Ventura County Fair, 2012

Wow! What an amazing day! We ate all the food that we never eat, saw a few animals, played with the wooden toys, and rode rides!
We ate:
Funnel cake
Spiral fries
Chili dog (well, Ezra and Noah shared one)
Cinnamon roll
Slurpees
(mommy had a YUMMY veggie burrito!)

Emma rode the ferris wheel with grandma, the merry-go-round, and the super slide.
Caleb rode the dinosaur spinning things with grandma, and the super slide twice.
Noah rode the cars twice, and the super slide once.
Ezra rode the cars once, the train once, and decided not to do the super slide once he got to the top. :) Brother Caleb went up and rescued him.
It was an amazing, lovely day at the fair! :-)

Both Hands Project....

I've been meaning to post this for awhile!  Such a fun experience for our family to be part of helping work on this home, as well as supporting our "like-family" friends, the Pflegings in their adoption of Isabel TaiYu.

The Pflegings are still in need of funds in order to bring Isabel home...if you have a heart to support them, follow the link at the end of the video, or check out Jen's blog at:
www.greatergifts.blogspot.com

Reading....

Noah is doing a great job with his reading. He is almost done with Sing, Spell. He is on book 14 out of 17. :-)
Here's what he is reading today:

Summer cuts....

The boys were really needing haircuts, and Emma needed a trim. Caleb was pretty adamant about keeping his hair as it is, just trimmed up (out of his eyes). I just can't bear to cut Ezra's much. But Noah, well....he had already cut some of his own hair, so his was the most dramatic. Emma didn't want a trim at all, but it was time.

Time machine...

Scott, my brother, as a little guy...

I have frequently said that mothering Judah is like being in a time machine.  I am four years older than my "little" brother, so I have memories of "mothering" him, and he and Judah look amazingly similar.  

Judah Sean

Judah Sean

Legoland....

I can't believe I didn't post about this!!!  We took the kids to Legoland for the first time, on a homeschool day.  It saved us quite a bit of money.... the kids only wished they had had more time to explore. =)

               

Silence...

Emma and her piano teacher, Ms. Sarah Mitchell

I am a writer.  Well, technically, I am a reader and a thinker, and that frequently spills out into writing.  Unfortunately, I don't always get to read or think as often as I would like. Sometimes, there are seasons when you are just living, and learning.  Those seasons tend to find me more quiet than usual.  I've been sick with the flu for a few days....Ben even had to take two days off of work to take care of the kids because I literally couldn't get out of bed. So hopefully, I've been learning... but I have not been doing much in the way of reading or thinking.
So anyhow, there is much to catch up on in the way of recording life, so I'll let life do the talking:

Emma playing for her piano recital

Always in first position.  For her ballet recital. :)

The whole gang after her recital.

Last day of seven....

Dear Caleb,
Tomorrow, you will be eight years old. You have been really excited that you will no longer need a carseat. You also wanted to "ollie" on your skateboard before you turn eight. You are very close to getting it...not quite there yet, but perhaps you will work on it more tomorrow.;-)
You are my oldest boy! You were responsible for my first trip taking a child to the Emergency Room. You have given me a run for my money ever since you were born. I knew, when you were 2 and could sound out words like "cat" and "dog", that you would most likely be an excellent reader. I knew, at four, when I discovered you were actually READING The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe that I had been entrusted with a very special gift....and I was a little terrified. Sometimes, I still am. I want so badly to be faithful as your
Mom-to always point you to Jesus, to challenge you and grow your gifts for God's Kingdom. And then I remember that even though you are the smartest kid I've ever known, you are just like
me....a sinner in need of a Great Rescuer. And so, over and over,
I cast myself at the feet of Jesus, and I cry out to Him on your behalf....Rescue us! Use us for Your glory and Your Kingdom!
And I am reminded and reassured that this is exactly what He delights in doing. I entrust you to the Rescuer, Caleb. I believe that His kindness will continue to lead you to repentance. I believe that He is more faithful than I am, and more wonderful than the greatest treasure or pleasure this world has to offer.
My heart melts, when I walk out at 6:15am to get my coffee and I see you, reading your Bible. I love that you said you could highlight almost all of Genesis because there is so much cool stuff in there.
You are a diligent and hard worker. (most of the time!) I know that God has a grand part for you to play in His Story. And I am so, unbelievably grateful that part of my role in God's great Story is to be your
Mom. I love you so much.
Happy Birthday, Caleb. Your name means faithful, and like the Caleb of the Bible, I pray that neither age nor enemy will dissuade you from fulfilling God's purposes and taking hold of all God has for you. I know I'm your mom...but really and truly, I am honored to know you.
With love,
Mommy

Carpe Diem

Tomorrow, Emma has her first piano recital, followed immediately by her ballet recital. These things are always a learning experience-I have learned that I don't like the whole drama/crazy of ballet recitals. :-)
But today, as Emma and I "ran in real quick" to Target, she held my hand and asked me, "Will you skip with me?"
I saw almost a decade flash before my eyes....she was just a baby. Now she's playing piano and doing all sorts of French ballet things. I realize all at once, that I have about two seconds left of her asking me to skip with her, before I'm not cool enough and she is too old for silly things like that. So I say yes! And I skip, each up and down aching in my mommy-body, I can feel each joint pounding upon another, and everything hurts....but this-this is what pure joy feels like. Hand in hand with my girl, skipping along, seizing the moment before it is gone. This is a gift, and today....I'm not going to miss it. :-)

Catching up, again

We had such a lovely day in Carpinteria a couple of weeks ago. We did a field trip to the Carpinteria Salt Marsh (which turned out to be led by a couple from Reality Carp., so that was super sweet!). Then we had lunch, hit the beach, and finished it up with the Farmer's Market. I loved the Carp. Farmer's Market, it was so lovely! It was a great day!!! :-)

A Day on the Farm

We did a "Spring Day" at the Painted Pony Farm in upper Ojai. It was a lovely day of holding chicks and bunnies, feeding and petting goats, milking a goat, learning about pigs and ponies and the apple orchard, running around with friends, and sunshine. :-)

"Summer Pasta"

I adapted this recipe from the Barefoot Contessa. Mine is Gluten-Free, Vegan. :-)
1-lb. corn spaghetti
Cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
16 large basil leaves chopped
Salt
Pepper
Garlic, about 4 cloves
Olive oil
1/2 lemon (you could omit this, and jut use some of the pasta water)
1 cup "Parmesan" (equal parts almond meal and nutritional yeast, plus salt)

Cut the tomatoes in half, place in the bottom of a large bowl. Add garlic, olive oil and salt. Let marinate while you cook the pasta, about 8 minutes. Drain pasta, and add to the bowl. Toss with basil, "Parmesan", lemon juice (or pasta water), and salt and pepper to taste.

It is a lovely summer meal with melon or smoothies. :-)
Enjoy!