Happy Father's Birthday

Have you ever seen those "Nailed it" photos on Facebook?  They usually show a photo of some sort of Pinterest craft or activity and then show a second photo of your Average Joe's attempt at the same thing.  "Nailed it!"  (But not really.)  Sometimes they are hilarious.  And sometimes I look around my house and feel like we are a constant display of that second photo.  Our birthday bunting looks awfully cute when it is blurred in the background, but up close it is a genuine hack job!

 And then I see my mad skills and taste being passed down to the progeny.  Check out Sister wrapping the June birthday boy's gifts in Christmas paper!  But aren't they cute?  All secrety and sly, up late wrapping for Daddy.

 I'm not trying to slam Pinterest.  I would say 40% of our homeschool curriculum comes from there.  But does this look like a man who cares that his birthday gifts are wrapped in Winnie the Pooh Christmas paper?

 And pre-used bags with another person's name written on it in Sharpie?  It's not that I have given up mircro-managing all together.  Don't get me wrong.  But occasionally I recognize, before it is too late, that everyone has a lot more fun when they get to take a bit of their own initiative.

 He thinks they get this stuff from me.

 I beg to differ.

 So what do you think?  Nailed it?  It's supposed to be a serene family scene - picnic breakfast of homemade granola, yogurt and berries.  Quite possibly the bunting should have been hung between two shade trees, but those were about 100 yards away.  And maybe the van should not have been in the photo, but we were parked by the side of the road because that is where the trail head was.  (Never mind the cars whizzing by on the mountain road beside us...hence the reason the baby is strapped in the stroller.)   And you can't see my coffee because I had already kicked it over and I am pretty sure someone stepped in their bowl and sent granola flying everywhere.  Good thing these things are pictures, not videos.  You can hide a lot in a picture.  The things we do for other people.  I am pretty sure he would have been happy with Larabars and bananas served a la carte in the van on the way up there.  But look at him...serving yogurt to his babies on a blanket spread over dirt and rocks by the side of the road on his birthday.  Nailed it!

 So on to the birthday hike, fueled by a yummy, roadside breakfast.  This was up at Laguna Mountain and it has been one of my favorite hikes.  

 Prickly Poppy

 Mariposa Lilly

 Not all of them are willing hikers yet.  But we are getting there.  Thankfully Dad is strong.

 The sky was so blue.

 The beauty of this hike that you can't quite appreciate from these pictures is the opposing terrains.  As you ascend you look down on the Anza Borrego desert on one side and a evergreen forrest on the other.  It's not quite the evergreen forrest I know from Tennessee.  This one gets very little water and has been ravaged by fire.  But it is still quite beautiful.

 See that monstrous lizard?

 This one was even bigger.  It looked like a giant turtle/lizard.  We have no idea what it was.  You might have to enlarge the pictures.

 It was SO hot.

 Not sure what that purple flower is.

 Not sure about about the bird either.

 I know that bird, though.

 Conquering the peak!

 Signing the book in the can.

 Family foto

 Draggin' our sorry selves back down.  Did I say it was hot?

 Letting the baby run out the end.  Sit down...here comes the action sequence.

Whew!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Spring routine

Every year, in Spring, Mike takes the other kids to explore Balboa Park while Olivia is in ballet.  Last year Olivia was able to be in the same class as Avery.  Avery's family goes to our church.  This is the girls after their Spring Showcase.  

 The rest of the crew plotting their hour long attack of the zoo.

What kind of mother are you?

Well, maybe you did not notice that I skipped right past May 1st to June 10.  If anyone other than my  mother and mother in law are even still looking at this little blog, you probably won't notice either that my resolution to do one post each morning also skipped a few days.  I was just telling Olivia the other day to strive to do something difficult every day, something you can't possibly do in your own strength.  Apparently regularly blogging is that thing for me.  But I love this space.  With no photo books any more, this is my memory.

So, Joe Joe.  I didn't actually forget his birthday, just to post it in the right place here. In these pictures he is turning 7.  In reality, he is about to turn 8. He is the most consistent, easy going kid.  Occasionally he tries to be ferocious by yelling at Mike or me when he is really frustrated, but mostly his emotions are of the Eeyore variety and quickly pass.

You like how he wears a collared shirt to breakfast on his birthday?

 After breakfast and presents we spent a sun shiny morning out back.  He is so easy to please.

 He even humored me with the birthday crown at lunch.

 We did not do an official party this year, but invited his baseball team over instead since several of them had birthdays the same week.  This is the little sister of one of them...now that I think of it, maybe I posted this already with the other baseball picks.  Anyway, Greta is telling "Clara" (her actual name is Claire, but Greta either does not get that or does not care), "Don't look at her."  Like I am some crazy paparazzi.

I am looking forward to eight.  Joseph is definitely not an early bloomer.  He is innocent and fun.  He is not self conscious in the least and has no real sense that others could think anything more than kindly of him.  I would be happy if that rolled into 8, even 9.

Birthday Hikes

The time is quickly approaching when I will be more than a year behind on this blog.  I will not be surpassed!  So, I am going to try to make a blog post each morning.  We'll see how that goes.

On birthdays, we try to do the things birthday person likes best.  So, in June last year, we did a lot of hiking in June.  This was my birthday.  We took my new pair of binoculars and went bird watching at Lake Cuyamaca.

 Some birds you don't need binoculars to see, only a bag of bread.

 Stare down.  She held strong.

 Sadly, I can't remember what this was.

 This is one strange part of hiking in the west - the burnt out forests.

 A little oriole bathing.  Sorry, I will try to crop pictures better in the future.

Happy Birthday to the Momma.

Another be with-er

I often wonder if I generally have a look of being out of control or just out of it when I am out in public with our kids.  I pretty regularly have people reminding me where my kids are and what imminent danger awaits them.  Now, I will be honest, there has been a time or five when one of them slips under the radar for a minute.  Like the time we all got off the tram at the Wild Animal Park and went one way and Joseph went the other.  Actually, poor guy, that has happened to him a couple of times.  But those times aside and despite the look on my face in public, I do have a pretty good grasp on our kids and what they are up to.  

I heard the other day of a friend of ours, a dad who also homeschools, saying how he does not feel like the years are slipping by.  You know the sentiment - the kids are growing up so fast, etc.  He said, "We are with them constantly.  I am not missing a thing."  I have to say I feel the same way.  I do not feel at all that the days are passing too quickly (too slowly sometimes, but that is another conversation). 

Anyway, that is my point in all this.  Despite the look on my face, I do know my kids and in general what they are up to.  For example, one might think the kid in the first 5 pictures is under fed, always begging for food.  On the contrary, he just likes to be with.  Wants to be doing what we are doing.  And while one day I will miss this little beggar, I do not think I will feel like I will have let these days slip by.

Last Year's Tears

Well, with three quarters of a year behind us, these emotions are quite as fresh.  But imagine a balmy, June evening, just after dark.  Two best buddies are soaking up every minute they have left together before one of them flies off to Germany for the summer.  Playing ball under the street lamp.  

I love these boys.