Catching UP

The days are going by faster than I can count it seems.  In my mind it's "just after Christmas" but here it is nearly 90 degrees outside.  When did summer happen upon us?

I'm feeling blog pressure right now.  I spend too much time reading other people's blogs.   After seeing what I like from a writing style, I feel compelled to up my journaling and vow to take better pictures.  I had my second photography class last night at the Botanical Gardens.  It lasted until 10 PM.  After arriving home 45 minutes later, I stayed up talking with Woody.  That made today's work day "bright and cheery".  Not really.  I made it through, though.

As I think about how I am going to get everything done, I've decided to relax and let it go.  It can't all get done.  The kids were fed tonight. (no-nitrate - all natural German sausages, organic sauerkraut, cottage cheese, organic peas, and yummy fresh cut strawberries.  There were NO leftovers.)  Baths got done.  Desert (yogurt), and an impromptu pan flute concert from Annika rounded out our evening.  The girls were in bed by 8 and Erik finally got his eyes closed at 8:45.

I've got work on my mind but I am trying to set it aside.  That reminded me, I need to order some labels for my mom and my sister.  I found a *very* cool birthday gift for both of them and I made them open it early.  New spice containers and spice labels.  Today they made a road trip to Penzey's with my aunt Diane.  I heard the spices were grand and many were purchased.  Now there's a place to store them!  I have to re-write the spice list into a custom list using the Penzey's names.  The spice tins can hold magnets on the back in the event they want to make a magnetic spice rack.

We'll get to the rest of the chores (including cleaning the house) at some point.  For now, we're content with the little fun things in the home.  Best wishes for the week!

App Logic

Morgan placed and leveled the base bricks to prepare for edge pavers in the far corner of our front yard. She said it'd be easier if she had a cell phone!??? When I asked why, she said we could buy her a cell phone with a level app and she could do all of our brick work. Nice try Morgan. How does a ten year old know about apps?

Morgan continues with her logic [because she falsely thinks it's working] by letting me know that we wouldn't need to get her violin professionally tuned if she had her own cell phone.  "Yep, Mom, there's an app for that.  My violin teacher has it."

We spent all afternoon building this little garden to cover the water meter box, back flow preventer and cul-de-sac light post.  Now we won't have to mow around it.  We have beautiful annuals and perennials set to give the corner some color.  Morgan was a great help!

P.S. We're not "following" her cell phone app logic.

The Butterfly Pavilion

Early this morning, I was able to sneak out of the house and head out to the Desert Botanical Gardens for a DSLR photography class.  The class is 8 hours spread over two different days.  This morning's class included lecture time and field time, taking different pictures in the beautiful cacti gardens.  There's so much texture in the desert flowers, it was great fun.  However, I am loving different photography subjects than plants.  The Family!

And, just as my class was finishing, who did I find looking in the door?  My kids!  Woody got everyone up, dressed and fed, with sun hats and sun screen to come out to the Gardens for lunch and a stroll.  We ate together on the patio overlooking the Papago mountains and then took a leisurely stroll toward the butterfly pavilion.

The kids LOVE the tiny pavilion.  You have to go into a vestibule to be checked and the door closes.  Then another door opens into a fantastic room of butterflies everywhere.  It's such a bright and cheery place.  Volunteers help care for the butterflies.  You walk slowly and carefully so as not to step on the butterflies while you watch their habitats.  The pavilion has 18 different species of butterflies.  The kids were able to find twelve different types.  Erik had one land on him.  Annika's jellybean shoes were a landing spot as was Ingrid's hat.  Ingrid's favorite is Zebra Longwing and Morgan likes the Buckeye.  There was an overabundance of Julia's this week.

The Monarchs are not in season right now.

Let's Go to the Movies!

Let's go to the Movies...without leaving the yard.

Woody went out to work in the yard while the kids were watching Netflix in the living room.  Did you know we gave up our satellite?  We really weren't watching it.  We watched Fox News and HGTV, but not frequently.  We watch sports, but again not frequently and never the full game.  So we've cut it out.  The kids are not missing it so far.

Woody took the Roku device and set it up to receive Netflix wirelessly in the front yard.  He then took one of the girls' boombox radios and the older projector (still 720p HD) and within a few minutes we had the same movie outside that we had inside.  A few chairs and liquid refreshments and the Chung family was watching The Incredible Mr. Limpet under the stars.

Very nice, indeed.

Old Photo Friday

This week's theme is dress clothes.  Trying to shop for dress clothes with Annika is not easy.  To put it bluntly - she's an enigma.  Some days, the dress looks nice.  But then she clarifies - "I said it looked nice, but you didn't ask me if I wanted to wear it.  You just asked if it looked nice."  I switch tactics after looking online with my seven year old for a first communion dress.

I explain that we don't have to get a white dress or anything, but a dress is a must and Converse and Vans are not proper shoe attire for communion.  She asks why not, since I let her wear black Converse with a dress for her class picture.  I asked her to look in her closet and see if she likes any of the dresses in there - there are plenty of hand-me-downs from her sister.

As you are reading this, you may think it's karma that I have to go through this with my middle daughter.  I can hear it now.  "She's just like you!"  OK, fine, she is.  I like it.  But I still need to get her in a dress for her first communion.  There are 24 other mothers who are getting their child into dress clothes for the same picture.  I should be able to do the same.  You'll have to wait for two more weeks to see what we come up with for the event.

Today's picture is my mom, my uncle Chuck and my uncle Rick - all dressed up.

Thursday Night at the Park

We're in week two of a long spring break for the older girls.  Woody took all four kids to the zoo today so I could telecommute and take care of the annual A/C maintenance checkup from the service company.  They came home around 3 PM and the girls decided to read books on a blanket in the backyard.

Dinner was a simple affair at 5 PM.  Afterward, we packed up the kids, changing their shorts for jeans and headed to the park for some fun at sunset.  The weather is simply gorgeous right now.  We want to be outdoors every moment, if possible.

All four kids had a great time on the swings and slides.  Laughing.  Running.  Smiling.  A great evening.

Erik Dances with Barbie

Erik provided some comic relief during dinner.  For our anniversary, we took the kids to Whole Foods to try and find some exciting ingredients for a creative dinner - new foods, new ideas.  In the end, the kids were whiny and cranky.  We left with lots of food, including a yummy vegan pizza that they let us sample in the store.  Annika loved it.  Morgan was OK with it.  Ingrid was a thumbs down.  Erik ate it with pears and bananas on top and they got out Ingrid's Barbie.  This quick "free site" video is a 30 second sampling of Erik's antics.  Enjoy.

The Wine's good, Mom!

We're in week two of a three week communion class at Holy Trinity.  Annika's thrilled to be part of the class - she excited to become part of God's community.  To be more blunt, she's sick of the pastor putting his hand on her head and saying a blessing.  She wants to join older sister Morgan at God's table and "get the good stuff".  I don't blame her.  Due to circumstances surrounding the house moves we made as a child, my older brother received first communion in fourth grade while I missed the opportunity the next year because we moved.  In the following year, I was considered too old for the class at our new church and was told to wait for my confirmation to participate in communion.  Susan came up in age a few years behind me and she took the class and had her first communion - before my confirmation.  That meant for a period of a little less than a year before my confirmation, my whole family, sans me, went up for communion.  I had to stay in the pew.  I was annoyed to say the least; my younger sister was part of "the good stuff" and not me.  OK, I'm over that now.

Back to Annika:  Today's class included a demonstration of the actual communion and a taste of the rare treat - communion wafers and wine.  Annika's class includes 25 kids who will be taking their first communion together in two weeks.  We're advised to arrive 40 minutes early for service because it will fill up quick in the sanctuary.

Speaking of sanctuary, Annika was the last to leave class today and stopped to ask Pastor Scott a question about the string and pulley way up in the beams high over the altar.  "Pastor Scott, what's that?"  The pastor answered rather quickly,  "It's a hook on a string to hang things..."  Before the pastor could finish,  Annika's eyes grew large and apprehensive as she blurted, "WHO?"

She was quickly calmed down when Pastor showed her the hook was for the Christmas advent wreath not the parishioners.

Annika's wearing the orange polo shirt

Circus Party and the Photographer

Ingrid was invited to a circus party for a classmate.  Cade's fifth birthday was an outdoor affair with tents and tables, big bounce house, a face painter, hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, cotton candy, and the like.  25 kids came, plus parents.  Luckily, Cade lives at the end of a dead-end street which created a great outdoor area to have the party.  I took a couple of pictures of Ingrid when Cade's mom asked if I could take birthday pictures - the hired photographer was a no-show.  I have a nice, new camera; however, I still consider myself a novice.  I guess anything is better than nothing.  The weather was perfect (a little windy), and the pictures turned out great.  I felt pretty good.  Here are some of the better ones.  Ingrid's best friend, Ella, came to the party. Ingrid's teacher, Miss Laura and her two kids, Payton and Landon were there, as was most of Ingrid's class.

Saying Goodbye to the Koalas

Woody took the kids to the zoo today; it's two weeks before the farewell party for the visiting koalas.  We haven't been to the zoo in a year, so this was our first time seeing them.  They are on loan from the San Diego Zoo.

Erik is older now and can recognize some of the animals.  The zebras were the most interesting to a 21 month-old boy.

It was a hot day today - topping out at 90 degrees.  Hats, sunscreen, and water helped immensely.  A little hike at the Papago Park was a great way for Erik to stretch his legs after riding in the stroller.  The zoo was packed to capacity with many schools on break this week and many out of town visitors taking in a vacation in the sun.

We'll be back for more visits - we like the early morning hours.

My Sweet Notes

Lately, I've been getting sweet notes from my middle daughter, Annika.  Some are simple "I love you" on post it notes.  In car rides, she'll pass notes to me rather than speak out loud.  It's like our little secret.  Today, I called home from work and Annika answered.  "Don't forget to look on your night stand.  I wrote you a new letter, " she said.

So cute.  And yes, I love spring.  And I did do good things at work today.

Coming Soon to a Mailbox near You

Now we made it official - Erik's a real Viking, complete with his handsome bunad.  We rolled the dice this afternoon, came up short in the nap department, but still ended up winners with these excellent portraits from the studio this evening.   What a great little man!  Thank you Erik for your beautiful smile and fabulous disposition!

Old Photo Friday

Spring is here.  Today's temps spiked up to 88 degrees - more than 12 degrees above the normal 76 degrees.  The sun is shining and the flowers are in full bloom.

But we've got nothing in greenery compared with my great grandfather's yard.  Now this is a garden.  Wow!

School Conferences

Today we were treated to student-led conferences at the girls' school.  Annika showed us her classroom.  It's fantastically decorated by her teacher.  We had piles of schoolwork to look at, reports to read and fun activities to do while visiting her class.  Annika showed us her famous American's power point project.  She read to us out of her social studies book.  Annika is most proud of her math work - multiplication and allergia are her favorite math topics.  Her A/R reading scores are fantastic.  So many books read this quarter - 3 pages!

Morgan showed us her class room next.  The desks are filled with the board game book reports.  Morgan filled out a self assessment.  Her highest self ranking mark was for "I am self-confident".  She added, " I'm now ready to do anything."  You go girl!!

After that it was off to the playground for a little fun with Erik.  Annika may need to wait before she plays tether ball with the big kids.