My Good King

Sorry. Just the usual stuff, only I'm not handling it so well. Hopefully things will get better as the summer progresses (although summers have a funny way of being anything BUT relaxing, lol! So, what have I been doing the past month? Not a lot. Just your usual: stuff for the P.T.A. lots of gardening (I'm a newbie at gardening, so it's time consuming) PAPER scrapping, for a change :) hosted Bunco (Hi, Samantha! Saw myself on your blog :) ) Trying to come up with some sort of a routine for the summer so we don't get bored (that's code for "so the kids don't drive me crazy!") Prepping for the end-of-the-year ceremony for the Sunday night class I teach at my church. "catch up" cleaning in the kitchen and bedroom cleaned up the back patio Ashley's graduation from 8th grade (more on that later ... boo hoo! :) ) So, nothing earth-shattering, but I'm overwhelmed just the same. I was on serious burnout yesterday, so I promised myself a three...

I have no excuse for not blogging. Just lazy. Sorry. I hope everyone had a relaxing Memorial Day spent enjoying our wonderful freedom which has come at a great price. I am truly so thankful for all the brave men and women who have given their lives so I can sit here comfortably in my own home and write this post and live the life of comfort that I do. And a special "Thank You" to all those who have served or are currently serving in the Armed Forces (including your entire family). I know it is truly a sacrifice, and I do appreciate it. I got to fulfill a little dream of mine last weekend, thanks to my family and a family friend. For over a year now I have wanted to take our family to the beach and have a family photoshoot. I just LOVE the beach, and sunset is the PERFECT time to take photos--the lighting is incredible. I just wanted to experiment and play around creatively to get some good shots. Well, I didn't get the shots I had in my mind--I wanted more "candid st...

This was my lovely Ashley when I picked her up from school today. Does she have "teenager" written all over her face or what?! She's come home like this before and I just think it's so cute. :) Apparently one of her friends didn't get to contribute and was upset that her lip print was not included on Ashley's face. Is this some new fad I'm unaware of? Or did I miss out on this when I was growing up (that's entirely possible, lol!)? And the shirt she's wearing is from one of her best friends. They went on the D.C. trip last week, and she didn't get to go, so her friend brough her a souvenir. How sweet, huh?! (I'm sure it helped that the T-shirts were 7 for $10.00!).

Has it really been almost a month since I've posted? Oh my gosh. Sorry about that. I really have nothing to blame it on except laziness when the kids go to bed. But ... a lot has happened ... ... including my 40th birthday. It was a lot better than 30. I remember when I turned 30 I had sort of an identity crisis--as long as I was in my twenties, I was "young" and "hip." (well, in all honesty, I was never young and hip, but it was easier to fool myself into believing I was, lol!) . When I turned thirty, I remember thinking, "Oh my gosh, I'm OLD!!" I remember that thought haunting me for days before and after my actual birthday. This time it was like, "Yeah, whatever. Another year older ... another year wiser. It's fine." The best part of getting older is that I really am mellowing with age--things that used to stress me out beyond belief will hardly cause me to bat an eye now. And I truly like myself way more now than I did at 30. I...

Oh my gosh!! I am soooooo over-the-top excited right now ... because our school had a Jog-A-Thon today, and I got to be the official photographer!!! Yeah!! It was totally nervewracking (because I'm sooo a novice at this, and what if all the pictures turn out blurry, over/underexposed, if I forget to take certain pictures, etc.). I kept thinking as I was clicking away, "Everyone is counting on ME, little 'ol me, to take some good pictures, and I'm kind of learning as I go. I am going to die of embarrassment if they all come out badly. And I'll be so sad because I won't get asked to take pictures anymore." :( Well, the PTA President (Hi, Mary Jo!) and I previewed some of the pictures after the Jog-A-Thon and I did get some good ones. But when I looked at home, some of the pictures came out blurry (don't panic, Mary Jo, we still got a bunch of good ones). As I'm looking at these blurry photos, I kept asking myself why--then I figured it ou...

I went to a lovely Women's Retreat with my very sweet sister-in-law this past weekend. I always look forward to this retreat, and this year I decided I want to make a mini album of what the retreat means to me. So most of my free time (in between catching up on laundry and housework :) ) has been spent creating these pages that I thought I'd share with you. I'm really excited about this album because I'm going to create it all digitally and attempt to create my very own "real" book, with real book binding materials and scrapbook paper. So here are some of the pages I've made so far: And check it out: I get to go on another Women's Retreat with a bunch of ladies I used to work with ... this weekend :) I am soooo excited! So I will be really holy when I come back, lol!

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. I've been knee deep in gardening and PTA stuff. I LOVE being back at "MY" school as a volunteer :) In a way, it kind of feels like home. It was a big part of my life for six years, and it feels good to have a "place" on that campus and "belong" again. And gardening ... we haven't done ANY landscaping to the backyard (and very little in the front yard) for the entire six years we've been here. BUT ... this year I decided I would like to have a decent view to look at, so I've been very busy planning a garden. It's still in the very beginning stages, but here are a "few" pictures to give you an idea. So far I've only taken pictures of the backyard. The part of the backyard I'm by far the proudest of is my "Herb Garden." I planned it and constructed it myself (well, Carlos helped me, too). Isn't it cute?! And Ashley and I have "stolen" herbs already :) We als...

An acquaintance shared this with me a couple of years ago. She didn't know it, but I was going through a really tough time--one of the toughest I have ever faced. This spoke to me in such a powerful way, and I have thought of it many times since. Found it online and wanted to share. Hope it blesses someone like it blessed me. I had a new amazement for God's Word after reading this, and I wonder what other amazing analogies can be found in the Bible that I haven't discovered yet. Here goes: Malachi 3:3 says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curio...

This was emailed to me today by a friend, and I got such a kick out of it that I want to pass on the laughter :) If you've already seen this, just ignore it. 25 REASONS I OWE MY MOTHER 1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE."If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finishedcleaning." 2. My mother taught me RELIGION."You better pray that will come out of the carpet." 3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL."If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle ofnext week!" 4. My mother taught me LOGIC."Because I said so, that's why." 5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC."If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me." 6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT."Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident." 7. My mother taught me IRONY"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about." ...

Just a quick post tonight. It dawned on me a few days ago that I'm already behind in my "Year . In . Review" layouts, so I put February's together. Believe it or not, for such a simple concept, these layouts took about three hours combined. I couldn't believe it! Anyway, these photos depict the highlights of February. Maybe tomorrow I'll do March :) (I wonder how many hours that will take?!) Just in case you're wondering, Carlos is still sick--no fever, just a sore throat now. Hopefully he'll go back to school on Tuesday ('cause I need some "me" time before I turn into a monster, lol!). 'Cause as you all know, life is all about me, right ;) Happy Monday, y'all!

That's how I feel right now. I haven't had "girl" time with a bunch of women for almost two months now (for different reasons). I have, however, really been craving it ... to go out with a bunch of my Christian friends, and just have fun and hang out--and talk about girl stuff. I had the perfect opportunity this morning. I was soooooo excited. My sister-in-law had a tea party at her house. We set up and prepared as much food as possible yesterday. I made arrangements for childcare for Carlos (it was a mother-daughter tea). She was going to have a Christian speaker that I was looking forward to. I was just waiting for the moment when I could arrive and enjoy the fellowship with other women. She had invited about thirty total (mothers and daughters included). I LOVE being in a roomful of Christian women just discussing life and the Lord. LOVE it. And then ... ... about 5 o'clock this morning, Carlos comes to me (in bed, of course) and tells me his tum...

In case you're confused about the title, it's because we went exploring new territory like Lewis and Clark (only somehow I don't think our exploration will make the front page, lol!). We went back to my latest favorite hangout on Monday ... and we had company!! My sister-in-law, her aunt, and a bunch of my nieces and nephews came along for the fun. That was sooo cool!! My sister-in-law overheard one of the kids ask (as they exited the car), "What are we going to do here, anyway?" They asked again later, and my sister-in-law very simply replied, "We're going to have a picnic." Here's a picture of us enjoying our picnic soon after we arrived. As soon as they finished eating, one by one they scampered off into the tall weeds to explore and discover. You could hear their laughter and conversation, but you couldn't see them :) I, of course, couldn't resist the urge to snap a "few" (emphasis on few ) photos, so this is them scamper...

LONG VERSION: About six years ago I got one of those Betty Crocker cookbooks that they used to sell in the grocery stores in the check-out aisle. It was a crock-pot cookbook, and being a working woman in those days, I had recently discovered the wonders of crock-pot cooking (the 15-minute prep time, the easy clean-up, and the wonderful aroma of a home-cooked meal that greeted me as soon as I walked in the door after a long day at work) . I tried one 0f the recipes, and it was DELICIOUS. So tasty. Then we moved, and the cookbook became lost in all our stuff for several years. I went through all our boxes (finally, lol!) last year, and still didn't find it. I mourned the loss of that wonderful recipe, and resigned myself to life without that wonderful soup. Then, eureka!! Last week, I was looking for an invoice, scouring all the paperwork in the garage and our house, when lo and behold, in the back corner of a cabinet, a mini-cookbook caught my eye! Yeah! I found it. I made it today,...

We went to see this movie last night. I don't remember the last time I saw a movie on opening day. It was fun, and not nearly as crowded as I thought. I HIGHLY recommend seeing it, by the way. The creativity is amazing. All that to say this: Even though we loved the movie, our real treat came as we were walking back to our car after the movie. A little boy (maybe four years old) walking in front of us picked a daisy from a flowerbed, held it close to his mouth, and started screaming at the flower: "WHO!" "HELLO!" "WHO WHO!" It was sooooo adorable. We were cracking up. That made my day. I'm sure he was absolutely convinced there was a little world in that flower :)

Saw these plates on a California license plate and thought of you today, Ronalyn: You're a mom and you're from Hawaii (and if I'm not mistaken, your heart is still there :) ). We all seem to be having a hard time adjusting to Daylight Savings Time. We all three took naps today, and we've been lethargic all week. Hopefully we'll catch up by Sunday. I'm not liking how lethargic I feel most of the time--makes doing even the simplest chores seem like climbing Mt. Everest. Seriously. And one more teeny tiny piece of info: we are enjoying simple dinners while Carlito is gone. Tonight we had a baked potato with a bunch of toppings (sour cream, bacon bits, cheese, and chili) and celery with peanut butter. And Ashley prepared it all herself (she learned from me how "difficult" it is to bake potatoes in the oven, lol!). She's going to be quite the cook by the time she's college-age. Kudos to her!

I got tagged by Ronalyn, so these are my 7 random facts. If you get to the end of this post and you are dying to know more about me--which I'm sure you are ;), just click here for 8 more, lol! I dream of making my love of photography into a business in about 10 years or so (after I take some photography classes and hone my skills, lol!). I just LOVE capturing memories. I spent a year in France as an exchange student in college and visited Spain and Italy (Italy twice). It was one of the most awesome experiences of my life, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but I was really glad to get back home to America when the year was up :) When I was little, my favorite books were the “Little House” series. I was completely fascinated that people actually lived like that. I was so enthralled with that way of life that I used to wish desperately that I could have been born in that time period. Now I look back and think how crazy I was … and how much I would miss all my technology and kitc...

WARNING: MANY PICTURES!! We never go on day trips, but this week (to take the kids' minds off the fact that Daddy is gone--in the Philippines), I took the kids to Santa Barbara. I made it a surprise (which I don't often do), and we had a relaxing day together. And, of course, I took a gazillion pictures (actually 64). So, after a lot of painstakingly difficult choices, I have narrowed the pictures I will post to "only" about 10. So, family, sit back and enjoy, and friends, skim through them quickly :) The day started with the L-O-N-G ride (2 1/2 hours to be exact), and the proverbial "Are we there yet?" with a little twist: Ashley would ask "Are we halfway there yet?" Are we 3/4 of the way?" etc. You get the picture. They were great in the car until the last 20 minutes or so. We started our time there with a nice little picnic at this really neat park. Here are some pictures: This picture doesn't really do the park justice, but it will giv...