Garden Update

It's spring, heading into summer and my garden has taken off!!  Yay!  We've eaten some lettuce, green onions, carrots, cilantro and basil from our little garden and I have learned a lot for the next planting season!  Like for instance, when my Dad comes over and says, "wow, that's a lot of plants in one small space" that actually means - you planted way too much!  I have (sort of) learned how to properly thin though, so hopefully that has made my small little garden a little bit more successful.  I also have learned that if I don't eat cilantro with each meal, and in copious amounts it's probably not necessary to allow all 6 giant plants to grow.  I must also say that it feels very wrong to pull perfectly good plants out of the ground in the name of "thinning", however it must be done for the overall health of the garden...Here are a few pictures of the progress since I last posted

Lemon tree

Tomatoes!!!

The plant is loaded with these everywhere!!

Basil - used some in Turkey burgers last night - it was so yummy!

Carrots and Bell Peppers

Onions, Green Beans

Lettuce, Zucchini and Squash

My Farmers!

  Happy Summer!

May Craziness

I can almost see June from here - and it's looking fantastic!  May was such a fun month filled with wonderful and exciting events!!  Many, many wonderful and exciting events.  It seems like every day we had something going on!!  Great stuff, but I am looking forward to a little bit more down time in June!  The beginning of May was my birthday, Noah's birthday, my Dad's birthday and Mother's Day!  We went to Disneyland to celebrate the big 3-0 and the big 5!  It was the kids first time to the happiest place on earth! 



We went on Mother's Day, wow was it crowded!

 We had such a great time!  We went up on Mother's Day and did Disneyland, stayed overnight at a hotel and went CA Adventure the next day.  Noah may have been more excited about staying at a hotel than about actually being at Disneyland!  He kept asking if he could go back to "the department" to take a nap (he calls all hotels and apartments, departments). 

With Grandpa

Pirates was our first ride, oops!  It was a little scary - poor Leah made me cover her eyes the entire time!

She survived!

Daddy and the kids at Dumbo

It's a Small World!

We really enjoyed Dumbo!

Leah met all of the Disney Princesses!

At the end of Day 1! 

Day 2 was Noah's actual birthday!  We started out with breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen.  Noah enjoyed it - Leah was a little afraid of all of the characters....

Did NOT want to see Pluto!!

Ready for some fun!

Noah & G-ma way up high!

My big 5 Year Old!

I cannot believe Noah is 5!  My baby is going to kindergarten in the fall, how did that happen?  I search his precious face for signs of that baby I held in my arms just yesterday, I see very faint glimpses, but they get fainter with each passing day.  I know that the next five will go just as quickly, and the five after that, yikes...I pray that I am able to take it all in and enjoy each stage for what it is.  I love you Noah!  Happy Birthday!
Love,
Mom

An Easter Story

So I have not been very good at blogging this past month...life has been a little busy!!  I also didn't feel like I had much to say, or maybe it was that all of my expendable thoughts were already used?!?  At any rate...here we are again...After breakfast this morning I was thinking about preparing my heart for Easter and what God's work on the cross means to me and my salvation.  I thought it might be cool to read about the days leading up to Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection to Noah and talk about it a bit in preparation for this weekend.  As we started to talk about Jesus dying on the cross Noah asked me how they put Him on the cross, so I held out my hand and I pointed to my palm (yeah...I know..wrist, but I didn't know if he'd get that) and told him that they put a nail in Jesus and nailed Him to the cross.  I wasn't overly graphic (he is only 5), but immediately Noah turned white and looked at me with complete disbelief and put his hand over his face like he was going to be sick.  I asked him if he was ok and he responded with "Mom, I don't think I can talk about this".  I told him it was ok, it was pretty terrible what Jesus went through for us.  I was struck by something as I was watching his response to the cross...how often do I think about what it was like for Jesus to die on the cross for me?  It's easy become acustom to hearing the story again and again and forget just how horrific and painful death by crucifixion was.  My prayer for all of us always and especially during this blessed season is that we would have a childlike, or fresh remembrance of just how truly horrible and painful and unjust was Jesus' suffering - and He did it for me, and for you!  There is none like our God.   

Sprouts!!

We have sprouts!!! 

Lettuce!! 

My little lettuce was the first to sprout!  I am so excited!!  Now, I need to figure out how to thin as the instructions state?? 

Zucchini and Squash!

Do you see the ground coming up behind the sprouts from the ones in the foreground?  I love being able to see the seeds actually push the dirt up and sprout through..it's so cool! 

Roma Tomato! 

I think I have bugs!  See the holes in the leaves?  What kind of bugs cause that?  How do I fix it?  My dwarf lemon has a few holes as well, is it from the frost or do I have bugs??? 

So fun to look down the planter and see some green starting to sprout up!! 

 (The pipe was my frame for the greenhouse)

Now off to google how to organically get rid of bugs and properly thin your garden sprouts!  Happy Spring!

Conversations heard round the juice box

As originally promised a large part of this blog will be devoted to sharing funny/embarrassing/wonderful/terrible, etc., things my kids say and do...so I thought it was time for the first installment of funny things my kids have said recently (also known as...conversations heard round the juice box...bahdum ching....somewhere a comic is rolling in his grave at my terrible jokes). 

 Leah has recently been taking whole rolls of toilet paper and throwing them into the toilet, taking them out once they are nice and water logged and throwing them in the trash...super great.  Noah must have thought it looked like fun and tried it himself.  Needless to say Shay and I were not impressed.  After a long day on top of a long weekend on top of a long week (read "children were inhabited by the grouchy naughty monsters"), I was rather emphatically professing my irritation at said wasting of entire rolls of toilet paper.  I was telling Noah "when you throw rolls into the toilet like that you are wasting money, it is just like you are throwing money into the toilet" (yes, I realize now that is not a concept he gets...but...I was TIRED and my allotment of rational thoughts had already been used for the day).  He very matter of factly says to me, "No it's not Mom, I threw toilet paper into the toilet, not money."  ahhhhh

A Frozen Garden?

My poor little fledgling garden, not even a week old and the forecast a few days ago was calling for super cold rain and snow possibly down at 1500/1000 ft.. What???  The forecast has since been revised, higher snow levels, but still probably cold enough to do a bit of damage to my little seedlings.  My Dad had suggested  building a portable greenhouse to keep it from freezing, so I went to Lowes and bought some supplies (which the husband told me later we had most of the items already, oops - communication has never been our strong suit...).  I must say I felt rather industrious picking out pvc pipe and connectors and even a pvc pipe cutter (to my male readers, please stop rolling your eyes at me).  After lunch Noah and I rolled out some burlap and wrapped my new baby citrus trees and then I attempted to use the pipe cutter...after several minutes my prior feeling of industriousness was gone and in a moment of frustration I asked my almost 5 year old if I was not talented enough to figure out how to open the the pipe cutter if that meant that I should not be using the pipe cutter...he said, "Yeah Mom, I think it does..." and he kind of chuckled as he said it.   Honest kid...love it.  I did finally figure out how to get it to work  (have all my fingers left too!).  Shay came home in the middle of my "building" (thankfully) and took my maybe-ok-and-probably-more-complicated-than-necessary idea and modified it into a simple, but very viable solution - it's like he's has experience in building things or something?!?  So,we'll see how my "winterizing" techniques stand up to the great Southern California blizzard of 2011, HA.



A Garden, Finally!

Back in May of 2010 the very talented hubs re-designed our backyard a bit to put in a small garden area.  I had great hopes for this garden!  I was going to plant lots of yummy veggies and herbs, it was going to be great!  We decided to wait just a tiny bit to plant so we could replace the fence behind the garden area and put in some irrigation.  So we waited a bit, and a bit longer, and a bit longer...why put off today what you can put off tomorrow, right?!?  Fast forward to this weekend...the in-laws had the kids overnight so we went to a nice dinner last night (at 8:00, when was the last time we had dinner that late??), walked aimlessly around the Apple store, enjoyed drinks, it was fantastic!  During dinner we casually talked about what we might do with an entire day to ourselves, we decided to get coffee and go by the Home Depot to pick up a few things and clean up the yard a bit.  That's how it always starts, a seemingly insignificant trip to Home Depot...


Halfway through our "little stop" by HD I was looking at fruit trees and convincing Shay that fruit trees would fit in our backyard and we could also plant the seeds that had made their way into our cart...and so, our garden was finally born!!  TA, DA!

The Dwarf Lemon!

As you see, the fence is still not fixed (nor is the irrigation in - the hose and I are now the irrigation) - there's always next year...

Sorry, for the life of me I can't figure out how to change this picture's orientation...but this is the Mandarin Orange at the other end of the planter

Shay is still not totally sure that the fruit trees in a small area will work, but he was kind enough to give me the chance to try!  In between the trees I planted tomatoes, chives, basil, cilantro, bell peppers, zucchini, squash, lettuce, green beans, onions and carrots!  I am so excited to see what comes of my little seeds!!

 Tomatoes and herbs

Carrots, Onions, Bell Peppers! 

It's still a little early in the season, per the seed packets' instructions, to be planting some of these items - so I'm not sure if they will all be successful, but I will give it my best effort!  (Oh, and I am notorious for killing all living plants..so...there's that too..). The front yard got a mini make over too in the form of some serious rose bush pruning and shrubbery pruning and re-planting (not as fun to blog about - but was so glad to have Shay home to help with this huge task!)

When the kids got home Noah was SO excited to see the garden, I can't wait to water it with him and watch our little veggies sprout!  If it's successful I'll post some pictures!  

Life is better with an iTan and a new Car

As I was driving down the 15 the other day I saw a billboard I have seen a few times.  Each time I see it I say to myself, "really, is it??"  The billboard proclaims "Life is better with an iTan".  First; side rant on iTan - just because Apple found huge success naming many of it's products iPod, iPad, iPhone, etc., simply putting an "i" in front of your service does not mean you will instantly have the brain power of Steve Jobs or the overnight windfall of Apple, but I digress... The real point here....is life really better with something as simple as a tan? (or an iTan, if you must?)  Now, must know - I've tanned - not going to lie - I do feel a little more lovely with a little color on my skin.  Not saying those who tan are shallow (I would be one of those), but (to me) the message here; forget about the things that really might make your life better and go for something trivial.  I've been thinking a lot about contentedness and fulfillment lately.  Per usual, my kids words shed light on my heart.  We recently traded in our car for a bigger car, we also recently bought a new car seat for Leah....(stick with me here - i promise the tan and the car idea will come together in some form of continuity).  That sweet little girl just could NOT get over the fact that she got a new car seat; every time we got in the car for several weeks all she could say in her sweet 2 year old voice was (insert said voice at appropriate 2 year old squeal here) "NEW TARSHEET" (translation: new car seat).  Put said "tarsheet" in new (to us) car and holy cow - she had won the lottery, "NEW TARSHEET IN MY NEW TAR!!!!"  Noah too was pretty excited about the new tar, and if I must admit - so was I.  That got me really thinking though about the state of my heart and the message I am sending to my kids about value and what's important.  Do I think it's OK to get excited about new things, sure, but so often we get wrapped up in "things" like a car, or a tan (see..i told you...) and allow the temporal things of this world to take up all of the "thinking space" in my mind.  When I allow the temporal things to take up residence all I want is more of the temporal.  Thus, the thinking about contentment...I've been a Christian for a long time and to say that the idea that we are supposed to find our contentment and fulfillment in Jesus is new would be just plain silly.  But because I've been a Christian for a long time I tend to forget sometimes "the basics".  Isaiah promises us again and again and again that when we search after the Lord we will find his promises and He will fill us with His hope and His peace, which leads to contentment.  One of my favorite verses of all times is Isaiah 26:3-4 "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you, Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal."  When I am keeping my mind steadfast in the Lord I don't have the tendency to focus on the things that are temporal and bring momentary happiness but to find my contentment and fulfillment in the Lord; really the only thing that matters.  So, that's the story of how a new "tar" and an iTan billboard made me stop and take stock of what I was allowing to take up residence in the last two working cells I have left in my brain...what's taking up yours? 

A trip to the zoo, the ER and Mexico

What a crazy few days!!  For the last week Shay has been in Mexico on a missions trip with POWER Ministry, if you want to see pictures from his trip you can click here , he was the 2nd week.  When he had first talked about going I was not super excited about the prospect of him going to the epicenter of violence along the Texas/Mexico border, but he had talked about how he had been praying about it for almost a year and really felt God calling him to go...so...who am I to argue with that?!?  He left last Wednesday at 3 or so in the morning and came back last night at about midnight, we are so glad to have him home!!  God was so incredibly good to us (and to him) while he was gone.  I am still hearing little by little all of the stories and what God has taught him, but it really seems to have been a GREAT trip!  While Shay was gone we were so blessed too, the kids were so great!  They behaved wonderfully, Leah seemed to really get the hang of potty training and besides a quick trip to the ER (more on that below) we had a really great week!!  God is good!  While Shay was gone we packed our schedule with fun things to do, a few trips to the Wild Animal Park and Zoo, the park and lots of family and friends!  Tuesday we went to the Zoo with a few aunties and uncles!!

Hungry?  Use your lunch box as a seat and grab an apple, problem solved!

This picture was snapped in the middle of the walk way to the Sea Otters, she apparently didn't care that it was not lunch time, nor was it an appropriate lunch spot.  All she knew was, she was hungry and we were looking at the sloths for too long.

  Mr. Man was not into having his picture taken, this was the closest I could get to him sitting still.



Apparently when one has Zoo passes and uses them frequently this is your response to "look at the animals"! 

For so many reasons this picture makes me laugh.  He is so serious!  What can I say, he is his mother's child.

We don't usually do the bus tour, but we were ready for a break!

Leah's photo of Aunt Jana!  (PS not Jana's baby, one she nannys for - he's so adorable!!)



Giraffes are such beautiful animals

 And now, the story of the ER...as we were leaving the Zoo Leah was running up a sidewalk (with a stick in her hand).  I thought it would be best tell her to stop running with the stick in her hand, nope!  She turned back a bit to hear what I said and ate it BIG time on the sidewalk (thankfully the stick was not an issue).  There were lots of tears, but she was a tough cookie.  I checked her out, she looked ok so we headed home.  A few hours later as we were sitting at dinner I noticed her pupils were different sizes, crap!  Long story short I ended up at the ER with her.  Shay was still in Mexico...I am not sure who was more traumatized, Shay being so far away or Leah at the sight of the CT machine?!?  She ended up not having a CT as she would not sit through the scan, but after a few hours the Dr. thought her eyes were looking more normal and she had no other symptoms, so he sent us home.  That was something I wish never to repeat.  It was so scary!  We were so incredibly blessed though to have friends and family praying for us and coming by to make sure we were OK and friends who watched Noah while we look a fun little trip to germ ville.... So thankful that God protected Leah!! 

I am now ready for a weeks long nap.  I have so much respect for single parents and military parents, you moms (and dads) ROCK!   

My First Attempt

So, here it goes... I hope the stories of our journey through life bring a smile to your face!  A few things you can count on from this blog...it will be completely consumed with "kid stuff" - I can't help it, they are our lives right now...more specifically little kids stuff, which often involves burping, farting, pooping, vomiting and lots and lots of little (and big) embarrassing stories (such as when Leah pointed to an older man of Indian descent in Costco the other day and said super loud "look mommy, it's santa"...ohmygosh...)  So, if you are of Indian descent and are easily offended, don't like hearing about bodily functions or are not big on the kid "cheese" factor...this may not be a blog for you??? Another thing you can be sure of; if you see several posts in a short amount of time I am procrastinating.  In college my house was ALWAYS super clean whenever I had a paper, project or test coming up.  Also, I used to be a halfway decent writer and could piece together a coherent sentence; as you will see my children have sucked all of my intelligence out of me, I have none left.  So, my apologies in advance for the sometimes atrocious grammar.  Hopefully the stories are funny/relateable/embarrassing enough for you to continue reading. 

**edited a few minutes later to remove some of the details about our recent whereabouts when I realized, I can't figure out how to password protect it and I don't want just anybody out there knowing all there is to know about my family**