summer fun schedule

got the mid-summer blues? 

kids askin' ya every day 

"what are we doing today?"  

well, here is a little pick-me-up to help you plan a little something fun for each day of the week.  

**by the way...my kids ask me this almost everyday, but i DO.NOT.HAVE. the mid-summer blues....who doesn't really love summer (especially when you are a teacher). 

 

• make something MONDAY
• treat day TUESDAY (this is their 2nd favorite day)
• wheeling WEDNESDAY
• try something new THURSDAY
• field trip FRIDAY (this is favorite day)

try clicking on the picture to enlarge and print out.  if you have trouble just email me and i'll send you a copy.

xoxo

long story short...we moved

the title says it all...we moved...this is partly why i haven't blogged in soooooo long...well, many reasons (selling a house, moving two times, going back to work full time, etc-just to name a few).  BUT....it is summer...my best time to blog...so, here i am!
the short version is...we sold our house in huntington and moved to newport...a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a garage and a great shed in the {AMAZING} backyard to a 2 bedroom apartment with 2 1/2 baths (two story townhouse) with NO BACKYARD...uh, come again...did you say no backyard?  YES!  oh, then we moved to another apartment less than one year later...are you as tired reading this as i was living it??  well, the first thing you must know though (all 2 bloggers that may happen upon this post) is that GOD IS GOOD, GOD IS FAITHFUL....never did i think we'd be selling our house, but GOD always has different plans.  we LOVE where we currently live and are thoroughly enjoying the fabulous amenities...two HUGE pools (until the other four come in), fitness room, awesome park, great barbecue areas, lush landscape, etc...and {thank you lord} we have a garage...
i didn't take many pics of the old place...but here are some of our journey over the past year..

the entry way-my amazing hubs, the painter, painted cool stripes

and here are BIG and hubs painting it back before we moved out

moving day...

the day we moved in there was a chris tomlin concert at the nearby concert venue...amazing to see lines of cars most likely filled with christian people...it was just a cool sight

whale watching

our neighbors gave us some free tickets to go whale watching from redondo beach.  it was a beautiful, brisk day in january and we were all set to see some whales-this migration season has been phenomenal so far and we had high hopes.  we started off by seeing some sea lions basking in the sun.  we all thought that was cool.  i know these creatures live in the vast ocean, but it is still trippy to actually see them.  we moved around to various parts of the ocean and still saw nothing.  about an hour and a half into the journey we spotted our first whale.  it was amazing to see up close.  then, on the other side of the boat we saw another one.  it was perfect, as if they were taking turns for us.  we watched for about an1/2 hour and then had to return.  on the return ride the captain spotted a bunch of dolphins...they were splashing around...as we got closer we noticed there were about 1,000 of them, at least.  i am NOT kidding!!  we coasted right in the middle of them-i had little boo and mark had miss BIG.  we were ALL amazed.  i was so happy the girls were able to see some of God's creation (and happy i was too)! 

the sea lions basking...

some of richard simmon's friends eating granola bars...just love the hats on the girls!

all the splashing are dolphins playing in the water (you can even see some underneath the water).  this was only a fraction of what we saw.  i was in much amazement and forgot to take the camera out in time. 

make what you have

in my quest to be cheap save money (and rid the pantry of food about to be outdated), i have decided to make dinners this week from items we already have.  this means that i did not plan the meals for the week and then shop accordingly (which is my usual "type A-organized-list-making" way of doing things).  i didn't even shop, except for some staples: veggies, fruit, and milk.  should be interesting!
monday night:
the family was not very hungry, so we just had...
steamed brown rice
green beans
apple sauce
mandarin oranges (yes, from a can...shhh)

tuesday night:
curry beef with rice (crock pot style-ground beef/turkey, cumin, curry, brown sugar, sour cream, milk, onion, and garlic)
steamed artichokes

wednesday night:
one of my favorites as a kid-mom's recipe
chicken with rice (chicken, rice, cream of mushroom soup, onion soup dry mix, chicken broth)
veggies (a must every night!)
apple sauce

thursday night:
either we will have left overs from wednesday night or i will defrost the spaghetti sauce and noodles i made last week and i'll make a spaghetti casserole

friday night:
ooh-la-la....we always treat ourselves and go out to a restaurant or fast food type dinner

saturday night:
barbecue chicken sandwiches (crock pot style)
veggies
baked beans or pinto beans
salad
chocolate pudding for dessert

sunday night:
chili with rice
veggies
corn bread or biscuits

TIPS to SURVIVING BEING a 

WORKING MOM while in the KITCHEN:

through much frustration over the last few years of spending too much time in the kitchen and not enough time with my family, i came to the conclusion i need to find ways to save money and be more productive (and use some creativity) when planning meals for my family.  i have been more determined to use my days "off" (mondays and tuesdays) more productively.  these are a few ideas i came up with.  they aren't big life-changing "wow, i've never heard that one before" ideas, but they have saved me from completely freaking out many nights.  i hope some of these help!

TIP #1:  make double or triple batches of food!
i made a huge pot of spaghetti and sauce a week ago and divided the left overs into two containers and froze.  defrost and put in the oven to warm up with some sprinkled cheese on top and viola!  a meal already complete.
TIP #2:  meal swap with a friend or neighbor!
my dear friend becky and i swap meals once a week.  i cook two batches on monday and take one to her family to enjoy and she reciprocates on wednesdays (it is so nice to come home from work and know that she is bringing us dinner that night)
TIP #3:  don't be afraid to use frozen meals once in awhile (there are some healthy frozen meals, such as chicken sandwiches from costco-add fresh lettuce, tomato, and mayo and a salad or side dish and you have a good meal)
TIP #4:  buy in bulk or when on sale...
this way you will have food on hand (staples) to make meals a bit easier...such as chili and rice or chili stackers (crunched up chips, chili, cheese-not the healthiest, but it is fast, cheap, and good)
TIP #5:  rotate your meals
unless your family is really picky...don't be afraid to do the same meals each week, or with a little variation (taco tuesday, spaghetti wednesdays, thai chicken thursdays, etc...you get the idea).  this way, you don't have to create some new meal every single night, every single week.  it can be hard to plan out healthy meals for your family.  why not just stick with what works for a few weeks and then shake it up the last two weeks of the month.  "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
TIP #6:  find the nearest little ceasar's pizza (haha, you laugh, but i am totally serious)
little ceasar's pizza has cheese or pepperoni "hot and ready" pizzas for $5-- a life saver for tiring days-i HEART this one big time!
TIP #7:  do some research on restaurants
find the local restaurants that may have deals for kids eating free or half off with an adult's meal.  this way, if you want to go out, you can still save some money and not worry about kitchen clean up afterward (most of the time my kids don't eat all there meal anyway)

i am sure there are more...let me know what you do to save time and money...

first day nightmare

so my girlies started preschool and pre-k this past week.  we have all been so excited for it for weeks, probably months.  on wednesday night, the night before, i packed up their bags of extra clothes, crib sheets for nap time, etc.  we laid out their clothes, had them wake up early on thursday so i could do their hair, take pics, eat breakfast with them, etc before i went to work.  mark has the blessing of taking them each day.  well i took the new car, liberty, as we have affectionally named her, because it gets better gas mileage than the toyota.  as i am just getting ready to transition to the 57 freeway, i receive a phone call from mark.  he goes on to tell me that i have taken the only set of keys to the toyota, the car he was taking the girls to school in......silence.....crickets......then tears.  i couldn't believe it.  i did not have time turn around and almost panicked.  fortunately, grandma valla lives close by and mark was eventually able to take the girls to school...one at a time because we had only one car seat.  the girls had to flip a coin for the first ride.  august won!  all-in-all the girls had a fabulous day and i was able to pick them up and take them for some ice cream afterward.  at least the first day is overwith...phew...we survived.

this is the funniest video and so incredibly typical of our girlies!

how to live in the last days, part 1

this past sunday our pastor preached from 1 peter 4:7.  the title of the sermon was 

"how to live in the last days, part 1: prayer."   

it was such a challenging sermon.  

"the end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded 

for the sake of your prayers."  1 peter 4:7

it was such a needed reminder that my prayer life needs so much work.  

here were the three points:

1.  don't trade your prayer time for distractions

how many times have i been in the first two minutes of prayer and my mind wonders onto what i have to do later in the day or what i want to buy when i go to the grocery store or that i need to clean up that small milk spill on my kitchen table.  whatever the distractions may be, satan will try to use anything he can to keep me from spending time in prayer.  the only thing the disciples asked jesus to teach them was to pray.  that says a little something doesn't it??!!  it may seem like something so simple, but it can be so difficult a task.

2.  stick with it so you can get better at it.

our pastor gave this great example:  have you ever heard a teacher tell a child he just might as well put the book down because he'll never learn to read...all because he pronounced a word incorrectly?? you would never hear someone say this.  in fact, you would hear the teacher give more encouragement to keep at it.  the same can be said of prayer.  if at first you don't succeed...try, try again.  really though...just because i was distracted in prayer one day doesn't mean i am going to give up on it forever.

3.  don't go through your day backwards!

read your bible and pray EARLY or when you're UNDISTRACTED.  jesus set up a model of not only how, but also when we should pray.  he would first spend time alone with god, then go to his disciples and then "tackle" the crowds.  how many times have we done this model backwards?  we "tackle" the world first (and get beat down), then go to our "disciples" (and still find discouragement as we complain to our friends, family, spouse, etc), and then finally, we go to god to find relief. 

the challenge i took from this was to keep working on my prayer life and 

to seek god early in the morning.  

some suggestions for staying focused:

*keep a pad of paper by your bible, so as you become distracted with ideas you can quickly write them down

*try using a prayer journal...this is what i do.  i write down my prayers.  i love doing this because i can go back and read my thoughts and see how god has answered prayer over time.

*wake up early (while the kids and hubs are still asleep if possible)

*find a good place with few distractions to park yourself.

lastly, here is a good model i like to use for praying (the ACTS model):

Adoration is to adore God, to worship him and to fulfill the commandment to love him with all of our heart, mind and soul. As we spend time in adoration, we praise God for who He is - our Creator, our Sustainer and our Redeemer.

Confession allows us to clear away the things in the relationship between you and God which are displeasing to Him.  All of us have sinned. St John writes in his epistle "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (I Jn 1:8,9) 

Thanksgiving.  From childhood we are brought up to say "Thank You" when someone does something for us, or gives us a gift.  Each moment God is blessing us, every minute we can recall the wonderful things that God has done for us, and the gifts that we have been given. And so, we need to be constantly thanking God for his blessings. In writing to Timothy, Paul makes it clear that we also need to be giving thanks for everyday, worldly things " I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—  for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." 1 Tim 2:1. 

Supplication or Intercession. Finally we come to ask God for our needs and the needs of others. There are many demands on our prayer time - many topics and issues that we could pray for, so we need to choose, and to be specific.

Pray for others.   In the epistles of St Paul, we read of him praying for those he has led to faith, and asking them also to pray for him. So, you too can pray for other Christians, and encourage them to pray for you. Pray for your familiy members, and for neighbours and friends. It's also good to pray for those who don't know Jesus to come to faith - many Christians have come to believe in Christ through the prayers of others.

Pray for world issues : for peace in difficult situations, for leaders and those in influential positions, for global issues such as care of God's environment, justice for the poor, relief of suffering in less developed countries, and other issues that come to you.

Pray for your own needs too. It's easy to neglect this, but Jesus encourages us to do so in the Lord's Prayer - the model for prayer that He gave us.

august's first angel game

on june 7th, the angels (my FAVORITE team) had a terrific give away-newsboy hats.  mark and i both love wearing them and thought they'd be a cute addition to our hat collection.  so, we found dirt cheap tickets, loaded the girls, and headed off to anaheim stadium.  we arrived at the game on time, got our hats, got seated, and were ready to enjoy the game.  unfortunately, i got super sick and spent at least three innings...well, let's just say, i was not watching the game.  anyway, we ended up leaving around the 4th or 5th inning (you know i MUST be sick to be leaving my boys in red before the game is over).  the girls had their first taste of a memorable game and mark and i scored some seriously cute hats.  a few days later i was feeling better...thankfully!

morning devotions

last saturday was such a magnificently warm day that we went outside in the morning.  i grabbed my bible and coffee and then...i looked over and so did my little shadow.  it absolutely warmed my heart. she told me she was "reading her bible."  august on the other hand just blew bubbles. :)

my lil sicky

about a week ago mark woke up about 4:30 and said that addison felt really warm.  her temperature was about 102.7.  i have a history of spiking fevers and addison seems to have gotten that from me.  so we didn't mess around and got her meds immediatelly.  the fever didn't really go away and actually got up to 104.2, so i took her in.  it turns out it was the flu-who knew!  she didn't have any other symptoms.  the fever lasted for close to 72 hours, but she was fine (thank you, Lord).  while i was at the dr. i opened up a parenting magazine and found a list of the "Top OC Public Schools: 2010 API Ranking."  for those that don't know, this is the score attached to your school after taking the state standardized tests.  the higher the score, the better.  anyway, our school was ranked at 135, so i had to take a picture.

there we are...#135- brea country hills elementary-score: 895

my poor little baby, just after the nasal swab to check for the flu-not such a happy camper, but she was so BRAVE!!!

new year's goals

i am not one to make new year's resolutions...partly because i think they are lame and partly because i know i will never keep them.  so, this year i decided to make goals for a new year.  goals that i hope to work on the entire year.  as i was thinking about some new goals the Lord reminded me of a passage:

"through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.  the Lord is my portion says my soul, therefore i hope in Him!  the Lord is good to those who wait upon Him, to the soul who seeks Him."

Lamentations 3:22-25 

His mercies are new every morning-that means each day is a new start with God!  no matter how badly i have failed Him (or myself) the day before-i always wake up and have the opportunity of a fresh start.  what a wonderful promise from our Lord.  His compassions NEVER fail!  they are new every morning.

so, here they are, in no real particular order:

1.  read my Bible and pray more

2.  spend more time with girls and not worry about all that needs to be done

3.  show mark how much i love him

4.  give more...time, $, etc????

5.  get involved with missions

6.  get back on work out schedule

7.  eat more salad and veggies

8.  spend less money

9.  reach out to friends

10.  play guitar more

11.  pray for girls more specifically

12.  share gospel with others more boldly

13.  memorize scripture

i am sure the list will grow over time and i'd like to revisit it often, but now, i'll stick with my initial list.  so, what are your goals???  

happy new year!

blogging-where for art thou???

oh blogging world...where have you been?  oh wait, you have always been here, it is i that has been astray.  even though i have been posting a few pics here and there, i feel like i have been away for such a long time-from writing on mine, to checking out others.  i love browsing others' blogs for ideas for crafts, decorating, baking, etc and i feel like i haven't had the time-or made the time-to do that.  so, i am spending some time today browsing and writing..yippee.  

i love naptime!  happy blogging!

here are some of my favorite sites to check out:

tatortots and jello

two shades of pink

the creative crate

the pioneer woman

ashley's thrifty living

wonderfully made

dandelion and grey

the craft fair

i recently participated in a craft fair at my church.  i was really nervous and had a hard time figuring out just why.  i think it was because i was selling items that i had made and had really put so much of my time and heart into.  i was worried that people wouldn't like the items.  it ended up being so much fun and god really blessed me (all money i made is going toward christmas gifts for the fam).  here is a glimpse of my table.  i know it looks a bit like a hot mess of items, but i assure you, it was organized and cute (oh, that sounded so humble, didn't it).

worth reading

i am sure that many of you have heard of the sex trade trafficking of young girls in india, kenya, etc.  my cousin is running in a 1/2 marathon to help raise awareness and funds to rescue some of these girls (each rescue costs upwards of $2000) for an organization called children's hopechest.  she had a link on her blog to read this article.  she said she was there when it happened and it was amazing and sounds completely GOD orchestrated..  check out the link below for an inspiring story.  what will god do through you today???

http://wearethatfamily.com/2010/10/miracles-happen-when-you-speak-up/

one of those days

today we had one of those great, amazing, talk-about-for-a-long-time, kind of days-well, ok, technically it was only the late afternoon, but whatever!  anyway, after feeling so sick this weekend and being cooped up in the hot house, we decided to take a short drive to the beach.  we did our usual drive thru starbucks and then down to the coast.  we happened to pull up on the side of PCH, nestled our HUGE SUV in between a few cars just south of goldenwest.  we weren't planning on getting out, but the meter read "24"-which meant we had 24 FREE minutes until it would run out.  we quickly hopped outta the car and made our trek down the sand to the water.  the girls were so excited to be going to the beach (august thinks the water is literally "the beach").  i had put the camera in my pocket before we left, not to take pics, but because i was rushing and didn't think to just unload it onto the kitchen table.  so, i started snappin' away.  i got some of the most adorable candid pictures of the girls (the best kind in my opinion).  the weather was perfect (81 degrees at 5:45) and the sunset was breathtaking-"the magic hour," i think photographers call it.  even laypersons, like myself, can take reasonably good shots.  after spending about 30 minutes we decided it was time to leave.  mark and i walked hand in hand as the girls ran back across the sand toward the car.  we just looked at each other with HUGE smiles on our faces, knowing that the other was thinking this was the best part of our day, weekend, even.  it was only 35 or 40 minutes, but it was what we needed to remind us of how blessed we are.  the pics in the blog header are from that day and the following pics too!

so stinkin' cute

making sand angels...i decided to join her

then august decided to join us

i just love this girl

i am the luckiest girl!!!!  look at this hunk!

 

the tent trailer decked out

so my in-laws have come to stay with us a few times and...if you know our house, we don't have a whole lotta extra room.  so, we pop up the trailer and it becomes instant guest house (electricity included).  i tried to spice it up a bit for them so it wasn't so old-school drab.  unfortunately, i only took one picture, but here it is...the table area (which also converts into a twin bed-have i mentioned how cool this trailer is).

mark and amy's b-day

mark's bday is august 5th and amy's is august 23rd, so we decided to combine birthdays while they were down visiting.  the kids get along so well and we always have a blast, especially the boys, who surf/golf/raquetball/etc...any and all activity we will let them do.

the kids had fun watching movies and riding bikes

this is my little august-always doing funny stuff.  i found her just laying on the 

grass by the car.  just chillin'

summer camping trip #1

please don't take the following as complaining...but rather as a humerous story of a family vacation gone oh-so-wrong!  ENJOY!

well, well!  nothin' like a fresh breath of air in the mountains to start off a camping trip.  we were really looking forward to this trip.  because of the lousy weather this summer, i insisted we go to a camping location with warmer weather, unlike the beaches.  we decided on silverwood lake, about 30 minutes from lake arrowhead.  it was a beautiful location.  we set up camp, after spending a few hours with mark's parents in lake arrowhead 

(thanks for lunch and fun, smith seniors!). 

After arriving back at the campsite we decided to go for a bike ride to lake silverwood.  it looked like a short, fun ride and we figured we could swim a little in the lake and play in the sand with the girls.  a good photo opt for mom.  in reality, it was a steeply downhill and long ride.  at least the weather was nice and we were having fun, laughing as we were thinking about how we would get back to our camp site via this bike path that no real human could ever climb.  once we got to the lake and played a bit we realized we should head home because we needed to take the road home, rather than the bike path, and if we didn't head out quickly we may become the next family on the dreaded show "i survived" (which i can no longer watch because i have nightmares of people breaking in-no joke, i locked my bedroom door one night because i was so frightened-and mark was right beside me-it wasn't as if he was gone)  and as usual, i digress...well, the wind had kicked up (about 30 mph at least) by this time and the ride was so hard.  the first hill was such a killer that i had to get off the bike and walk it, with august on the back.  it was hilarious, though!  we laughed the whole way and i kept putting words in the mouths of the people that casually drove by staring at the poor woman walking up this hill you wouldn't want your worse enemy to walk up-with august on the back...did i mention that already???!!!. we finally made it up the hill and i was bound and determined to make it home ON THE BIKE...and i did-eat your heart out you multi-geared mountain biker people-here comes rebekah, the single speed up and downhill speedster!

so, we got everything ready and started making dinner.  the girls were loving the tent and august even stopped to pose for a picture by it (so cute!)  this was before i put my children in a panic after seeing a spider the size of my fist and nearly screaming bloody murder.  i kid you not!  i thougt it was s scorpion or a tarantula.  did i mention i HATE SPIDERS almost as much as i HATE SNAKES??? oh it gets better though-i realized the girls had not closed the tent all the way and i imagined all the critters that had crawled in our sleeping bags awaiting us that night.

dinner was interesting, as it was pretty dark and lighting up lanterns only attracted the bugs.  so we pretty much ate in near darkness.  it only got better though-i kept hearing something in the bushes next to the table and finally saw a mouse crawl out.  it was cute, since it was from a distance...until i realized we were in the mountains and mice were SNAKE.FOOD. oh, i HATE SNAKES with a passion, even my own kids will tell you that (addison always says, "we don't like snakes, mommy").  but, we prevailed and sat by the firepit...only we had forgotten to get wood, so we just stared up at the stars, drinking coffee under the moonlight, until august fell asleep in my lap (which didn't take long).

we finally decided to go to sleep, about 9:30 or 10.  the neighboring campsite was pretty loud, but with a 10:00 quiet time, we figured they would close down camp and go to bed shortly.  oh how we were wrong.  by 1:30am they WERE STILL GOING STRONG and i was nearly in tears.  i was so tired and could not sleep.  mark finally got my iPod from the car and i was able to fall asleep shortly after (thank you, apple).

the next day was not what we had initially planned, but it was fun nonetheless.  we went to lake silverwood and rented a kayak.  we were able to fit all 4 of us on it and mark paddled us around for about an hour.  

after a short time of playing we went back to the campsite for a much needed nap-oh, did i forget to mention, this was mark's b-day???  so i was hoping for a super special birthday for him.  it was so hot in the tent and the girls were not going to sleep, which meant mommy and daddy were not going to sleep.  let's just say, i am glad CPS was not called.  oh, don't mess with mommy when she is uber tired!!!!    we were so frustrated we finally decided to close up camp and leave-TWO DAYS EARLY!!!

in spite of it all, it was truly a fun family trip...griswald style, of course.  we ended up spending a few days with mark's parents in beaumont, where he was able to enjoy a belated birthday dinner at our favorite place-spaghetti factory-and a golf session with his dad.  now, if we could just perfect the art of camping with TWO TODDLERS!