rapping in it - it's the words that he has chosen to mash up with such a beautiful song about a poor boy who brings the only offering he has to the King - a song on a drum. In this song it is clear that Jesus is King and worthy of our worship.

But in Bieber's version, there is no humility whatsoever, there's no honor to the newborn King.

Here are some of Justin's lyrics for his version of "The Little Drummer Boy"

I'm so tight, I might go psycho.

Christmas time so here's a recital.

I'm so bad like Michael, I know I'm still young but I go I go.

Stupid stupid love like cupid,

I'm the drummer boy so do it, do it.

I I I I... Hmmm, not so much about Jesus.

Oh and there's more - a rap included by Busta Rhymes:

Lemme get straight to it. Yo.

At the table with the family, havin' dinner,

Blackberry on our hip and then it gave a little flicker.

Then I took a look to see before it activates the ringer;

Came to realize my homie Bieber hit me on the Twitter.

Then I hit him back despite I had some food up on my finger,

Sippin' eggnog with a little sprinkle of vanilla,

Even though it's kinda cold, pullin' out a chinchilla,

Bieber hit me back and said, "Let's make it hot up in the winter."

I said, "Cool." Ya know Imma deliver;

Let's collaborate and make the holiday a little bigger.

Before we work I gotta get this off,

See the other family members and drop gifts off.

Then I'm headed to the studio cause ain't nothing stopping how

You know we bout to turn it up and really get it poppin' now.

People everywhere and all our Twitter followers,

"Merry Christmas, Kwanza, happy Hanukkah! "

Hmmmm, a song about Jesus coming as a baby to save the world - so happy Kwanza? happy Hanukkah? Neither of these celebrate Jesus, so why include them in a traditional and beloved Christmas song - about JESUS?

I am more than annoyed and just had to blog about it. And I don't recommend you listen to it or it might ruin it for you too! You're welcome :)

Instafriday!

2011-12-23T07:27:00.001-08:00

It was the instafriday before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. For daddy had taken the kids out to breakfast, with plans for adventure and Christmastime cheer, and mommy was content all alone on the couch drinking coffee and reading - um what's that I hear?

Mommy's alone? in her jammies? drinking coffee and updating her blog?

Merry Christmas to ME!

My girlfriend made the kids homemade playdoh with glitter in it - it is seriously the most amazing playdoh I have ever seen! It is so soft and pretty and molds great :) Thanks Kiki!

The kids had a cold for a few days so we stayed inside most of the time. But kids can get stir crazy - as can mommies - so we went for a walk through the field behind our house. Noah made his Christmas deliveries in his UPS costume from when he was 3, and Faithy took her giant elephant for a ride.

Two kids with colds means lots of bed head, blow up mattresses, and eating whatever I can get them to eat. My husband thinks that they will have great memories of this kind of stuff when they grow up - I do to. Man I love my kiddos!!

Again during pre-christmas sick week 2011, I was looking for things to do indoors with the kids. My sister-in-law Amy had a great idea for me - making snowmen out of marshmallows and various candies I could find around the house. It was perfect!! I set up a little snowman making station and made the sample snowman so they would get the gist of what to do (or maybe I just wanted to make one!) They had fun and enjoyed the treat after. Thanks Amy!

Noah's

Faithy's

We have an awesome kids play place near us that hosted a Christmas Tea in their princess castle room. Noah has always wanted to go into the castle room but it's for parties and such so we never went in. He was so excited to go in - and then of course disappointed that it didn't have stairs to a second level and the big doors didn't really open. But, he got to dress up like a knight, Faith was a princess, they decorated cookies, ate pizza, met Santa, sang songs and had a great time.

Faithy learning how to curtsy like a princess

Noah showing his knightly muscles (he was 1 of about 5 knights)

Always hugging.

Faith's blow up mattress was an early Christmas present from Jenny - because what little girl doesn't want a princess bed in which to be served when she isn't feeling well?

I have great memories of my mom making a dozen different cookies and treats around Christmas time and delivering them to our neighbors on pretty platters. It doesn't seem like that is done anymore! So this year, Darren and I made up cookies, fudge, peanut brittle and candied pecans and packaged them up all pretty for our neighbors. I never want to become so self-focused that I forget to connect with the community around me and bless those people that God has put in my life!

Faithy playing with Noah's playdoh transformers set. It's so funny to watch how girls with older brothers turn out differently than girls with older sisters.

For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only SON, that whoever BELIEVES in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to SAVE the world through him. John 3:16, 17

Thankful for Immanuel, "God WITH us", this Christmas!

GOD'S BLESSINGS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Santa Claus on a helicopter

2011-12-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

This is a song you may hear at the Rogers house around Christmas time :) The kids are especially fond of it and Noah sings it with gusto.

Don't hate me if it gets stuck in your head!

Instafriday

2011-12-16T12:42:00.001-08:00

Faith had a come-to-Jesus meeting with Lightning Mcqueen and Sally. They thought he was pretty great :)

A "beaver coat" and a fire hat. 'Nuff said.

Who needs Pinterest? This is an original by ME!

I love having a girl. I picked out the black pair for her Christmas dress and she picked out the red sparkly pair of course.

Girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice... most of the time.

Noah: "Mom, after this I wanna play that mom thing"

Apparently the mom thing is a fat redhead that you feed balls to.

Great.

I've never done a Santa pic before, but when the kids cuddled up on his lap and Noah whispered to me that he thought this was the real Santa - I couldn't resist.

Heck yes.

The black widow that was inside Noah's firetruck. Ugh.

Noah's first ever school pic - quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Give This Christmas Away

2011-12-09T08:32:00.000-08:00

I heard this song and it changed our Christmas... just think what could happen if everyone took some of what they have budgeted for their own Christmas and gave Christmas to someone else.

Instafriday

2011-12-02T08:41:00.001-08:00

The magic of Christmas has arrived in the form of an unbreakable(ish) snow globe.

The jeep that God blessed Darren with at JUST THE RIGHT TIME.

The money that we saved up to BUY the Jeep that God blessed Darren with - thank you Dave Ramsey for teaching us about not being in debt!!

This is what a cool mom looks like I guess - I used the kids' alien goop to blow huge bubbles and they must have told me they loved me 10 times - they loved it!

Hmmmm, good thing my kids have colorful vitamins, because it appears they are in a bland and beige phase!

Making an under the sea mural for homeschooling lesson on Octopus!

My perfectly organized box of very small craft supplies... that I tipped upside down :(

Attacking not 1, not 2, but THREE junk drawers. YIKES!

Instafriday - Disneyland style!

2011-11-25T13:18:00.001-08:00

I broke our camera a a couple of weeks ago, so our entire trip to Disneyland was captured on our iPhone cameras. Here's a taste of what we experienced, instagram style :)

The morning of our first day into the park - Faith wore her princess dress 3 out of the 4 days

Daddy teaching Noah how to shoot

Mark my words - next Christmas season, strollers all over Disneyland will be lit up with Christmas lights. Out of the 1,000's and 1,000's of people we saw in our four days, ours was the only one lit up with snowflakes and red lights - and a flashing green underneath (Darren's idea!). You would have thought we were the electric parade with the attention we got from guests and workers alike :)

Watching all of their favorite Disney channel shows "Live" in puppet form

Toon Town was Noah's favorite place

Enjoying the scenery at the Rainforest Cafe

The whole gang!

What you can't hear is Noah calling the police because Donald Duck has been killed - he has quite the imagination and wants to be a police officer, what do you expect?!

These pics where I can picture Noah as a teenager are bittersweet for me

The haul the kids made - Faith named her hippo to the left "Que comida mas rica"

Tired princess waiting to meet Tinkerbell

Tired princess waiting for the parade

Faith decided to try out her new face for all of the characters... Noah is the perfect poser right now, nice smile, stands still, he's great. We just have to get Faith on board!

Unbeknownst to Noah, he used his imagination to create a Lego mini fig of Parks and Rec's RON SWANSON

Needless to say, mom and dad were impressed.

Thanksgiving dinner on our late night date

And our Thanksgiving dessert :)

A Sneak Peek

2011-11-22T15:12:00.001-08:00

Into our surprise Disneyland trip...

I'm pretty sure we can forget about any magical help from this fairy godmother...

Instafriday

2011-11-17T18:27:00.001-08:00

Linking up with all of my random phone pics from the week!

For those of you that don't know, my husband wears a Santa hat the entire month of December. He has done that for as long as I've known him. Last year, Noah started wearing one whenever he was with dad. This year, I found a pink one for Faith - and today I found one for me! I'm not sure I will wear it the entire month of December, but I'm sure it will make a few appearances :)

You can put the princess dress on the girl, but you can't make the girl not make a goofy face.

This week we studied dinosaurs and the letter "D" for school. From me to Noah on his quad in the distance, we measured 110'. That was the approximate length of an Ultrasaurus. We also marked 100' for the length of a blue whale. Wouldn't want to run into either of those.

This is what Faith gets when she asks mom to make a life-jacket for an army man who wants to swim in the sink - a piece cut from the outside of a mini kleenex pack.

We may be in California but my kids love to play in the snow

I love the Target dollar section.

(what you don't see is the 15 pictures I had to take to get just one with the blinking Rudolph nose blinking "on")

This is what I need to learn to do! I took the kids in for a haircut and when Faith came around the corner she was back-combed, bobby-pinned, curled and glittered up - she looked so cute!!

Being a homemaker and a stay-at-homeschooling-mom requires working 14 hour days, taking few breaks, and appeasing sometimes moody bosses....

but when this is the paycheck, it's all worth it.

In March of 2006, two months before Noah was born, we moved into our home. We chose this house because it had a beautiful backyard and we knew that we were having a boy - a boy that would need a place to run and run and run. Today, as Noah and I played tag in the backyard during Faith's nap, all I could think about was the day we chose this house.

THIS is the very reason why we chose it.

Noah ended up with mud on his jeans, shirt, head - everywhere

He got pretty tired out - which made for a nice n' easy bedtime :)

Kalalau Trail up the Napili Coast

2011-11-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

Eight days later and and six pounds gained - we are back!

After spending 4 days in full relaxation mode in Maui, we ~~jetted~~ propellered over to Kaua'i for some adventure. Darren planned a day of hiking up the Napili coast - and we were not disappointed! This hike was crazy. Three+ hours of mud, slippery rocks, streams to cross... and amazing views. I was seriously amazed by the people we ran in to: older folks in their 60's, a couple with a 9 year old girl, and a guy that was about 300 pounds even completed a portion of it! And when we made it to the hidden beach, there was a couple there with a baby in a front carrier. What?? There is no way I would have ever considered taking on a slippery, stream-crossing hike with a baby on board!

Anywho, it was really cool. Here are some pics.

All clean and shiny before our 3 hour hike through the mud and rain

We laugh at you, warning signs!

We laugh at you, mud!

Still pretty clean part way through the 1st half

This was the payoff - a secluded beach that could only be accessed by water or by the trail

Here we are after 2-3 falls in the mud (Darren) and one impressive fall into a river (Kim)

We ain't playin' - we got our pant legs zipped off and everything ;)

1/3 of the way back the sole of my boot got pulled off in the mud. Not good.

Thankfully, when you have Darren around, anything can be fixed.

In fact, one of my favorite quotes from our trip was:

"Give a geek a leatherman, I can fix ANY problem"

He tied it up and secured it and it held together for the remainder of the hike!

The views along the coast were amazing

The adventure continued as we agreed to take some hitchhikers back to Hanalei. That was a first for us :) It's actually really common on that Island. He was in the coast guard and his girlfriend was a teacher. They had spent a couple nights camping 11 miles in and were headed to the airport for their flight back to Oahu. They didn't kill us and take our Jeep so that was cool.

Instafriday - Maui Style

2011-11-04T10:30:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Instafriday from the islands! Darren's company awarded its top ten sales teams with a trip to Maui. And if that wasn't enough, they put us up in the Four Seasons and offer us a menu of paid for activies for each day! Here are some pics from our trip so far...

Right after our couples massage on the beach - we are very relaxed :)

This, my friends, is made from scratch pancakes covered with coconut syrup and chocolate chips

Our view during lunch at the adult-only serenity pool

So blessed to be here - God is good!

Upon our arrival

In case you are wondering what the kids are up to with Jenny

At the awards reception they thanked the spouses of all the teams and gave us beautiful necklaces from Tiffany's! Seriously, we are being spoiled here!

Yeah, this is the life.

Another perk? We were asked to pick out a pair of Maui Jim Sunglasses - Darren looked them up online and they were $300! What in the world?!?!

Darren accepting his award (and my gift bag!) - so proud.

This was waiting for me when we arrived. I swear my husband is the most romantic guy in the world!

This trip has truly been a dream, I don't think I have ever stayed at a place like this with all of the indulgences. It feels like I am living the life of the rich and famous! I LOVE my normal life, but this experience has been amazing :)

Aloha

2011-11-01T15:35:00.001-07:00

Here today... Gone to Maui!

2011-11-01T06:08:00.001-07:00

It is 6 am and Darren and I are on our way to SFO to begin our 8 day kidless vacation to Maui and Kauai. Did I mention it is just the two of us? With no kids? We are thrilled!

Don't fret for the kids though, they were thrilled too, last night at 10:00 pm at Jenny's house :)

My year without Facebook

2011-10-29T21:45:00.001-07:00

One year ago - on November 1, 2010 - I deactivated my Facebook account.

You can read about it here.

I can say that I am still so happy I made that decision! When I go to Superfranks or the park, I look around and see that almost every parent "present" is on their iPhone. That used to be me. Now, I am totally *mostly* present with my kids as they play, instead of just surfing Facebook to kill time.

One of the reasons I got off of Facebook was because it was such a time-suck for me. Honestly, sometimes I don't like my iPhone (don't tell my Apple-Addict husband!). Don't get me wrong, I LOVE it as a phone, map, camera, traffic checker, kid-entertainer, etc. etc. But I don't like how much I use it, still, even after getting off of Facebook. I am on it way less, but still. Sometimes I long for my tiny, boring Nokia days.

That doesn't mean I'm going make a trade though.

Because I would I never again be able to capture this picture of Noah wearing Faith's costume from when she was not even two yet, combined with bony legs.

**full disclosure** I do sneak on to Darren's or Jennifer's FB every now and then to look at pics :)

Instafriday

2011-10-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

I love Instafriday so much that it is Thursday afternoon and I'm getting the post ready! I always take pics with my phone, so to be able to make them look cool and share them is awesome :)

The kids hamming it up for Jenny

Faithy: "I can't wait to show daddy that I'm swinging!"

She will actually ask to have her picture taken

Working on transforming Noah's firetruck into an Alameda Sheriff's car - more pics to come on Halloween!

Jeans and leopard print slippers.

Yeah, being a stay-at-home mom pretty much rocks.

Two words: yummy goodness

LOVE LOVE LOVE having a hubby that works from home and can sometimes join me and the kids on a walk to Starbucks. LOVE IT.

Faith wouldn't ride the horses at Del Osso because they didn't "go around and around and around"...

Fortunately the horses at Joan's Farm did so she was happy

Noah and I lost in the corn maze. I really am the worst person to send into that situation! We were at Joan's so it was a smaller maze than the others - which was good.

Noah wanted a pumpkin with round eyes and a jagged mouth. When I was done he said "but it doesn't look how I thought it would... I wanted him to be scary!"

So I offered to give him some mean eyebrows. Mission accomplished. Client satisfied.

Faith wanted her little pumpkin to be a pirate :)

She carried it around for two days until we discovered mouse poop in it from being in front of the house - so now it's an outside pirate.

Officer Noah reporting for duty

Caramel Apples!

2011-10-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE being a stay at home-schooling mom? This morning after our first session of school, the kids and I made caramel apples. I have never made them before so I was very excited!

We dipped them in boiling water to remove the wax (mom did this)

The one on the left still has the pretty, shiny wax on it

The assembly line

Ready to dip!

Because we were dealing with hot caramel, I didn't stop to take pictures of the kids dipping, spinning, and coating their apples. But they had a ball :)

The finished product. A few will go to neighbors, one to our UPS guy if he comes, and a couple here for us (who am I kidding, I will be the one eating them probably)

Time to enjoy the results!

Vote for Noah!

2011-10-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

I entered Noah into the Armstrong & Getty Halloween photo contest - it's a pic from when he was a UPS man :) You can use for Facebook account to vote - so please go vote!

http://community.kste.com/Contest/%7B1jRpC/UGC/ViewEntry?submissionId=1136

Our little singer

2011-10-22T21:21:00.001-07:00

Faith decided to serenade everyone in Superfranks with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star :)

Instafriday

2011-10-21T11:58:00.001-07:00

Keeping with my new faux-photographer tradition and linking up with Instafriday :)

We went to the kids museum in Sausalito this week. The kids both had a blast, especially since nana and papa were visiting, daddy took the day off, and Jenny joined us

This week also included a trip to Del Osso - they were out of caramel apples (boo!) but I made up for it with fudge (yay!) Here's Faithy after she got locked up for being too cute

The kids enjoying the jumpy houses

Noah on the tower of tires (I suppose that's stating the obvious) ;)

If you are wondering what the most amazing words to hear in the English language are, besides "I love you", they are when your best friend says, "Why don't we get bunk beds for my house" so both kids can enjoy sleepovers there. You can bet we got right on that!

Spiderman, Spiderman.

2011-10-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my main squeeze!!

2011-10-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, Noah told me that he wanted dad to have a birthday party with cake, balloons, the works. So yesterday we celebrated Darren with a Raiders Party :) We had the balloons, the cake, and even a couple Raiders themed gifts. And to top it off, Darren got to eat pizza and watch football all afternoon with his parents and friends - what a great idea Noah!

Happy Birthday honey!

My talk during communion at Cornerstone

2011-10-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

I have had the tremendous honor to address the congregation at Cornerstone twice in the last few months. I love it! God has been so good... I love to prepare and teach and I have missed it SO MUCH. This was my first talk, just a type of "appetizer" to the main message of redemption in the book of Ruth. I shared a bit about my experience with postpartum depression also, and many women called the church to talk with me and I was able to personally help them through their journey. Now THAT'S redemption.

I spoke this weekend on 1 John, I will post that one when it goes online.

It only takes a minute

2011-10-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

I heard Faith giggle yesterday while I was working on a craft with Noah - and looked up to find this. I called for Darren to take a picture while I went for a washcloth.

Fear the beard.

InstaFriday

2011-10-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

Linking up again for InstaFriday - pics from my iphone fancied up with Instagram :)

Yummy snack for our homeschool lesson on Nest

What happens when you forget that you have your daughter's tiny hairband around your wrist

"Look mommy a shark!"

A craft for our lesson on Apple - a basic family tree :) That's our best friend Jenny hanging from the bottom branch

Noah in our homeschool co-op learning about Mexico - loved the sombreros!

Newport Beach here we come! Again, and again!

2011-10-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago we took the family to Disneyland and stayed at the Newport Coast Villas in Newport Beach (a Marriott Vacation Club). It was beautiful and we felt so spoiled! It had enough room for all of us and was complete with kitchen, cooking supplies, washer/dryer - everything we needed. The Resort even has a "kids club" for older kids to get involved in.

Darren and I attended one of the meetings you can go to for information on this timeshare. We learned that one week per year at this resort would cost us over $32,000! As persuasive as our little salesperson was, there was no way we were going to do that. God had already been teaching us about debt and only buying things that we could pay for on the spot. But oh, to dream! I could easily imagine us spending a week there every summer with the kids enjoying the beach, the restaurants, the mall, the pools - everything!

Fast forward to a few weeks ago... we were contacted by a friend of ours who had a friend who was looking to sell their timeshare. You can guess by now where it was - Newport Beach! The exact place we wished we could have! And the price? Hold on to your hat. A one time payment of $1,000.00. Yes, one thousand dollars. For a week each summer at this amazing place - for the rest of our lives! We are also able to trade it for a week in one of 50 other locations like Tahoe, Hawaii, or Orlando (can you say DISNEYWORLD?)

We are beyond stoked and giving God all the praise and thanks for such an amazing blessing. We have proven faithful to Him in remaining debt free and following what we feel like He has been teaching us, and I feel like this is just a huge blessing from Him. Thank you God!

You made a WHAT?

2011-10-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

Several years ago I made up a word for my husband. Ingenuitous. He is by far the most clever and inventive person I have ever met. I love the way his mind works and how he can take an idea and just make it happen.

A few weeks ago I came into the kitchen to find this - an ice chest, filled with water, with lots of electricity running to and from it. That is the light from the kids playroom. And yes, that is a charcoal starter sticking out of the side.

A peek inside doesn't answer many questions. It's bagged chicken breasts, underwater...

Well it turns out Darren knew what he was doing :) He was working on a prototype for a sous-vide cooker. Sous-vide is french for "under vacuum" and is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight bags in a water bath for a long time. And I must tell you, the final product is seriously the most amazingly moist meat you have ever tasted. We have now had chicken and filet mignon and they are both incredible when cooked this way.

This is Darren's final product. The light lets him know that he is powered up and that his temperature adjustments are actually adjusting.

The charcoal starter is now water-proofed and attached to the bottom. A recycled closet rack now serves as the sous-vide rack.

All of this for about $30. That's a savings of $250 :) Here is one you can find for $299!

Noah has glasses!

2011-09-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

My handsome little guy - this pic was taken to show daddy just how big the strainer was at Target :)

In addition to his glasses, Noah will be wearing a patch on his right eye 4-5 days a week for 3 hours a day. Turns out his left eye is 20/100! Because it's sooo farsighted, his brain doesn't even use it anymore. By patching the right eye his brain will have to start working those nerves and using his left eye. He has done pretty well with it so far! He has always loved glasses so those were no big deal.

He got right to work patching his stuffed animals

The patch on his glasses is called a patch pal and came with a matching Patch Power superhero cape and t-shirt. He hasn't really complained about wearing it so I'm thankful. The "krafty patches" kit that he's holding uses the adhesive patches and those were not a big hit :(

Oh, did I mention that I was patched as a kid because of astigmatism? Guess I'll be bumping up Faith's checkup to 3 years old instead of 5 years old, just in case :/

Insta-Friday

2011-09-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

Following along with some of the blogs I read, I may start posting "Insta-Friday" posts, which are basically pics from my phone fancied up with Instagram :) I use my phone a lot to capture random things so I think it will be fun!

Noah chose this place on dad's truck to place his extra Transformers decal

"Faith, don't get wet because I don't have a towel or clothes for you"

Fun idea from my niece to add food coloring to shaving cream and have the kids paint in the bathtub. It was a HUGE hit and didn't seem to stain my children or tub! I just have to remember to wash their hair and bodies FIRST since I can't really do that once the water is gray with shaving cream paint...

Noah got to ride on "Bernie" at a children's fair - which also happens to be his grandpa's name

It takes two superheroes to help a stalled car - Supergirl and Patch'n Power guy (more on that in another post)

Faithy's first self portrait

2011-09-29T07:23:00.001-07:00

Darren was in the right place at the right time to capture this awesome picture before it got erased...

Fun with grandpa

2011-09-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

I love love love that my kids get to experience my dad the way I did when I was little. Tickling, wrestling, laughing... great memories being made. We love you grandpa!

I love this kid.

2011-09-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

Can you blame him? It's U2. Do you also notice he is rocking something new on his face? Yep, Noah has glasses!

Why you shouldn't take your child into Party City.

2011-09-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

Because you would basically be bringing them into a NIGHTMARE.

Skinned bodies hanging from their spines, heads on stakes, demons and red eyed skeletons moaning.

This is the kind of stuff hell is made of.

Noah ran out of Richard's crafts the other day because of the decorations at the front of the store. I love that my 5 year old is still APPROPRIATELY responding to gore and evil the way a 5 year old should. I never want him hardened and insensitive to this. It is dark and it bothers me how so many people "celebrate" with these things - along with their children much of the time.

That's my two cents - and it's my blog so I get to share it :)

One of my favorite new blogs

2011-09-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

So I just found this website that makes me laugh until my eyes water. It's all about parenting and about the changing life of a mom, and it's all done in drawings. It has quickly become my go-to blog for a laugh and I am happy to send you over. But I want to do it right. So, without further ado, my nod to Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures.

The skinny jean, before and after kids.

BEFORE.

AFTER.

Notice that technically the jeans still fit, and may even elicit a "woohoo!" from the closet. However, the mom IN those jeans knows the truth. She knows that there is a muffin top worthy of a pillsbury award trying to escape out of the top of those jeans.

You go, girl.

I love my street!

2011-09-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

Today was a day that almost every kid on the street was outside playing... riding bikes, running around, just having a great time. It was awesome. And if that wasn't enough, I looked across the street to see a table being set up with a sign that says "Free Face Painting". One of the sweet neighbor girls was setting up a stand with all of her paints and a book to choose pictures from!

Needless to say my kids were tickled pink. And they weren't the only ones. I'm sure there were little bodies taking turns in that chair for about an hour!

Noah went back for seconds and received a superhero band on his forehead :)

Stylin' Saturday

2011-09-17T12:46:00.000-07:00

So fellow blogger and funny mom over at totally desperate mom always posts pics from the outfits and various accessories that her kids use on Saturday. I couldn't help but make my own post this morning after Noah wanted me to help him make a special sling over his shoulder and under his arm to hold all of his spy gear.

All of the fashion-forward spies will be sporting this look come spring:

- camouflage ~~belt~~ spy harness to hold the gear, to blend in with surroundings

- dark glasses from the optometrist so you can have shifty spy-eyes without being detected

- long grabber, hooked onto your harness with a set of arms from your little sister's popables

- a periscope, to look around corners slyly of course

- a green emergency light

- lastly, a really intimidating stance and an I-mean-business expression

Faith opted for something more understated. When I looked upstairs this is what I found - a pirate-dog-fairy-clown. I really appreciate the big white-out looking spot next to her, from the time Noah drew on the doors and wall with a sharpie... because a giant white spot is better than a black line, right?

Okay, so I've got a secret...

2011-09-13T13:09:00.001-07:00

Many of you know that I started homeschooling Noah (and Faithy by her great passionate pleas). What you don't know is that I started a blog about my anxiety-ridden journey into the homeschool world. I tried to be all hip and "bloggy" and name my kids by different names, but that really didn't work out because their names are on their crafts and I keep slipping and writing their real names anyway.

Anyhow, I will now be posting all homeschool related stuff to this other blog - until I get overwhelmed by it - and will put it in my blogroll to the right so you will know when it's updated.

So without further ado...

HERE IT IS!

Camping with Michelle Obama

2011-09-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Noah and Daddy decided to have a campout in the backyard. Using said campout as an excuse, daddy went and bought a 3 room tent! It will certainly make it nice when the four of us go together someday!

We started off the evening by roasting marshmallows of course. This is Noah's favorite thing to do. There were a few fire emergencies but we managed.

Mommy's vs. Noah - Yes, he asked if we could trade. And yes, we did :)

Noah super excited about his big tent room. He let us know that Michelle Obama was coming too and was bringing all of her sleeping stuff. We thought it was nice of the first lady to stop by! One day when Noah was talking on his pretend phone he said "Oh hello BarakObama... yes, uh-huh, okay, is Michelle there too? Okay, we'll be right over" Apparently all the lights at the White House went out and they called on Noah for help. He's handy that way.

Goodnight Noah!

Summer.

2011-08-17T22:06:00.001-07:00

A needed germ vacation with Noah

2011-08-17T21:07:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Faith came down with the worst virus we have encountered to date. Her fever reached 106.5 at one point and she was put into a cool tub at least 3 times to bring it down and we took one trip to Urgent Care. They tested her for strep and gave us antibiotics but she wouldn't take them. In fact, she completely refused to the point of gagging and throwing up - we tried two different kinds and it was a no go. I set my alarm 2-3 times a night to check her fever and give her fever reducers accordingly. THANKFULLY, it was a virus and not strep (since she wasn't going to take antibiotics) so after a few days she came through it. She lost a lot of weight from not eating but other than that is doing OK.

When we had made it through the worst, Jennifer offered to take Faith so I could do something fun with Noah. It's not fun being in a house with a sick sister you can't touch and a mom totally focused on getting that sister better. I decided to be spontaneous and we booked a hotel in Capitola for the night with plans for the Monterey Bay Aquarium the following day.

You would have thought the main event was being in the hotel! Noah LOVED it! We had a great time together and even stayed another night in another hotel before coming home.

Noah really wanted to eat food from the little hotel "market" and he quickly turned this two tiered table into a table/seat combo :)

Watching spy kids together before bed

At the aquarium - he is such a great boy to hang out with!!

When we got home he set the table and used the stove and a pan to whip me up something to eat: um, otter and spaghetti with lobster sauce. YUM.

This trip was JUST what we both needed. And it was great knowing Faithy was in good hands with Jenny and daddy.

She is ALL GIRL.

2011-08-17T20:41:00.001-07:00

It has been amazing for me to see how so many girl characteristics are just innate. Faithy is all about tutus, princesses (without even having any princess stuff), babydolls and ballet.

I figured Faith wouldn't do the mommy thing because she wouldn't get to see me take care of a baby sister or brother and watch/imitate what I do. However, she just IS a mommy. Even her pink dolphin needed a jacket to go outside in the cold so I had to borrow one from one of her dolls! And she loves when she can find the same animal in two different sizes so there can be a mommy and a baby. If a third makes a daddy, all the better :)

And this is her baby leopard all swaddled up nice and tight. I don't even know where she has ever seen a swaddle, but she somehow knew that's what the leopard needed.

These are her "coons". She gives me her baby curious george or baby sheep or any other baby animal and has me swaddle them completely like they are in cocoons.

And lastly we have the posing - how does she know this?!?

PANDAMANIA!!

2011-07-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

Last week our church put on it's summer VBS (vacation bible school). It's a week where hundreds of kids come through the church and have a fun time watching leaders doing crazy things while teaching them stories from the bible.

This year, the kids learned five important bible points:

1. God made you

2. God listens to you

3. God watches over you

4. God loves you, no matter what

5. God gives good gifts

I had a crew of 5 kids aged 5-6. They were so sweet! We had a great time all week and at the end I brought them little gift bags filled with goodies - and sprayed their hair orange to match our vbs shirts. They loved it!!

This is Noah showing off his VBS shirt that was all blinged out front and back... this was before I stuck it in the wash mid week and all of the designs and glitter washed off. Whoops. At least Darren got a pair of glitter jeans out of it.

We get to have orange hair - in church!

Noah showing of his new and improved shirt that mommy had to do after the wash incident - he explained that this is his superhero pose.

One of my kids wanted to trace Miss Kim :) It was so cute, when they kids were drawing with chalk and were asked to draw a picture of something they were thankful for, Noah called a little girl on my crew over and showed her he had written her name :) He is a charmer.

I'll end this with our response for every time we heard a bible point...

THANK YOU GOD!

Joining the Circus

2011-07-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

I have had concerns about the circus for awhile because of how they train their animals to perform. Because of this, I was happy to hear that Circus Vargas had come to town with an all people show :) Jenny and I brought Noah out early so he could participate in a bit of a pre-show with other kids. He had so much fun, though the highlight had to be when he got to hold a giant snake!

I love that the little girl behind us is posing because it's her dad that is taking the picture :)

Faith's homemade dollhouse

2011-07-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

Faith is our little architect. Our dancing, singing architect. She loves to build with blocks, and is good about instructing me on where everything should go. The other day she wanted me to build a house for "her faithys" - those are two playmobil girls that she calls Faith.

Once the building was complete, she became an interior designer and asked me to make a couch and a TV. Then two chairs for mom and dad.

You can see that the girls are snacking on chips - and per Faith's request, I made two paper plates for them. Oh, and a remote control... which earned Noah a whack on the head when he tried to touch it!

Watching TV - saving up for a flat screen

What does Livermore have in common with Iraq?

2011-07-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Darren found this spider on our garage in the middle of the night. Having never seen a spider such as this, he took a few snapshots to show our Clark Pest Control guy next time he came to spray the house. Well, Andrew our bug guy showed up last Wednesday (turns out he had just finished his Pandamania VBS at church - more about Pandamania coming soon!) and he had no idea what this spider was.

Since I am a closet detective, I got right on the case. When I zoomed in on the pic, I noticed two things: 1. it is hairy and 2. it appears to have 10 legs! I extensively researched (okay, so I googled) ten-legged spiders, and voila, got my answer. This is a solifugae!

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you, the camel spider, also known as a sun spider. Look at that sweet face - almost like a little spider-puppy! For the record, they only have 8 legs, with the final two just being "appendages" - but to me they are just legs.

These spiders are often found in Iraq and desert areas - but somehow it found it's way to Livermore. They can grow up to SIX INCHES LONG! And though they have really intimidating jaws, they are not venomous or dangerous. However, they have a reputation of being attack spiders because they are fast, they like shade, and they, well, sort of scream at times. Sooooo, imagine finding one of these in your shadow and you begin to back away, and it follows you...so you jog... and it speeds up in pursuit... you are screaming... IT is screaming... you get the picture. It would appear he is chasing you, when in reality he is just loving to hang out in the shade of your shadow!

This is the position it took with Darren, all threatening and stuff with his arms up. Not sure he realized how small he was compared to Dar.

Yeah, Noah thinks I'm awesome

2011-07-20T16:17:00.001-07:00

It's a minivan, it's an ambulance, it's a transformer transporter.

Happy Anniversary!

2011-07-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

My husband is always amazing when it comes to surprising me for birthdays, etc. Well celebrating our 8th anniversary was no exception :) he surprised me with dinner at Wente and a Colbie Caillat concert (fell in love with her while dancing with a baby Noah to her songs). What an amazing night - can't wait for her to start :)

Cheers to another 8 years honey!!

Boys vs. Girls

2011-06-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

To Noah, it's an army man ready to do battle. To Faith, it's a surfer on a surfboard, which she animates by yelling "cowabunga!" over and over. I can see it, can't you?

Fun in the sun (while it lasted!)

2011-06-29T13:12:00.001-07:00

Well, since my last post, both kids had the flu (105 fevers!), then gave ME the flu, which passed crazy congestion on to Darren, then Noah started unexplainably having to pee every 10 minutes (apparently not super uncommon for boys aged 4-7, but frustrating for him and me - and can last weeks!) and finally today we learned Noah has a double ear infection.

When the sun peeked through for a few days last week and it was nice and warm out (it's cooler and even rained this week!) we took advantage of it and played in the backyard.

I can totally picture what Noah will look like as a teenager in this picture

Seriously, is she beautiful or what?

I don't know if you can click on the pic and enlarge it, but you can actually see the reflection of me in an orange shirt and the pergola in Faith's eyes

What a week!

2011-06-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those weeks where there are just so many rough spots that you just have to laugh? Well, that is me at the end (almost end) of this week...

Tuesday:

Noah is brought home with a 105 fever. We put him in the tub and load him up with meds. His head hurts.

Wednesday:

Still caring for Noah's now 102 fever. And of course the tips of his middle toes hurt, which has been a mystery to us for a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, Faithy has been sitting on her potty chair lately, requesting the opportunity to earn some m&m's. On this day, she says "I did it!" and stands up. No pee pee. While I'm looking for a diaper, I hear "I did it!" again. This would be great, except she's standing by the couch. I look down at the ground but don't see anything wet... until I look in my shoe. Which is soaked. Awesome.

Thursday: Noah goes to the bathroom and requests, as usual, to spray the all-natural air freshener. He has been good with it so I said okay. Taking longer than usual I called for him and he explained he was just getting dressed. One minute later he's sitting on the couch saying his neck and ear itch... then there is crying and distress because they are BURNING.

Me: "What did you DO Noah??? Did you put something on your neck?

Noah: "Maybe (sob) I sprayed that stuff on my neck... and my chest... and my knees and arms..."

I wiped him down with a washcloth as he continued to cry and his neck and cheek turned bright red. I called the pediatrician and was told to put him in the shower. That actually made him perk up because he loves the shower. Ten minutes later and he was good as new, with just some red marks left.

Two hours later, I notice Faith feels hot - 100.3 fever. I check Noah's, thinking he was all better - 100 fever.

UGH!

So now we sit watching Curious George, both babies leaned up against me at one time or another... And I do the role that mom's do the best. Comfort.

Last year's bash

2011-06-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

I wasn't blogging much last year, so I never wrote about my amazing 40th Bollywood Birthday party :) I can't believe it has already been a year!! Indian food, dancing, costumes - it was a blast!

PERFECT Birthday Morning

2011-06-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

Breakfast in bed - croissant blueberry bread pudding secretly prepared

at 1:00 am...

A beautiful blanket I really wanted but didn't want to pay for...

Two books, so I have something to read on our surprise 2 night getaway

next weekend...

I am feeling so loved by my wonderful husband and kids, my heart is

overwhelmed and I have tears of joy.

I AM BLESSED!

Optimus Prime and...um... Bumblebee

2011-05-27T23:46:00.001-07:00

Snow-mobil and bag crafts

2011-05-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

Both kids LOVE to play with playmobil people. Two of their favorite places to play with them are the sink and in a tray of baking soda "snow" :)

I have a ton of pics of Noah's Playmobil scenes that I will have to put up sometime :)

With Noah's allergies being terrible this last month, I've turned to indoor crafts. I was happy to find that a couple of paper bags and a package of googly eyes from the $1 section at target go a long way!

Dr. Noah Drill & Fill and his assistant Faith

2011-05-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

Noah's Nana and Papa got him something for his birthday that he has been wanting for awhile... the Play Doh Dr. Drill & Fill. Upon receiving it he immediately opened up his Dental Practice and got to work. My job was to alternate between being his assistant and a mom bringing her little boy in for some work :)

Open for business!

They may look white, but they are full of cavities!

Pulling a tooth with drill in hand

Faithy checking out the gold fillings

5 years ago today, I became a mom...

2011-05-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

It's not many women that get to celebrate Mother's Day AND their oldest child's birthday on the same day. It's actually a really cool feeling!

Five years ago today I took on the most important job I will ever have - the job of mom. It came along with PPD and all sorts of new-mom jitters, but it has been the greatest gift I have ever received. The love I feel from Noah and Faith is so incredible, my life would be completely dull and shallow without them. Being a mom can be hard, and suffocating, and challenging... but it is also rewarding, and fulfilling, and an honor.

My heart became complete the day I became a mom.

2005: A minimum of two pregnancy tests to confirm our good news!

One of the funniest pictures I own, actually taken by holding the camera from below my belly while lounging on the couch

41 weeks pregnant - waiting!

Welcome into the world Noah!

The day after he was born

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

Kidless Art & Wine Festival

2011-05-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

This was the first year since moving to Livermore that Darren and I were able to go to the festival with out a bun in the oven or a child in a stroller. Darren had also gone the extra mile and reserved a room for us in a local B&B. Needless to say, we had a fun time just hanging out, eating, reading, and being friends :)

Fried Asparagus!!!

Noah's Transformer Birthday Party

2011-05-07T20:35:00.000-07:00

Happy 5th Birthday Noah! I love you soooo much and I'm so proud that you are my son!!

Noah in his Optimus Prime costume with his Optimus Prime Pinata

Amazing cupcake cake by Jenny and Jill

A storm brewing

2011-04-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

This is just a cool picture I took when we had a storm last week. I went outside and the sky above our street was split in two, with blue sky and sun on one side, and dark, dark clouds filling up the other side. The sun was eventually overtaken by the clouds and hail came soon after that.

Now we're (I'm) cookin'!

2011-04-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

I have really enjoyed my quest to provide more home-cooked meals for my family. Darren has always been the one to make the more complicated, recipe inspired meals while I provided the easy to throw together pasta, tacos, stir fry, and manwich nights.

I think what got me started on this journey was purchasing a couple of these awesomeWeekday Dinners - DONE! cards from my sister, a Pampered Chef consultant. They had a meal for every day with a shopping list and easy to follow recipes. Every time I made something, it boosted my confidence that I could actually cook! Since then, I have added to my collection of recipes from other sources.

Tonight, I made HOMEMADE macaroni and cheese out of an America's Test Kitchen cookbook. Talk about a comfort food! Let me tell you, it was as good if not better than any restaurant I've tried. Even the delicious Sideboard in Danville! Noah even loved it - he actually pretended to FAINT over how much he loved it. Anyone with a 5 year old knows that is a big deal :)

The caprese I threw together as a salad

Toasting the breadcrumbs in butter for the topping

And the final product!! Darren was in heaven!

You've come a long way, baby.

2011-04-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit this. Not just because I think you will laugh and tease me, but because many of you that read this blog already HAVE laughed at me and teased me. But here goes.

I enrolled in JAZZERCISE.

My earliest memories of Jazzercise were of my sis-in-law going in the 80's or early 90's I think? Those were the days of leg warmers, and of wearing this swimsuit type outfit OVER your tights. I even wore something similar to an aerobics class I took in college.

Thankfully, times have changed! This is how Jazzercise looks now...

The music for these classes come right out of the current club scene, so they are fun and funky. It's funny because sometimes I just laugh watching certain women doing the more "sexy" moves (yes! there are some!) and I think "what would that woman's husband think if she came home with THAT one!" LOL There are women in their 20's and women in their 70's, so I feel like I blend in right in the middle. It's a great workout that makes me sweat, and it makes me feel like I am doing something to stay fit and healthy for my two little kiddos. Fortunately, Noah and Faith really enjoy the childcare, so that's been great too.

Random stuff for March

2011-03-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

I tried to be a little crafty this month :) A few weeks ago I bought fabrics to make blankets for Noah's and Faith's beds. Unfortunately, I put Faith's fabrics in the dryer and they got all crispy and fried (our dryer runs hot)

Total. Bummer.

I decided to make the most out of my mistake and used some of the non-crispified section to make a blanket for my sweet niece that is due soon. I think it is so cute that she and Faithy will have matching blankets!

The story of the goggles:

Noah has been doing so good in swimming lessons, I am really proud of him! He wanted to get some goggles because there is quite a bit of chlorine in the pool on some weeks. It's also partly because his favorite little girl-friend Cassidy wears them (she is in his class).

When we originally looked at goggles, Noah wanted a purple pair... except when I bought them I saw that they were purple in front and pink in back. CLEARLY a "girl" pair. I waffled back and forth on if I should get them and then decided to talk him into the blue pair instead. Later that day he mentioned he really did like the purple pair better.... Soooo, I have taken the approach that he's 5, and he doesn't care about "girl or boy" stereotypes - so why should I? I explained that if anyone tells him they are girl's goggles he can tell them "no, they are MY goggles" and let that be that.

Today, I exchanged the blue goggles for the purple and pink ones, and Noah was super happy about it. I gave a nod to his swim teacher Nik, who quickly told Noah his goggles were awesome and he loved the color purple too :) Here he is sitting close with Cassidy sporting his new goggles (sorry for the blur, I love the picture anyway!) Cassidy is the same age as Noah (almost to the week) but as you can see she is bigger for her age!

Faithy LOVES swimming and wants to be under the water as much as possible - she is going to be fearless - which will make for a fun and stressful summer by the pool!

Manipulation or CHARM? :)

2011-03-25T23:28:00.000-07:00

Just after tucking Noah in I told him I was going to take a shower...

“mom, I don’t want you to take a shower because if I have a bad dream I need to call you in here”

“Noah, I can guarantee you are not going to have a bad dream while I am in the shower. And if you do have one, you can call daddy up here”

“Mom I don’t want to call daddy up here, I want to call YOU… because you’re pretty”

“Oh Noah, you are just so charming and SWEET!”

“It’s because I love you mom” (followed by a sweet grin)

*sigh* I should mention he also told me that morning that I smelled soooo pretty.

Yes, he's THAT good.

Being a mom means...

2011-03-25T23:26:00.001-07:00

...I'm up at 11:30 pm making wrapping paper for and wrapping the gift
Noah is bringing to a birthday party tomorrow - why don't I ever have
paper or gift bags lying around?!?

Quintessential boy moment

2011-03-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

Faithy is playing in the sink in the bathroom.

I am cleaning up some spots on the carpet.

I notice it's quiet in Noah's room... and the door is shut...

I open the door to find this:

Noah standing on his bed, with an open umbrella in his hand. A mini-fridge propped up in the middle of the bed.

"Noah, what are you about to do...?"

"I was going to climb on this (wobbly, unstable mini-fridge) and reach up with the umbrella to touch my firetrucks (a mobile in the center of the room) and make them move"

..........

"Um, sweetie, let me explain why that is a very bad idea"

Major booboo averted!

A proud moment

2011-03-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

This is so exciting for me! There is a blog out there that SAVED ME when I had postpartum depression. My friend had directed me to it and I was so thankful. It is the most read blog on this topic and with one look at the content, the encouragement offered, and the heart of the woman who started it all you'll see why.

I had the honor of writing a post for that blog that just went up today. I won't give you any spoilers, but let's just say I'm blessed :)

Read it HERE

And that's no yolk!

2011-03-13T12:34:00.000-07:00

except, it is...

With colorful toys surrounding her, Faith's choice this particular day was strange to say the least.

It was my egg yolk.

She walked with it, swung with it, sat with it, even patted it on the head. She wasn't interested in eating it - just carrying it around.

This one reminds me of an awkward family portrait :)

Darren's deception

2011-02-28T19:55:00.001-08:00

Early in the day I got this....

And later in the day Darren arrived at home with a 1 pound box of nuts and chews from See's Candies! Come to find out he made the whole radio show up just to confirm which kind I liked before he bought them for me. I love this man!

So THAT'S what Faith was trying to tell me...

2011-02-25T08:32:00.001-08:00

Apparently my washing machine shook a bit during the spin cycle.

Predictive Text FAIL

2011-02-20T20:35:00.000-08:00

This made me laugh out loud - I had to take a picture of it the next day because I thought it was so funny. **side note: Superman is Darren**

Macskin FAIL

2011-02-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

So I spent a while looking for just the right Macskin for my new MacBook Pro. I landed on a cool cloud design that was raining hearts - it made me think of God's love raining from Heaven. The background was blue and the cloud and rain green. Cool, right? Well it was - until...

I downloaded a Care Bears show off of Netflix for Faithy and came across Grumpy Bear, who has a belly that looked familiar.

You be the judge... did I just Grumpy-CareBear-ize my Mac?

Boy's best friend

2011-02-06T15:12:00.000-08:00

This is one of Noah's favorite buddies. He sleeps with him every night (along with Porter, Cloosey, and Mr. Ray) and even takes him along when he spends the night at Jenny's. His name is Clifford, and he is Looo-oooved!

Noah somewhere around one year old when we bought Clifford

And now...

Business in the front, PART in the back

2011-02-06T14:49:00.001-08:00

I asked Darren's permission to blog about this very humorous and strange phenomenon we like to call his "back part". I usually buzz Darren's hair every couple of months, but sometimes life happens and we just don't set out the time to do it. However, when we let it grow out, THIS is what happens. It's like our little pop-up turkey timer for hair - when we see it we know it's time to take action. Kudos to Darren for being such a good sport!!

what in the WORLD?!

Faith enjoying the playroom swing

2011-01-29T11:54:00.000-08:00

She would swing in this ALL DAY if she could!

A new playroom!!

2011-01-21T09:29:00.000-08:00

About 3 weeks ago, Jennifer had the idea to turn my office into a playroom... I am never in there and it had just become the "catch all" room of the house. The kids have always loved to play in the living room so why not give them their own space over there to play in!

As you can see from the first couple of pics, we had our work cut out for us! After many late nights, Jennifer and I were able to get my entire office cleared out. It was bittersweet for me because I was confronted with the reality that I am not preaching or studying anymore... and I don't need a bunch of my seminary books, and I don't need all of my folders full of my studies for old sermons, and I don't need my A+ Hebrew tests from 1999 - I think somehow I was still holding on to these things to validate me... But it was good. I am not in that season right now, I am a mom. A phenomenal stay-at-home mom. And I am blessed.

This was even after some clean up!

After clearing it out we had to sell my beautiful desk, and move bookcases, etc. Then let the painting begin! Unfortunately, the lady at Lowe's was particularly grumpy and mixed up a color quite a bit more neon than I had envisioned... Thanks to my dad's help, we were able to knock out two walls of white and two of this crazy green in just a few hours. We later returned to Lowe's to complain and received the correct color that just needed one coat to make everything right again.

You can see the subtle difference in greens. This pic was after Darren had hung the light in the center of the room and had hung up this amazing painting we bought by a worship artist at Bethel church many years ago. I love it and it fit my underwater theme perfectly!

I (heart) Ikea!

Typical Ikea. You see a cool lamp and then pick it up in a skinny box only to realize that it's "some assembly required" :)

Installing the awesome chair that the kids want to spin in ALL DAY.

New carpet is in! Shelving is up! Toys are in!

All the tubs even have a small picture of what's inside so there's no guesswork.

Underwater wall put up, cool decals in place! Ikea mattress ready to be jumped on! Darren even repurposed a white board into a cool chalkboard!

Just add some kids and let the fun begin!

Thanks dad, Jenny and Darren for helping to make this room happen!!

Domestic Diva

2011-01-20T15:04:00.001-08:00

Hemming my third pair of pants for Noah... Home Ec from 7th grade is paying off!

boy vs. girl

2011-01-15T15:26:00.001-08:00

boy sees rat.

girl sees... dolphin.

This is how Faith carried it around, saying "dolphin! dolphin!"

At least until the rat's cheek popped and the water shot out.

Pics with Santa :)

2011-01-14T16:46:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my beautiful sister Pam, I have these great pictures taken when Santa came to my mom and dad's house! He visits every year before the presents are opened and it's a tradition I hope doesn't end for a loooong time :) Thank you Pam!!!

Angel...

2011-01-14T09:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas with the Rogers

2011-01-07T18:22:00.001-08:00

Christmas day was a day of travel! We started off the day opening gifts with the kiddos, but by 1:00 we were headed to the airport on our way to Vancouver to spend the week with Darren's family :) The kids did GREAT with the flight and the 3 hour drive. The week involved a train ride, trips to a nearby indoor play place, rides in the packard, and it SNOWED! The kids were so excited with the snow. They ran right out to make snow angels.

Noah was super excited that the pilot let him hang out in the cockpit for awhile - he even had him welcome everyone aboard and announce the flight!

We were able to stay in the apartment beneath the main house, which was GREAT for us. Noah especially loved sleeping on his bed in the hall right outside our bedroom door :)

Presents!

My super duper cute nephew, Lucas :) He's going to have a little sister soon!

Noah loves riding in Papa's Packard

Darren and I had the opportunity to go up to Grouse Mountain on a date while we were there. The best thing was, it was on December 28th, the 8 year anniversary of the night Darren proposed :) We sat almost at the same table at the amazing restaurant up there and the view was breathtaking. It was a great night!

The last night there we had a big crabfeed with huge lobster - yummmm

I'm realizing with these last couple of posts that I am terrible at taken pictures of PEOPLE! I will have to work on that...

Christmas with the Jensons

2011-01-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

We had a great time spending the entire day of Christmas Eve with my family - everyone was there and it was awesome! For whatever reason I don't really have pics of the kids opening their gifts, and Noah's experience with Santa giving him his much desired transformer was captured on video... but I'll post what I got. The food was great, there were lots of laughs, the kids ran around and played nonstop, and it was an overall very relaxed and fun atmosphere :)

All of the cousins :) They are SO great with my little ones!

And a pic for grandma and grandpa's wall

Faithy dancing in her second outfit of the day

This is me wearing the "fur" coat my mom got at Christmas when she was my age

Faith's first outfit, she refused to wear the skirt for a long time and the top was dirty within 30 minutes of course :)

I'm going to have to look for more pics!!!

How do I say goodbye??

2011-01-03T14:31:00.001-08:00

Every time I try to get rid of this biker jacket from my college days, I just can't go through with it... Here I am, again, wanting to put it in the donate bag and I find myself wanting to keep it! For what? I don't know. Just because, I guess. A costume? Posterity? Riding a motorcycle? I'll just set it aside and think about it... for the next few years.

Faithy's early, muddy, Christmas

2010-12-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

For my mudlover, the perfect gift from Jenny... A mudpie maker!! Noah even got dirty and exclaimed it was the first time he ever got muddy and loved it! (If you don't know, Noah doesn't want to be sticky, muddy, or wet. EVER. If he is any of those 3, it has to be on his terms) Faithy on the other hand welcomes all kinds of messiness with reckless abandon :)

Santa's Bag

2010-12-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

We had a present delivered to Jenny at our house for Christmas. Because Darren selected gift option, it came in this big, blue "velvet" bag with yellow ribbon. Needless to say, Noah was BESIDE HIMSELF to discover that we actually had, in our possession, SANTA'S BAG!!!

He played Santa with it and slept with it under his bed. But then I told him I googled it and found that he would have to leave it under the tree so it could be picked up and used again on Christmas Eve. So Noah willingly complied and we placed the bag and his letter to Santa under the tree.

The next morning the bag and letter were gone, and replaced by an ornately written letter from Reuben, the Elf of bag retrieval. He assured Noah that his letter to Santa would be put on his desk, and that Noah was on the nice list! He also said the he celebrates Jesus :)

We look forward to seeing what Santa has in that bag next time he brings it back!

I'm THAT mom...

2010-12-12T12:20:00.001-08:00

The one that let's her son eat his corn dog on the dashboard during
his first visit to sonic :) (those are his sonic bionic sunglasses).
I'm not wanting to know what the folks in the car next to us are
thinking!

Date Night

2010-12-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

After a 15 minute FaceTime call with Noah where he wanted a thorough
tour of our accommodations :)

Surprise Getaway

2010-12-04T17:39:00.000-08:00

Surprised Dar with a weekend in Tiburon. Thanks to Jenny we don't
have to be home until Monday afternoon! We are enjoying some wine on
the hotel deck and looking at all the sailboat lights on the bay (and
I'm eating cookie dough) :)

Life is good!

Transforming Transformers on the iPad

2010-12-03T22:06:00.000-08:00

Noah has started teaching Faith about Transformers.... She is somewhat interested, though not as much as he would like her to be. However, if he makes his convincing "transform" sound and bellows "Autobots, transform and roll-out!" and drops to his hands and knees and drives off - she is likely to join him on her hands and knees with "vroom vroom" sounds for effect. Of course it helps if mommy plays along too... which she does. I've taken out a few Starscreams in my day. Even though I'm not really sure who I am, Noah just says I'm a corvette, and I'm cool with that.

Blustery Day Activities

2010-12-03T21:51:00.001-08:00

It's cold outside. The kind of cold where I don't WANT to stand around while the kids waddle around all bundled up and red cheeked. Sprinkling? No problem. Windy? I'm fine. But cold air? It's uncomfortable and not helpful when the kiddos are just getting over colds... So the alternate is, coming up with something entertaining to do indoors. I've got Noah asking me to please not turn the TV on and keep it off. Then there's Faithy squealing "Umizoomi! George! Dora!" And many days, the squeaky/screechy wheel of Faith wins out (depending on mommy's day).

The last couple of days I've improvised. Today, I even impressed Noah... "Mom, I'm so surprised and happy that you thought of this game using a lever! That's so smart of you!" Yes, he's my encourager. Today we took the round soft snowman-head ornaments off of the tree and used a pasta strainer (lever) and an alton brown measuring cylinder (fulcrum) and catapulted them across the room into a box. Noah got extra points for hitting our cat.

Yesterday I thought it might be fun to put a cookie sheet on the cutting board and pour baking soda into it. Faith spent a long time playing in it with her hands, paint brushes, and basting brushes. Noah loved it too. It wasn't too messy and I didn't have to worry about the kids eating it :)

In case you're wondering...

2010-12-01T22:22:00.000-08:00

This is Megatron, transformed into a gun. It's a shame you can't hear the sound effect.