Friends and Family and Food

What could be better than celebrating a holiday than enjoying a BBQ with friends, family and food? I'm not sure....this was pretty much a highlight for me. I love having people over and it was so nice to be able to entertain three of my oldest (longest) friends and my sister and all their families. Our kids have all grown up together.....some of them met when they were less than 2 years old and others were born after the friendships had begun. I am so blessed to watch these kids continue to get along and grow up together, through all the various stages of life.

Ken gets back on Friday (assuming all his travel connections fall into place) and I am on the same kick I always get on when he travels. I like to try to get the house clean and straightened up and de-cluttered as much as possible. I know he likes to be in a clean, decluttered house and I love to do this for him. I figure it is a way I can support him while he is away. Since he has been gone so long, I have had more of a chance to do this, although I only started last week. I am now in the process of tackling our walk-in closet. Well, it is now a walk-in closet....last week it looked more like a storage shed in the center with clothes that weren't easily accessible around the edges. Now, it is a closet again! But, what to do with all the stuff that was in there that shouldn't have been. I am slowly sorting things out, but I definitely struggle with too much stuff. I keep chipping away though.

How is school going for us? We have started week 7 and it is going good over-all. I have had to tweak some things and one of the things I need to focus on teaching the kids is study skills....how to actually study for a test, not just read the material once. This year things have definitely gotten harder, which is good, but that means more work needs to be put into the subjects. What they used to be able to do and retain the information needs to be modified. But, that is the beauty of what we are doing....being able to adjust and modify and personalize and adapt and learn from our mistakes.

Feel free to stop by if you are ever in the neighborhood....you never know what you might find going on at our house.

Birthdays and Bocce

I have done a lot since I last posted....including celebrating a birthday! I had a nice, extended birthday celebration, starting on Monday, August 10 with lunch at Vic Stewarts with three of my best friends, on Wednesday, August 12 (my actual birthday) went to Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk with a homeschool group I am involved with, on Friday, August 14 went to Mountain View/Palo Alto to with my whole family for lunch to celebrate not just my birthday but my sister Annabelle's, on Monday, August 17 went to lunch with another neat friend at India 4 U, and then to end the birthday celebrations, had a fantastic afternoon and lunch at my in-laws on Tuesday, August 18. I am so blessed to have special people in my life to celebrate with.

Last night I went for the first time to Campo di Bocce of Livermore with three other ladies from the Mothers of Brentwood and played bocce. What a neat place. We had appetizers and desserts and their food was yummy. I have never played bocce before on an actual court and boy was it fun! In fact, I plan on going again soon. If anyone ever wants to set up a Girls Night Out or a Couples Night Out, I am game!

My School Schedule

I posted this to my homeschool group and one of my blogger friends suggested I post it here....it is long, so be forwarned. Feel free to ask me about any of the curriculum I am using....that is how I learned about what I have used....by asking people and looking things over and trying various things until finding things that worked for us.

I have had a few people ask me about my schedule for this year and I needed to write it up for another reason, so I thought I would post it here. If anyone wants to come over and see what I have done, feel free to ask! Or, if you want me to email a copy of my spreadsheets so you could figure out what I am talking about, let me know. I spent a lot of time over the summer trying out various things to get organized for the upcoming year. I have a ninth grader and a seventh grader, along with a 15 month old and another due in December. With the start of high school and also knowing I would potentially have less time due to the little ones, I wanted a system that worked for everyone that would be easy to implement. We have now used it for two weeks, and I have to say I am very pleased with myself! Sometimes I plan things that look great on paper and just don't pan out in reality. This time my work paid off and we all like how this system works. I realize that what works for my family will not necessarily work for everyone's family, but here it goes. Feel free to use and adapt whatever you can. I know I got a lot of ideas from other people that I have changed and manipulated so that it fit our household. This is by far the most scheduled/organized I have ever been!

I have set up two binders for each of my kids. The first of the binders is a 3” binder and this is for their cumulative work. I am not expecting the whole year to fit in here, but perhaps half a year. I will just have to see how crowded it gets before I begin another large binder. The second binder is for their weekly work. They each have 8 tabs, which are identical. Here are the labels for the tabs: Weekly Schedule, Sonlight 100 Schedule, History, Literature, Spelling, IEW, Science, and French, which I will detail in the following paragraphs.

Weekly Schedule: I have created an Excel Worksheet that has four workbooks (or whatever they are called), two for each child. The first workbook is the yearly schedule. The columns I have are Date, Sonlight, Apologia, CBS, Piano, Rosetta, Math, Starting Points, IEW, To Go/Other. I have then filled in the dates for Monday-Friday from when I started school until end of June 2010. Then, under Sonlight and Apologia, I listed the numbers 1-180, which corresponds with the Sonlight schedule number at the top of each day (the small number). We are fairly flexible homeschoolers that enjoy taking field trips and vacations and what not, and I am just not that concerned about when exactly our school breaks are, so I just have it going all the way through, which means we currently end our Core 100 and Apologia April 2. Well, that is assuming we would work straight through with absolutely no breaks, which I can tell you is unrealistic at best! But what I plan to do is when we take a day off, or weeks off like at Christmas/New Years, at that point I will just cut and paste the remaining days downward. For CBS (Community Bible Study), I have the day and the week of the work they are supposed to do that day. For Piano I either have the minutes they are supposed to practice or if it is a lesson day. For math we do ALEKS on the computer, and they are supposed to complete three sections and work a minimum of 20 minutes....this might be modified as the year goes by. For Starting Points I put the pages I want them to complete on specific days, along with listing the dates we meet for discussion. For IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) I will list what I expect them to have done that day or done by a certain day, along with marking the days we meet as a class. In the To Go/Other column this is where I put their outside activities, such as PE, going to a friend's house, etc. The second workbook is the weekly schedule. I have this formatted so that I can copy and paste the information from the yearly schedule into the weekly schedule, along with other items such as chores, more detailed To Go list, Special Instructions, etc.

Sonlight 100: I copied the IG and place that week's schedule behind this tab, so they can easily see what they are supposed to be doing.

History: I have copied the questions for the various history books they are reading that week and have starred certain questions to answer in written format. They know they are supposed to read the notes also. For the mapwork what I did was include the “answer key” maps and I also put the number that corresponded to the correct answer above the name of the place. So, instead of them having to try to figure out where a certain place was on a map, what they need to do is go to the particular map, knowing that a certain place was #3, and then they were to label it. I have always had good intentions about doing mapwork with the kids and ended up never doing it, so this was a great compromise for our family and it looks like it will actually get done!

Literature: I have copied the questions for the literature book(s) that they are reading for the week. They are to pick two questions for each day to answer, and I don't care which two questions they pick.

Spelling: We are doing the Alternate Spelling. On Monday we do the pre-test, on Tuesday and Wednesday they write their misspelled words 5 times, on Thursday use misspelled words in sentences, and on Friday they have a post test. Any words they get wrong on the post test are added to the words for the next week.

IEW: This is where they keep their writing that they are working on.

Science: We are doing Apologia Biology this year and while this is our third year of doing Apologia, this is our first year that we purchased the lapbook/notebook from Knowledge Box Press....and I have to say I am thrilled with it so far. We follow the Sonlight schedule, so I have that behind the science tab along with any of the pages from the KB Press file, such as On Your Own questions, experiments, etc. I have also typed out the vocabulary words with blank lines next to them that the kids can choose to fill in or not. Last year they had to do the vocabulary, but this year I am making it optional unless their test scores start to be affected.

French: We are doing Rosetta Stone French, version 3. We have used Rosetta Stone German version 2 before and I have to say version 3 is far superior. I printed out their schedule that the suggest along with the worksheets that they are to do for that week.

My kids are liking having everything in one binder and what we do is sometime on the weekend we go through the various answers. An added benefit of having them pick their own questions in literature is that they typically don't choose the same questions, so they actually are exposed to four questions for each day's reading. Once we are finished going through their work, I then transfer the old work and schedules to their large binder and put the new information in. This allows me to actually look over what they have done and I am able to double check for completeness. This does not take very long at all and it keeps the kids and myself accountable.

If you made it all the way to the end of this long description, congratulations! If you have any questions, please ask. It is hard to describe some of the components, and I am sure that I have left some vital things out.

I have not fallen off the face of the earth....

But I have fallen off the face of regular blogging. But, I (think) I am back and want to start up again. It is always hard to restart something....the guilty feeling, the sense of failure, the dread of starting and not following through, all of these things go through my mind. Plus, where to start? I certainly can't recount all that we have done for the last two and a half months.

What did we do today? We started school! Maria is a 9th grader and William is a 7th grader and James is a 14 monther that gets into everything. For those of you familiar with homeschooling curriculum, we are doing Sonlight Core 100, Apologia Biology, Rosetta Stone French, ALEKS Geometry, the second half of Starting Points, the second part of IEW SWICC-B or C (depending on which kid), piano, Community Bible Study-Acts, PE with Dr. Gibbs and we are trying out All Out Sports League too. I am sure there are other things, but this keeps the kids busy!

Ken leaves for Abeche, Chad on Saturday, August 1, which happens to be William's 12th birthday and Switzerland will be celebrating 718 years of independence. He will be returning on September 11.....and boy will we be glad to see him at that point.

I am now 1 day away from being 20 weeks pregnant and things are still going great with the pregancy. We are choosing not to find out the gender before the baby is born- we like the surprise.

How was our summer? GREAT! BUSY! FUN! Filled with people, activities, travels, adventures, and all kinds of other things.

Well, time to sign off....hope to post sooner the next time.

Birthdays and Mothers Day

James turned one on Friday. I am not sure where that year went. What a joy he has been in our life. The best gift he got was a t-shirt that said "Big Brother" on it.

Yep- James gets to be a big brother starting sometime in December!

Hmmm....no wonder I have been tired and unfocused for the last month or so.....maybe postings will pick up in a bit when my energy comes back.

Diverse Ages

A little glimpse into the range of ages in our kids.....here is where the kids were this afternoon/early evening. James was in his high chair eating dinner, William was at the movies with a friend, and Maria was at The Silver Ring Thing, which is an abstinence before marriage conference. Earlier in the day Ken and I checked out Scoops! Play n Cafe to see if this would be a good place for James' first birthday. Nothing like waiting till the last minute, but it turned out to be an ideal location. So we are looking forward to celebrating James' first birthday on Thursday, even though he actually turns one on Friday.

Back in the Swing of Things

I arrived home on Sunday. James and I traveled 2,338.5 miles in 11 days and boy, was it fun! There is too much to capture and instead of worrying about it, I am just going to put some notes down and move on. Otherwise I will never get back to blogging on a regular basis if I keep trying to catch up.

We stayed one night in Forks, which is where the book Twilight is set. We did a few wonderful hikes in Olympic National Park and I could have stayed there for much longer. James rode on my back in the Ergo, which I could not have done without on the trip. On all of the hikes, he pretty much either watched what was going on, leaning backwards to look at the trees, or he would fall asleep on my back. There were a few times he fussed, but not so much that a little bouncing didn't put him into a better mood.

We also went to the ocean and had a nice time feeding the seagulls...of which James was not too thrilled with when they came close. So we mostly watched from a distance.

Another highlight was being able to visit our friends Will and Linda Royston in Eugene, Oregon. We shared a few meals together and it was so nice to see them.

Our last day we spent at Redwoods National Park and then driving through the Avenue of the Giants. What a great way to end the trip.

Now I am home and we are definitely in the swing of things. Kids are doing school, I have already gone to a bookclub, I will be hosting Bunco tomorrow night, then on Friday go to my in-laws for pizza after the kids are done with a homeschool event. And life goes on.

This afternoon after lunch, as we were all just sitting around doing various things, my house felt so peaceful. I am very blessed to have this house and the life I lead.

Happy Easter

This is our last night in Seattle and boy has it been fun so far! James and I stayed in Medford, OR on Thursday night and arrived in Seattle Friday evening. When I checked into our hotel, I asked for a connecting room with my sister, who was arriving later that evening. They upgraded me to a corner suite and it is fantastic. We have been fairly low-key in terms of activity level, but that is just right. We have gone to Pike's Peak Market twice, Gum Alley twice, walked around the Anime convention a number of times, walked along the waterfront, went to a sculpture garden, walked over to the Space Needle, visited a glass blowing shop, eaten a lot of yummy food, picked up Daniela from the airport, and connected Sarah with her orchestra group from her high school.

I hope to put some photos up later, but right now am using Ethan's computer....so no photos yet!

Stay tuned to hear about where we go next!

Packing for Road Trip (and some pictures)

I leave tomorrow for a road trip with James. We are driving to Seattle, where we will be meeting my sister Annabelle, my brother-in-law Ethan, and my niece Sarah, who will be arriving Friday night. On Sunday, my cousin Daniela will be flying in from Switzerland, and Sarah will be leaving with to tour with her school orchestra. Then, Annabelle, Ethan, Daniela, James and myself will drive back to California, stopping at various places in the Pacific Northwest such as Olympic National Park. We will also be visiting our good friend Will Royston and his wonderful wife Linda. We should be back by Sunday, April 19. I am looking forward to this, but with a bit of trepidation because I have no idea how James will do on a road trip like this. But, I guess the best way to find out is to do it.

Here are some pictures-
Annabelle with James

We hung a swing in our backyard that James loves.

Here is William!

James went with a bunch of other little ones to Habitot....he is there in the middle sitting on Emma's lap.

What happened to posting regularly?

Not sure what happened to my regular postings....oh well. This last week my dad had some disorientation that was unusual for him so he needed to get some tests done at the hospital. That was a weird experience. So now we await more tests, but he seems to be back on track.

Other than that, a fairly uneventful last week or two. Maria came home from San Francisco, Ken came home from Philadelphia, so everyone is currently home. James and I are now next on the list for departures. I plan on driving up to Seattle with James next Thursday to meet my sister Annabelle and brother-in-law Ethan, along with my cousin Daniela from Switzerland. We plan on meandering back to California stopping at various places along the way. It will be interesting traveling with James....he hasn't gone on a long road trip like this before.

We had the Petras family over for dinner last night which was great. I know Amy from Community Bible Study and it was neat meeting her husband for the first time and spending time together. I so enjoy having people over for meals and hanging out time.

San Francisco

Maria went to spend a week in San Francisco with ReImagine with 11 other students and 4 adults. "ReIMAGINE is a Bay Area Center for Life Integration based in San Francisco. We fuel initiatives integrating spiritual formation, community building, the arts and social action. As a collective of artists, activists, educators, tech professionals and social entrepreneurs we invite people into conversations, projects and community experiences that explore the question: 'How can we cultivate a way of life together that leads to greater wholeness for ourselves and our world?'" If you want to read more about what Maria will be doing, click here.

James and I drove to the Mission District with all the luggage and sleeping bags. My sister Annabelle met me there and we walked around, somewhere between 3-4 miles. We went to lunch (yummy Machaca), Mission Dolores, garage sales, and a park. It was a fantastic day.

Here is Annabelle (or should I say Auntabelle) and James at Mission Dolores.

Here I am with James at Mission Dolores Park, where there were so many things going on. James hung out in the swing for more than 30 minutes and then got to ride his newly aquired ride-on toy that I bought at a garage sale. Annabelle commented that it was like being in a picture book of a perfect day at the park. There was jump roping, slack line walking, dogs chasing balls, kids playing, kites flying, music playing, people relaxing, families throwing balls around and more going on. I love being immersed in an atmosphere like this.

Impulse Hospitality

I am not sure how to even highlight all the things I get to do each day. One of the main things that happened today was after CBS I invited some people from the nursing mom's group (pretty much whomever I saw at the end) to come over to my house for lunch...I had leftover lasagna, sandwiches, and I made a quick box of macaroni and cheese. It was so much fun hanging out in the backyard, watching the various kids run and play and swing. There ended up being 5 other ladies, with a total of 15 kids running around. I am so blessed to have a house that I can open up to other people impulsively.

Fun-Filled Day

What a great day. James and I went to a Music Together preview class, of which Maritez and Heather attended, along with a lady I didn't know but would be at my house later in the day. After the class we went to playgroup, which is always fun. We then popped over to a park to meet up with Heather, Maritez and Amy....James at that point was tired, so he just slept in my arms. After we went home, I cleaned up the house and set the table for bookclub, which was at my house this evening. Then we all went to church where Maria and William and I went to a presentation about medical reasons for sexual purity. It was a very well-done presentation with a lot of factual information and not a whole lot of scare tactics. Then, Ken left to speak at the Community Outreach Center and headed off to airport to fly to Florida. The kids and I came home where I finished getting the house ready for bookclub. Bookclub was great- there were seven of us sitting around the table and talking and laughing and eating till all hours of the night....and we even discussed the book a bit. I highly recommend the book, Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. It sure made me think and consider and ponder various things and has stayed with me.

Daily Life

I have been doing some gardening....weeding and planting and pruning and all that good stuff. It certainly is starting to feel like spring, even though that isn't for a little bit. But, as nice as the weather has been, I would still like some more rain. Good for the gardens, good for the reservoirs, good all around.

Tonight I grilled asparagus for the first time on the bbq and boy were they yummy. I think I will be doing that more often! It is fun trying new things out on the grill. I have made Naan bread on the grill before...which reminds me I should do that again soon. My mouth watered when I typed it.

We are currently hosting someone from back East for a few nights named David. He is currently working on translating the Bible into one of the Chadian languages. He had stayed with us a number of years back so it is great to have him here again. Tomorrow we are hosting another couple who will be doing work overseas....if anyone wants to come over, have some soup, cornbread and dessert, let me know. Everyone welcome.

James is now 10 months old. On one hand it is astonishing to me that he has already been in our lives for that long and on the other hand I can not imagine what my life would have been without him. I am so enjoying my time with him and just doing more at home in general. Funny how life's twists and turns brings you to various places. I am very grateful and content where I am at right now, but don't want to grow complacent either.

So, since it has been more than a week since my last posting, let me re-cap what we have been doing. CBS, had Amy over for impromptu lunch of lasagna leftovers (like the alliteration?), playgroup (2x), James' first Babysigns class, kids portraits taken, shuttling Maria and William back and forth to and from church for various different events, small group (a whopping 15 people showed), Kindermusik Storytime, walk with Holly, date with Ken (make that 2 dates with Ken), Babysign Storytime, and I am sure there were other things too. But, in this there was a lot of nice downtime where I was able to get caught up on laundry, make some nice meals, go grocery shopping, garden, buy birthday gifts, purchase and plan swing for outside, read books, watch some videos, and play on the floor with James. Nice when life is pretty even-keeled. No sickies in our house, no crises, no emotional swings high or low. Gotta love it and embrace it while it is here. Who knows what tomorrow holds!

Lasagna, Apple Crisp, and Boundaries

Well, no one was able to take me up on my last minute offer of lasagna, so I know what we get to have tomorrow for leftovers! Look at how much is still left.

If anyone wants to pop by tomorrow, I know what we will be having for lunch and dinner! Then, to finish off the meal, we had apple crisp, of which there are also leftovers.



Talk about comfort food. Both of these dishes are from my childhood memories.

And, since I haven't posted any pictures of James for a bit...here are two from dinner.




And, on a totally different note, I just finished reading the book "Boundaries: When to Say Yes, When to Say No To Take Control of Your Life" by Dr. Cloud and Dr. Townsend. What a convicting book. This is the first time I have read it and I really just went through and read it. I would like to go through this book again more methodically and perhaps even do the study guide with someone or a group. This book showed me a lot of areas that I still need to work on...growing sure is painful sometimes. But, it is good to grow, even though it can be hard work. I also put Boundaries with Kids on hold at the library...always wanting to learn ways I can be a better mom.

Lasagna Dinner

Anyone looking for dinner tonight? I am making a nice, large, homemade lasagna right now that I will be serving my family....and there is more than enough to share! So, if you want to be impulsive and come on over for dinner tonight, let me know. Ken and the older kids are off to Perspectives at 6:30, so we will be eating 5ish/5:30ish.

Homeschooling

"Homeschooling is the Silicon Valley of American Education. It's all about freedom, innovation, autonomy, self-organization, and creative collaboration." A really liked this opening to the book "Homeschooling: A Family's Journey." I realize that homeschooling may not be the choice for every family, but it is such a good fit for our family, I am thrilled that we are able to homeschool freely in California.

So, what has been going on in our lives the last week? Nothing spectacular....school, Community Bible Study, piano lessons, kids activities, doctor's appointments, reading books, cleaning house, feeding and changing James (funny how those go together), meeting with people, and on and on. A very nice, relaxing week, leading to a fairly low-key weekend.

Ken Home!

Ken got home safe and sound on Sunday night. How nice it is to have him back again. With him being gone about 11 days, it gives me a tiny bit of empathy for single parents. That didn't come out right....it gives me a tiny peek into how hard it must be for a single parent, and increased my empathy for them. So while he is back for now, he has a few more trips planned. In about three weeks he goes to Florida for a meeting with his organization, in four weeks he goes to Philadelphia to work a conference, in 8 weeks he has a conference to work in Fresno, and then nothing (at least that I know) until August, where he may be going overseas for about 6 weeks...but that is still in the planning stages. He mentioned to me this morning that I should plan a trip while he is gone....so my brain started ticking and we went to get a map of the USA. Maybe another cross-country road trip will be in the cards.

I just finished reading "Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love" by Myron Uhlberg. WOW. This book made me jealous that I wasn't brought up with American Sign Language (ASL) as my first language. The way Myron describe how his father signed and showed the words as three dimensional thoughts instead of flat and two dimensional was really remarkable. He also showed how hard it was to be a child with the responsibility of being a link for his parents to the outside world. I plan on sending this book off to my friends Shawn and Dee Collins who are currently working with WordSign (http://www.wordsign.org/) which is a Sign Language Animation Tools Project.

Ups and Downs

James has been teething. Poor guy. He is happy and then in pain and then back to being happy again. But, this too shall pass. I can now see and feel the tips of the two top teeth. I am hoping that once they erupt the intense pain will go away. At least until the next teeth decide to push their way out.

Maria got a new haircut on Tuesday and it looks great. I need to take a picture to show everyone. The highlights for Wednesday were Tim Miller being interviewed by the boys in writing class (need a snake taken care of...Tim's your man!) and having a wonderful meal delivered of Lumpia and Rice and Brownies by Tonya. Thanks...we all enjoyed it and had a few leftovers today. Today I went to lunch with Cindi at Sticky Chicken. I am so thankful for friendships that have withstood the test of time and circumstances and changes in seasons. Cindi is a real blessing in my life.

I finished a few books recently- The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan are ones I would recommend. March wasn't my favorite....it seemed to drag a bit in my opinion. I am glad that I am keeping track of the books I have read- it is neat to be able to look back at them.

Kids back from camp!

Maria and William are back safe and sound from camp. It sounds like they had a great time. I am so thankful that they have opportunities like this to learn and grow and to have fun too.

James has been out of it the last couple of days. I think it is due to his top two front teeth coming in. It sure makes me sad to hear him whimper and cry, even in his sleep. We have been doing a lot of cuddling and nursing and I have been giving him some ibuprofren for the pain. I have had teething tablets recommended to me, along with the stuff you rub onto the gums to numb them. I think I may be going shopping tomorrow to try to find these things. He slept horrible last night and tonight doesn't look to be much better.

I have been spending a lot of time at Panera Bread. Yesterday after church I went to a bookgroup meeting there in the morning and then this evening went to a Secret Pal revealing there. I had NO IDEA who my awesome secret pal was, so it sure was fun to find out who she was. One of the things she gave me this evening was a book called Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love by Myron Uhlberg. It looks so interesting....I can't wait to dig in! But, first I need to read some library books that are due soon!

Valentine's Day

Ken called me from London to wish me a Happy Valentine's Day. This was totally unexpected and very welcomed....hearing his voice was the best gift of all!

The other day our family went to Shepherd's Kitchen, the wonderful new Meditteranian restaurant in Brentwood and James tried Hummus and Falafel for the first time. He LOVED both of them. I went to visit my sister Annabelle in Mountain View today and her husband Ethan is a great cook. James ate some of the hummus that Ethan made and loved it too. It is fun experimenting with the various foods for James. We are quickly moving away from jarred baby food...we make our own and he is starting to eat food that the rest of us are eating. How quickly time flies.

Funny video

I got this off of another blog I follow and I couldn't stop giggling, so thought I would share. Plus, I figured out how to add a video from Youtube....another blogging milestone for me.

Saying goodbye to (most) of my family

Today Ken left for London for 10 days. Maria and William left for Winter Camp for 4 days. And James is in bed. It is quiet here. I don't mind being alone- there is always something to do. Like read a book. Eat dinner. Put away toys and laundry. Blog. What are my plans for the rest of the weekend while everyone is gone? Maybe visit my sister Annabelle. Go to church. Go to one of my bookclubs. Playgroup. So, while not as many people doing as many things, I still have a few things on my calendar. And, even though three people are gone from the house, there are still three people here- my dad, James, and myself.

I just finished reading My Jesus Year: A Rabbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith by Benyamin Cohen. This book was very well-written, humorous, and thought provoking. I would definitely recommend it. I find I really enjoy books written by a person who sets out for a year (or any other time period) to accomplish a certain goal. Such as reading the Encyclopedia Britannica. Or competing in professional scrabble tournaments. Or living Biblically for a year. And so on. I guess I like to live vicariously!

I just the link to be able to view the photos from Monday's session at JC Penney. If you would like to see more, let me know and I will send you the link. But, for those of you that don't need to see all 21, here are a few of the highlights. I love these pictures! The first one is my dad and all my kids- James is 9 months, Maria is 14 years old and William is 11 years old. The second one captures my dad and James!

Today is Tuesday?

Yesterday was jam-packed full of great things. First I went to the Delta First Five Center to sign up for free Baby Sign Language classes. I had never been there before and I was so incredibly impressed. Along with all the great free classes they provide, there is also a play area that the kids can be in every day from 9am-1pm. I felt like I discovered a hidden gem! James and I then went to Musical Storytime with Miss Jane at Barnes and Noble, something I remember doing with Maria and William when they were wee little ones. I then went to playgroup which is always great to catch up with the moms present. We then went to get photos taken with my dad and my kids at JC Penney's and we were sooo impressed with them. Plus, can't beat the price! James had his 9 month doctor's appointment, where he remained solidly in the 90-95% range for length and weighs a whopping 20 lbs 5 oz. For dinner, my dad took us to Texas Roadhouse in Tracy where we gorged ourselves on steak, ribs, loaded sweet potatoes, and rolls.

So, with yesterday being full of so many things, it didn't really feel like a Monday for some reason, so now my week is off a bit. I keep needing to remind myself that today is Tuesday, not Monday. There are also a lot of little things this week that need to be taken care of so I really need to be conscious of the time. Ken leaves for London on Friday and Maria and William leave for Winter Camp that same day. A lot of little loose ends to try to wrap up before everyone leaves....

What would you choose?

I just finished the book Still Alice by Lisa Genova. What a moving novel about a lady who discovers she has early-onset Alzheimer's disease and the journey this takes her on. It sure made me think about how easy it is to be complacent in my knowledge and abilities, and to realize that there really are no guarantees. In the novel Alice has three children, and as early-onset Alzheimer's disease is genetic, her children have the option to be tested. Two of them choose to be tested- one was positive and one was negative. The third choose not to find out. That made me ponder what I would choose....would I want to know, given there was a 50/50 chance of me having the disease, or would I prefer to go about life without knowing. Hmmm....not sure. That is a hard thing to consider. So, what would you choose- to know or not to know?

Bookclub, games, and fondue

We had every single member of the Ladies Book Club attend today. What a great time sharing our wedding stories and laughing together. We discussed Blue Heart Blessed by Susan Meissner. A nice, relatively easy read that made me stop and think along the way.

Then, home again just in time to see Maria before she went off to a babysitting job. She is doing more and more babysitting and is enjoying herself. It sure is neat to watch her grow into a young adult. While she was gone, Ken, William and I played S'Math, which is a Scrabble like game where you need to place equations. Ken beat both of us, hands down. We may tweak some of the rules next time. Then, we had a cheese fondue by candlelight, which was very nice. Not sure why we don't dine by candlelight more often. Maria came home and joined in at the end.

Circus Oz

Today the kids and I went to UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall to see Circus Oz perform. I highly recommend this group! You can see their 2008 promo video by clicking here. Since this was a Schooltime Performance it was an abbreviated show so we saw most but not all of the acts. But, since the price was also extremely abbreviated, that works. Zany, irreverent, alternative, live circus music, and more.

Tonight Ken and I went out on a date to The Shepherd's Kitchen, which was wonderful Mediterranean food. Ken and I ordered Falafel's to share as an appetizer. They were hot and delicious. Ken ordered the Shish Kabob plate and I had the Lamb Kabob plate with extra grilled tomatoes. Both of these dishes were yummy.

Excuse me?

Excuse me....is it February already? How did that happen? Guess I have fallen off the blogging wagon. What has been going on in our lives? Playgroup, church, visiting my sister, walks, storytime, Pampered Chef party, sleepovers, Superbowl parties, babysitting, Mom's Night Out, entertaining the Dwyers from North Carolina, bowling, walk with Mike Moran of East Bay Parks, PE, birthday lunches, and these are just the things that I actually have listed in my calendar since the last time I posted. I don't typically put in things such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, changing diapers, rolling on the floor and making James laugh, reading, sending out bizarre amounts of emails about various subjects, playing games, watching TV shows via the internet (House and 24), watching Danger Man (old 60's TV show..possible pre-cursor to The Prisoner), lending out books, giving away games, doing Bible study, grocery shopping, connecting various people to one another, answering homeschooling questions, and I am sure there are other things I do. So, I keep myself busy doing the things that are needed, the things that are wanted, and the things that aren't necessary (like playing Hearts by myself on the computer).

Zoom

Time goes fast in my life. I don't set out to have a busy schedule and then boom...I am off and running with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Sometimes I feel like I am pretty balanced, and then realize that the laundry is going to take over our room if I don't put any away. Not sure how come time is so hard to grasp.

I have been spending a fair amount of time in the last couple of days getting things prepared for my Pampered Chef party this Friday. It looks like there will be about 20 people coming, from all different aspects of my life. I love having people over and introducing them to one another and watching different people connect.

Maria's Birthday

I have a fourteen year old daughter. How did that happen? I have a hard time believing that she is only 18 months from her permit, 2 years from her license, 4 years from being a legal adult....and the list goes on. I find parenting a balancing act. How to have the appropriate limits for the different ages and what freedoms to allow and when? There are no easy answers, because it is different for each child and certainly is always changing since they are always getting older.

I finished reading People of the Book today and it was a very well-written, compelling story. I did not know what to expect but I was very pleased that I found and read this book. It is neat to think of the history of items and what went into them being created and what they have lived through. I thought this book did a very elegant job of tracing the history of the creation of a book. I read certain books such as this one and am amazed at how a writer can craft words and ideas together to create such an enjoyable read.

Wedding!

Today was a first Ken and for our house....a wedding. I met Holly through playgroup last year and tonight she and Mark got married by Ken at our house tonight. Congratulations! I was going to post a picture but realized they are all on their camera...I just have the video.

We then went out to Indian food and celebrated with good food and conversation. I am so blessed to have people like this in my life.

James also went to his first storytime at the library. Miss Denise is the one who does the lapsit storytimes....just like when Maria and William were little ones. Nothing like a bit of deja vu.

Cardio Tennis

The third class at the health club. This time it was Cardio Tennis. Huff...puff...wow, what a workout. It was fun being outside and running around on the court...makes me want to get a program going with some kids. Of course I would need to remember some of the exercises that she had us do...but something I will let percolate in my mind.

I just organized all of my random recipes that I have printed off the internet, gotten from friends, or torn out of magazines. The amount of time I spent looking through the huge stack of random papers was getting frustrating, so I put them all in plastic sleeves and did a rough division...drinks, breakfast, breads, side dishes, main dishes, and desserts. I need to go back through and divide these categories into smaller chunks, but at least it is now manageable again. I realize how much more I have been cooking for my family recently. That makes me feel good.

I love spell check...it would be very embarrasing to see my posts without spell check being utilized! My older kids are in a spelling bee at the end of the week and William is quite the natural speller. I often ask him how to spell word when I am stuck. Amazing how everyone's mind is wired a bit differently.

Off to do some typical chores....I am pretty thankful that I can do them. I have the physical capabilty of doing them, I have a house that needs tidying, I have enough clothes that I can do laundry and let it stack up, I have a bed that needs to be made, I have new towels that need to be washed, I have books and schoolwork and paperwork that need to be put into their proper places, I have a shower I can take a long, hot shower and listen to the radio, I have knitting I want to do as long as the urge to read doesn't overtake me, I have sooooo much to be thankful for.

What's Your Word?

What's Your Word? I read about this on some different friend's blogs and took the quiz. My word is:

"You see life as an amazing mix of possibilities, ideas, and fascinations. And sometimes you feel like you don't have enough time to take it all in. You love learning. Whether you're in school or not, you're probably immersed in several subjects right now. When you're not learning, you're busy reflecting. You think a lot about the people you know and the things you've experienced."

Right now what am I in the middle of? Knitting a scarf for William, putting together a group camping trip for June, preparing for 3 of my 4 bookclubs that are meeting this weekend, thinking about what to do in my garden (anyone want to come and weed/prepare soil/prune/plant with me?), organizing a field trip on February 6 and I am sure there are other things too! But, I hear James waking up for his nap, so time to go to him and put these other things to the side.

Sympathy

I now have sympathy for Dan on the last season of Amazing Race. While I did not have $1,000,000 at stake, I certainly managed to have just as much trouble following simple directions with my arms and legs. Today was the second day of my free trial class at Diamond Hills Sports Club and today was the Kardio Kick class. While I enjoyed the class and it certainly got my heart pumping, my form and technique left a bit to be desired. I am glad that no one was filming me and putting it on You Tube.

Blast from the past

Playgroup was today...and it turned into a fieldtrip! We were sitting around talking and at the end three of us ended up loading up my van with car seats and headed out to IKEA with our little ones. Things are definitely more fun with friends. It reminded me of going places when Maria and William were little.

Earlier in the day, Ken had sent me an email with this Subject: "It's amazing what one can find on the internet" and there was a picture attached.

Lo and behold, a picture of me from about 20 years ago!

Discovery of Trail

Isn't it weird how you can live in a place for years and years and still discover new things? I have always had a hazy knowledge of a trail near our house, but it wasn't until yesterday that Ken, James and I went on it together. I then took James, Maria and William on it today.

James loves going for walks....he views it as his mobile naptime.

The path is about a 3 mile round trip walk and has four exercise stations along the way. We did some of them this time, but mostly fooled around. Here is William hanging out.

The trail goes right along a creek, so it is a totally different feel than walking in the neighborhood. Maria enjoyed going down near the creek.

So, if anyone wants to pop on over to my house and head out for a three mile walk, come on over! I am loving that I discovered this and want to go more often. And being the extrovert that I am, walking with others is a huge motivation for me.

Bookclubs

I like to read. A lot. I can't imagine life without books. Or the library. I am part of four bookclubs, which rarely meet at the same time. But this month three of them are on the same weekend. I typically try to read the book right before bookclub, but I now need to get a move on three books before next weekend. The first book is Jimmy by Robert Whitlow for Saturday, the next is The Human Comedy by William Saroyan for Sunday and the last is The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper for Monday. I love meeting with other people that enjoy books and I also get exposed to books I wouldn't have necessarily read on my own.

Here is an excerpt from The Human Comedy, page 17: "You must remember," she said, "always to give, of everything you have. You must give foolishly even. You must be extravagant. You must give to all who come into your life. Then nothing and no one shall have the power to cheat you of anything, for if you give to a thief, he cannot steal from you, and he himself is then no longer a thief. And the more you give, the more you will have to give."

This is challenging....made me stop and ponder what I give, what I give freely, and what I hold on to, let alone what I cling to.

Game Night!

Thursday night- Pizza and Game Night at the Balderrama's. Well, instead of pizza tonight, we went to the Texas Roadhouse in Tracy, one of our favorite recipes. Nothing like steak and ribs and loaded sweet potatoes! My husband sat next to James and he was a fantastic multi-tasker. He managed to feed James all kinds of different food from the table (bread, crackers, sweet potatoes...not sure if any french fries snuck in) while engaging in conversations and eating his own food. What an awesome guy! We then came home and played a few games of poker and one round of Hearts.

What else has been keeping us busy? Community Bible Study started up yesterday. How nice it was to be back together with friends and learning more about God's word. Playgroup was also yesterday and there was a great turnout. I am trying to walk to as many things as possible and it is great being able to have the time to do this.

And how could I forget the big event of today....today was the Geography Bee that Maria and William both participated in. Granted, we did all of no preparation for this, but it sure was neat to listen to the answers. Thirteen students participated and William made it to the second of three rounds and Maria ended up tying for third place. I was very impressed with both of them.

Mat Pilates

I did a mat Pilates class today at Diamond Hills Sports Club. Ouch! I found out I am not as limber as I once was. But what a beautiful club with great facilities. I am taking four free classes there this month and that has gotten Ken and I to start talking about possibly joining a health club again. So we will be looking at Diamond Hills along with Club One and In Shape. While the price per month is a definite factor, the bigger factor is which one would we actually use. That is the real trick to a health club....not getting a membership, but using the membership consistently!

I just finished reading Blood River today which is the true story of journalist Tim Butcher's recreating a Victorian gentleman's journey on the Congo River. This was an amazing book. The areas he travelled were more modern in the 50's than they are today...it is one of the few places on earth that the grandparents have lived more progressively than their grandchildren. This was also where The African Queen was filmed, so now I am watching this film. I am fascinated by how various books and videos come into my life. I sometimes go to the library and get books off the hold shelf, and I have no idea why I put them on hold, but they will be gems.

Had one of the freezer meals today- Playoff Burgers. Yummy. How nice that was to have sitting in the refrigerator, waiting to be cooked. It took away all the temptation of going out to dinner and it was so nice to sit down as a family at the table. James joined in, but he ate banana, sweet potato, oatmeal and apple sauce instead.

The End of the Soup

We had the Herinks over for dinner tonight and while the food was good, the conversation was even better. I love listening and participating in conversations that run the gamut from politics to religion to economics to Star Trek to families to homeschooling to computers to community to recipes to travels to gambling to books to .... you get the picture! A whole lot of talking over a wide range of topics.

Earlier in the day the soup kitchen was open. Holly came over and grabbed some of the Black Bean Salsa Chicken soup and we had a nice visit with her. Then the Herinks were served the two different soups. And at the end of dinner, Sonya came over and was able to take the rest of both of the soups. We are happy to see them go since we have been noshing on them for a few days and there still isn't room in the freezer. Plus, it is great to see things like this being able to be shared. I want to live my life more communally and sharing food either at our table or with other people to take home helps satisfy that desire. So...if you want to come on over and break bread with us, we would love to have you.

Lunch out with Auntabelle

Woo hoo! I got to see my sister Annabelle today! James sure loves hanging out with his Auntabelle.

We met her today at her friend Serafine's new home in Concord. We went out to lunch at Sorrento Italian Restaurant and it was fabulous. I had the Pasta Salvietto which was a fresh pasta roll with ricotta cheese, spinach, mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce served with sauteed fresh vegetables and choice of soup or salad. My mouth is watering just remembering it.

I came home to a house cleared of all Christmas decorations and fairly picked up overall. BIG GRIN! My mantra needs to be declutter, declutter, declutter. New things keep coming into the house every day it seems...even the mail is a struggle for me.

Right now as I am blogging, James is snoozing and Ken and the older kids are playing Nintendo Monopoly which William got for Christmas. I would have been playing....but for Maria's monopoly wiping me almost all the way out and then William cleaning out the rest of my money. Sigh.

Free Food!

We were going to have some friends over for dinner, but due to a few members of the family being mildly sick, we decided to postpone our gathering. But, I have a huge pot of Turkey Soup and a huge crockpot (new for Christmas!) full of Black Bean and Salsa Chicken, which is a bit thicker than soup, but basically soup like. I was getting ready to freeze it when I realized there is no room in my freezer. So, I have some soups available for anyone that is interested! Drop me a line or give me a call and I can bag some of either kind or both for you.

Cooking galore!

I did it! I completed the cooking I set out to do today. Granted, I didn't move to the next thing on my list, which was to take down Christmas decorations. But, I felt pretty good about the cooking. Yesterday I made 4 meals and today I made 10 meals. Granted, most of these were just the main entree, not complete meals, but this will certainly make my life easier for this month. Now I just need to think about side dishes to go with meals, and I pretty much have the month loosely mapped out in terms of meals. And Thursday nights were easy....they are our family pizza and game night. Where did we go tonight? Straw Hat because we had a coupon and we played Rook for the first time.