Some pictures to brighten our day!!

Why I love to hike at Chantry Flat. Beautiful!!!!

Before...

...and after!!The end result of a fun day in the forest!! =)

Posing for pictures... thanks Grammy for the cute skirt!! =)

Dillon surprised me by "writing" his name... not bad for a 3 year old's inagural attempt!!!

Our artists!!! =) =) I love their creativity!!

A tough day...

Well, half of my goal is accomplished... they are in their bedrooms. I have yet to do story-prayer-song time... let's just say today did not go that well, and I want our last few minutes together to be happy and fun... and not filled with the frustration I currently feel. So, maybe sharing a few pictures of our fun adventures will lighten the mood. While you are enjoying the pictures... any good suggestions on how to encourage two young children to independently finish their morning and evening routines in 10-15 minutes??? Please share your great ideas!!! Is "independent" too high of an expectation? Is it "baby-ing" them if I help them???

A bit ambitious!!

No pictures tonight... Awana interferes with bedtime... Anna is still awake and Dillon just took quite a bit of convincing to fall asleep at 10:00!!! I never thought I would have to convince a three year old to go to sleep at 10!!!

So.... I am finishing up laundry... and going to sleep. Morning always seems to start at 6,. maybe 6:30... no matter how late they are up!!! Yikes!! Sleep is over-rated anyway, right?? =)

My new plan...

...kids in bed by 8, blog a little, catch up on email, and then it is on to all the unfinished business of the day... either that or procrastinate and have a nice relaxing evening.... depending on my mood and what I can get away with!! =)

So, here I am... our days have been full, adjusting to kindergarten five days a week, Biola two days, AWANA, helping out in Anna's classroom, and Dillon's mommy-and-me class. I am also co-teaching one of the women's Bible studies... on Joshua, that keeps me busy!! Everything does, really, but that is my favorite.... though Math is a close second. (besides family, friends... etc...)=)

We just returned from a fabulous visit with family and friends... we had such a great time!!! Yet, now I am struggling with "back to reality"... no one to chat with..Todd is in China on a business trip...I have to cook my own meals....something I love when visiting... (relief from that responsibility).... and wanting to get caught back up on laundry, email, Bible study, Biola... basically life!!

So I am happily fatigued.... and treasuring special memories made.

I am not even going to try to catch up on everything I have not blogged about the last month.... tomorrow maybe some pictures will tell the story!!

Thanks for continuing to check this blog... hopefully you will see more regular posts!!! =) =)

Love you all!!!

A bone!!!

Dillon walks into our "office", holding a half-eaten apple.

"Dillon, you need to eat the whole apple" (we have a "you bite-you finish" rule)
"There is a bone!"

Ha, Ha, Ha!!!

Happy Tuesday!!!

My Little helper!!

Dillon: "Mommy, these are mine, I am going to put them in my drawer."
**He found the pile of his clean, folded laundry that I had left on the couch and decided that he would put it away!! What a great helper!! =) =)

A great day!!

Anna loved kindergarten!! She loved making a "rules" book, coloring her clifford page, and playing on the playground. She was very excited about her special box with her crayons and a "cute little eraser". =) =) She said her favorite part was seeing "Miss Tina", our neighbor that works at the school. Now, to teach her her to call "Miss Tina" "Mrs. LaCarra"... She is so excited about everything!! She even wants us to call her our "kindergarten girl"!! =) =) Praise God for a happy first day!!!

Here is Anna standing in line, waiting to be released!!! Ahh... they all seem so grown up!!!

And Again I say, Rejoice!!!

Anna went to kindergarten today!!! Yay!!! She was great, so brave, so excited. We love her teacher, Mrs. Williams.

I have heard great things about her, and she has lived up to those great things. She was great with Anna, so welcoming and friendly, and really showed an interest in getting to know me too... very easy to talk to. Her classroom is beautiful and fun. A good balance between academic and fun. I can't wait to hear Anna tell all about her first day!!!
The PTA had a nice breakfast and I was able to meet a few moms... what fun!! I love that we are getting to know families in our community!!

Dillon was a little sad, but I know he will love the time we will get to spend together. He is so cute... if you ask him how old he is, he will tell you "five", because he wants to go to kindergarten too!!! =) =) When pressed further... "Dillon, how old are you?" he will say, "I am not three, I am five!" =) =)

Rejoice!!

What a great week!! We went hiking at Chantry Flats... pictures later..., lunch with friends at Seal Beach, cleaned the house, went to California Adventure, I had breakfast with my girlfriends, and we had friends over for dinner!!! Such great times with friends, thanks God!!! It was so nice to celebrate the official end of summer by going to some favorite places and seeing favorite friends. Rejoice with me!!!

Some fun pictures!!

Seal Beach... our favorite!!

Family pictures behind the manatee at Sea WorldAnna loves animals and loves the San Diego Wild Animal Park!!! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for taking us!!!

Dillon enjoyed the bird... at first...but then was a little apprehensive!!

You really must see the Lion Encounter... if you can make it down here... it is spectacular!!

We have had such fun with family this summer. My neighbors have teased us about Hotel-Rosencrans!!! It is so fun to share our home, I so enjoy it!! Even when it feels a little over-whelming... I still love it.... fun often takes work, right??? We love camping and hiking... that didn't happen this summer... but we enjoyed the chance to see God's amazing creatures in a different way... more up close. I like the Wild Animal Park because it still feels like they are in a more natural setting... yet we can interact with them too!!! Todd captured some spectacular shots... I will post them in the next couple of days!!

Love you all!!!

so much to say....

...my brain has been on overtime lately... maybe it would have helped to blog??? I guess I just needed feedback from a friend... not to simply journal.... so I went to a friend's house and unloaded... what a great friend!!! Thanks God!!!

I guess I see blogging as a way to connect with friends and a way to share pictures with friends and family. The teacher in me loves to share the lessons I am learning... or re-learning... so as to encourage those of you who share my struggles!!! I learn so much from the blogs I read... just little things like having a different perspective on a situation... or the reminder of how valuable friends are... or how to delight in your children... I forget that too often!!

If I am really overwhelmed... I feel funny sharing it here... I need a response... from a face-to-face conversation.... so I guess that is my reason for not blogging. I think if I did... then yikes!!! I would have exploded and you all would be afraid to ever read my blog again!!!

So... the lesson to be learned... what my brain has mostly been full of... is what to do about the obstacles to enjoying the story.... the things that rob me of the joy of living, of delighting in my life, my family, my friends. May I suggest making your own list?? Here is mine:

1. Wanting keep my house picked up and clean... and wanting that to be a finished job!! When will I learn that it is a process and success looks like keeping up the routine, so the task isn't so overwhelming? It isn't a task that can be checked off the list... as if I could say, "Oh good, the laundry is done! I won't have to worry about that for a while!" What am I looking for??? My children and husband to wear the same thing for a few days....hmm... scary thought!!!
2. Frustration with Anna and Dillon. I have been re-thinking our parenting strategy. This is a big one for me right now... and I am not sure how to phrase it... except to say that the way my perfectionist-black-and-white personality lived out a more traditional time-out/occasionally-spank-in love parenting strategy caused a lot of frustration and anger on my part… and on theirs too. I think I finally decided that I had been operating on the idea that if Anna and Dillon did not obey, then something was wrong with them... or with me... and it needed to be fixed. My friend... sister's friend originally (thanks for sharing!! =) ) told me about graced-base discipline. As I read a few articles I found that this strategy.... or... how I interpreted this strategy... operated more from the base that Anna and Dillon... and in reality everyone... are still learning to obey... to love each other... to be grateful and not greedy.... and if I can creatively encourage them down that path to Christ-like living... I can often avoid an angry confrontation. I don't know if that makes sense.... I could write pages and pages... but one example is: instead of saying "open your mouth now so I can brush your teeth”, I now say, “Mr. Toothbrush is hungry and wants to eat all the dirt and germs off your teeth”, followed by sounds of a really hungry toothbrush enjoying his dinner. I used to think that was letting them off the hook somehow… being too permissive. Now I see it as an essential tool in discipline. I still reserve the right to use time-out/spank for really serious issues… but that will be on rare occasions… and after a lot of thinking/praying. I haven’t figured it all out… but I am thankful to say that I am a lot calmer and life is so delightful right now!! Even when Anna and Dillon require lots of energy… it is a positive outlook, instead of negative. I think a lot of moms naturally parent in this way… I need a lot of help!!! I could go on and on with all the thoughts that have centered on this topic….but time permits…
3. The fact that I haven’t ran regularly in over a month. This one I have to let go… at least the idea of the Long Beach half. A more manageable goal is to establish a discipline of running, and then to stay there…. and then maybe to think about signing up for a run. Sometimes it comes down to running or Bible-study… and I want to pick Bible study… especially now that my afternoons have been filled with prep for Biola.

So I feel like I am learning to be more gracious... which is amazing because that has been my prayer for the past 5 years... that is why we gave Anna her name... it means grace. We know we struggle with that and wanted to be remined of our prayer, and want Anna to exhibt grace. I am confident that God will answer that prayer.... I have often witnessed a special sensitivity to others in Anna... not all the time... but in special moments. So, I am hopeful of the future!!! God is good!!!

I got tagged!!

I also got tagged while we were in Portland... a lot happens in two weeks!! So, just for fun...

5 Things in my refrigerator:
1. water bottles (arrowhead)
2. Tillamook Cheddar Cheese
3. raspberry vinaigrette from TJ's (yum!!)
4. little green bell peppers from our garden!!
5. bag of spinach

5 things in my closet:
1. cool running shorts
2. favorite running shirt
3. white shirt with SPF 50
4. Todd's workout shirt from high school (washed!! =))
5. skinny jeans I have yet to wear.

5 things in my car:
1. bowl for emergency nausea
2. cell charger
3. dice from Vegas
4. extra makeup
5. Thomas guide

5 secret addictions (some not so secret):
1. Kettle potato chips
2. cookie dough
3. SG1
4. reading dictionaries
5. reading blogs

5 people to tag:
Anyone who reads this who hasn't been tagged???

My Amazing Husband of 10 years!!!

While we were in Portland, Todd and I celebrated ten wonderful years of marriage!! He still made our day special with beautiful roses and a sweet heartfelt note.

We have shared ten amazing years filled with good times and growing times....

I feel like that girl who got married to that boy so many years ago was such a different person than the woman I am today... and I wonder what I will be like ten years from now!!!???











Bonus fun!! My senior prom picture!! Can you believe it???

So that is where I have been....

...dashing around Beaverton, going to every Michales, Party City and fabric store. I wanted to give Rebecca and Troy the perfect wedding!!! It was great to meet Troy. He is so friendly and gentle. He is very humble about the abilities and talents that God has gifted him with. He loved playing with Anna and Dillon and they loved their Uncle Troy!! =) =) We cherished the time to spend with them, observing he and my sister as a couple... which was more natural than I expected, considering I had previously only seen pictures and heard my sister's stories!!! Time with family was so short and wedding details often felt overwhelming... yet everything went as planned and was wonderful!!!

We loved speding time with family and friends that flew in from Texas, California, Seattle and Minnesota. Such a party!!! 16 people stayed at my parent's house the last few days before the celebration!! Dinner with 23 on Thursday, what fun!! (pictures will appear later)

We missed Daddy, but God faithfully supplied the patience neccessary for caring for two children in a different environment for two weeks... praise God!!!

We planned a beautiful shower that gave glory to God for how He has worked in my sister' s life, and heard testimony of God's character revealed in both Rebecca and Troy... He is so Good!!!!!

My special announcement!!!

So, why Portland, for two weeks, without Todd??? Well, he flew up on the 27th, just in time for the rehearsal dinner on Friday.... the rehearsal for MY SISTER'S WEDDING!!! YAY!!! My sister is married!!!!!!

Second week of July...

On Anna's special day, we had a present hunt and family dinner. Having my parents and Todd's parents made the weekend seem like one big party!! The kids had lots of fun grandparent time, how we miss them!!

We finished off our crazy three weeks with a two day car trip to Portland, Oregon!! Anna and Dillon and I had fun singing songs and listeing to stories from "The Pond". Driving by myself was tiring, but not impossible. Freeing in a way... Hmm... where else shall we go next??? We can drive and Todd can fly, we have to be creative with limited vacation time...hmmm...

So, why Portland, without Todd, for two weeks?? Wait and see....

...ends with Anna's party!! =)

So we already had a full month: two weeks of summer school with one week left, visits from family, my parents were going to stay through the tenth, Todd's parents were coming in on Saturday... and we have Anna's party smack in the middle of everything!! What a summer!!!

We had a barn party... Anna loves animals...
I had lots of help and it was so much fun to see all the little "animals" at play. Thanks to the Smith family the girls had fun animal masks.

We also played "needle in a haystack"...



and Pin the tail on the piggy!

For lunch we dined on hay (potato sticks), pig slop (meatballs), and fruit and veggies. What fun!!

The finale was the barn cake with yummy, messing red frosting!! =) =)

First week of July...

We played on Monday evening, and then worked all day on the Fourth. We are still working on our front room!! I will show before and after pictures when we are all done.

My aunt and uncle and three children passed by on their way to Arizona (an unexpected treat!), and hung out with us for two days. Anna and Dillon really enjoyed playing with them... and they enjoyed revsiting childhood toys!!My parents also came in on Thursday, and we were able to have a big family breakfast!! What a great family tradition, and what an unplanned treat!!Having a full house is such fun, yet cuts into blogging time... thanks for being loyal readers!! =)