McBride Links

Matchy Matchy

2012-02-04T19:54:00.000-08:00

I've said in the past I would love for our girls to wear cute little matching outfits. And I would. But the truth is, they are doing good to match from their own head to toe much less match each other. Sometimes it is mis-timed laundry. Sometimes it is a 6-year-old that might possibly be color blind, but most definitely has a mind for as style of her own. But thanks to Mamaw Mac and Mimi and Scrapaw, we got a little matchy matchy for Christmas. The best part about it is that it is a sort of mix and matchy matchy - which really fits their personalities better anyway.
That little chick is on the move. No such luck with a posed pic.

Can you hear the back up beeps? It took her about 3 tries to line it up...then back in.

Getaway

2012-02-04T19:28:00.000-08:00

I keep feeling like I am behind here (what's new?) and this post is from the week after Christmas, but the truth is there's not much going on here. Well much post-worthy anyway. I got knocked out for close to two weeks with something horrible in every gland and tube and canal from my neck to the top of my head. Then Greta got it. Then Joseph. Then Olivia. It was lovely. So, it has actually been nice to look back at these pictures and fondly remember when we were all healthy and out of doors.

We went up to a Christian retreat center that offers discounts to pastors for a couple of nights. There happened to be another family there doing the same thing and we ended up eating our meals and hiking with them. This is Joe and Hannah (a little blurry).

The cheetah is Josiah...you should recognize the nose picker.
Fun little team building obstacle course in the middle of the woods.
She has Steve Irkle issues.
Linda, do you recognize those fleece pants on Greta? I am pretty sure those were hand - me - downs from you all - now on our second go around.
Pigpen

Our resident redtail

2012-01-24T21:05:00.000-08:00

The cracks -

2012-01-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

- sometimes things slip through them...like our annual Christmas tree outing. Completely forgot to post this in our Christmas updates. Same place. Same time. Same experience. It was lovely.

Another one up

2012-01-17T20:16:00.000-08:00

We have two on wheels now. The balance bikes really worked in getting them straight to a big bike without training wheels. Only down side is they are used to braking by dragging their feet.

Joseph inherited this bike from Olivia when she got a new bike for Christmas. She had received it hand-me-down from August. He was so excited. It went something like this first time he proudly shared the news with a neighbor - "I just got a big girl bike! Uh, I got a big gir...I, I, I... got my sister's bike...big bike...I got a BIG BIKE!!!"

By the way, Margaret was never really in any serious danger...just heading toward the sidewalk.

The Christmas Montage

2012-01-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

Too tired and sick to add much commentary. These are just snippets from our days of Christmas - that involved a lot of neighbors and a lot of skype.Maybe a new tradition - Christmas Eve zoo trip (that's Lilly, not one of ours)
They speak a thousand words...I'll give you 10...no 8, two each person...
So much for matchy matchy. They don't even match themselves, much less each other. Maybe one day.
Not evening matching socks...don't even mention our sock drawer.
Christmas homemades - salsa for neighbors
table runner for mom
They LOVE getting the boxes from the East...who cares about the North Pole

Calling it an evening...
Based on all these pictures you would think our Christmas was all about presents. It wasn't. We had some really special times with neighbors. A handful from the church came over Christmas eve and we worshipped Christmas day at one of the other Harbor sites. I can't quite figure out how to slow Christmas down. Probably because our Fall always tends to be pretty full, so it starts early. I'll take any suggestions if you have them.

The Art Show

2012-01-03T20:16:00.000-08:00

We've been cooping (that's co-oping, cooping) our homeschool experience with another family of dear friend. You might say they are the right brain and we are the left brain of the set up we have going on. It works so well! Their boys come here for math and science with Mike on Wednesdays. That's right, Mike! You can find me around the corner at Grant's with a cup of coffee looking for my sanity. On Thursdays our kids go to their house for art. We decided to put a little art show together to give the kids an opportunity to learn a little bit about hosting and see how they can serve others and bring joy to others in the things they create. The Osgoods hosted and we invited a good number of friends and neighbors. So, Meet The Artists...The pre-show re-cap. Kevin quizzed on their art - what techniques they used, what artist they studied, why they named it what they did...

We framed a few pieces and hung them in the windows.
Chaz giving a tour

Her true love...this is probably where she would have rather been all evening.
The arteests.

How she sleeps

2012-01-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

One in each paw. And if one is missing she knows it. I slept with a Snoopy.

While we were waiting for Christmas,

2012-01-01T20:36:00.000-08:00

we got a visitor! Yay for medical conferences and boy friends to bring folks across the country. Not to say she does not love us enough to come without multi-tasking, right? But we take whatever we get with thanksgiving!
Can I get a normal smile? Anyone?

Their harvest

2012-01-01T20:30:00.000-08:00

I think this year we'll a bit to the garden (also known as the small strip of really bad dirt between two slabs of concrete in the back yard in which we have planted tons of things but only these two pumpkins were pleased enough to grow).

The day of

2011-12-22T21:59:00.000-08:00

She is my daughter. I loved watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade - commercials and all. I think she say there for 2 hours straight - definitely not something we do on a regular basis here. I did have her folding napkins at least.Preparations.

The bird. Mike is exceptionally fond of the bird. I need to let him start cooking it. I think he snapped about 5 pictures of it...just sitting there on the platter. Don't get me wrong, I soak up the fondness and the praise for not burning it.
And give thanks that he takes on the hassle of carving it!
Carnivores
In the end

Year two with the Thoms. Might have been year three if we knew they lived a two blocks down the road when we first moved here. A lovely tradition - to bad no faces in the pictures to prove it.

Year 3 and counting

2011-12-16T21:19:00.000-08:00

It has become a Thanksgiving tradition to take a picnic to Switzer Canyon with the Coopers - only this year we were down the Main Cooper as she had back issues. The Coopers have a block that seconds in awesomeness only to ours - in regard to neighbors. Since Lainie could not come, Christine the block yarn dyer and master knitter (that is really her job, dying yarn - some days you can pass her house and see racks of beautiful yard drying in the sun) - Christine joined as as the surrogate mother.A real giant tumble weed - really.
Joseph and Ryan spent most of their time battling the giant tumble weed.
Menu - turkey sandwiches, popcorn, apples and pumpkin cookies. A pilgrim feast, sort of - only I forgot to get turkey at the store and substituted cheese and crackers.

I learned on this trip that there used to be a house in the canyon. This grove of palms lined the driveway.

Funny story - Ryan has a reputation of being...well, maybe a little rough. Let's just say it was a big deal for his mother to let him come to the canyon with a sword without her supervision. He's not mean...just a little rough. He was sent with thorough instructions not to poke or hack or stab or anything anybody. So Olivia and Joseph pulled out their Indian headdresses and Ryan says, quite matter-of-factly, "Oh good, something we can shoot!"

Looking forward to next year...

A little fresh air

2011-12-06T21:31:00.000-08:00

I have not seen it, but supposedly there has been this nasty haze settled over the city recently. Maybe it is the Santa Anas...or maybe just the curse of living this close to L.A. Either way, we never need much of an excuse to find a trail and walk it. (Problem is these days we are always eager to go, but can't always figure out how to make it happen.)
Hasn't quite gotten the hang of the walking stick...

At least he has one end down...it's the wrong end, but it's progress.
Maybe this is why we can't always figure out how to make it happen...babies...

Ridley. Wish we could have just let her take off. I kind of miss the old days when dogs didn't all have to be leashed. The only time I ever remember putting our childhood dog on a leash, I hooked her to one end of a chain (and I mean chain, not a leash) and her best friend to the other end. It didn't turn out well and I never did it again.
'Bout time she starts carrying her own weight!
Thanks, Thoms! That was nice.

The one where Mimi came to visit

2011-11-24T20:52:00.000-08:00

It started with a little party in the park! Frank and Irma's grand daugther (the one just behind Minnie) has a little girl, Lulu. And Lulu is 2! Or she was a couple of weeks ago when Mimi came.Quirkle Cubes. It's serious. Don't play if you don't mean it. Mimi means it.

We always get rain when my family comes across the entire country to visit. My brother and sister-in-law got 5 days straight of it. Mimi got enough for a gigantic, double, complete rainbow!

Our 3rd Annual Pie Stop By!! Always kicked off by Frank and Irma (see Irma...look close, she is a great grandmother if you can believe it). Mimi worked hard for the (no) money that night!

The monk. Mimi mistook a hand-me-down fleece vest from Kate V for Olivia as a sleeper sack for baby G.
And that is what it has become, permanently.

Loves us some Mimi!
And Suz! Traveling pals. We hope they do it again soon!

Year to year

2011-11-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

Pals - Lilly and Greta (and me and Robin)

The man can sew!! (and the one when the kids went trick or treating)

2011-11-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

He might deny it, but it was witnessed by me and my mother! Mike was certainly the Halloween hero this year. Olivia's request about a month ago was to be a frog for Halloween. Not sure where the idea struck...but then her request last year was to be a macaw and the year before, a zebra. So, we were not surprised. Naively we waited for the change of mind. The preference for a princess. But, like previous years, it never came and we were, once again, in Wal-Mart on Halloween afternoon. One of only about two or three times in the year that we patron Wal-Mart.A willing model.
The feet
The eyes
The lily pad. Granted, tree frogs aren't typically found on lily pads, but we started with the lily pad idea but ended up with tree frog legs...so there you are...a tree frog on a lily pad.
A bee
You can see the lily pad had a special feature of folding up on the sides to allow for tight spaces on porches. Unfortunately, at one house it did not fold up slim enough and an entire stair case of children had to be evacuated in order to allow the frog down from the porch. Children were crying, "But I haven't gotten my candy yet." Parents were responding, "Calm down! We just have to let the frog out."
Joseph was supposed to be the hand-me-down macaw, but last minute said he wanted to be a ghost (probably because he heard August was going to be a ghost). I was the genius of that costume. Two carefully placed holes and a TN hat on backwards to hold the sheet in place. Mike says he looks like it ought to be in a Charlie Brown cartoon.
Sweet Irma. Everybody else who came to her house got one piece of candy. Our kids (even Greta) and August got a whole zip lock full of the good stuff...with their names on it so Olivia didn't get one with nuts. LOVE our neighbors.
Receiving the masses. Irma counted over 500!
And thus closes another home-made Halloween. It will be a sad day when our kids refuse to wear our creations...well, I guess by then they will be too old to trick-or-treat anyway.

A-teeen-CHUN!

2011-11-13T18:44:00.000-08:00

New and old

2011-11-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

We're going on 5 years with the birthday crown. Every kid was supposed to have their own, but as you can see from past pictures every kid gets this one. The past two birthdays have both come on Sundays and they have really been quite relaxing and enjoyable. I like Sunday birthdays.One of the party goers.
One of the few movies Olivia has actually seen - Tangled. I am actually secretly in love with this move. One of the few Disney has not managed to screw up. Lovely telling of the story. no weird New Age or environmental undertones. Fun music. Actually funny. Sweet ending. Highly recommend it for your next movie night.
Carrying on the tradition of Raggedy's. And while I am recommending - the Raggedy books (the original ones by Gruelle) are fantastic. Most books/movies feel the need to portray children's naturally tendencies toward sin - selfishness, whinny-ness, argumentativeness, etc. Gruelle chose to portray in the Raggedy's the good. Not the good that we are capable in our own strength, but the good that God works in us as we submit to his molding - my conclusion, not Gruelle's. I don't know what his motivation was. But it is nice to read books with my kids that reinforce joy for others even if you lose, sorrow for bad decisions, patience with others short comings, etc.

Flowers from Joseph
The new traditional birthday sweet roll.

Celebrating Six

2011-11-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

It started here - with a box of leaves. For three autumns running, friends and family have been faithful to send us (sometimes in generous response to a shameless request) leaves!It continued in the backyard with some fall festival-ish games...bean bag toss, whiffle ball toss, balance beam...

water gun/ping pong ball shoot out...
...truck rides with preschoolers...
and general crawling about.

Ended with one happy chick (and some great chocolate cupcakes thanks to Sarah Clark!!).

Six is going to be fun!

Apples and pumpkins

2011-11-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

...and goats because they can't just have a pumpkin field or apple orchard...there have to be "attractions."

Real entertainment

2011-11-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

They went inside begging to play a video game (old school mario), in ten minutes they were outside doing this. It's not adventuring through the woods, but it's the best a city kid can do. And I like it. (Of course until someone breaks their leg.)

Aptitude

2011-10-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

This is advanced, right? Of course it is.

Next video: walking. It's around the corner.

Moon shine

2011-10-18T21:16:00.000-07:00

Needless to say this has been the favorite science project to date. And for the kids too I think. Didn't realize the Halloween Joe Joe's were orange on the inside. Should have, but didn't. Just looked like harvest moon I guess.

The Blues

2011-10-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have been to an air show. I've seen the Blue Angels fly a few times, but I've probably not seen a full blown air show since I was a kid. Fantastic!

I know it is proper science, but I still don't see how some of these things can stay in the air. And do the maneuvers they do?!
They played out a whole war time scenerio with fake gun fire and everything. I sound like a dope describing it I am sure - especially to someone in the military.
Note to self: take umbrella to next air show in desert.

I can't believe that beast can get off the ground, much less stay in the air. I think you can fit a tank and a bunch of jeeps and a helicopter on that thing. Huge!

The Harrier. So cool. It is pretty much a heliplane...or an aircopter I guess. Can take off and land like a helicopter or plane.
Grand stands.
The stars.

Thank you! So impressed by these men. (Has there ever been a female Blue Angel?) What is crazy is that the maneuvers they perform are standard. Everyone learns them. They aren't stunts.

Hoopin'

2011-10-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

This is Andrew, the yard man. (Our landlords employ him. We are happy to do our own yard, but they dropped about 2 grand landscaping the front yard before we moved in and, well, we didn't want to kill it.) Anyway, Andrew gets TONS of "help" when he comes. He lets the kids use his clippers and everything. Joseph gets a little carried away...a few weeks ago I found him dismantling a sprinkler. Claimed it wasn't working right and he needed to fix it. Andrew is a great sport. Olivia's bug collection always grows when he comes.But last week you should have heard all the whoopin' and hollerin' coming from the front yard. It started out as one of those conversations monopolized by, "Hey, watch this. Look at me. Can you do this?" And then she really wondered if he could do. He said it had been a while and he wasn't sure. Then she became his biggest cheerleader. "Oh, I bet you can! Try! See!" Finally he did. And he could. And she jumped up and down cheering, "You did it! You're doing it!! Way to go!!" It was great, as is Andrew.

Wrapping it up

2011-09-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

Staying up late to watch the last game of the (not so great, but still love baseball) season.

Walk like an

2011-09-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

Whazzup Egypt?

2011-09-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

We've been studying ancient Egypt. So of course we had to wear tattoos of Queen Neffertiti and the Sphynx and whatnot. San Diego is the most tattooed city I have ever lived in, so no one bats an eye when our kids show up to the mummy exhibit at the Museum of Man with about 6 each.Joe couldn't quite get the arm positioning right....and Olivia looks like she is beat boxing.

Reflecting on reflections

2011-09-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

Last year, on our 6 year anniversary, I wrote some reflections in our journal (that's right, another journal - a marriage one). A couple of weeks ago, on our 7 year anniversary, I reread those reflections - encouraged. The Lord is still at work.

- I am learning the radical necessity of actual, expressed repentance and forgiveness.

- I have loved watching him mature in ministry and am excited for the decades ahead of continuing to watch and be a part of that growth.

- I have learned to listen when he prays - that is where I learn what his struggles and joys are.

- I love his initiative and proactivity as a father. (As I was writing this he was at home with ALL THREE and Greta was about a month old.)

- I love the fact that the importance of family was modeled to him by his parents. We rarely (if ever) feel neglected - even in his busiest times.

- I do love (and tolerate) Mike's cheese ball sense of humor - mostly because he thinks he is so funny.

- I am learning that when he is tuned out (i.e. doesn't answer, asks the same question multiple time) he is usually mentally consumed with a certain responsibility and I am better off praying for him than nagging him and getting frustrated.

- I have learned to love that Mike is willing to take us into the unknown places God is calling and that he expects and needs me to participate in the journey. On the one hand it is quite empowering to be appreciated and have my gifts recognized and needed. On the other hand it is overwhelming to realize that we can't do it without each other. In other words, I can't just depend on him to do it or make things happen. The process is dependent on me as well.

-I love how his energy and teaching of the children motivates me.

- I have learned about gracious submission to the structures and authorities God puts in place over us.

- I have learned the importance of COMMUNICATION - clear and often. Especially of my own emotions, frustrations, expectations. Not communicated, all of these lead almost inevitably to argument.

- I have loved the bonus of marriage that is his support and encouragement of my gifts and interests and hobbies. I am never ridiculed for failed or silly attempts and cheered on when I don't think I am quite up for the task.

And finally, a thought or two from Wendell:

What I am learning to give you is my death to set you free of me, and me from myself into the dark and the new light.

Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much.

We did not make it. Though we drink it till we burst.

We cannot have it all, or want it all. In its abundance it survives our thirst.

In the evening we come down to the shore to drink our fill, and sleep, while it flows through the regions of the dark.

It does not hold us, except we keep returning to its rich waters thirsty.

We enter, willing to die, into the commonwealth of its joy.

Wendell Berry

I love it when...

2011-09-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

...this kid shows up for breakfast.Note both leotards...when you just can't decide which one to wear.

The Help

2011-09-22T20:24:00.000-07:00

She unloads the whole silverware basket. Even with a napkin on her head. (Thank you Joseph.)

Selective memory

2011-09-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

I forgot about this stage.

Idllywild

2011-09-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

While Mike's family was here, we had a chance to run into the mountains for a couple nights. All we did was read and walk and eat and sleep. That's it, really. So nice. This was a view of the peaks above our little cabin.
Poor Greta was fighting a virus...which actually worked in our favor because she didn't mind sleeping and walking (being pushed or carried) around the whole time.
Stellar's Jay. First time I saw one of these, I thought for sure it was a woodpecker...a blue one! I was so excited. Duh.
Actual woodpecker. Acorn woodpecker...and yes, those are all their holes. They hide acorns (obviously) in them for food later.
Not sure what this is.
Even though you can't hear it, still sounds peaceful doesn't it?

Midwest comes West

2011-09-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

This picture is getting crowded! Used to, Mike and I were in it...now it takes both of us to get everyone looking in the same direction. This one is pretty good I think. Thanks for coming out!

Neighbor love

2011-09-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

Why we love our neighborhood: Because people who (may be tempted to think they) have better things to do, get out of their cars and sit on our sidewalk with our kids at the end of their day before going inside.

Glimpse of the future?

2011-09-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

I have never lived in a city were so many people have "yard people." Nobody does their own yard here. We would gladly take care of ours - we like gardening - except that our landlord dropped a couple grand landscaping the front yard before we moved in and we didn't want to risk killing it...not being familiar with west coast plants you understand. So we just take care of the back. You've seen our giant pumpkin.

Last week Frank and Irma's "yard people" were doing their thing and I hear our trash can being drug down the driveway. I look out and Olivia (clad in an old bridesmaid dress, thank you Cora!!) and Joseph are sweeping up the sidewalk ahead of the man with the blower....into a pile...and into a dust pan...and into the trash! So thorough. If we stick around California, who knows, maybe they'll start their own business.

The arsenal

2011-09-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

Guns. Lego guns. Everyone is making them; everyone is shooting them - though they have been forbidden from aiming them at each other. He's never even seen a shoot 'em up show. I don't even think he knows much about hunting. This trait is falling heavily on the nature side of nature/nurture.

Budding

2011-09-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

There are so many things beginning to surprise me in parenthood. I felt so prepared for the baby stage - having babysat itty bitties since I was about 13 I guess. I owe so many families huge thank you's for the time I got to spend with them and their babies. I was not nervous (so much) or frightened by those little, floppy, fussy babies when they were born into our little family. Everything, for the most part, felt very much they way it was supposed to be.

But now I am heading into uncharted territory. Willful hearts. Feisty attitudes. Oh, the emotions (and honestly, we are talking more about Joseph here with the emotions). You recognize your own sin struggles, previously so neatly tucked away in denial or distraction, as you tenderly try to help your kids navigate the same sins. It's constant. No auto-pilot. They aren't perfect and neither are we and that makes the process a tad messy...and long. But so worth the persistence.

Budding friendships have been another fun, new arena for us. I mean the kind of friend that you run back and forth across the street with. The kind that walks into your house with out knocking. The kind that gives you his old bike, no strings attached because you just learned to ride (on said bike) and now he has a riding buddy. The kind who doesn't dismiss the kid brother and who can always get a smile out of the baby sister. Not all childhood friendships come this easily. The kind where you trust the parents to keep your kid to the same standards you would when they are at their house. The kind that feeds them good stuff for snacks. The kind that doesn't flip out when they spill their drink, twice. We're thankful.
Mean game of UNO.

Since you couldn't watch in person...

2011-09-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

Gracias!

Another One

2011-08-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

Baby G, Greta, Margaret, Mar Mar, Greta Girl. I think we drive our friends and family crazy. The kids seem to get used to it. People rarely go by their birth given names around here. Even the dog...my Dad calls her Ripley. Not her name. But then again, he is half deaf from a life of running power tools and might think that actually is her name.

This little girl - Margaret Irene - just turned one.
Her birthday came on a Sunday. A busy day for us with a new church plant - we have two babies.

But there was plenty of time for celebrating. I am finding that the more kids we have, the more fun birthdays are...because there are more people to get excited for you, with you. The party just gets bigger with every kid you add!
The love is mutual among these three. My favorite time of the day is putting them all to bed in the same room. Greta is usually swinging from the sides of her crib or throwing things over board. Lots of laughing is heard at bedtime.
So how many pictures does one need of a kid eating a cinnamon roll? Scroll on and find out. The cinnamon roll was "the cake." It finally occurred to me on the third kid, why in the heck do we give them cake?! (Unless of course her Mimi buys it and it is in the shape of a one and so cute. Then a cake? Of course, a cake!!) But this kid, she's never touched an ounce of sugar, except what is in fruit. Now I'm going to send her into diabetic shock by letting her shove her face into a Ralph's bakery cake?! So I thought a cinnamon roll might be a little less toxic. Actually, we all just like cinnamon rolls...in a can from Trader Joe's. I am such a health food hypocrite. (Why is that spelled with an "e" on the end?) And it was cheaper than making a cake. My time is money! So back to the pictures. It started with a lick.

Then a full single hand touch.
Two hands
Horizontal approach
Diagonal approach
Unroll it. "You want some?"
Start cramming
I think may a third of it was ingested. Perfect. That means I got one and 2/3!
The cards. She was very serious about her cards, so thank you to all who sent them. Each was opened, turned and twisted, and dropped over the side of the high chair.
There are fewer things cuter than a baby peekin'.
So I took 3 pictures of it.

Olivia has become a yard sale connoisseur. Only problem is our neighbors want to give her stuff for free. I am trying to limit the c.r.a.p. that comes in the house, so I help her figure out how much of HER money she wants to take over and when it is gone it is gone. But she comes back with the money and a lunch box full of crap. (Boy, I hope I haven't given our blog address to any of our neighbors.) This time Margaret was the joyful recipient. I suppose it was kind of Olivia to collect for others.
"Seriously, you let her get this stuff...and give it to me?"
The real birthday cake. First birthday celebrations are about the parents anyway, right? Actually, I guess the first 3 or 4 birthdays are probably more about the parents than the kid. So I made this to share with our church family in the afternoon.

She watched us eat it from here. I think she got plenty of bites of strawberries and cream from passers by. August gave her the cute little pull toy. Have I told you about August yet? He lives in the house that the Dasher's sublet (Lou and Bert) for the past year. They have been in Germany. I like the call the last month since his return AugustFest. He now comes in our house without knocking. He LOVES Greta. And I think she really likes him - especially when he speaks to her in German.
After church, front yard, 1st birthday pictures.

This picture, though kind of non-descript, speaks a thousand words. That's Lilly going mach-8 down the side walk. You've seen her on here before. She is the great niece of our neighbor Robin. Robin is raising her. Lilly is 3 months older than Greta and they are sweet friends. Robin and Lilly have become very dear to us.

What a great day that was - start to finish. Celebrating a little girl and the God who made her. Margaret Irene. She won't remember it, but we sure will.

F is for

2011-08-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

Flowers. One of the ladies in our church has an incredible patio garden - fruit trees and everything - on a patio! She brought me this huge box of roses a few weeks ago. I think I accidentally posted one of the blurry pictures. Sorry, to tired to correct it.F.O.X. We took Joseph through the alphabet this year. Made a little file folder for a different letter each week. Some weeks were more creative than others - depending on how strung out I was at the time. F was a good week. Even more impressive than learning his letters, he and Olivia both know the entire alphabet in sign language now. That was fun.
Five. Apparently the size larger underwear that Joseph needs. We had "clutching issues" for a few days until I realized his underwear was too small.

Fierce

Fumpkin. Not really, I just had this random picture to share and couldn't think of an F word to describe it. We planted about 6 seed. One sprouted. It had about 30 blooms. One became a pumpkin...and took over our sidewalk. It's still growing. Maybe will carve it for Halloween.

Mon petit chou

2011-08-27T15:51:00.000-07:00

Being there

2011-08-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

I really like San Francisco. I never spell it right the first time. But as a city, I enjoyed it and would like to go back...maybe without children. We love our children, don't get me wrong. But sometimes it is just nice to travel a little lighter.Minna's parents were in town as well and it was fun to tour around with them.

One rough lookin' city bird. Go ahead, blow him up - r.u.f.f.
The famous Painted Ladies.

We rode the ferry over to Sausalito.
Having a little mother daughter moment...and probably only my mother will be able to look at this picture and know that it was strenuous, not sentimental moment.

Minna's little baby bump.

Alcatraz. I am currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo and this is what I picture for the Chateau d'If.
So, do you even remember that this was the impetuous for the whole trip?
And it was totally worth it!
She was wonderful!!
Olivia made a dozen or so drawings the week before we left with the intention of giving them to the actors in the play. She was so proud to do so and they were very gracious.
It was a wonderful trip all the way around.

Getting there II

2011-08-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

Time flies, but this blog does not. I've been trying to make this post for a week...or more. Nevertheless, we last left you stopping the night in Monterrey. We spent a lovely, foggy morning on the fisherman's warf - watching sea lions, otters, swimmers, sailors, sea gulls and fishermen.

We probably spent 30 minutes ooing and awing at the sea lions out in the water, then looked down and there he lay!
Otters!
The sun begins to break through.
Found these guys by accident. Happened to look off to the left while driving down the highway. They are a fussy bunch. Kind of reminded us of Joseph a bit.

See what I mean?
On into the mountains to the Redwood forests.

Banana slug, obviously.

Half the fun...

2011-08-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

...is getting there, right? That is usually the case for us. I am thankful to Mike's parents for road trippin' their kids all over the country because it has really made him a great trip planner. We headed up the coast last month for San Francisco. 12 hour trip time the first day. And while I am expressing gratitude, a great big thank you to 3 of the best kids! They are troopers! If you don't already know this, a lap desk filled with enough stuff from the $1 section at Target will buy you a lot of scenic mileage.
We stopped in Cambria for supper and a leg stretch.
No need to tell you Olivia's favorite shop.

We would drive for a while and then get out and take in the scenery...
...or skip rocks.

And since it is blurry and you don't know any better...look at that whale jumping in the background!!!

Good night Big Sur. On to Monterrey for night night.

A hair sassy

2011-07-30T21:11:00.000-07:00

Greta has a wonderful temperament. Like the other two, she is pretty laid back. Rolls with most of our routine, or lack there off. She prefers to be in bed between 7:00 and 7:15, but it is summer time and she accommodates an evening concert in the park or late walk one or two times a week with out much fuss. She has an opinion about a few things. She has decided she no longer likes her changing table (unless you allow her to stand and bang on the window while you change her). When she is hungry, SHE'S HUNGRY!!! And she does not appreciate the parental, aggressive finger sweep of the mouth (enforced regularly because she taste tests everything). So far I have found 3 necklace beds in her diaper - hot pink, red and green. But she is definitely a bit more of an entertainer than the other two. Olivia just always stared at people. I remember the first time we took her to story time at the library and she actually looked offended that all those crazy people were singing and acting so silly. But she was really just taking it all in. Still does that. Joseph, he just always seemed happy to be along. Greta is engaging. She puts on shy, then she starts to work the eyebrows and cut her eyes.
She's fun.

Stinky farewells

2011-07-28T21:12:00.000-07:00

I realized recently that I have always been the leaver. Since high school I have moved every 2-3 years. Graduated, job, new job, husband to school, graduated, job. I never loved leaving friends behind, but when you are the one leaving you are usually going to something relatively exciting, so it numbs the pain of the departure a bit.

Since living in San Diego we have had two dear families leave. You know Ms. Minna and Roger (his name is actually Justin, but their last name is Rogers and Joseph used to call him Roger...so I still do). They moved to San Francisco about a year ago (more soon on our recent visit with them). That was sad, but I think we were still so new here and it didn't feel like home yet...and they weren't actually moving out of California...it just did not feel so...permanent.

Well, the Dashers sublet the house across the street for the past year. You've seen Lou in the posts before. We've loved the Dashers. Leigh Ann and I were both pregnant when we met and had Bert and Greta just 3 months apart. We swapped kids and recipes. We shared meals and parenting woes. It was just so easy. Similar sense of humor. Similar love of food (have I mentioned that in three different ways already?). Similar longings for our kids. And different enough in world view and life experience to be interesting and challenging. About three months before they were scheduled to move, I warned Mike that I might need a time of mourning.

I had a lump in my throat for 3 days and the day they moved I cried. The kids and I moped back into the house and unintentionally found ourselves at the kitchen table with every craft item we owned spread about. Subconscious art therapy I suppose.

Leigh Ann texted a picture just the other day of Lou's hands - with BandAids on his thumbs - still wanting to be like Joseph. So thankful they haven't forgotten us, even though they were the ones to move on. It's hard being the ones left.

3 birds, 1 bath

2011-07-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

She's finally big enough! (Think Joseph must have had to sneeze.)

She splashes crazy like that until she chokes on the water.
Good times.

Perks

2011-07-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits of calling Southern California home - this is where we stopped for supper on our way home from the Starr Ranch. Come visit us. Our three children will gladly share their room with you.

Audubon Starr Ranch - A Lengthy Recollection

2011-07-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

Back in May we took our first field trip with the charter homeschool group we are a part of. Fantastic. (I said after reading Jane Eyre that I was going to strike the cheap and fluffy words from my vocabulary and strive for more mature and inspiring words. I'm off to a slow start...fantastic.) Anyway, we will definitely re-visit Starr Ranch as soon as we can. The 4,000 + acres were owned by the Starr family until 20 or so years ago when the last family member died and left the property to the Audubon Society. It is now and wildlife and nature reserve. The first part of our day was a mountain meadow hike. Our guide (the guy in the front of the line carrying the stick to beat off mountain lions, should we encounter them), was an astute (thank you Jane Eyre) birder. Sometimes we would just stop and listen and he would name the birds we were hearing. He also did a wonderful (sorry Jane) job of identifying the flora.
Here is some of the fauna.
That gold stuff (sorry Jane) is called witches hair. It is actually a parasite and does simply look like long strands of golden hair up close.
I wish I had made the post right after our return. This is some sort of thistle, but I do not remember what kind.
I (meaning Mike) do remember the prickly pear cactus. There are people who actually boil and at this stuff, after the needles are removed of course.

Stink bug
You can't quite tell from this picture, the haze kept it from being very crisp, but you are looking at the side of a mountain where the vegetation was different as the land rolled and certain sides faced more of the sun.
Forgot what this was called, but the little yellow flowers functioned kind of like a venus fly trap.
The web of a trap spider. Ms. Neely (our homeschool teacher/advisor) organized the field trip. The kids love her and stuck with her through most of the day. She taught them about the trap spider. They build their webs over holes or cracks and then wait in the dark for something to enter their trap. If you tickle their web with a blade of grass, they will think their dinner has come and pop out. We were able to see it happen a couple of times.
The acorn woodpecker. There were tons (sorry Jane) of them. Fit to their name, they eat acorns. They stuff them in the holes they drill in trees, etc. And they are loud. You only think of one sound when you think of a woodpecker, but they have calls too.
We saw these...
...in here.
Starr ranch has four main animals they track - the mountain lion, the gray fox, the coyote, bobcat. There are many others - deer (below), raccoon, opossum - but those are the ones they really watch out for.

Ms. Neely always had someone's hand.

One of the coolest (aagghh, Jane!!!) things the kids got to do was learn how to read a scent trap. They were taught how to tell the difference between a cat's paw and a dog's paw (do you know?) and how to tell the difference between dog poop (scat) and cat poop (again, do you know?). Just 24 hours before we arrived they set up a fresh scent station (with nasty smelling stuff that the animals love rubbed on a rock placed in the middle of a bunch of chalk dust). We checked four stations and saw evidence of a coyote, bobcat, and gray fox. Bummer, no mountain lion. I think this was the coyote...unless it was the bobcat. I'll have to ask Olivia.

And Greta just served as a model for Starr Ranch.

Finches, male and female
Black Phoebe
Adios Starr Ranch. We WILL see you again.

Aboard the Midway

2011-07-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

Other than my totally offensive comment, "Joseph! Look at the soldier...uh, I mean sailor," our tour of the Midway was fantastic. We spent at least four hours on it and I don't think the kids complained once. I highly recommend it if you visit San Diego and like enormous air craft carriers and war history. Add in a gorgeous day and some sweet out of towners = a wonderful afternoon.

Can you hear the Top Gun sound track?

a baby...on the front porch...in a playpen

2011-07-10T22:36:00.000-07:00

You can move a girl to Southern California, but she'll always be a little East Tennessee.Just a little more filler.

Any guesses?

2011-07-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

A dragon. Of course.

A little filler till I get caught back up here.

Presenting Caleb Veerman...

2011-07-05T22:04:00.000-07:00

....performing as his own stunt double.

Olivia belly laughs at this. Especially when he just goes, "Whoa."

My how they've grown - Atlanta '11

2011-06-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

Olivia was not pleased to be parting ways with Kate.

I am just realizing that all the pictures I took are on your camera, Veerman. Update your blog, sister.

House Mountain

2011-06-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

I have really learned to appreciate desert hiking. It is beautiful. But the mountains of East Tennessee will always be my home. If I remember right this was about a 3 mile hike and the kids did the whole thing. We hiked out to the sound of an eire appalachain tune played by an invisible whistle player.

Nothing like it.

Pals

2011-06-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

A pair of Irene's

2011-06-15T21:51:00.001-07:00

A few highlights

2011-06-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we have been back a month! My favorite spot from the whole trip is that porch right there behind those four generations. My parents have the best front porch. We swang on it (swang is apparently not a word, or I have spelled it incorrectly), ate on it, had nerf gun shooting competitions from it, slept on it, crawled around on it, read on it. I miss it.This pic is blurry, but I thought Olivia's face was pretty funny. Below is the Fountain City duck pond...which I think has been renamed something very cosmopolitan, but I don't remember...nor do I care. It will always be the FC duck pond to me. My Momma fed ducks there as a kid and so did I. I wouldn't call what Joseph was doing feeding per se. Target practice was more like it.
See, Baby G loves the porch too!

Went strawberry pickin' at the Fruit and Burry Patch. (That's right, I said burry.)

Who shrunk the tub?
Family. Too complicated to explain how, but I am sure thankful we are.
Picnicin'
Crazy Uncle Larry
Great Mamaw and some of her babies...there are almost 20 of them I think.
East Tennessee in Spring. It sure was nice. Thank you all.

Where the magic happens

2011-06-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

I think I counted something like 15 pieces of furniture in my parent's house that my dad has built. That doesn't count all the things he has built for the rest of us in the family and the set of adirondack chairs they just sold in a garage sale. (I think you should start taking stuff to flea markets...and saving up for O, G, and Joe's college fund! :)I think this workshop, probably over 40 years in the making, would cause a lot of folks to drool. I'd say it has probably been good for my parent's marriage as well...right?

Celebrating the boy

2011-06-08T20:58:00.000-07:00

He is the only boy grandchild on my side of the family...and oddly the enough he may be more emotional than all the girls combined. But his pitching is outstanding. Hope that does not mean he will grow up to be a temperamental professional athlete. Joseph is really a funny kid. The other day, when I was trying to convince him to take his nap (with me on the couch) without sucking his thumb, he squirmed around a bit, trying to get comfortable and his thumb kept, as if drawn by magnetic force, slipping toward his lips. He sighed in exasperation and asked me, "What do you do with your hands when you aren't sucking them?" His favorite color changes every day. He would try to live on a diet of fruit alone if I let him. He has THE BEST belly life I have ever heard. He prefers not to wear underwear if given a choice. And he has been known to sleep with a baseball bat, glove, and/or Padres hat (on his head). Almost as fun as watching Joseph enjoy shooting competitions off my parents' from porch, was licking the bullets and sticking them to Greta's forehead and seeing her try to get them off.
This kid is so easily pleased.
We ate the ones on the lower deck.
I had to post it, Mom. It was just too funny. (I can't figure out how to spell the Miss Piggy snort.)
It was fun to celebrate Joe Joe with my folks.

Getting there

2011-06-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

So, she comes into our room to say that this is what she will be taking on our trip...on the plane with her. Cute little rosy-cheeked bag lady. That girl has more bags than...like I've said before, I'm no good with metaphors. She was quite proud of her packing. She really messes with my OCD when it comes to packing.
Thankfully, everyone was content with A back pack. I didn't have room for much in mine once Greta got in.

It is a shame traveling is so expensive. They are champs!

A few glimpses of Easter Sunday

2011-06-02T15:47:00.000-07:00

This picture feels a little dishonest. We are rarely ever this coordinated (if three of us in shades of blue counts as coordinated.). We are never all looking at the camera at the same time. We are never all this clean at the same time. My hair is not straight naturally. And Mike never sits like that. But underneath we are all still the same - and most of you know what that looks like...and love us anyway. Thank you.I have a feeling I will look back at these early church plant days with fondness. While it feels a little (or a lot) overwhelming at times, there is something very simple and family-like about it. Afternoons spent in the front yard after worship, just rolling around in the grass and hanging out.
Lana, that chick takes the cutest pictures.
Guess who just got kissed by Dragon. He looks guilty doesn't he?
There were more digital cameras than kids! Frank and Irma are so sweet to include us in so many of their family celebrations. There are four generations at their home most weekends.
Lunette
Enjoying her version of Sabbath rest on the Easter Bunny. Full day.

The Hunt

2011-05-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

Now begins the catch up. Between travel and...well, honestly I can't remember what else...I have not updated much here lately. Below you see the 1st Annual Harbor Golden Hill Easter Egg "Hunt." Why "hunt" ? Because it was in an open field...not much actual hunting required. It was a beautiful morning. We were excited about the good number of folks who just wandered by and stayed. Every time I turned around Joseph had convinced someone else to throw the baseball with him. We have some very gracious friends.

The Mood Makers
The other Mimi.
Remember Lana?

Lana's little brother Izzy (Isaiah)

See you next year!

Eat what?!

2011-04-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

"Hey, I'm not Olivia."
"But who cares! I'm just happy to be here!"
"Uh, what's this?"
"What the heck was that?!"
"You call that food?!"
"Get it out!"
"Seriously. You're going to try that again?"

8 1/2 months - and is still solidly a milk baby.

Signs of the season

2011-04-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

Easter is my new New Years. I find my heart and mind much more in tune with new beginnings and fresh starts and new routines around Easter. I am still cold and slothful and tired in the middle of winter it seems. But in the spring, life emerging all around, I am ready. The message of Easter in the front yard plum tree - resurrection. The strong scent of the orange blossoms filling the house through the open windows - so thankful God appeals to the senses with his message of life.

We are having an Easter egg hunt in the park this Saturday for our neighborhood. We thought stuffing 950+ eggs would take some time...not with these work horses! I think it took them about an hour!
What happens when you can't resist...and don't care.
Palm Sunday morning. We've been on a bird theme this year for Kindergarten. A week or so ago we made some little nests and I decided to use them for our passion week eggs. Each morning the kids find an egg in their nest with a trinket representing an event from the passion week - and we read the corresponding Bible passage. Note the Sunday school craft (crown) from several weeks ago getting additional mileage. And if you want to feel sorry for our kids...they LOVE cereal, but would eat a whole box in one sitting and be hungry again in an hour. But we've recently instituted a little Sabbath ritual of Sunday cereal - a way to celebrate, associate the Sabbath with good things...that are only signs of better things. We've had friends who have done this...only they let their kids have the good sugary junk. Look at what our kids get excited about. He, he. I am dead meat when they learn what is really out there!
Baby-hawk. (Hanging out after Palm Sunday church at our house.)
I remember when Joseph was Greta's age and didn't have a neck - now look at him all...all...longneckish.
"Here, take a picture of my driver" he says.
More as we continue to enjoy the season...

Oh the decisions to be made

2011-04-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

This one? Or......this one...
This one!

With and Without

2011-04-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

ToofersNo toofers

"Camping"

2011-04-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

I put it in quotations because that weekend really does not deserve to be dignified with that title. It was our first desert trip and it was beautiful! Here are the kids doing a little bouldering after a very long Friday night. The wind was extraordinarily strong ALL night. Mike hurled ALL night. And Greta cut a tooth and cried ALL night. Consequently, I did not sleep ALL night. It was lovely. I can't believe the people we went with are still speaking to us.
The most beautiful and mocking part of the night. An enormous full moon! Rose over one mountain, crossed over our heads all night and set on the other side. Only problem was I kept thinking "oh, daylight is coming..." nope, it's only 2:50 A.M.
Look at baby G all bundled! She was warm. She wun't happy, but she was warm.

Harvest time

2011-03-31T21:58:00.000-07:00

The Great Backyard Bird Count

2011-03-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago we participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count. I can't remember who sponsored it...I can't remember what I had for breakfast...Google it if you want to know. But it was a lot of fun. The gist is that you take 5 minutes or 15 or 50 to sit and observe birds over the course of 3 or 4 days. You record species, habitat, weather, location, etc. We took our "binocliars" every where for those few days and for the first time really began to learn the names and sounds of the birds in our new state. Birding in the front yard with Lou.
Point Loma, Cabrillo National Park/tide pools.
Taking pictures. (That phone has been broken for about 5 years.)
We saw about 70 brown pelicans fly over Point Loma. I never did get a good picture of one, but of all the pictures I looked up of pelicans, I never found one that had the red on the tip of the head, "cheek," and tip of the bill like these did. They were really beautiful.
Comorant
Northern Mockingbird - we have these through our backyard a lot. They are quite chatty in the mornings.
I forget what this was.
She's almost showing another kind of bird. Can't remember why she never made it out of her pjs???
We also took a picnic to the hang gliding port at Torrey Pines. Oddly enough we never saw a single water bird.
Just a little sparrow...
and a coupla bird nerds...they come by it honestly.
The Great Horned Owl award. Oh, you have to see this incredible picture of a barn owl that a friend in the neighborhood took. She looked out her window one cold, dark, rainy afternoon and there was the most beautiful barn owl staring at her through the window! It had a letter in it's mouth that said "Harry Potter." No, just kidding - about the letter. I'll try to get the picture from Mike.
So, last week we made nesting bags. We filled one bag with natural materials - sticks, twigs, hair, etc. and another with yarn, fabric scraps, string, twine, etc. and we hung them in the tree in our front yard. The idea is to see what kinds of materials the birds like to use to build their nests. We'll see what happens.
We're all looking forward to "The Count" next year. There are some incredible pictures that other folks took from all over the country. We did not get pictures of my two favorite birds - a pair of Western Scrub Jays that live near our backyard and a red tailed hawk that resides somewhere on our block.

Music lessons

2011-03-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

We start simply in the McBride house. The lap harp. Which, I am proud to say actually belongs to my husband...thanks to my mother. The harmonica and nose harp are also thanks to my mother. While we would be truly proud to have a fiddle playin' girl, we've decided to start with what is affordable...and on hand. She plays with an old Build-a-bear gift card. (We temporarily lost the pick.)He plays with pirate booty. Of course he does.

This week we are learning "When the Saints Go Marching in!"

'sup?

2011-03-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

Paparazzi

2011-03-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

Here's the whine

2011-03-09T17:51:00.000-08:00

Cheese anyone?

Zoom and Mr. Shony

2011-02-28T15:09:00.000-08:00

No reason - just love the sweet close ups. It is amazing how they can look so much alike and completely different at the same time. That sounded dumb, but you know what I mean.
This is John Berret. I could never call him anything but Mr. Berret, though he asked me to call him John. Some call him JJ for Judge John - he used to be a judge. He also used to play in the...Navy? band. His grandkids call him Shony which really came from his younger brother who could not pronounce his name as a kid. This same younger brother died in a plane crash some years ago and Shony still tears up telling the story. He is a true non southern, southern gentleman. He always tips his hat or stands when I walk up. Even from across the street, if he sees us, he takes off his hat, and calls us each by name - even Greta. Which is why I still can't not (sorry for the double negative) refer to him has Mr. So we've settled on Mr. Shony - familiar enough. I see him every Wednesday morning at Grants and he walks by our house every day. That's his dog, Buddy. Another reason we love Golden Hill - as if we needed another.

You got egg on your face...

2011-02-23T14:46:00.000-08:00

Tankin' up

2011-02-18T15:53:00.000-08:00

I think, after Christmas and Easter, Valentines is my favorite. Not for the typical reasons, Mike and I don't even go out. I'm not even sure we wished each other a 'happy valentines.' But I love making it a family holiday. My mom always did. She made a special supper and set the table really nice and gave me chocolate covered raspberry chocolates. This year we celebrated over breakfast and in case you didn't know it...chocolate/candy is Olivia primary love language. (That and mexican take-out.) Her tank was f.u.l.l. Monday morning. She just kept rearranging her candy and identifying everything and saying "I love you." Finally, at one point she brimmed over and said, with tears in her eyes, "The best part about valentines is you and Daddy." I am sure there is some exceptionally tender point to make here about God's love or family traditions or cavities or something, but I am running on little sleep as Greta has been sick, so I am just trying to enjoy the moment and maybe the lessons will sink in somewhere.

a pair of puckers

Science project

2011-02-13T16:37:00.000-08:00

Lip lips - it's what we call chapstick in our family. I think thanks to Mouse...is that right? Last year, I was convinced I had lip cancer. My lips kept pealing and they hurt. Come to find out, after misplacing my chapstick for a time...that I was actually allergic, or something, to my chapstick. So, we made our own...and studied solid, liquid, solid process as well.Olivia was pretty proud of herself. Joseph...we had to eventually confiscate his before he ate the whole tube.

Shea butter

Coconut oil

Beeswax

Double broiler, tubes, dropper

and veeola!

Sisters

2011-02-09T13:47:00.000-08:00

Two cute little nose wrinklers.

Get down, get down!

2011-02-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

The dog and the frog

2011-02-04T20:25:00.000-08:00

She's got him by the tail.

Attack of the killer agave plant!

2011-02-02T16:13:00.000-08:00

Elton

2011-02-01T22:18:00.000-08:00

Nice macaroni face.

Lou Love

2011-01-31T22:28:00.000-08:00

This is Lou. You've seen him before - he was the very heavy airplane for Halloween. We love Lou...but just as important, Lou loves us, especially Olivia. Lou always has a little rat's nest in the back of his hair like Joseph. Lou always says, "Look at my shirt" when he enters our house. Lou likes to wear two different color shoes, though not in these pics. Lou zips his sweater up and then down just a smidge and says, "Be my neighbor?" whenever he puts his sweater on. Lou loves Mr. Rogers.

And we love Lou.

Wintering

2011-01-22T20:44:00.000-08:00

So, on days like today it takes a lot of effort to remember it is winter here. It was about 65 and sunny. But I was pleased when our dinner company asked Joseph, "Is it summer or winter?" he confidently replied, "winter." We have had some cool days, though. Prior to our furnace being replaced (yesterday...just in time for a week of mid 60's) we woke up to quite a few 52 degree mornings in the house. It was in the low 40's outside. So anyway, here is one of our "remember it is really winter" activities.

And one for Mimi, so she doesn't feel so sorry for Ridley.

Modeling

2011-01-22T15:42:00.000-08:00

This is Greta modeling the table cloth I got on clearance at Target for $2.50. My dad, who has never paid full price for anything in his life, would be proud. It actually isn't going to stay a table cloth...because, well honestly it looks more like a Christmasy bath towel. So, I think I am going to make stockings for the kids out of it.The cheeks get bigger with each baby.

Baby blue

2011-01-20T18:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas in pictures

2011-01-06T21:02:00.000-08:00

Thank you Trader Joe's for making the "I've got a new baby and don't know how to make a gingerbread house anyway" pre-fab gingerbread house. Speaking of Trader Joe's - and this really should be it's own post to give TJ's the praise they deserve...actually, I will save it for another post. I just remembered it is a longer-ish story. Anyway, here is their great pre-fab.Receiving.

Tradition - Meet Me in St. Louis. (We also do White Christmas.)
Neighbors.
This is Lilly and her Aunt (who has custody of her) Robin. Can't wait until these girls are old enough to play together.
The Eve.

Test ride.
Last minute preparations.
The quiet.

Break for tea.

Break for thumb.

Worn out.
Supper.

Quiet again.

Merry Christmas.

Renditions

2010-12-30T10:51:00.001-08:00

Some of the best original carol renditions came from Joseph this year:

"Dingle Bells"

Dingle bells, dingle bells, dingle all the way.

Oh wer fun eeuuride in one more horse in sleigh, hey!

"Hark the Herald"

Hark the Herald angels sing glory to the newborn king.

Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.

Joyful all ye nations rise from the triumphs of his rise.

With the jelly ghosts proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem.

Hark the Herald angels sing, glory too the newborn king.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-27T21:27:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve we opened our home to friends and neighbors for a service of carols and readings. We were overwhelmed by the turnout. It is so great to live in a house where size dictates amount of possessions. We don't have room for much...and so there isn't much to move in order to clear out the dining room and living room and make room for a crowd. What a great night - reading the songs of Christmas (Simeon's, Mary's, the angels' and Zechariah's) and singing. (Sorry I didn't record to the end of the verse, duh.)

Joseph has apparently volunteered to be on the music committee for the church plant. This was totally unprompted - he stood for every song and played along.

Another gear

2010-12-24T14:35:00.000-08:00

She's getting pretty fast. This is her favorite place - she goes nuts most of the time when we put her on her changing table.

Busy, busy, busy

2010-12-24T14:23:00.000-08:00

We have been at work around here. I thought I had simplified Christmas. I really thought about it this year - how to keep things not so...I don't know...busy I guess. But about a week before Christmas I realized that my plan had been with a family of 4 in mind. I forgot we are a family of 5 now...that adds an additional dynamic. I had a friend one time, reflecting out loud in front of me, say something about how each kid arrives with his/her own little suitcase of needs and requirements...adding many things to our lives while we never really remove any of the other things all ready there to make room. We expect to keep up life as it was, while adding to it this whole other person and all of her (in our case) needs. It is hard to figure out what to remove...but it seems necessary. Speaking of little people and their suitcases, Greta is waking up with an empty belly, so I better run. Here is some of the Christmas making we have been up to.
I thought I would take a picture of everyone at work...then I looked closer at what Joseph was actually doing...
Pay no attention to the fact that, ignoring manufacturers instructions, I have a baby swing on the table...and a three-year-old.

Goody O'Grumpity

2010-12-23T17:15:00.000-08:00

Aagh! It is Christmas Eve and I am not quite up to date!!!! Here is how we wrapped up Fall - with some Goody O'Grumpity bread. This is one of our favorite books. It is actually a poem (and I was going to write it out for you here, but we have lots to do in prep for a Christmas Eve gathering at our house tonight...so, next year). We decided to make Goody's spice bread and I have to admit I was a little nervous because it involved yeast and everything I make involving yeast usually ends up weighing about 10 pounds. But this was a grand success! And really yummy. They were helping here...but I don't remember how.

It made two loaves so we took the book and a warm loaf over to Lou and his momma for a snack. (I didn't tell her they were on the floor with the measuring cups while they were helping...)

And this was our Fall poem - Come Little Leaves by George Cooper (thank you Veerman). I was really proud of Olivia. This rendition is not very clearly recited, but she knew the whole thing and recited it beautifully several times. I tried to involve Joe in the memorizing and he always pretended disinterested and then one day Olivia had a memory block and he piped in with durn near three quarters of it memorized. Stinker.

"Wazup?"

Seriously?

2010-12-20T09:54:00.000-08:00

"You are trusting me to these yaahoos?""Really?"
A day when everyone ended up in green somehow.

The decorating

2010-12-18T21:59:00.000-08:00

I look back at years past...there is documentation of the tree being cut, brought into the house, the lights being strung, the ornaments being carefully hung, and a nice cozy shot of everyone around the tree. This year ornaments we flying everywhere. If it is a ball, you should be able to throw it, right? WRONG! Joseph, you may not hang anymore of the breakables! The tree is heavy on ornaments on the bottom - quite a test to this micro-managing soul. And they are eating the candy canes that have been decoration for the past 3 years (gross). But it is up - and lovelier than ever I think. Lana (remember Lana?) was there helping too, but I didn't get her in a picture. Olivia was excited to share decorating with Lana, since she had helped over at Frank and Irma's the day before - it is all about the sociability (not a word? you know what I mean).She helped the most.

Tradition

2010-12-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

So, when we lived in St. Louis we always went to the same tree farm to cut down our tree. A hassle, but totally worth it. The hot chocolate, the candy canes, the nice drive, pulling the kids around in a sled, welding sharp saws. It was worth it. But good Christmas trees don't grow here. Only monterrey pines and their branches are too flimsy to hold ornaments. So we go to a big monterrey pine tree farm and look at the ones you can cut, but go home with a pre-cut noble fir. There are no mittens or hats, but it was chilly enough for sweaters - so it felt right.

And this is what it looks like to try to get a picture of three kids. So far this may be the hardest part about having three. Everyone always wants to know what it is like...here you go...

And here is how the day ended - zonked in the Wal-Mart parking lot because we had a dead car battery.
On to the decorating!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-16T19:26:00.000-08:00

Well, we are almost caught up to the present. My goal is to be caught up by Christmas day so we can post "live." So, why so formal a set up for viewing the Macy's parade? And why the enormous television on the living room floor and the shrunken one in the cabinet? You really shouldn't ask so many questions.But that is where our Thanksgiving started...as any good, American Thanksgiving should...in front of the television. But, really, we can't keep our eyes off this cutie.
Olivia walks into this scene and says, "Daddy, you look girly." Clearly he is not cooking enough around here. And he can cook.
We had a couple of families over and shared the cooking. It was really nice. We even split up the leftovers so we could all have some.
And this is the cleanest my range has looked since the day we moved in...and when Niki visited. This was, sadly, before the Thanksgiving cooking. I am a...full contact cook.
A little happy baby Thanksgiving dance.

Plant purchase

2010-12-16T10:25:00.000-08:00

This may be the first real purchase for the church plant - 3 6 foot tables. The week before Thanksgiving we hosted our small group for a potluck breakfast for supper.
This picture makes the room look really long.

We weren't sure where we would store them. Our small part of the garage was packed full. However, the day following our supper our landlords called and said they were coming to clean out their side of the garage and we were free to spread out into it! Surprise how the Lord provides!

A little too much Charlie Brown Christmas

2010-12-15T12:56:00.000-08:00