9-12-11

Work all day.  Mondays are going to kill me, I'm convinced.  Had a wonderful meeting with a wonderful family at Panera Bread in Fontana.  Got a Strawberries and Cream scone and a shortbread cookie.  Worth the 3 hours in the car <3

9-11-11

Another day at home.  I managed to get all laundry done and take this photo of Bean and his rock.  This kid loves rocks.  He carried a bowl around and kept putting the rock in and taking it out.  I love him <3

9-10-11

Co-op today and absolutely nothing else.  The boys and I laid in bed all day and watched the tube.  I think we needed it though, we haven't done it in a while.  Thought me and Silas had pink eye, but I really think the Lord healed us because by the end of the day, our eyes were fine.

9-9-11

Work in Lucerne Valley today.  Wow, what a place, but what a nice family that I met with.  Daddy left for another trip at night.  So, the boys and I watched Shrek #4 and went to bed.

9-8-11

Bible study today.  Our monthly leader meetings start in a week.  Very excited about being a part of those.

9-7-11

Back to school park day today!  Saw my lovely friend Adria and had a wonderful talk about homeschooling.  I'm leaning more and more towards it and I've realized over the past few months, that I really, truly, have a desire to school my kids at home.  This year is all about praying and seeing if it's the Lord's will.  We shall see <3

9-6-11

Typical Tuesday. Got a reply back from Mr. Prieto about family pictures. I can't wait to work with him!

9-5-11

Labor day! BBQ at the Grahams today courtesy of Amy :). Fun times with fam and friends :)

9-3-11

Wow, I am so behind! Let's see how fast I can catch up... Uncle Steve's 50th today. He doesn't look a day over 30 I say. Uncle Andy gave the boys harmonicas. They love them so much. Really hoping one of them picks it up :)

9-2-11

Busy day today. Attempted a fish tail braid on myself today Watched some tutorials the other night on youtube. Turned out okay, just got really loose as the day went on. Will definitely do it again. Had breakfast with my long lost friend Kerrie today. It was so good to see her, I didn't realize how much I missed her! Races home to take Harpie for a haircut. Thank you Auntie Sarah :). Came home and found out my parents were being evacuated because of a fire burning close to their house. They stayed the night with all their pooches. It was nice to have them, but they were stressed. Didn't like to see them worry. Their house is fine though so far. The fire is still burning but more under control then yesterday. Made spaghetti for everyone, then everyone went to bed. I slept with the boys, gave my parents the tempurpedic and ash and la slept on my couch. Gilbert's gone til Sunday morning on a fishing trip so it worked out well. Busy and full day.

9-1-11

This year is flying by! I cannot believe it's September already. Spent a half an hour at the bank today. Gonna try a new location next time. Silas is doing so great in school, he came home with a couple rewards and a new newsletter for the month of September. Picture day is next week. I'm so excited :) Thursday lunch was here and pretty short, the boys were all exhausted today and now Silas has a bad cough. I hope he's not getting sick. We watched Peter Pan today, my boys love that movie so much. Our first night of Thursday night study tonight. This is a picture of Silas and his new friend Peyton, beautiful Peyton.

8-31-11

Bean has really started to move over the last couple days.  My pictures are very blurry because he won't stop moving!  He's walking all over, it's very cute, but a little weird.  He's the size of a three month old baby, so it's like watching a newborn walk around!  That's a total exaggeration, but funny to think about.  Feeling pretty overwhelmed and unaccomplished when it comes to work the past couple days.  Trying to catch up.  Brought Gramma P a fish dinner tonight, she looks GREAT!  She's been sewing and cooking lately and is taking another trip up to Big Bear with the Griggs this weekend.  Love that lady!  Baba was there learning the quilting machine, so we got to see her too <3  Hoping for a better work day tomorrow.  

8-31-11

Drove the carpool today and went to Baba's to hang out while we waited for Si.  Laura is staying with Ashley right now at my mom and dad's so we got to see her.  It's good to see her beautiful face :)

8-29-11

Loved this quote from my devotional today.  Couldn't tweet it cause it was too long.  Cleaned house, did a little work and separated my laundry, which takes about a day to do.  The dryer has been broken and we've been waiting on the parts to come.  They got here today and my man fixed the dryer for me!  It was screeching really bad, horrible sound.  Got a little laundry done, while admiring my hubby in his old Dickie's shorts ;)  Early to bed, preschool tomorrow :)

8-28-11

Had our Thursday night Bible Study "Interview" today with the Gilson's and the Mosses.  Matt told us that he wants us to be leaders in Crown in the Spring.  I was laughing because we are just coming off of a bad spell in regards to our finances.  The Lord gave me a new budget to try on Friday and I'm really excited about it.  I feel like we have so much more money when we are on a budget.  We're also a little more restrained, but it all works out better in the end.  We're both excited about this new ministry, but I think there's a little apprehension there too.  We've been through a lot the past year and jumping back into things is a little nerve-wracking.  The pictures of the boys were taken in the morning before church.  We had a great morning with the babies.  That is Bean being his little demanding self, saying "mama" over and over again until I got him his banana and his milk.  And Silas, as usual, just being a ham.  Relaxed the rest of the day and had porterhouse steaks made by my love for dinner.  

8-27-11

Had breakfast with the in-laws today at iHop.  It was good to see the boys, then they were all off to Bass Pro to watch Daddy teach a seminar, and Mommy, had about 5 hours to herself!  This, does not happen often.  I enjoyed it, then had to be at the church to sing at a wedding.  Everything went well, then I headed home to be with my babies.  A casual dinner of leftover Del Taco and some quality time with the family.  Can it get any better then that?

8-26-11

Home this morning with the boys, worked a little, then headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house to drop off the boys for the night. Yes, I said the night. We actually had a night with no kids. Hasn't happened in a while. Drove to Chino to hang with our favorite people and then hung out at Balboa beach. Ate a lot at Ruby's, got a coffee and drove back to Chino. We were all very tired and pathetic, it was so sad. We're getting so old, all of us, even the baby of our group was the first to fall asleep. Love you K!

8-25-11

Work again today, all day. It was a very exhausting day. Work, then picked up the kids from Baba, then a wedding rehearsal for a sweet couple at church. I really love doing weddings. I wish I did them every weekend :). I brought Si to the rehearsal with me so he could hang out with Papa. He was an angel. My sweet friend brought me some plunder from her recent excursion to Whole Foods. She is a lover of all things organic as am I. She thought of me, she's so very thoughtful. Wish I was like that. The middle picture of Harpie is an after picture after an allergic reaction he had yesterday. We think he's allergic to Zu-Zu. On the way home from Baba's, he scratched all the way home, so I ran into Walgreens on the way home and grabbed some Zyrtec, well, Wal-Zyr. He cleared up and I sent that pic to Baba who was freaking out as usual <3

8-24-11

Work in the evening, day with the boys. Work is very busy right now and I'm fighting daily feelings of guilt. Do the boys notice when I'm so busy? I hope not. My devotional this morning talked about praising God in ALL experiences. That's the reason for the picture. I especially needed that reminder this week. The other picture is a plastic snake poking out on my couch. Life with boys. These are the things that I find around my house everyday. Love those boys!!

8-23-11

Preschool today.  First day of the carpool.  The boys loved having little A. in our car and talked her ear off.  Then dropped some paperwork off at Sarah's and then made some lentil salad and put the boys to bed.  The salad was amazing!!  I love anything with lentils.  Gilbert came home and we went to the Sein's house so he could give their boys a fishing lesson.  One of them caught fish within minutes of us being a the fishing hole.  I got to hang with Elva, which I love.  She is such a sweet woman.  They invited us for dessert afterwards and we hung out with them for a bit.  Her boys were so good with mine.  That always blesses me.  Si learned to play 'soccer', code for foosball.  Hope to do that again soon.

8-22-11

Today was a super busy work day.  Mom and Dad took Harpie on his birthday date and I didn't have such a great evening.  I was frustrated and overwhelmed and I'm ashamed to say I took it out on my hubby.  At nine p.m. I ran out of the house after the kids were in bed and ran a couple miles on the treadmill.  It helped a little bit, took my mind off of my stresses.  I ended my day with a hot shower and a really good night's sleep.  That run wore me out, but it made me want to do it more.  I wish I could get out and run more.  I didn't take any pictures today, FAIL!  Just wanted to include this picture of my Bean.  He always makes me smile.

8-21-11

Another day in Big Bear with Gramma P.  She has done so great this weekend.  She slept all night with no night sweats and she had tons of energy.  We had to tell her to sit down a few times.  We took her to the lake to walk around for a bit, then we went out for pizza.  It was a short trip, but a blessed one.  Can't wait to get the whole Cordi family up there with her, she mentioned that a few times.  Cherishing our days with Gramma P.

8-20-11

Headed up to Big Bear today for a short trip with Paula.  She did great while up there.  She ate a healthy dinner that Sarah and I cooked of fish and veggies and salad, then said she wanted to eat ice cream, so we didn't argue.  We wheeled her around the village and she got her ice cream.  She got a little emotional when we first walked in, but she was okay.  She said it was reality hitting her, she loves that house so much.  We understand.  We love that house too :(

8-19-11

Happy birthday Harper! He turned three today. I can't believe it. Daddy had the day off today, love these days. Daddy ran 18 miles this morning, I'm so excited for him. He's making me want to run. Gotta hit Auntie Sarah up for more runs together. After a leisurely morning at home (I got some work done, daddy nursed his aching legs in an ice bath, and the boys watched cartoons), we took a trip to Juice it Up and got some 'Carrot Patches', then went to Jess Ranch to take Harper to use his new Spiderman fishing rod. He caught his first fish and freaked out. He didn't want to touch it and started crying when we tried to get him to take a picture with it. Silas caught two fish and did great, Daddy was proud. We took the kids to Red Robin next for an early dinner, then took a trip to Winco where I raided the bulk foods. Such great deals! I'll definitely be going back for more. Then daddy got us a movie, 'Rango' and we watched it while Harpie's traditional birthday boxed cake was baking in the oven. When we sang to Harpie, Papa stopped by on his way home from golfing. It's always so good to see him. My boxed cake didn't turn out as planned. I wanted to really try and do a Spiderman cake, but time just didn't allow. I just washed off the Spiderman toy from the Cordi birthday dinner and stuck it on top. I also took it out of the pan too early so it cracked when I was frosting it. Oh, well, it tasted good :). Good day with the family, we realize as each day passes, we need to cherish every moment with our family and friends. Life is short. I appreciate my beautiful, healthy boys so very much. Thank you Jesus. And I almost forgot, Bean took a bunch of steps today. All on his own, it was so funny and cute, Daddy and I loved it, took some really cute video.

My Separation Anxiety 8-18-11

My Silas started preschool today.  We all had a wonderful slow morning at home.  The boys got up at 6, so they had a bath and breakfast, I even had time to juice :)  I had to make one stop to pick up some paperwork from a family, then I forgot Silas' lunch, so after a couple hiccups, we were off to school.  After arriving and taking this photo, he hung his backpack up and put his lunch in his cubby as if he'd done it a hundred times.  After some help finding his 'carpet square' with his name, he calmly sat down and gave the teacher his full attention.  I stayed for a few minutes, but realized that he didn't need me there, so I took the babies and left.  When I got in the car, I felt a little sad.  He's getting so big, growing up so fast.  That's so cliche but it's also very true.  He's not a baby anymore, he's a little boy, and such a great one at that.  I began to think about all of the great things about Mr. Cash.  He's a great big brother, he loves to make you laugh, he's so handsome, he loves to sing, and he's so smart, to name a few.  He was so ready to start preschool, but apparently I was not.  I felt sad, but I also felt very, very proud.  He's such a great kid.  He's not perfect, and he's got so much to learn still, but he brings so much joy to us.  A family that attends our church, very suddenly lost their 12 year old son over the weekend.  Gilbert and I both began thinking about how grateful we are to have all three of our boys happy and healthy.  As crazy as they are, we're so thankful that they're here.  I'm looking forward to this year, he's going to learn so much to prepare him for next year.  Next year will be even more depressing.  I cannot believe that Kindergarten is only a year away.  Maybe I'll just start homeschooling him, so I don't have to say good-bye again.

8-17-11

I will be honest, today was so busy that I didn't take a picture.  I included this screenshot of my Spotify app, which I spent some time trying to figure out, while I worked at Starbucks.  Had three meetings, all three showed up!  Wonderful!  I have been feeling so productive with work lately.  It's becoming more natural and I'm becoming more efficient.  I really hope I can work here forever.  I love my job.  Truly, truly love.  We just stayed home today and were productive around the house.  We cleaned some dirty boy rooms and mommy got some work done.  Still trying to figure out Spotify.

8-16-11

Full day today!  Silas and I went to Silas' preschool orientation together, while Baba watched the little two.  I really enjoyed the teachers and I think that this school is going to work out really great for him.  Anjelice was so happy to see Silas.  I didn't know that they knew each other, I was worried about that because of carpooling, but I think it will be fun for both of them.  Then, I went home and worked a bit, while the boys took a nap.  Then in the evening, we headed to Baba and Papa's again for Bean and Harpie's birthday dinner.  Love these dinners :)  Baba made some killer mac 'n' cheese, Auntie Sarah made a killer salad, and Auntie Ashley made a killer homemade cake.  We all hung out outside for a while.  It was a good night.  Love my family so much and we're so thankful for them.

8-15-11

Busy Monday.  School started today, work was busy and my house was turned upside down.  Literally.  I had a HUGE pile of laundry on my bedroom floor.  I was able to take care of a lot of laundry, not all of it, and I even cleaned the boys rooms and hung up a bunch of their clothes.  Then we took a trip to Boot Barn with Kristin and Jason, so Uncle Jason could help us pick out some cowboy boots.  We bought Harpie some for his birthday and found some for Silas.  We didn't buy any for Si, I didn't want him to ruin them before the wedding.  He did great when we told him the bad news.  Daddy gave him a dollar to smooth things over.  Preschool orientation tomorrow!

8-14-11

Lazy Sunday, that's what today was.  Gilbert ran 17 miles this morning.  He's amazing.  That picture was taken just because I wanted to capture how great he looks.  What a fox!  Lol... Went to Fresh Wok for lunch then came home and everyone took a nap.  That means some movie time for mommy.  Then Uncle Jason invited us to his parent's for a little while.  The boys fell in love with his sister Amy.  They've got 'cute, single, older woman' radar.

Walking Bean! 8-13-11

Well, I am happy to announce that the Bean is walking!  He took about three steps today.  It was so funny because I wasn't even expecting it.  Sarah was here hanging out and we were just talking, she got a call from Cory and I went to grab something, and Bean just took off from the couch out of the blue.  Sarah and I freaked out!  I wish Daddy could have been here.  He was away on his fishing trip.  I took a picture of Bean with his dragon toy because he was walking with it all day long.  I can't believe he's walking.  My boys are getting so big.  I'm blown away.  I helped with co-op today.  I just have to say that I love the Tonyan family.  They are great!  And while I was helping, I talked with a woman named Sasha, who I've met before, and it turns out she teaches piano!  She has reasonable prices, so I think I'm gonna go with her :)  I'm so excited :)  Baba and Auntie Sarah hung out for most of the day, so it was nice not to be alone.  Sarah and I looked for a photographer today to do family pictures of us.  I love Edmund Prieto, so I contacted him and asked him about prices.  He charges $400 for a session.  A little steep, but I'm hoping we can swing it because I know he'll do a great job.  We'll see.  He got back to me super fast too, which is nice.  I hope it works out.  Until tomorrow.

8-12-11

Went to Corwin Park today for a Lemonade Float Party for my class.  Me and Ms. Viveros put it on together.  One of the first things Harpie did was pick a flower and bring it to me.  He's so sweet.  It was a beautiful day in the shade today.  Corwin Park is a nice park with lots of trees.  Will try and take the kids there again.  Then we came home, made a pizza together, gave the crazies a bath and then watched 'Mars Needs Moms' together.  The boys and I also were able to watch some old home movies together of when the boys were smaller.  They loved it.  It was so sweet and it made me want another munchkin :(  My boys are growing up too fast.  I need to video more.  Pictures are one thing, but to watch an almost 2 year old Silas pray, is amazing.  Silas and I discussed what he was going to be when he grew up.  He first started by telling me all the sports he would play.  He mentioned every sport except soccer and volleyball, which is only for girls, he says.  I asked him if he would be playing music some day and he said he would.  He said he would wear 'stylish jeans' be in a rock band.  He cracks me up.  Daddy's away on a fishing trip :(  He'll be home tomorrow night, can't wait.  I am now falling asleep watching the Michael Keaton 'Batman' with Mr. Nicholson.  I'm loving Kim Basinger's hair in this movie.  With my fro, I think I can recreate it!

8-11-11

Silas gets more and more handsome as the days pass.  I'm so proud of that little guy, he's such a great big brother.  Have I said this before?  He starts preschool next week, can't believe it!  Spaghetti for dinner, again!  I tweeted about some songs that Silas was singing for me after dinner, 'Fork, fork got in the cup' and 'Baby got in the lettuce'.  He and Harper were also singing a song called, "Jesus Christ".  Trying to encourage him to 'write songs' as much as I can.  He also was catching balls yesterday!  Gabe V. told us to have him stand on his knees and it worked!  He's always ducking away from the ball, but being on his knees prevents him from ducking away.  He's on his way to being a rock star and a pro baseball player :)

8-10-11

Just a day at home, then I worked this evening.  Had three meetings with three good families :)  I'm on top of my game this year!  I'm scheduling my meetings way in advance and I'm going to set aside every other Wednesday night for in-person meetings with my families.  In-person meetings are definitely my weakness.  I never know what to do.  I'm going to try and work on this this year.  I have a little list of improvements to make in my work.  So far so good!  I'm excited for this school year.  Each year gets better and better.  I love my job.

8-9-11

More ice cream for dessert!  Went to La Casita with the Gilson's for dinner.  The other two photos are of Silas dancing.  I was looking for a new ringtone on my work phone and there are some really long songs on there!  We found some good dance music and the boys were all dancing.  We love to have mini dance parties.  Especially when we watch Yo Gabba Gabba ;)  Love those boys.

8-8-11

Monday, Monday.  Thinking a lot about homeschooling today.  When I went back to work last week, I found out that most of my teacher friends have pulled their kids out and enrolled them in CAVA.  And over the summer, I found out that at least two families from church are enrolling their kids.  I've got a school all picked out for Silas for next year, but there's a part of me that feels like I'll just be pulling him out in a few years.  Public school gets worse and worse.  Going to pray this year that the Lord shows me what to do with the little guy!  Got a lot done today, was actually able to clean both of the bathrooms in the house!  This is a huge accomplishment for me.  I have a cleaning schedule, where I clean one room in the house a day, but I don't stick to it.  Today, I did!  And I got in the extra chore of the second bathroom.  My boys destroy my house, so Gilbert and I are trying to teach them more responsibility.  Especially Silas.  I don't want to clean up after them forever, so we're trying to teach them now.  There wasn't really much to photograph today, so I photographed one of my favorite times of day, bathtime.  I get to hang out with the boys, while they are all contained in one spot, and they are easy to keep an eye on!  And, they love bathtime.  It's fun for them to 'swim' and play together :)  Then after bathtime, we took an impromptu trip, pajamas and no shoes, to Weinerschnitzel for some Foster's Freeze dipped cones.  Mmmmm!  Fun stuff :)

8-7-11

Dad dedicated the Bean today :)  So sweet.  What a blessing.  I love that man so much, he's such a great guy.  The dedication got booked on the same day as another dedication.  Dennis dedicated triplets today, too :)  Went to La Casita with the family and Jay and Kristin.  I was stuck at the end of the table with the crazies, so I was a little miffed during lunch because I had to miss adult conversation that I crave so much, I know, get over it!  I will, I did.  Went home to take a nap and then visited Gramma P in the evening.  The visit was good.  We planned a Big Bear trip in a couple weeks.  I'm so excited to be able to do this again with her.  Feeling a little emotional after our visit.  Work tomorrow.  Been doing better with the kids.  Trying to be more patient.  Today was kind of a bad day for me with the kids, they were on my last nerve all day long.  Gotta wake up early tomorrow, so I can start my day off right, before the crazies wake up.  Lord help me!

8-6-11

Today was a full day.  Gilbert was home, that's always nice :)  Went for a run with my sister Sarah this morning.  Used my new Nike iPhone app, ran 1.8 miles :)  I felt great and look forward to doing it again.  Took a pic of Harper and his 'nake that he got from Dr. Amar's office.  My beautiful, healthy breakfast is in the top right corner.  Plain greek yogurt with granola and blueberries.  Went to Mr. Gilson's house for a Thursday night leader's barbecue.  I am so excited to be joining this ministry.  I think the Lord is going to use it in mighty ways in our life.  He is definitely preparing us.  For what?  I don't know.  The kids swam all day and I had some good fellowship with my friends.  The boys were tuckered out when we got home, I fed them and we all went to bed.  Great family day.  

8-5-11

Work, work, work.  Daddy had the day off today, so after his 15 mile run (!!!!!) he came home and took Silas and Harper on a little date.  They went to get his shot and ended up at Hesperia Lake and came home with their clothes soaking wet.  I'm proud of Gilbert, he's training for the Long Beach marathon.  He's going to run the full!  So excited for him.  Anyway, with only one kid, I got a lot of work done.  I'm all set to have a relaxing weekend with my beautiful family.  Bean loves to help me work and cannot keep his hands off my computer!  Now I am ending my day with one of my favorite movies.  "Daddy, we're down."

8-4-11

Pretty low-key day.  Ran a couple of errands early this morning.  Put a pull-up on Harpie for the first time.  Told him to tell me when he had to go!  Pooped in it by noon :)  Potty training is a process with my boys and me.  It'll happen... eventually.  Went to Thursday lunch, in spite of an ever-growing work to do list, paid bills and even made my grocery list.  Made spaghetti for dinner and then went to bed!  I've been proud of myself, I've been waking up way before the boys every morning this week.  That makes for easier days :)  Let's hope I can keep it up for the rest of the schoolyear.  Daddy's off tomorrow, love weekends when Daddy's home :)

8-3-11

Slow, busy work day.  We didn't leave the house all day.  I didn't eat very well today and paid for it in the afternoon.  I drank my juice this morning and pretty much drank it for lunch too, then I had some rice crackers in the afternoon, and that was it.  About 3:00 hit and I was falling asleep, feeling achy all over.  The top right pic is of the boys watching Monster's Inc., while I rested.  Harpie just loves that movie, so cute!  As you can see, they are all wearing only a diaper/underwear.  I've decided to not dress them unless we are going somewhere.  It's a waste of my time.  They end up declothed by noon!  When Daddy got home we went to La Casita for dinner, Bean was a pill and we were sitting next to some really obnoxious people who used the Lord's name in vain very loudly, Gilbert almost came unglued.  I have to say, I'm surprised he didn't get up and say something to the fool.  He was that angry.  Pretty sexy when my man is so Godly ;)  He told me that he told all of the guys at work to not use the Lord's name in vain around him, and they all listened :)  Silas took the picture on the bottom right.  I was trying to take a picture of him carrying Bean, he's been doing that and it's so funny, but he took a picture instead.  He amazes me how much of a helpful big brother he is.  He really cares for the well being of his brothers.  He just matures and grows every single day.  I don't want to miss any of it.

8-2-11

Started the day with a picture collage of Bean eating a banana.  I don't think there's anything he does that's not cute.  I hit a wall in the afternoon, got really tired.  I tried to play a game with the boys, but got frustrated with them so I just decided to hang out with them for a while, while laying down on the couch.  I need to lighten up with them and games, I want them to do it exactly right, but they're 3 and 4, I need to lighten up.  The bottom right pic was taken as I was admiring my oldest boy.  He starts preschool in a week and Kindergarten next year.  I can't believe how big he is and how handsome.  It was hard to get him to make a serious face, he kept slowly contorting it as I held the camera up to him.  But he finally complied and gave me a good shot of his beautiful face.  I did worship at Moments with the Master tonight.  Debbie Bryson spoke, worship was blessed.  I did an old Hillsong called, "Hallelujah."  Such a great song, worked great, will definitely be doing it again.  The women really worshipped tonight!  I could hear them, and I love that.  The message was great, I was convicted about many things, especially how I treat my boys.  I want peace in my home and a lot of times, I'm the cause of unrest.  I'm too impatient and too negative.  Debbie talked about building up our husbands and our sons.  They need building up, I hope I can do that for them.  The top left picture is what I came home too :)  Daddy was watching an Angel game with the boys.  They were tired, but we let them stay up a little late to spend some time with them.  Daddy and I caught up (since we hadn't seen each other all day), got a hotel room for the Long Beach marathon and put ourselves and the boys to bed.  I am really enjoying this blog.  I hope I can keep it up :)

8-1-11

Started off the day reading Paula's CaringBridge site.  Made my heart heavy and now I want to see her again.  I hope we can do that soon.  Then my devotional talked about, 'seeing God in everything'.  How if you do that, you can be joyful and endure anything life throws at you.  Since it was my first day back at work, it was a good word.  See God in my work, See God in Paula's cancer, See God in my boys when they are driving me crazy.  The boys and I enjoyed a good day, I was pretty busy with work, but I was able to take a time out and play with them in their room for a while.  I was also able to read to them before naptime.  I made some chicken pot pies for dinner, everyone loved them!  Anytime a meal is a hit with everyone, I feel very accomplished.  Then I read a teacher friend's facebook and she said that it was teacher appreciation day at OfficeMax.  I left the kids with Daddy to watch Shrek together, and ran out and got some much needed stuff for 20% off!  It was a nice outing (I was all alone!) shopping for my favorite things, school supplies.  Thanks Rachael for the tip!  Then I picked up some coffee for my man, I had to wait in the line for a bit at Starbucks, so the guy gave it to me for free!  It was a busy, but really good day.  I feel blessed.

7-31-11

Today was Sunday.  I sang in the morning.  The pic is my view from the stage at around 7:30 am.  Nice and quiet, before the services start.  Came home and ate some homemade shredded beef burritos with the family, then enjoyed a long naptime.  When we woke up, I got some laundry done and Sarah and Cory stopped by to give Gilbert some Nike's and me some sea salt spray.  We watched some weird hoarding and OCD shows and some Radiohead, "King of Limbs".  Starting work tomorrow.  Trying not to stress.

7-30-11

Saturday.  Gilbert had a tournament today, so I was on my own.  Got those great shots of Harpie this morning <3  Took the boys to Marshall's and looked around.  Today was a produce day, so I picked it up.  We had some weird thunderstorms today.  When I got out of Marshall's everything was wet.  I missed the whole thing... weird.  Gilbert got home and fried up some fish.  I had to run to the store to get milk, it didn't come to co-op today, so I took Harpie on a mini-date.  The shots to the left are of our little date.  That kid is so different when he's not around his brothers.  Still gets into mischief, but loves the one-on-one time.  He doesn't get much of that with his brothers around.  We went to get gas, ran to the bank and ran to Vons.  He loves receipts.  He calls them, twenty-ninety dollars and loves to carry them around and writes on them.  I let him pick something out and he picked out some Teddy Grahams.  Such a special kid.

7-29-11

Today was just a slow day at home.  I start work on Monday, so I'm trying to enjoy these slow days.  My friend Sarah stopped by around 10 this morning for a little visit.  She starts work next week too, so we always try to take advantage of the summertime to get some visits in.  The first picture was taken at lunch today.  I thought it was funny because both Silas and Harper are in their underwear.  Somehow, my kids take their clothes off before the day is done.  Nothing I can do to control it!  After naptime, Bean and I had some alone time together.  He was so happy, it was a nice little hangout time for us.  The last picture is from my devotional.  I loved the line, "To know Him is life's highest attainment."  I'm at a time in my life where what I am currently doing, is not very fulfilling.  But what I need to realize is the only thing that I need, is Jesus.  He is life's highest attainment, the only thing that I need to strive for.

7-28-11

We started the day off with some water play outside.  The Kendall boys came over yesterday and turned our sandbox into a 'chocolate factory', so Si and Harpie continued that this morning.  Lots of dumping water out of the bucket, into the sandbox.  Then we came inside, got ready in about an hour (whew!) and drove to Baba and Papa's for Thursday lunch.  I had an appointment with Lorraine Dauk to look at a  house in Oak Hills.  Loved the house, but we found out that we are NOT ready financially to purchase a second house right now.  A bummer, but a blessing in disguise.  The top right picture is the view from the backyard of the house.  The desert really can be a beautiful place.  Then, we went out to Olive Garden and took down some soup, salad and breadsticks for dinner, Baba and Papa's treat!  I'm also attempting to make my bedtime 10, not 11.  I need to be up earlier then my crazy boys.  Tonight was the season premiere of Project Runway, I was proud, I turned it off at 10 and went to bed.  I'll finish watching it tomorrow.  Thank God for a DVR!

7-27-11

The beginning...  I'm excited about this new project, but I'm already doubting myself, that I will follow through.  Today I went with the boys to the lovely city of Redlands for a doctor appointment.  On our way there, we needed gas, so I had to drive down University to find a gas station.  We found one and across the street was that cool wall art up in the corner.  We saw a new doctor and I loved him!  He was concerned about the boy's smallness, but didn't make me feel like he was going to call CPS on me.  He's a keeper!  The shot in the corner is just little Bean slouching in his highchair this morning at breakfast, had to snap that.  The other two are Si and Harper acting crazy in the waiting room (there's a great shot of Harp picking his nose) and Bean got mad at me when I took his shoe away from him, couldn't resist that look.  When we got home, my lovely friend Mrs. Kendall came over so that I could help her with some school stuff, she is probably going to send one of her kids to CAVA.  It feels good to be able to use my expertise to help my friends.  Hoping she will start a trend and we can get more CCHD homeschoolers at CAVA.