Homemade finger paint!

It was one of those days... I was at the end of my wit's end, and needed something fun and stress-relieving for Caleb and me to do together. Enter homemade finger paint! A little cornstarch and water (and food coloring) later... and voila! It was pretty easy! I just Googled "homemade finger paint" and tried one of the recipes.

 

Can you tell I made a red velvet cake in the past....
so red (and thus purple, orange, and brown) are missing? Caleb didn't seem to mind.

starting to get into it

cool....

It was very fun, and a nice way to wile away an hour or so. We will have to try it again soon!

{12 in 13} April update

Four days, folks. Four days. That's how far I made it into my daily Bible-reading plan for the month before I missed a day.

But you know what? I'm all about finishing the race, even if I mess up along the way. I am going to persevere. I haven't been keeping track of how many days I have missed or not missed, I am just going to try again each morning.

One way that this is going to happen is that I have joined "The 6 a.m. Club." One of my dear sister-friends sent me a book called Shopping for Time, by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters (of girltalk fame) which builds the book around an analogy. The authors describe a well-planned-out shopping expedition, where the shoppers clip coupons, make lists and maintain their focus on the end goal, moving from store to store until they accomplish their mission. We always want the best deal, the most for our money. How much more should we be intentional about how we "spend" our time, which is not, in fact, an unlimited resource? They offer five tips for 'making the most of every opportunity':

1) Rise early
2) Sit still (at Jesus' feet)
3) Sit and plan (taking a personal retreat)
4) Consider people (evaluating relationships carefully)
5) Plan to depend (being productive in daily life)

Under the first category the authors bring up the idea of the "club" they started in their family to help each other get up earlier. (Theirs is "The 5 a.m. Club," but I have little desire to go quite that far... at this point in time...) They emphasize the importance of sitting at Jesus' feet first thing in the morning, before everyone else gets up, before the day's demands descend on unsuspecting households, and you find yourself merely surviving, 'same song, different verse.' It's a pretty solid point, I think, that it's crucial to "Eph. 6 it" as my friend Mallory says; we face trials and challenges so much better, and we respond so much more kindly to others (esp. the little people at our feet!), when our minds are prepared for action, and our hearts are refreshed by the truth of the Word.

I know I do not have the self-discipline to get up... and stay up... when I try to get up early. I have demonstrated that to myself often, especially since my kids will sleep until at least 7 usually, sometimes until 8 a.m. I have enlisted the help of Mallory once again. She has graciously agreed to give me a little ringy-ding each morning at 6:05 my time. It's working! Because even though the call is only 30 seconds or so, I know I would be more miserable if I let myself down and got back in bed, than if I just slogged through those first few minutes of waking-up-when-I'd-rather-be-hugging-my-pillow. And it doesn't hurt to hear her cheerful Southern voice, either! :) Love you, Mal.

I've been enjoying that hour or so when the house is quiet. (I can see why Sean likes it.) I keep the curtains drawn though, because, frankly, I bet I will someday enjoy seeing the sky's early-morning dimness, but for now I don't want to be reminded that it's not light yet. :)

A note on the {12 in 13} adventure: I'm finding, as I pursue these monthly goals, that I've really been learning a lot about myself, and about how to live this life well. Even though I have been far from nailing every goal 100%, it's been so neat to experiment, in a way, and strive toward something. Ultimately I want to strive toward "finishing the race." (Can you tell I'm doing a Bible study on Hebrews?) But it's been cool to see what works, what doesn't, and to test myself in different ways. I'm both scientist and guinea pig in this endeavor. :)

I'm excited for next month: the Bull Canyon Run is only a few weeks away! That race will seem easy in comparison to getting up early every day. To each his or her own!

Until then... look to Jesus, friends!

Caleb's Corner (Jan-Feb)

Chloe gets a lot of attention these days... but Caleb is such a joy!!! I want to enjoy him (and blog about him!). He says the greatest, funniest things! Almost daily I think, "I need to write that down," but rarely manage to. Here are a couple examples of cute and/or funny things.

---

A few weeks ago we purchased the classic Disney movie Lady and the Tramp. We've watched it with Caleb twice now, and I've seen a couple effects.... 1) During pre-meal prayertime, he asks for "proteck from bad doggies" (and from "bad monkeys," which is related to on of Sean's coworkers scaring Caleb with a gorilla mask a few months ago). 2) He likes to role-play a lot, and has started issuing instructions when we are playing together. One day recently, it was, "You be Butch, Daddy. I'm Lady." He proceeded to refer to Daddy as Butch (the Tramp) throughout dinner, which was hilarious to me. "Thank you, Butch."  "I all done, Butch. Get down, please, Butch?"

--

Yesterday, Caleb and his daddy were tossing a soccer ball back and forth while I was sitting nearby. After Caleb threw it, he looked over and said, "Mommy, clap!" (Only it sounded like, "Mommy, cwap!" and I wasn't sure at first if he had said "crap" or "clap.") He knows what he wants, I guess... We are working on learning to not demand things of others...

--

Caleb tripped and landed on his bottom. He asked, "Mommy put bandaid on Caleb's bottom?" I had to chuckle.

--

"Kwo-wee two old months," instead of "Chloe is two months old."

--

And now, some pictures, because pictures are just awesome. :)

chalk time with Daddy... Caleb's quite the artist ;)

at Santa Barbara Zoo-- it was a beautiful (bright) day in January

with our buddy "Cam-wun" (Cameron)

hanging out in the back yard one day... he really wanted to wear that hat

checking out the bbq

he loves hugging and kissing, and even sharing with, his sister Chloe!

our beautiful boy

I'm starting to understand it when people say their kids are growing up way too fast. My kids are growing up way too fast!!! :) I'm loving each new stage, and getting to watch him mature a little more every day. It's incredible. A little scary, too, to teach him now to navigate the world. It feels weighty because we are entrusted with such responsibility to train and instruct and guide Him toward God, though only God can save him. He's learning so much from us, whether intentional or incidental--the whole "caught" vs. "taught" concept. Our kids will pick up what we really believe by how we live, and they will notice whether our actions match what we say we believe. God is refining us all through this process, and I'm so glad He's given us the kids He has, all three of them. :)

Caleb & Chloe

This is so typical of their relationship!

SLO Children's Museum!

A couple weeks ago, we "cashed in" a gift certificate from Grammy and Papa J (my parents) for a trip to the  Children's Museum in San Luis Obispo! It was a blast! There were lots of neat activities for Caleb (and, ahem, the big kids) on three different floors, and outside.

a 360-degree train table!

fire truck!!

an air tube that suspended different types of balls-- very fun!

I just love Caleb's face in this one :)

water table

It was a beautiful, warm day!! Not bad for end of November :)

You'll notice Caleb is "all done" playing with the Legos, while the men are still enthralled (trying to perfect their dam/waterfall)...

I think Papa might like one of these???

cool "shadow wall" with glow in the dark surface that stayed lit for a  few seconds after a flash

It was a really neat place that I think we'd enjoy visiting again. We topped off the morning with lunch together at New Frontiers, a "natural marketplace" with yummy healthy food and a deli/soup/salad bar. We are looking forward to more Grammy/Papa outings in the future. It's a blessing to be living in the same town for a season and we want to capitalize on it!

(No Baby Chloe yet.... Stay tuned...)

33 weeks

We are 33 weeks as of 10/25!! I'm starting to experience the lower-back discomfort, some aches in the joints and fatigue in general.... as well as excitement! I had an OB appointment today (10/25), and got to have another ultrasound. I really thought I wouldn't get to have any more, but they said they wanted to take a look so I said, Sure! It's such a miracle. It never gets old. This time the technician even gave me a DVD of the experience, showing motion just like a live ultrasound (unfortunately, without the benefit of the sonographer's commentary of what those gray blobs are!). I am grateful to get to share that with Sean and my parents. They said everything is looking good-- lots of amniotic fluid; my cervix looked great; the baby's measuring right on track for the gestational age, in the 46th percentile for most measurements (very similar to Caleb!); we could see all four chambers of the heart pumping away. I think she's going to look a lot like Caleb. Can't wait to find out! We all have predictions on hair color-- some think dark, some think blond. I'm going with blond. :)

33 weeks + Caleb!

It's hard to believe that there are only a few weeks left before Chloe is born. Most of all, I really want to enjoy the time with Caleb being essentially an "only child." I've been kind of sentimental about it lately, wistful and almost sad to lose this time with just him. I know my attention will be divided, especially in the newborn stage. I will just have to make it a point to have one-on-one time with him later-- and hopefully, carve out time for each of our kids to have one-on-one time with each parent as the years progress. He and I have had some really neat conversations lately, at the table, around the house, or in the car. I love how much we can communicate now! He is quite the talker, very verbal and willing to share his thoughts. I want to encourage that! Sean and I both love getting inside his little brain and understanding what he's thinking. Usually it goes something like this...

C: What doing, Mommy?
M: Mommy is making oatmeal for breakfast.
C: See ee-oh [oatmeal]?
M: Ok, let me stir it and then I can pick you up and show you.
C: See ee-oh?
M: See? Mommy is stirring the oatmeal.
C: Caleb stir it?

He likes to help me cook. He says, "Blue fire!" when I turn on our gas range. He even pushed a kitchen chair up behind me one time recently when I was working at the counter and stood up on it so he could see what I was doing (it must be frustrating to stand below counter height!). It was funny to turn around and see him right there next to me.

The other day, he tripped and landed on his bottom. I had to laugh when he asked, "Mommy kiss it bottom?" Um, no thanks, sweetie. :) I love ya, but even your mother draws the line at kissing your bottom! (I did give him a kiss on the cheek, though.) He's been calling us "sweet pea," probably because that's a term Sean and I use for him. I handed him his cup of milk and he told me, "Thank you, sweet pea." Being his parents is just awesome. We love it.

He's getting really good with colors, and even some letters. He knows orange, black, brown, yellow, green, blue, pink, and sometimes purple, sometimes red. He can consistently recognize A's, O's and M's (though he thinks W's are M's too, can't really blame him!). He consistently identifies triangles, circles, hearts, and stars. Still working on squares and other shapes like diamonds or rectangles. He knows the difference between airplanes and helicopters. He's learning so much!!! I really want to get his version of the ABC song on video, because it is the cutest thing ever. It's quite recognizable, even if some of the letters are missing or have a creative pronunciation.

One of his favorite questions is, "What ____ say?" He'll ask, "What a chicken say?" He knows lots of animal sounds-- rooster, doggie, kitty cat, duck, pig, etc... What's more interesting is when he asks things like, "What a zebra say?" uh..... Not sure! "What a palm tree say?" Hmm... Sean's answer: "Coconuts!!"

Along with what different objects "say," he also likes to ask, "What (is) the ____ doing?" What Mommy doing? What Caleb doing?... and the other night, What the moon doing, Mommy? Uh... shining! It's fun to see the wheels turning, and he's already close to stumping Mommy! I'm a little worried for when the "why" questions start, if I'm already having trouble! It's fun. :)

Homemade Pizza

Two or three weeks before we moved away from Colorado, I found an amazing high-altitude pizza dough recipe. The ONE time I made it, it was amazing, at least. I thought I'd share some photos from that adventure, since we've been having a "heat wave" here in Santa Maria, oh, getting way up into the 80's. 

Here's the yeast proofing!

nice ball of dough

the dough after rising

ready to put it in the oven!!

YUM. Just yum.

Of course, it was a hot summer day when I decided to heat up the oven to 500 degrees so I could try this awesome recipe. We had a "picnic" in the front bedroom, the coolest room in the house at the time. Caleb very much enjoyed his pizza, and we enjoyed a fun dinner. :) I'd like to make it more of a family tradition to have homemade pizza for dinner regularly, since I have fond memories of doing that growing up!

Run!

Today's forecast: 60's and mostly sunny; 100% chance of run in the afternoon.

We did it! Caleb and I went for a run... though I must say he gets the easy end of the deal. :) It was really windy, the kind of wind that snatches the breath out of your throat and causes temporary panic. It was also the type of wind that provides significant resistance! For precisely that reason, I chose to alter my Bullet out-and-back route by turning right instead of going straight down Bullet Road. When it's really windy and you're running outside, you know one half of your run will be pretty much miserable, and the other half will be a breeze (ha). You'll feel like you're flying when the wind is at your back. Well, I didn't want to start out with a miserably slow first half. So we turned right and had a cross-wind, somewhat challenging but not impossible to deal with. It was lovely! Overcast and windy, but not freezing! It was a great time. Here's how it went, in minutes.

1:45 -- starting to feel warmed up, muscles are remembering what they are supposed to do

4:45 -- tired legs, they remember too well!

10:10 -- rounding the final corner for the home stretch

12:45 -- done!

I consider this a smashing success. No collapsing strollers, no injuries, no walking, no tears of defeat. It was good. I am thankful for days like today where things actually go okay.

I'm considering signing up for the Bolder Boulder, supposedly the second-largest race in the US. I thought I saw that stat on the web site, but now I can't find it (it's always good to verify your facts...). This year's race is going to be on May 28, 2012, Memorial Day! That is 96 days from now, plenty of time to work up to a 10k. :) We'll have to see if Sean wants to make it happen. Boulder's a couple hours from here, and we might need to stay there the night before since the race starts first thing in the morning. I think it would be fun! Sean and I did a couple 10k's last summer and it was a great experience each time. We shall see! (No strollers allowed at the BB, so we'll have to figure that out.)

Until next time.... walk in grace!

Josh and Rachel's wedding

As most wedding weekends are, this one was pretty full. It was so good to see friends, hang out, and of course eat BBQ and play N64 as part of the festivities leading up to THE festivity, the wedding. This post will be mostly pictures, since that's the best way to tell this kind of story.

Here are some of "da boys," a.k.a groomsmen, hanging out at Dave and Buster's, site of the bachelor party (Caleb and I had our own party in our hotel room-- he slept, I read on my Kindle :)  I got to go to a shower for Rachel, so I wasn't always sitting around while we were in Missouri. ;)

 Rehearsal dinner, table one-- left side, left to right: Stephanie, sister of the bride and maid of honor; Josh, groom; Rachel, bride; bridesmaid and her fiance (?). On the right are Stephanie and Rachel's cousins, the pastor and his wife, and another bridesmaid.

 Rehearsal dinner, table two-- us and a bunch of family members and friends of Josh and Rachel. It was fun to talk to some of Josh's college buddies and hear stories about him from before we met him.

 All dolled up for the wedding! Handsomest Best Man ever, in my opinion. :)

 The happy couple

 Bridal party

 Best man and maid of honor

We took this self-portrait just after the wedding, waiting outside. One thing I thought was cool about their wedding: they had a big sendoff leaving the church, with bubbles, I think, before the reception-- that way everyone gets to participate in a celebratory sendoff, and it's still light so you can see everybody! There was a second, quieter sendoff later, around 10:30 or 11, I think. Caleb and I were both pretty fried-- him from staying up late with a very stimulating crowd for company, me from chasing him around all day while Sean got dressed, took pictures, placed signs along roads, and did other best-man-type duties. It was a really fun day and we are so glad to have been a part of it!

 Mothers' dance at the reception-- both moms are so sweet!

Sean did a fantastic job recreating the Mizzou logo on the new Lt. and Mrs. Carlson's car. It was fun decorating their ride for them! And now they live about 15 minutes away from us in a cute house! We are so grateful to have them as friends. :) We definitely enjoyed our July trip to Missouri to see Josh and Rachel get married.

What we've been up to lately...

This month...

Caleb practiced his wax-on, wax-off skills using some Tupperware lids he found in a kitchen drawer. He loves sliding around the room with objects under his hands-- sometimes ice-cube trays, sometimes board books, you name it. He's a busy little guy, never still for long!

Caleb helped Mommy wrap Christmas presents. Scotch tape only occupied him for so long, then he was climbing onto the wrapping paper to investigate what I was doing, or trying to get the scissors out of my pocket, which I put there to keep safely away from him, or picking up the object(s) I was in the middle of wrapping. I finally decided to wrap presents while he was napping. :)

Caleb helped decorate the Christmas tree... by arranging ornaments on the floor, after taking them off the branches. :) He still toys with the lower branches occasionally, but we are working to keep him away from the tree, and he has lost interest, for the most part. Probably due to the fact that the bottommost foot or so of our tree is unadorned.

Caleb helped Mommy with housework; he finds the vacuum especially fascinating. It's a delicate dance, luring him to other parts of the room so I can vacuum the piece of carpet he was previously occupying. It's actually kind of fun! I can't fault him for being curious.

There you have it! We are busy this time of year, but not too busy to squeeze in fun times with friends, a car purchase, and visits with family!

Stay tuned for some catch-up posts from this summer and fall, as well as more-recent events like Thanksgiving and gingerbread house-decorating!

Camouflage, journaling, and prayer

So we were at Barnes and Noble one day and came across this journal... which happened to closely resemble my top! Mimicry is not just for the animal kingdom, I suppose. We always enjoy our window-shopping dates, whether at BN or Home Depot. In this case, we did buy a journal (a different one, not this purple one) to start writing letters in it to Nalani, since we can't see her or talk to her very often at this point. We have also started writing little notes to Caleb in a separate journal. We plan on having a special journal for each of our children to read when they are older (perhaps to be bestowed on a significant birthday or milestone?), with our thoughts and hopes recorded for them, both Mommy and Daddy's writings! We think it will be a way for them to get to know us as we were before they were born, or when they were too little to remember: the anticipation we have of meeting them, the praying we do for them, our desires and dreams for their future, the love we have for them... and later, the funny things they will do and say; and the special, ordinary moments we hope to capture. Hopefully it will be a valuable treasure to each of them, not because their mom and dad are overly wise, but because we truly want them to understand our hearts and see how much we value them. In our marriage so far, the things Sean and I have prayed for most often have been "the house" (more specifically, guidance on where to live and whether/where to buy), our families, Sean's work, and our babies Nalani and Caleb. :) We pray every night for wisdom to be godly parents to them; that they would grow up to love and know God; that God would choose them to be His children; and that God would use us despite our sinfulness to shape them into godly people of faith. It's exciting and a little daunting, this adventure of parenthood; that's why we pray!

Sean's birthday shindig

For Sean's birthday on 3 July, we had people over for dinner and games! I meant to take a picture of the spread, but forgot. But there were.... strawberries and cherries with cream cheese dip; veggie tray with Ranch dip; taco lasagna (I seem to make that a lot for special-ish occasions); chips and salsa; sweet tea and soda; chocolate inside-out cake with ice cream; and lots of balloons! Can't have a birthday without balloons. I spent most of the day, while Sean was at work, feverishly preparing the house and the food. It all came together!


Opening his present from Mom and Dad J: a package "from home" would not be complete without home-baked goodies, like these awesome brownies (that he's eagerly sniffing)! I come by my baking genes honestly.

The crew: Rachel and Josh, who got engaged July 4th (and we got to witness it!); the very-pregnant Allens; and Leah and Matt, from our Friday night small group

And... substitution of Cam for Matt so we could document everyone who was there :)

July 3rd, and can you guess what those are? Not just tanks, but firework-tanks. Boys never outgrow their toys. Sean was really excited to use his "discretionary" money for the month on these fireworks (we each get a certain sum per month to use as fun money). There was an epic battle, sort of, and much fun was had by all. We also played Mad Gab, a hilarious team game. After it was all said and done, I was pretty exhausted, but it was a great day. Sean said it was a really good birthday, and that makes me happy. He is now 24, and for the next three months we will be the same age... until I turn 25 in October. :) Yikes! That's a big one. I would say that makes me feel old, but it's more like I feel more grounded and mature (not to be too presumptuous). We are really enjoying this time of life. We are settling into "life as it is now"-- learning how to be a husband and wife, building our life together, communicating, anticipating impending parenthood-- and it is very good.