i scream...you scream...

I am on a roll with my bucket list.  Last night we treated the girls (plus my Niece) to Baskin Robbins $1 Tuesday cones.  We should have known we were in for it with their ice cream selections alone.  How about choosing the most obnoxious flavors in existence?  2 of the 3 ended up on the floor within minutes of scooping (but I can't get on them too much for that since mine also became a sidewalk victim- don't think I didn't scoop that baby up and set her right back on the cone).  Trying to corral the girls, keeping the cones from dripping all over the place, wiping faces and hands over and over, keeping Leighton form picking old gum off the sidewalk...tons of fun right?

summer cons

Check these babies out...summer Cons...made of mesh...light as a feather...$5 thanks to Kohl's sale/coupons...no sweaty summer feet here folks...although they are walking a thin line between aqua socks and tennis...so I call them aqua-cons...and I love.

eating out

 

We can cross this one off our bucket list...eating dinner outside.  It was absolutely perfect...warm...amazing food... sunshine...diet coke...ahhhhh!  I won't tell you that one of my main motivators for eating outside was that I didn't want to sweep under the table (again).  I think this will be a summer repeat for sure. 

ellie humor

Somehow Ellie has totally gotten a little boy's sense of humor.  So of course bodily functions and body parts crack her up.  I have to admit it is very hard to not crack up right along with her.  Her latest favorite word is, the inevitable, "toot".  She is often heard going around the house singing... 
A, B, C, D, E, F, TOOT,  
Old MCDonald had a TOOT,
and Jesus loves the little TOOT.
That girl kills me.

summer 2011 bucket list

saltwater sandals

Nothing says summer like tan toes peeking out of saltwater sandals.  

fathers day

Happy Father's Day to an amazingly 

sacrificial, 

loving, 

patient, 

understanding, 

giving, 

encouraging, 

affectionate, 

fun-loving, 

gentle, 

and entertaining  

dad. 

summer days are here again

 summer food...

summer fun...

summer attire...

Yesterday really felt like summer.   The girls had a couple friends over and they spent most of the morning outside.  Fun in the form of water balloons, water hose, wading pool, water toys, and buckets.  They didn't even bother changing out of their clothes (except Ellie of course who has gone into her summer wardrobe of bathing suits only).  Then picnic lunch wrapped in towels, complete with watermelon and root beer floats.  I could really get used to this.

back to the fair

Once again, Brett proved his unending love and devotion to me as we headed up to the San Diego County Fair this week.  I have to admit it did seem like more of a fiasco this year than ever before.  The parking traffic about did us in.  I also have to admit, my cinniman roll and pita were a bit on the dry side (which is a touch disappointing since I've been looking forweard to them since last year).  I know he is hoping I won't insist on this family tradition next year but, just like the pains of labor, fair pains are hard to endure but easy to forget.  I'm sure by next June I'll be rearin' to go.

Fair 2011 Highlights

• The annual ferris wheel ride (Brooklyn is convinced she'll be up for the grand daddy of all ferris wheels next year)
• Repeat of 2010 food highlights (veggie pita, bbq corn, fried zucchini, cinnamon roll, snow cones)
• $3 admission

Fair 2011 Lowlights

• Leighton freaking out at the farm animals (I guess she pictured them being a little smaller, like in her picture books.  I guess we should've started with the piglets instead of the prize winning hog)
• Taking 2 hours to get from our front door to the front gate and then another 2 hours back home.
• Having to make a run for the port-a potty while waiting in endless traffic (note- never tell 4 and 6 year-olds not to look down the hole- they can't help themselves)

dreamin' of chocolate chip dream bars

 

I love bars.  

For several reasons.  

#1 get them all done in one batch- no waiting around in 12 minute intervals

#2 you can cut an extra big pieces for a really big treat or make little niblets to snack on through out the day

#3 i love layers- lots of textures/tastes but rightly divided

So here's a good one for all my bar lovin' friends.

(And yes, I do believe Diet Coke must go with everything)

da plane

So she just may be the world's youngest U-tuber.

What, you may ask, would an 18  month old be watching on U-tube?

Her latest fascination/obsession...

da plane.

She just can't get enough of them.

waffles and white sauce

 

just slicing these beauties made my mouth water

My parents took a trip to the valley this week and lookie what they brought back... yes, that's right folks, 2 right-off-the-tree, perfectly ripened by the California sun, yellow peaches.  Now to many this may be no big thing, but to this former valley girl gone so-cal girl, its a very big thing.  And because I love my family so much, I shared the deliciousness with them this morning, in the form of  "waffles with white sauce and peaches" a long standing family tradition (of course food related traditions are always the best).  Its actually a German Mennonite recipe introduced to me by my fruit farmin' grandparents (probably brought back form the old country many years ago). All I know is it was a favorite at the breakfast table in our house for sure.  And dad, the true German Mennonite, was always the one to whip it up (breakfast and sweets are his specialty- like father like daughter right?).  Almost makes me want to move back to the valley...almost.

Try it for yourself...you may never use syrup again.

Mennonite White Sauce for Waffles

1 c. milk

1/3 cup sugar 

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Heat the milk slightly over medium low heat, stirring constantly. (Don't let it get too hot)

Add sugar and stir until dissolved.

Pour a bit (1/4 cup or so) of the warm mixture into a bowl and add the corn starch stirring with a whisk until dissolved.

Return the corstarch mixture to the warm milk and stir until thickened.

Serve hot over hot waffles with fruit or jam.

photos of mom

There are always those photos of you and your mom that you remember forever.
The ones that stand frozen in time.
Where she looks so young and happy.
Where you can tell she truly loves you.
Where life looks simple and uncomplicated.

This is that picture for my sweet Leighton.
Who I hope will always look back on it fondly.
And know that I truly love her.
And see that despite the all complications of life
the simple truth is clear...
I am so blessed to be her mommy.

soul love

 I recently came across "The Duties of Parents" by J.C. Ryle.  Its a pretty old piece (I think from the 1800's), and pretty heady, but has some serious parenting gems in it.  He focuses on the verse, "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it."—Prov 22:6, and gives 17 practical ways we can apply this verse in training our children.  This one, number four, really challenged me this week.  If you're like me, it may take at least two readings to let it all sink in, and for you skimmers out there, I underlined the best stuff for you.

Train with this thought continually before your eyes — that the soul of your child is the first thing to be considered.
    Precious, no doubt, are these little ones in your eyes; but if you love them, think often of their souls.  No interest should weigh with you so much as their eternal interests.  No part of them should be so dear to you as that part which will never die. The world, with all its glory, shall pass away; the hills shall melt; the heavens shall be wrapped together as a scroll; the sun shall cease to shine.  But the spirit which dwells in those little creatures, whom you love so well, shall outlive them all, and whether in happiness or misery (to speak as a man) will depend on you.
    This is the thought that should be uppermost on your mind in all you do for your children.  In every step you take about them, in every plan, and scheme, and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that mighty question, "How will this affect their souls?"
    Soul love is the soul of all love.  To pet and pamper and indulge your child, as if this world was all he had to look to, and this life the only season for happiness — to do this is not true love, but cruelty.  It is treating him like some beast of the earth, which has but one world to look to, and nothing after death.  It is hiding from him that grand truth, which he ought to be made to learn from his very infancy, — that the chief end of his life is the salvation of his soul.
    A true Christian must be no slave to fashion, if he would train his child for heaven.  He must not be content to do things merely because they are the custom of the world; to teach them and instruct them in certain ways, merely because it is usual; to allow them to read books of a questionable sort, merely because everybody else reads them; to let them form habits of a doubtful tendency, merely because they are the habits of the day.  He must train with an eye to his children’s souls.  He must not be ashamed to hear his training called singular and strange.  What if it is? The time is short, — the fashion of this world passeth away.  He that has trained his children for heaven, rather than for earth, — for God, rather than for man, — he is the parent that will be called wise at last. 

linkin' up with katie...

she will dance

Tomorrow is Ellie's big ballet recital.   

I can't wait to see her dance.  

I know she may not do it perfectly.  

Her wispy hair may be falling out of her bun.  

She may be shaking her booty when its time to chasse.  

She may be late on her bow.  

But she will dance.  

And she will be proud.  

And she will love it.

And so will I.

pottery revelation

Last night I spent the evening with a dear friend of mine at a pottery class.  I've never really had an interest in pottery (too many other hobbies brewin' I guess), but I couldn't resist an evening out with a friend trying something new.  I had a great time (especially the stop for apple pie afterward!) and learned a few things about myself.

#1 There are artists, and there are crafters. I do consider myself a crafter, but an artist I am not.  I don't have an artistic temperament.  I love symmetry. The "organic, free flowing" vibe is not me at all.  I'm more likely to get inspired by someone else's work than I am to have an original idea.  Therefore, I am not an artist.

#2  I would rather have a vase/mug/platter form Anthropologie than pretty much anything I could create out of clay.  I think the whole pottery thing is a bit earthy for me.  I'm not an earthy girl either.

#3  If its not exactly how I pictured it in my mind, I don't want it.  The other ladies at my table thought I was nuts for scrapping my platter and whipping out a bowl 5 minutes before class was over.  But I wasn't about to keep working on something that wasn't turning out the way I wanted it to.  So I guess I'm a perfectionist.

#4 I need time to come up with ideas.  I have the greatest ideas for what I could make today.  I couldn't stop thinking of ideas.  But last night...no clue what to make.  Hence the following two items.  Which I hope will actually be likable when I get to glaze them- next week.

my girls

Oh how I love them...

This idea (as with many most of mine lately) was found on pinterest and executed with picnik.  

Check them both out...you will love (although your kitchen floor, laundry, and dirty bathrooms might not appreciate the neglect they cause)!

every story whispers his name...

I grew up going to church at least once a week.  On top of that, I attended a christian school from preschool through college.  So from Sunday school through Old Testament 101, I've been very exposed to the basic Bible stories.  Creation, Noah's ark, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Jonah ... I heard them dozens of times and knew them all.  But it was just a few months ago, as an adult reading the same stories to my girls out of this book, that I was able to see all of these familiar stories through a new lens, the lens of Jesus.  Read the intro to the Jesus Storybook Bible for yourself to get an idea about what I'm talking about.

Here's an excerpt from the story of Joseph.  I always thought it was just about Joseph and his brothers.  How he had a heart of forgiveness.  I never realized it was painting a picture of Jesus himself.  The true "forgiving prince" who would forgive the sins of the whole world.

I was amazed at the way each story touched my heart.  I only pray it has the same effect on the little ones I read it to and that they learn at a young age how much God loves them and has made a way to rescue them too.

Linkin' up with Katie here...

biker chicks

Brooklyn's new wheels

Summer vacation is officially in full swing and we really enjoyed our first week off of school.  One of Brooklyn's summer goals (other than earning a mermaid Barbie for excellent behavior) is to learn to ride her bike without trainers.  And as with any goal, there must be steps taken to reach that goal:

Step 1: realization that her 12' inch bike would only be appropriate if she was wearing a rainbow wig and red nose and worked under the Big Top
Step 2: trip to the thrift store in search of a more size appropriate bike (since birthday and Christmas are 7 and 9 months away, we had to go with the more conservatively priced bike).
Step 3: trip to Walmart for "temporary" training wheels (while in the bike section of the store, Brooklyn innocently asked, "Why didn't we just buy a bike here, these are all brand new.") PS- no trainers purchased, they were all out of the cheap ones and who wants to pay more for training wheels than you paid for the bike itself?!?
Step 3: duct taping the torn seat of the "new bike"
Step 4: borrowing trainers (did I mention this was a conservatively priced endeavor?)
Step 5: taking her for a spin
Steps 6+: will inevitably consist of several arguments with mom as to how she already knows how to ride and please take the training wheels off now, as well as numerous scrapes and bruises that will (hopefully) eventually end in life on two wheels.

Ellie's new wheels

(and yes it is completely appropriate to ride your bike in a tutu and flashing shoes)

grandmother's house

Brett commented the other day that he was living in his grandmother's house.  I wonder where he got that idea?  It certainly couldn't be the hanging plates or granny square pot holders (that I love). 

boy trouble

Having 3 daughters is definitely a challenge.  And unfortunately we know it will only become more challenging as the girls get older.  Especially when it comes to boys.  Brett dreads this.  This is a guy who teared up in the little Mermaid when King Triton had to give Ariel away.  Luckily, its still a ways away, so Brett will have time to buy a gun and learn kung fu.  But every now and the he gets a (bitter) foretaste of what's to come.

This weekend we were at the beach with some friends from church and Ellie was being followed around by her little friend-of-the-opposite-sex, Alex.  Ellie finally had to tell him, "Alex, I want to be alone."  To which Alex responds,  "I want to be alone to Ellie, but with you."  We're keepin' an eye on you Alex...