Celebrating 11 years

To celebrate Joseph turning 11 years old, he and I took a mom/son trip to LA and went to Disneyland and California Adventure together.  We had so much fun dodging around people and running to all our favorite rides.  We loved California Screamin' rollercoaster and went on that ride 4 times.  We also took in an afternoon at the beach with the So CA cousins and had a great time staying at their house.  We loved the time together, the bonding, the corn dogs and celebrating who this little man is becoming.  I love you Joseph.  Happy Birthday!

36 Things to Do before I turn 36

Well, today is October 17, 2009 and I will turn 35 in exactly two months. So I better get hopping. I am trying to be intentional with my time and life, since so much of my life is out of my control right now. So, I thought I'd try to add some control if I can.....so here's my attempt.

1. Read (and finish) a book
2. Sew something
3. Go to Disneyland (o.k. so that trip with Joseph is already planned)
4. Have a monthly date night with my husband
5. Go on a trail ride
6. Go to the beach
7. Print out digital pictures to fill my frames
8. Sit by the fire with cup of coffee and no guilt
9. Lose 10 lbs.
10. Pedicure
11. Make a painting with Emma
12. Go on a hike with the family
13. Fly somewhere (on a plane)
14. Hang a hammock/swing
15. Create "space" in my home for change
16. Change bank accounts
17. Start a digital scrapbook for each of the kids
18. Purge the container
19. Coach/teach something
20. Create a family creed and post it
21. Family devotions/bible time
22. Go to the woods
23. Girls weekend away with my cousin Kait
24. Order handmade necklace
25. Research life insurance changes
26. Volunteer with the kids
27. Candlelight dinner
28. See a live show/musical
29. Get a phone with texting
30. Change my hair
31. Plant flowers
32. Build up emergency account
33. Have daily quiet time
34. Try yoga
35. Journal
36. Review this list weekly and check off

Raising Kids: "The days are long, but the years are short"

I need to remind myself of this truth. 6 years goes by in a blink. How did this baby become this boy? I love you Benjamin Allen! Just having a mom moment!

Happy Happy Birthday Emma Kait

Emma Kait turned 9 last week and we celebrated with a rainbow themed birthday party. Yes, that cake was made in my kitchen, and no I didn't use an entire box of food coloring. It was the hit of the party and all the girls were so excited to eat the rainbow cake. We had a family party in the evening with more rainbow cake and swimming. She said it was a perfect party!

Happy 14th Anniversary

Considering we have no digital photos of our wedding (the dark ages of the 90's), I thought I would post one of Jon and I before kids in honor of our 14th Wedding Anniversary today. I love you more today than yesterday. You are my support, you are my partner, you are my equal half in this life. I knew I was meant to be with you forever starting when I was 17 and I am so glad God blessed me with you. I love you Jon. Happy Anniversary.

Returning to the blog world

Shocking, I know. I have taken a 6th month break from blogging on my own page, but have found many fabulous blogs of others that I love to check in on. Of course the past 6 months has flown by, and much has happened in our lives, but the biggest change happened in the last few weeks as we "moved back" to our property on Paddock Lane to start our life here. The kids and animals are getting settled back in, the garden and pastures are growing like crazy, (come to think of it the kids are growing like crazy too!) and we are trying to keep cool. It feels like summer just started, but in reality school is less than a month from starting back up again. We just returned from our family vacation in Lake Tahoe and our 14th wedding anniversary is tomorrow. No wonder summer flies by. I'll try to post some pictures later tonight after we get home from a soccer camp for church. Don't worry my friends. I plan to not take such a long break this time.

View from a boy's lense

Jon and now Joseph love to take photos. Here are some they recently have taken from our Southern California trip.