Easter, Snow.....the Last Month.....

And we start off with a volcano! Going back several weeks now, to the middle/end of March... Julia had to make a volcano for school for a science project. The kids could make it look however they wanted, and use any materials they wanted, it just had to have an area to pour in the vinegar and baking soda for the eruption. I helped Julia put a baby food jar in the hole we cut in the bottom of a cottage cheese container. She did everything else herself: building up the mountain with wadded up newspaper and masking tape, painting brown one day, painting red lava another day, and adding the "tree" and rocks. She brought it into her classroom and her teacher said it was beautiful! That night we drove south to stay with Brian's mom, so we could fly out of Ontario with her the next day, to go to Washington.

Saturday before Easter we colored eggs with Grandma and Grandpa. We had so much fun and had lots of dye left that we ended up coloring raw eggs too! I think only one got cracked...Lauren dropped it lightly... Thankfully it didn't break all over and make a mess!

Easter Sunday we went to church with my mom and dad. That afternoon Auntie Colleen brought over tons of candy-filled eggs and hid them outside. We were glad the kids could have the egg hunt outside, as it had rained earlier in the day.

Monday, 3/24: Cousins Luke and Kaitlyn came over to play. Lauren and Grandma refilled the plastic eggs used the day before, with more jellybeans, and all the kids had another egghunt! Grandpa gave all five of them tractor rides. They're all wearing borrowed hats from Grandpa and Grandma here. It was lovely weather, but soo chilly with the wind blowing!

During the week we visited lots of people and just hung out at my mom and dad's too. Friday it snowed! That was something interesting to tell people back home: Easter and snow in the same week! You will see we came to WA somewhat unprepared; there they are, wearing borrowed hats again, and socks on their hands, and then borrowed too-big gloves from Grandma when the socks got wet. At least we'd packed jackets, but no hats and gloves! The kids loved the snow!! Although this is one of the few pictures of Lauren happy in it. She didn't like the snowflakes on her face and went back in the house after just a few minutes.

Austin and Julia stayed out quite awhile and built two little snowmen and also had a mini snowball fight with just the two of them.

Friday night, 3/21, we went to their cousin Annika's birthday party, and then celebrated some more at Chuck E. Cheese the next day. Sunday was church again, then Monday, 3/31, we went out to my dad's cousin's place where the kids could ride horses. Cousins Alyssa and Annika were there too. They all had so much fun!! Here Austin is on Beauty, and Julia is on Joy.

Uncle Doug leading Lauren and Alyssa around on Joy

Annika and Austin on a swing

We returned home the next day, 4/1. It was another full day of travel; we left around 9:30 a.m. to drive to Seattle to return our rental van and fly back to Ontario. We ate dinner with Brian's mom at McDonalds, just quickly, before driving home. We pulled into our driveway about 11:30 p.m. when Austin threw up, still in his booster seat in the van! :P He didn't seem to be sick, as he was fine the next day. I think he was just extremely overtired! We all had to get up bright and early the next morning for Julia to go back to school. I had a doctors appointment the same morning.

The next day, 4/3 I unpacked and did laundry. Julia had a Student Recognition Assembly that afternoon, to mark the end of the second trimester. She received a very special award this time. They have several "Character Counts" words (such as honesty, kindness, etc.), where each is the word of the month during the school year. Just one child from each class gets awarded for one of these words during the year. One word this trimester was "Responsibility". Julia's award says it was given to her for being an outstanding example of responsibility. Her teacher wrote a personal note on the back, saying, "Julia has been an outstanding example of Responsibility this Trimester. She is responsible in both speech and in actions. She can be counted on to do her best at all times and to honor her word. She has earned this Award!" Of course we are proud of her for doing well academically, but in the long run, I think showing she has good character is even more important!

Friday 4/5: I cleaned the house and ran Austin and Lauren to their doctor, as both had oozing green gunk in their eyes. With company coming that night, I didn't want to go the weekend wondering if they had pinkeye! It ended up they both had ear infections! Neither had complained about their ears hurting, but the doctor said they both definitey had them, not just being on the verge... They'd had colds in WA, and either were hanging on to those, or maybe caught new ones. Whatever, somehow the ear infections came from those colds.

My cousin Randy and his wife Judy, and their daughter, Abby, arrived Friday evening. They stayed with us for the weekend. Our kids were SO excited to have Baby Abby come, and eagerly hauled out our baby/toddler toys. The toys kept on coming, and coming, and coming out... I have visions of what my house is going to look like in about a year.... ;) Saturday we all went to the Avila Valley Barn, Fat Cat's for lunch, and then to play in the sand at Avila Beach.

Sunday we went to church, then to Pea Soup Andersen's for lunch in Buellton, then on to the La Purisima Mission. It's been several years since we'd been to the Mission, and it was very interesting to go through again! We saw a snake just off the path, and it made me leery to go walking through any longish grass! It didn't rattle though, and we *think* it was harmless. Still... Austin was glad to push Abby in her stroller. Here he is with that little cutie, enjoying each other's company. He liked making silly noises and faces at her to get her attention!

Tuesday 4/8: We had our third ultrasound for this pregnancy, to see how our baby is growing. We had the same doctor, and she said the choroid plexus cysts on the babies brain had disappeared. She said baby was growing well, in fact was measuring 2.4 lbs., and 4 days ahead of schedule. Oh, and we asked, baby is still a girl. ;) We call her "Baby Sister", as no name has been chosen. I made a list of names, and Brian and I have discussed them the tiniest little bit, but we have not decided on any one in particular.

Here are a couple pictures of Baby Sister. She was facing down/back for the longest time, but Dr. N did manage to get this profile shot, on the left. You can see where her nose is, that is an elbow by her mouth/chin, and then little fingers on the end of that, towards the left of the picture. On the right is a front view of the face. You can see two arms there too, but no fingers from this angle.

While the kids and I were gone in WA for Spring Break, Brian painted the family room. You can kind of see the new color here, a pale gray blue. I plan to take more shots of the room when it is a little more put together! We assembled the cabinets, and I've arranged them almost how I want. But I need to put some things from the kids' rooms in them too. And the kids' rooms are turned upside down right now! Saturday the 19th Brian painted Austin's room, so all his furniture and toys were moved out into our room and the girls' room. Now his bed and dresser are back in and their room is a disaster. His is almost put together again, and I plan to take pics of it too. Anyway, these were from a week ago. Our two little honey bees. ;) And Austin joining in on the fun. :)

This little girl is almost three! But not quite. ;) She is very much into making crafts these days. One of her favorite things to do is to glue. I cut out a bunch of pictures from magazines and old calendars for her, and she has the best time making collage after collage, gluing the pictures. She has a chocolate pudding face, as that was the afternoon snack for this day. In the second picture, Lauren said she was a "tiwre dirl" (fire girl). Don't those princess shoes complete the ensemble?!

Recent Lauren sayings: 1) Brian and I were moving Julia and Austin's beds into Lauren's room, and she was sooo excited! She kept exclaiming things like, "My woom wooks diffwent! It wooks nice in here! It is tute (cute) in here!" She was so glad to have them move in with her and did her best to tell us how excited she was. 2) Discussing baby names: "Maybe we name the baby Reeea". Later as we walked from school: "My name is Reeea. I am ReBA!" And she insisted her name was Reba for a few hours there.... 3) Driving home from Awana and listening to a CD, with a song about heaven playing: Suddenly Lauren pipes up somewhat wistfully, "I not doe with Dod. (go with God)." I asked her, "You're not going with God?" She replied, "Noooo.... I not tell Dod no...." I am wondering how much she has been picking up on our conversations, and what exactly she is thinking about! Julia and Austin have asked Jesus into their hearts, and they both know Lauren has not and will ask about her, "What about Lauren? Will she go to heaven?" What we have been telling them is that Lauren doesn't understand yet, but that she also has not said "No" to Jesus.

And yes, that is dinner in the background. Friday I had to bring a meal to some friends who had a new baby, and here is our portion. I made BBQ shredded pork in the slow cooker for sandwiches, Confetti Cole Slaw, and Chocolate Chip Cheese Bars. Some of you might recognize those last two recipes!

Saturday we had such a busy, busy day! We all (and I had considered getting a babysitter but didn't...) went to Santa Maria to look for bunk beds for the girls. We went to three furniture stores and have decided which set to order, which I plan to do tomorrow. We hit Home Depot to get ClosetMaid wire shelving supplies to redo the girls' closets to maximize the space in there, and then off to Wendy's for lunch. It was a hot day and we all (except Lauren didn't want any) got Frostys to help cool off!

Sunday after church (and lunch at Baja Fresh....yum). It was another hot, hot day, I think it got to 95!! Got to take those pictures of the girls in their matching clothes while the oldest still thinks it's fun to match Little Sister! ;)

This weekend was the Webkinz Extravaganza. If you spent $10 at a participating store, that store would give you a free Webkinz (to the first 500 people, until they were gone). Beverly's in Santa Maria was participating, so after bringing the meal to our friends with the new baby, the kids and I stopped there. I have no problem finding $10 of pretty things at a craft store! ;) The kids got to each spin the Wheel of Wow they had set up, and each one won a prize. I let Austin choose the free Webkinz, his very first. He absolutely loves his new frog, whom he named Hip Hop.

Saturday while we were all in Santa Maria, the kids ever-so-sweetly talked Daddy into stopping at Beverly's again, so I found more pretty things to buy, all scrapbook stuff this time. Well, I underestimated my total, and I was only loosely estimating to begin with, and ended up with $25 to buy. The cashier said we could get two free Webkinz since the total was over $20, and in fact, if I wanted to buy $5 more we could get three more Webkinz! Well, we didn't add anymore to the total, and this time Julia and Lauren each chose a new Webkinz. Julia picked a leopard, and Lauren chose a striped kitty. They also spun the Wheel of Wow again and got more prizes! I had hoped to sneak all the free Webkinz in my cart and save them for Christmas/birthday gifts. But Julia is too observant and caught on right away to how it worked: spending $10 and getting the free Webkinz. No more secrets once she knew what was going on. At least the morning started out good for the kids--they enjoyed that stop much more than furniture and closet organizer shopping!!

Here is Austin with Hip Hop, and wearing the visor he made for a craft a church. They learned about Jonah, which I think is why they decorated with sea creatures. Last night Austin had one of our Chocolate Chip Cheese Bars, and he said, "Hip Hop and I like black food with black flies in it..." Meaning the chocolate chips in his bar were flies!! Though the rest of the bar was certainly not black! You never know what he's going to come up with. ;)

Park Day

Last Friday Julia had no school because it was a teachers' work day. We had a busy fun-filled day out and about. First we went to JCPenney's to get pictures taken of the three kids together, and for Julia to get her 8-year pictures done. I did not feel like taking them myself this time. After the photo session we wandered through the store to the restroom (it seems I have to wander there in most every store these days.... :D ). On the way back through the store, going to our car, I stopped to look at a few things, and Julia and Austin made it clear that that was not what they wanted to be doing on their day of fun! I'd told them the next two places we were going, and browsing at Penneys was not on their agenda! So, we went to McDonald's for lunch, and then to Waller Park. I considered eating lunch at the park, but it was very windy, and decided against it.

Brian met us for a little while at the park, on his way back from visting a customer, then went back to work. First the kids played on the playground, and I didn't take any pictures of that, as it was enough work just trying to keep track of all of them running around. Next we walked over to the duck pond so the kids could feed the ducks. We had a big bag of moldy-ish stale bread and rolls that has been accumulating in the freezer, just for this purpose. It was so nice for the kids that the ducks were hungry! We've been there before when they could care less about the food, and what fun is that? ;)




Not content to just feed the ducks, Austin spotted this group resting under the tree, and instead of tossing bread to them, proceeded to run after them, waving his arms and racing through the bunch. There was not a single duck left under the tree by the time he was done!!


Worn out from the big chase


Our big bag of bread finally ran out. Austin and Lauren found some dry slices of bread under a bench and fed that to the ducks, but that finally ran out too. So back to the playground and swings we went. The kids were getting pretty tired out by this time and were content to swing. That was easier for me, as they weren't running around all over!




All three of them sat on the tire swing for a few minutes, but Lauren soon had enough and wanted to play in the dirt. Austin saw that and joined her shortly. They weren't doing much digging or anything though. As tired as they were, they decided to lay in the dirt... I pushed Julia on the tire swing for awhile, and then decided we better leave for our last stop. We drove into the Kohl's parking lot, and immediately Austin started crying, saying he did not want to go to that store! Lauren caught on quickly to him protesting and joined right in.... Julia, being older, waited to see where we parked, and never did start fussing about going to Kohls. We went to Yogurt Creations, where again Brian met us. We all got frozen yogurt and chose toppings. You pay for your "creation" by the ounce, and can add any variety and amount of yogurt and toppings you want. Julia went a little crazy adding more and more candy to her yogurt! She ended up taking half of it home. Austin, Lauren and I took naps--Austin telling me he was not tired, and that he was going to keep his eyes open the whole time! I asked him when he woke up if that happened, and he said, "I slept a little bit...." :)


Now, onto other things. On February 28 a decision was made in a California Appellate Court that in effect makes homeschooling illegal in our state if the parent is not a credentialed teacher. Link to Decision Even if parents are credentialed for elementary or secondary education, it will be illegal under this decision for them to teach the other (elementary or secondary grades). We do not homeschool, but may want to at some point. Even if our family never homeschools, we believe others should have that right. There is a petition you can sign to show support for California homeschooling families, that I understand is going to to be presented to the California Supreme Court. What if you live in another state? Even if you do not live in California, you can sign it. Link to Petition You can read more information about the decision, and what they hope to do in response on this site also (and no, you don't have to join HSLDA to sign). There is also a very interesting broadcast by Focus on the Family, regarding this decision, linked on the HSLDA site you might want to listen to.

Round Up

Last Saturday we went to a round up for one of Brian's customers, who also happens to go to our church. Brian told him (Daniel) that he wanted to do an inspection, and Daniel invited Brian to come do it at the round up, and said to bring the family. We got there shortly before noon. The kids played on a haystack in the barn for a little while before everyone went to the house (Daniel's grandparents' house) for lunch. There was SO much food: BBQ'd tritip, pasta salad, taco salad, lettuce salad, fruit salad, baked beans, Li'l Smokies in a crockpot, chips, salsa, a veggie tray, and garlic bread. Then for dessert they had homemade chocolate cake and apple cobbler. I ended up going home with the recipe for the cobbler, from Daniel's grandma, and a baggie of dried persimmons that she gave me too. They have a (more?) persimmon tree along with many other fruit trees, and she cans and dries the fruit. I'd never tried persimmons before, and thought they were good, at least the dehydrated ones.


Little girl on a big stack of hay. Austin wouldn't let her go up any higher. He told her it was too dangerous!


Cute calves--they will eventually be sold for beef.


The two big kids on the haystack--guess it was safe for them to climb a little higher. ;) And a lovely view. Some of these cows were mother cows whose babies were being rounded up. A lot of the mothers were calling for their babies.


The cowboys (and girls) roping the calves allowed in the corral. The calves were already separated into different areas, and they'd open one gate at a time to let a new group in the corral. These guys had already been hard at work early this morning, castrating the male calves. I talked to one girl (who taught Austin's Sunday School class when he was 3) who said her job was to cook Rocky Mountain Oysters later that afternoon. See link for explanation if you don't know what they are. :D I asked her if she eats them, and she said she does not. I don't care to try them either. ;)

Anyway, after lunch, the calves were getting branded, eartags, and vaccinations. It was really interesting to watch. They had a system going, and the calves were moved in and out of the corral pretty quickly. First the cowboys/girls would rope the calf. If only one leg was roped, a man would hold its other leg down while another branded the calf. Then a lady sprayed some disinfectant on the calf and someone else inserted the eartag and someone else quickly did the vaccination. The whole process was repeated on each calf and was really efficient. Julia and Austin were very interested in watching it all, but Lauren got bored and started playing in the dirt and dried horse manure :P :P :P on the ground in the corral we were standing in.



It was a beautiful day, with temperatures probably in the mid/high 70s. In fact, Daniel's grandma said they were probably wishing for some cloud cover and a nice breeze instead! My kids certainly didn't need to wear long sleeves. The views on the ranch were gorgeous! The sky was actually this blue--no photo enhancing here. ;) The wild mustard was blooming, and some lavender wild flowers. These pictures are so small here and don't do the views justice. That brown shelter is the "barn" where the kids were climbing on the haystack. The corrals were a little to the back and left of it.



Walking from the calves to the goats. We stopped to see Daniel's grandpa's goats before leaving. They sell the goats to people who eat their meat. I didn't get any pictures of my kids feeding the goats because I was too busy keeping an eye on Lauren who was playing in the mud and muck outside the pen. :P She needed a thorough hand-washing that is for sure! Actually, all the kids had baths at home before the younger two climbed into their beds for naps. They loved being out at the ranch, and none of them wanted to go home.

Eight is Great

Julia turned 8 February 27. She brought cupcakes to school to share with her class: pink strawberry cake mix cupcakes with pink frosting and butterfly sprinkles. It's all about pink these days (still ;) ). After school we took these pictures in the backyard.




March 1 we celebrated Julia's birthday. Brian's mom came up for the weekend to join us. That morning at 9:40, Julia had auditions for the spring musical for choir, at church. She ended up getting a solo part. I am relieved she doesn't have a drama part this time--with drama she had to practice most Saturdays, so we were running up to church a lot! She only has one Saturday practice with solo (SO glad). Julia is happy about her solo too, as she has never had her "own" solo part in a song. She was part of a trio in the Christmas play, plus her drama part as Joseph's angel, so this is a nice break. :D

For her birthday, Julia wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese. We said she could invite one friend (I am burned out on the big, kid parties.....), and Julia chose her friend, Julia, who was in her class last year. Austin and Lauren were thrilled to go to Chuck E. Cheese too--that is the place to be!! ;) They both said they want their birthdays at Chuck E. Cheese! Austin ran around playing games. Lauren did a few rides and games, but spent most of her time in the jungle gym play area. I think she just liked being independent in there!


The kids played for awhile, then we ate our pizza and salad lunch. They scarfed down two slices of cheese pizza each and ran off to play some more! Julia G's favorite thing was this artic adventure "thing". Look at these girls; they look like biker chicks, so seriously playing their games!! Our Julia played on it for awhile, then ran off to do activities where she could get tickets. LOL Tickets are most important, after all. ;)


All the kids pondered their choice of prizes very carefully before making final decisions. Here are the two Julia's with a Dum Dum sucker they each chose (among their other prizes of plastic jewelry and nail stickers, etc. :) ).


When all the tokens were used up, and tickets redeemed, we all went back home where Julia opened her presents. Of course, all the other kids were excited about that too! They all had to be right there, in on the action.




Julia wanted a pink kitty cake, and strawberry ice cream. Here is her cake I made and decorated the day before. Kitty's face makes me laugh--quite the diva kitty with those long black eyelashes! Julia blew out all of her candles with one breath! After partying all day (and someone (....me....) forgetting to take out the chicken for Brian to BBQ.....), no one felt like cooking, so we went off to Olive Garden for dinner. That is Julia's favorite restaurant, and all the rest of us like it as well.


What else has been going on? It doesn't seem like too much exciting right now, though we are busy! It's been beautiful weather, in the 70s, the last few days. Today our street was repaved. Brian is the HOA president and had to research and choose a company to lay the new asphalt. Austin, Lauren and I went to brunch at my friend, Teri's house. This week is Missions Week at church, and there was an all-church lunch (Indian food--very good! And corndogs for the kids....) on Sunday after the services. Several missionaries spoke briefly about what they were doing. Saturday we went to a round-up for one of Brian's customers (he invited us all), and I have pictures to share from that, in another post. It was a lot of fun!