Pink Slippers

lincolnasaurus.

2013-05-20T09:15:00.003-07:00

Ten days after River’s birthday, we celebrated Lincolnasaurus’ b-day.

He turned 5.

Which is always fun to me because him and Pearl are only 11 and a half months apart so they are the same age for 2 weeks every year.

Lincoln is an ongoing project (I guess like the rest of us, since we’re all works in progress in Jesus!) who has shown some great improvements as of late.

Maybe it’s just part of him growing out of some things and maybe we’ve helped to break some bad habits formed with the help of overly helpful siblings who picked him up every time he made a peep when he was little (this is a possible hypothesis we like to bounce around).

The truth is-- he’s very sweet and he’s very funny.

He plays well with his brothers and sisters.

He is great at drawing and coloring-- he walks around with paper and pencil everywhere creating all types of monsters, dinosaurs and aliens.

He is also pretty good at building things like legos and bionicles.

He can be both very timid-- scared to try anything and completely reckless-- jumping off the top bunk in order to crash land on a giant wrestling match.

He LOVES wrestling and being tickled to the point of death.

His diet is somewhat peculiar: He only eats pasta and corn dogs with ketchup, cereal and bread.

Of all the kids, he’s the only one who hates soda because it’s spicy; he hates the carbonation.

As a matter of fact, almost everything is spicy to Lincoln.

I suppose that’s the wonder and joy of all of us. We are all so multi-faceted and unique.

I thank God for Lincoln. He is such a blessing to our family.

sunday's child.

2013-05-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

i've got joy like a river.

2013-05-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

Someone very cute and sweet turned one last month.
He is our gentleman.
Our happy and content little baby.
The one that will be a big brother soon.
We all love to sit and hold and love on this little one year old-- he makes us all happy inside.
Everyone in our house wanted the next baby to be a boy all because River is that wonderful.

to finish off the day.

2013-05-17T21:28:00.002-07:00

Running and rocks, giant hills and holes, sand and sea, and wind and waves.

What a wonderful day we had.

To top it all off-- we stopped along the road for a brief excursion.

There's a giant sand hill that the kids have wanted to climb since they were little and today was to be the day that they would conquer it.

Chris even brought a plastic sled for snow to see if they could get a ride out of it (It really didn't work very well at all.).

The oldest five went up pretty high and attempted to slide down.

When they realized that it wasn't going to work, they ran and stumbled and tumbled down until they reached the bottom.

It really wasn't all that great-- it was just one of those things that they had to get out of their system.

I guess the trendy way to say it is: It was something on the bucket list.

a day at the tide pools.

2013-05-15T17:59:00.001-07:00

This is is going to be a two part post because my hubby took the best pictures on our Spring break trip to visit the tide pools at a nearby beach.

The kids, Chris and I love going there.

I thought that so many of the pictures were just beautiful and so perfectly captured our day that I couldn't narrow them down to only a few for a post.

We spent the latter part of the morning until after lunch stepping across seaweed and barnacle covered rocks, getting wet sand between our toes and exploring the wonders of Creation.

Honestly, these kinds of days are my favorite; When I find the most contentment and peace.

Watching my children discover, learn and be joyful.

The day started out overcast and chilly, but the sun eventually broke through and it turned out to be warm and sunny.

We really are fortunate to live where we do and to be able to regularly enjoy these kinds of days.

my dream clean.

2013-05-14T17:56:00.001-07:00

Seriously-- I can’t seem to keep these posts going.

But I’m really intent on getting back into the swing of things on my blog.

Our home school calendar is pretty much spent and I am more than happy to be tossing this past year’s books into the recycling bin.

One of the things that has caused me lots of stress over the years has been the cleanliness of my house.

I mean-- we’re not pigs or anything, but it goes without saying that living in a house with 9 kids 13 and under causes one’s house to get dirty fast.

Don’t get me wrong-- the kitchen floor gets swept three times a day and the carpets get vacuumed daily and even behind the doors gets dust-busted every morning, but it’s not enough. At least not for me... in the back of my mind, I am always thinking about what needs to be cleaned. I’ve always thought that if my house could just stay cleaned, I’d be set free...

Well, I am ashamed to say, but completely happy because my hubby has gotten me the best housekeeper in town.

It was not only a financial decision, a peace of mind decision, but a personnel decision.

Once my husband was able to get over the money issue, the problem was finding someone.

Easier said than done.

We actually hired the woman who worked at the rich guy’s house across the street figuring that if they were happy with her then she must be doing a good job.

Unfortunately, she was a very nice lady, but only wanted to do some light house cleaning.

It was so bad that I had to clean after she was done cleaning.

After nicely telling her that we wouldn’t be needing her any longer, Chris and I sat down and talked about what we DID want.

We needed someone who would be aggressive, who would not need to be told what to do and who would want to have the house sparkling by the time they left.

To make a long story short, Chris began to get names and numbers from the kids in his classes at school.

He said he’d go through them one by one if he had to in order to find one that I liked.

We weren’t going to settle for mediocrity.

When a woman came over to look at the house and give us an estimate, she looked real serious and when we told her what the other house cleaner had done, she just kind of frowned.

At this point, my heart jumped at the possibility that maybe this was the one.

And when she arrived on cleaning day with a cleaning partner in tow I could hardly believe my eyes.

During the time that she was here, the kids and I were in utter amazement at the things they cleaned.

I even called Chris several times at work gushing with delight.

Oh! My dream cleaner had been found and I will never let her go...

sunday's child.

2013-05-05T06:46:00.000-07:00

the telling of our easter.

2013-05-03T18:22:00.001-07:00

Easter was a fun and satisfying day for me and my family.

We woke up to Easter baskets. No-- we don’t teach the kids about the Easter bunny, but that their Daddy and Mommy bless them with presents and candy to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

After we headed to church, where the kids were involved in a really neat Puppet show which portrayed what Jesus did for all of us. It was incredible and was followed by something called "cardboard testimonies".

It was so powerful and so moving that tears were coming down from my eyes.

On one side of the cardboard, a few words were written about who the person was before Jesus came into their life. The piece of cardboard was then flipped to reveal how the redemptive power of God had dramatically changed their lives.

They spoke nothing themselves, only what was written.

I was so grateful and thankful for what God was doing in our church.

For a few of the people involved it became so clear how their testimony had actually come to fulfillment and I was blessed to see it.

It makes the whole pioneering journey worth it.

During church, it began to rain which was a little crazy since Easter was being hosted at my house this year.

I had big decorating plans for the backyard hoping that it would resemble the tea party from Alice in Wonderland.

But it wasn’t meant to be, and we all crammed inside our little house and feasted on lots of delicious food.

And wouldn't you know it-- right about the time we finished eating and were wondering what we should do about our easter egg hunt, the rain stopped and the sun came out.

The kids were excited.

There were so many candy packed plastic eggs that no one, big or little, came up feeling short-changed.

birthday boy daddy.

2013-05-02T16:31:00.005-07:00

In our family, spanning from March 28th to May 20th, we have SEVEN birthdays.

It becomes a non-stop, whirlwind of presents, celebrating and cake eating.

We have been known to have a couple different birthday banners hanging at the same time in our house.

The celebrations start with Daddy's birthday. The big Chief.

We had so much fun celebrating Daddy that he even got a $1.00 bill from Sophia. That is huge when you are only 8 years old and it's all your money.

I took the older kids shopping for him and we had so much fun that we couldn't stop finding things to buy for him. The kids went crazy picking out boxers--with pigs on them. I mean, they thought it was just the funniest thing in the world.

And you should’ve seen some of the other things they were picking out. I finally had to tell them to stop because there was no way I would spend money on some of the gifts that they thought were hilarious. I'll stop there.

In the end, it turned out to be a birthday showered with love.

We knew he deserves the best. He truly is an awesome Husband and Daddy. And best friend.

side sweeping soph.

2013-05-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

Just about every other month, all the kids start looking a little shaggy and so it’s off to the hair salon we go.

How can you beat $6 haircuts?

Usually, it’s only the boys who need haircuts, but this time, Sophia really wanted to get 'side-sweeping’ bangs.

So we obliged.

How does our little charmer look?

our pet butterflies.

2013-04-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

I have lost a lot of time, at least from a cyberspace perspective, posting memories my family has been making since my blogging has slowed down to almost non-existence.

It’s not that there hasn’t been anything going on either... I have so many pictures I didn't even know where to begin so I decided to just go back to where I last blogged.

Parker had to do a science project and since we are a gardening family and love the hummingbirds, ladybugs and butterflies, we decided that growing caterpillars would be the best.

Over the course of a few weeks, Parker was supposed to monitor the caterpillar’s development as they progressed through the various stages of metamorphosis to full fledged butterflies.

He'd sit there and stare at them while making his daily journal entries. The funny thing was that it turned into this family affair where everyone got excited and involved-- checking on the progress of our fuzzy little friends everyday.

It was amazing to see how fast they were growing.

Then the day came when Parker had to release them.

It was kind of a bittersweet moment.

The five little butterflies had became like pets to us.

We were almost sad to see them go.

Pastor River

2013-04-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

on the side.

2013-03-27T17:20:00.002-07:00

I love that my kid's wake up and beg to play outside.

Jasper heads straight for the garden on the side of our house and waters our vegetables and fruit-bearing plants.

He likes to say 'I help'.

So my favorite thing right now is tending that garden with my litte Jasper helping right alongside me.

Typically within moments, we find Parker quietly joining us and tending his potato and onion garden box.

To me this is my happy place right now.

being weighed down.

2013-03-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

The day before Charlie's swim championship, his hair was looking rather large.

It almost appeared to become it's own habitat.

I was a little concerned as his Mommy because I am more than a little competitive when it comes to my children and their sports.

I thought his excess hair would provide too much drag as he tried to glide to a first place finish.

And I wanted him to win.

I thought I would just give him a cute army hair cut in the backyard.

I guess I shouldn't have complained that the clippers weren't working because my husband took over and Charlie ended up with a completely bald head with just a thin layer of stubble.

Thankfully-- he had a swim cap on the next day to protect his scalp from any sunburns.

And yes, he did pick up a few wins at the championship meet.

a see's candy lollipop.

2013-03-25T12:19:00.003-07:00

Today I am Jasper's favorite person.

I took him in his Star Wars Pajamas to the See's Candy Holiday Store and bought him a chocolate Lollipop.

They were one of my favorite things as a kid.

He's said 'Thank You' about a dozen times.

And 'I love you, Mommy' about half a dozen times.

Chocolate face and plenty of smiles.

Sunday's Child.

2013-03-24T14:21:00.003-07:00

hard{ly} working.

2013-03-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

three amigos.

2013-03-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

What’s better than best friends?

Brothers and Sisters who are your bff’s.

Sometimes it’s hard for us that they’re so close in age.

But for them it’s a blessing.

Following each other around deciding what to get into next.

Hearing them tell each other that they are best friends is precious.

That includes Lincoln too.

A backyard, sunshine, endless things to do and each other.

It’s never boring around here.

morning time.

2013-03-21T15:14:00.001-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, Ethan and I released a bag of ladybugs I bought from my favorite nursery.

Chris wanted to use insecticide, but I am all into saving the bees.

I need bees. Our vegetable and fruit garden needs bees.

I am in the middle of planting a bee garden.

I'm just waiting for my flowers purchased online to show up on my door step for the final touch.

And this morning, we couldn't start our chores because all the little ones were too busy exploring the garden to make sure those ladybugs were still living in our garden.

Ethan rescued one from drowning while I was watering the flowers.

Parker planted catnip in a container and watched the cats act a bit crazy. A lot crazy.

With all the outdoor fun so early in the morning I decided to not wait until Sugar cereal Saturday, but let the kids feast on Captain Crunch on this second day of Spring Thursday.

Tonight-- I think I will sneak off to the nursery again. It's those darn bare spots that I keep finding in the garden.

Sunday's Child.

2013-03-17T20:19:00.002-07:00

what's going on.

2013-03-14T13:43:00.001-07:00

Blogging has definitely taken the back burner around here.

Getting the kid's report cards filled out and staying on top of grading books has been a priority.

Some recent church events have caused an excitement and a fire in my older children that has now sparked my brain to go into creative idea overload. As soon as one thing ends, I am in full planning mode on what's next.

Our church has started a music scene/drama for a monthly outreach and my kids are excited to be involved. From Parker giving his testimony and running the lasers and strobe lights to Sophia running a snack bar-- They are begging to do even more.

Last Sunday night, we hosted the 10 year anniversary of replanting our church. I put in a lot of work to make it exactly what I visioned in my head and I think it turned out perfect.

The best part about it was how good, entertaining and creative the skits and music was. We have some really gifted disciples in our church. I am so proud.

They put on a hilarious skit about how Chris got saved, married me and became a pastor. Everyone was laughing-- me the loudest!

In the weeks prior to the show, they kept calling me for tidbits about Chris. (He said they could say whatever they wanted-- just make sure it's funny. He also told them that he'd get the last word since he'd be behind the pulpit three times a week!) Ha!

On a last note...with Spring approaching I am obsessed with gardening and buying more flowers, vegetables and mints. Chris built me window boxes for the back of the house. Heaven!

And Parker and I bought a few hummingbird feeders. Honestly, the minute day light savings hits, I am as happy as can be.

Sunday's Child.

2013-02-24T14:18:00.003-08:00

volunteer.

2013-02-20T14:08:00.002-08:00

I am really proud of Parker.

Last Friday night a group from our church worked as volunteers to serve dinner at the local Rescue Mission. It was headed up by one of our Navy disciples.

It wasn’t something me or his Dad made him do or decided for him. This was something Parker wanted to sign up for.

A friend of mine {a mom} from church sent me a couple pictures from her cell phone of Parker in action.

We all waited anxiously at home counting down the minutes till he walked in the door. We were eager to hear (Well, at least I was...) every detail of his time there.

Needless to say, he was on fire. Saying he had the best time would be an understatement.

His favorite was setting up the tables for the families and homeless to eat before their arrival.

He also got to work in the kitchen dishing food on the plates to pass down the assembly line.

I think it’s fair to say that having a family of 8 younger siblings must’ve been helpful in the tasks he was asked to do that night.

He said that if he was sixteen and had a car, he would help feed the homeless and needy families every week down at the mission.

So the next best thing we did was to put it on the March calendar.

thursday-monday.

2013-02-19T17:43:00.002-08:00

Because Chris and I had celebrated Valentine’s day a few nights earlier, we decided to get take out from our favorite mexican restaurant on the actual day. That was pretty wonderful, but what was even better was the party platter of European style desserts that we got for afterwards.

There were eclairs, chocolate-filled cream puffs and tiramisu-like pastries.

The kids thought it was the best Valentine’s ever. But then-- they say that every year about every celebration.

We went around the table and everyone had to say what they would give Jesus this Valentine’s.

Loved the answers from each of my Cupcake’s.

We also had a weekend of beautiful weather which always takes me to my favorite nursery. My mind takes off and I begin to visualize all the plants I might buy and where I would place them.

Chris knows that I really enjoy walking with him through the grounds of the nursery and he doesn’t mind picking out some new things as well.

And of course, I needed some manure.

The things that make me happy: flowers, manure, sunshine, gardening with hubby and kids.....

It’s funny that while Chris and I were gardening and enjoying everything about it, the kids began to trickle into the front yard one by one wanting to plant flowers and bulbs with us. So much for a quiet moment...

And River’s at that stage where he can find any available dirt, so he can grab a handful to stuff in his mouth. That grosses me out. I freaked out repeatedly trying to stop him.

To end the weekend, last night, my two woodworker’s built our cats a new and beautiful cat house out of redwood planks.

About the time they were almost finished, we began to worry that after all their hard work, the cats may never actually go in it.

But within a few minutes of setting it down in it’s place, Finney and Cupcake were cuddled inside their new home and seemed very content.

I plan on buying a few more cat nip plants to decorate around the cat house.

At this point, we aren’t sure if we should call it Big Kitty Mountain Lodge or Kitty Cat Cottage.

Sunday's Child.

2013-02-17T08:34:00.001-08:00