Up in the Air

 
Well, we took the plunge and bought canvas prints. It was our first time and mostly I'm happy with them. Of course, I can always nit-pick my own shots but it's fun to see 4 healthy children smiling back at me when I sit on the couch. This is one of the pictures from that day. I was just fooling around with different ideas. There aren't any crazy shots on our wall; they are very traditional.

Pics

 
It's that time of the year again. It was time to replace our pictures hanging on our wall. I went to our favorite spot to snap some pics of the children. It had been awhile (too hot to go anywhere) so I felt a bit out of practice. The kids LOVE taking pictures though. . . a bit too much. They don't get that from me, well. . . I have trained them to love being the subject when I am behind the lens but they sure don't get the need to be photographed from me. I am just fine on the other side of the camera.

Bounce

 
The kids had fun on this. We need one in our backyard. They would expend a lot of energy.

Lodi Family

 
Last weekend we went camping for the weekend. We were able to stay at a very fun KOA campground along the Delta. As we passed through Lodi, Carter was fixated on the name, so the remainder of our travels consisted of him belting out, "You're momma Lodi, I'm Carter Lodi, we're the Lodi Family." After a dinner stop we arrived at the campground, in the dark. Our setting up camp consisted of the kids climbing a tree, the tent trailer stuck in a hole we could not see and me yelling at them periodically to stay out of the way so we wouldn't run them over as we unhitched, rehitched and re-unhitched the trailer. After a rocky beginning, we were able to wake up to a very fun, well-lit campground. We were able to swim, go down a water slide, jump on a big, bouncy inflated tarp and use never-ending squirt guns.

Seeds

 
We harvested our sunflower. The two oldest put some in an envelope for next year and the rest was soaked in salt water overnight for roasting the next day. They're actually pretty good. They're not as salty as the ones you would buy so your lips don't shrivel up like a prune.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

 
Jacie helped me make cupcakes for her birthday, or actually, I helped her. She's getting quite proficient in the kitchen. Afterwards we made some cupcakes for grown-ups. Let's just say that Jacie was more helpful than Blake was.

Chalk

 
 
 
 
 
I don't know if I've ever put more than one picture on here without it being a collage. We had lots of fun the other day. Turn the sprinklers on and get the chalk out and you'd be amazed at the fun.

Jacie

 
We recently celebrated her 9th birthday. I can't believe how fast it is going. She is such a sweet girl. She is creative. She usually gets all the kids to play school or Dr. or whatever. She'll usually give them different names. Often I hear her calling Carter either Michael or Collin or Austin. She's a peacemaker. If there is a struggle over things, she will be the first to acquiesce. She's my shopping buddy. Whenever I go shopping (errands or otherwise), she's the first to volunteer to go with me. She has a pure heart and desires to follow the rules. Her memory amazes me. I barely can remember first names of people, she will often remember people's middle names too. She is a wonderful blessing to our family.

Con

 
I was reminded of how precious little babies are. I was able to visit my friend the other day and meet their baby. What a cute little thing she is. I find it amazing how that maternal instinct kicks in and everything seems so natural.

Produce

 
Last Saturday we went to a U-Pick farm. As been evidenced by previous entries you will see we're a fan of this. Most of the stuff I froze but yesterday I tried my hand at making jalapeno jelly for the first time. I should retrace my steps a bit because I also made pesto and although I am going to put caterpillars and basil in the same entry, please do not fear! Yesterday morning before school the girls helped me look for caterpillars that were eating my basil. We captured a few and put them in a terrarium along with the nibbled leaves. We're going to try to watch them grow. Jacie helped me rinse off the leaves REALLY well and put them in the salad spinner (new favorite toy for the kids as of late).

After I dropped the kids off at school I made the jalapeno jelly. The story is not about the process of making it though, the story unfolds a little bit later. That afternoon before Blake went to his what he declared "Christmas" party (Fantasy Football Draft), I was telling him how a couple of my fingers felt warm. Later on that evening my whole hand was hot. I was starting to let my mind go crazy, "Am I having a stroke?" "Am I imagining this?" So I decided to look it up. I Googled "Why does my right hand feel hot?" Right away there were a few hits about sensitivity to capsaicin. It made a lot of sense. I soaked my hands, because by this time both my hands were hot, in a bowl of cold heavy whipping cream (being raised Dutch, I knew I couldn't just use a bowl of perfectly good milk for this. I knew my heavy whipping cream was seeing it's last days of life so I opted for that instead, besides one response was using fat so I thought if milk helps, cream should be better). They still felt hot after I removed them so I then Googled, "How long will the burning last?" and saw that it could last up to 8 or 12 hours. After wading through many home remedies on the internet (oil, lemon juice, bleach) I saw rubbing alcohol. I figured that would be ok on skin so I tried that. It wasn't immediate relief but after another hour or so the heat dissipated. Lesson to be learned: Wear gloves when cutting peppers.

Oreo

 
Oreo is the newest member of our family. He's a tuxedo cat. I always thought he was the stereotypical stray cat when I grew up on the dairy. Either way, he's most beloved in our home. He's usually greeted before many family members and the last to be told "goodnight." For the most part, he's been pretty maintenance-free. The only mishaps so far has been a potted plant and evidence of him eyeing the fish while we were away. The fish are fine, and though they have slid down the hierarchical scale here it would still be sad to have a fish fry for a feline.

Four

 
Our youngest is now four. I don't know how far into the future you'll be reading that kind of phrase. I don't see myself entering, "Our youngest is 54 today." I still can't believe it though. He has been quite the delight. Here are a few of my favorite things about him: He's spunky. "You DON'T have to say that again." He opens the door for the girls, sometimes willingly, sometimes not. "You already asked me to do that" when asked to go potty. "I love you my whole world mommy." "I'm gonna play my cars, for reals I am." "Meany head!" He's a gift from God and we are blessed to take care of him.

First Day

 
It's a big year over here. We have 3 in school. Ave started Kindergarten. She is doing well in school. At home she is a tired little girl. Oftentimes, one can hear Carter jumping up and down and yelling while Avery is fast asleep in their room. Kenny-Cat is in 2nd grade. We don't get a lot of information from her but I think she's enjoying it. Jace had a rough start in the friend department but she's recuperating from that and enjoying all the class academia. It's quite funny to hear her talk to Blake about grammar. She half likes his playful, mock-dramatic reaction to all things English and half doesn't know what to do with his kidding around. Being the lover of words he is enjoying the beginnings of her path down this subject.

It took the C-dawg and I all but a day or two to get used to the new changes around here too. We filled our time with a new member of the family. Pictures will come shortly.

Artichoke Field

 
Ok, last picture from our trip, I promise. I don't know how many of you like artichoke but we all like them in our family. I make a little sauce to dip the leaves in and the kids gobble them up.

Sand

 
Give kids sand and they find their own entertainment. They had fun digging caves and rolling down the hill.

The whole time we were at the beach there were 3 hang gliders. It was a great location because they could run down the hill and jump off the cliff. One guy stood with all his gear on for about an hour. We didn't think he was ever going to do it. Then he mustered up enough nerve to practice taking off and landing.

Shoes

 
We went to the Watsonville Strawberry Festival. There were a lot of booths and live music. One young girl rocked the house. She had an amazing voice, we anticipate hearing more from her in the future.

KP

 
This is probably one of my favorite pictures, EVER! I love that they did dishes at night. They have taken that over at home too. It is wonderful to teach them these skills and allow them to actively participate in this family. It is also nice to kick up our feet and relax a bit. So far there have been no casualties but I'm sure they will come. I heard the crockpot being bounced around a little harder than I would like. It IS a very heavy piece so I'm thankful they were able to persevere through it. Hmmmm...there's so much potential around here :) I guess we'll take it one thing at a time.

Choked up

 
One of the days on our trip up north we went to the John Steinbeck Center. The girls enjoyed the scavenger hunt that the center handed out to them, locating objects in the various exhibits. Connected to the JS Center was a traveling exhibit on how children learn. This exhibit was very interactive, the kids loved playing with the different objects. They had a lightbox where the kids could play around with reflection and light and colors. Outside they had a place set up with rocks, dried flowers, mortars and pestles, etc... This picture is of two dried artichokes on a mirror.

Without a hitch

 
This has been Carter's latest fascination. It has hung on for quite awhile now too. A few months ago he and I got the receiver put on the van, after a VERY long time, we left with it attached. The poor man who worked on it was understaffed, so between his helping out at the counter and then running back to the shop area to attach it Carter and I were able to leave about 5 hours later. Needless to say, he has spotted every kind from here to there. Often I can hear him saying, "Momma, did you see that hitch?" "Momma, that one had two balls on it!" "Momma, that one was a fancy hitch."

This hitch was one we spyed at the Spirit West Coast. The girls were taking rides on a pony, of which he wanted no part of.

Program

 
Blake is one who loves a schedule. He loves asking and planning out our day and week and month... He loves poring over the bulletin in church, a wedding program, the map; so you can imagine the delight he takes in this. The highlight of our trip was to attend Spirit West Coast. We had some pretty awesome kids. The concerts were held at Laguna Seca and for all you race fans you can imagine the trek to our spot. This is Blake's protoge perusing the map of the different stages and booths.