After

Here is Derek with the pile of most of the things we took out. After that one small corner, we think we'll need a few dumpsters to haul it all away when we're done.

We put the storage shed in the back corner, this is where all the plants used to be! We were able to salvage some rose bushes that bloomed earlier this year but we just couldn't reach them. Really.

Before

Saturday we started taking out some of the overgrowth in our back yard. The house had been empty for months, but it is our guess that years had gone by without maintenance in some of these areas. Whoever landscaped this yard originally must have loved yucca (or they were on sale) because we have probably 200 of them in our back yard along the fencing... really.

This is the corner we decided to start on. Here are the men before the big dig began.

Our Sleepwalker?

We got up on Saturday morning and I didn't hear Luke playing in his room, which I normally do by that time of morning. I went over to his room and peeked in and, sure enough, he wasn't there. I assumed he was quietly playing in the girls' room (odd but possible) and I headed downstairs. I came around the corner and this is what greeted me on the couch. He was out cold. We have no idea how long he had been downstairs, but he didn't seem to care.

Is this normal?

This just wierds me out, but I'm pretty sure he makes this odd eye thing on purpose.

Bucking Broncos

The kids like to play 'Bunking Broncos' on the soft cubes in our family room. They 'mount' the cube and bounce up and down and try not to tip over. Luke always wants to do it, but he is too small for the cube and too big for the other small pillows, but he tries.


They like to do it in front of the television (while it is off) because it works like a mirror and they can watch themselves.

Go get'em, tiger.

Leah on her trusty steed. Luke being defeated by his miniature pony!

All The Help I Can Get

While the rest of us were doing something else, Luke decided to help clean up. He got out the sweeper and some baby wipes and 'swept' the floor and wiped down the cabinets. It was actually helpful until he started pulling out wipe after wipe and throwing them up on the counter. I later had about half a bag of wipes hidden behind the toaster oven, in the fruit bowl, on the stove top and nearly in the fishbowl.

Making Our Own Butter

This was a fun, yummy project we did for school as we read about the times when you made butter by agitating cream in your own home. It turned out pretty yummy and we had crackers and butter for lunch.


The finished project.

Anna and her buttered crackers.

Jack focused on spreading. This stuff didn't spread quite as easily as the store bought stuff.

Yum!

Disneyland with Alex and Deanna

On Friday we got our second chance to use our passes when Alex and Deanna were both in town. We got there in the afternoon in time to see the parade. Although we did do some new rides, the only one I have pictures of is Autopia again! We managed to do the Peter Pan ride, we rode the train around the park, bravely took on Pirates of the Carribean, Storybook Gardens and maybe something else but I'm so tired I can't remember!! It was a blast and nice to have man-to-man coverage on the kids again... it has been zone since we had more kids than adults (Leah's birth four years ago).



Deann, Anna, Alex, Derek and Jack

Luke with his license. At one point in the line we had to go through a turstile with bars that go around. Right after you get through the turnstile there was an employee handing out the licenses. Well, Luke's eyes are the exact height of the turnstile bar after it goes around. Want to know how we know that? He tried to walk through as it was coming up and it nailed him in the eyes. He took it like a man and squinted and tried to duck from whatever it was that was attacking him, the whole time holding out his hand and trying to grab the license the Disneyland employee was handing out. What a cutie!

Looking down over Autopia. I think this is their favorite.

Jack and Derek.

Disneyland

We decided to do annual passes to Disneyland for our family vacation for the next year and our first trip was a few days before Luke's birthday in August. Here are a few shots from the day. It was a warm day but we had a lot of fun. We hope to go often and make the most of our passes.


Getting ready to ride Dumbo.

Driving the Dumbo.

She got her Autopia license and was ready to go!

The Cowgirl Cafe (Leah is 4!)

We celebrated Leah's fourth birthday on September 1. I wasn't there in the morning that day so we went on the following Saturday to have breakfast at the place of her choosing... The Cowgirl Cafe. She wore her boots and hat, ate hot chocolate and french toast and colored a picture. She is really blossoming in some new ways lately and has been such a joy!

September 11

I remember waking up in the morning 7 years ago, groggy and uncomfortable from a night of sleep while I was 8 months pregnant. It was Anna that we were expecting, our first, but we didn't know if the baby was a boy or a girl yet so we referred to the baby, among ourselves, as AnnaJack (we had chosen Anna for a girl name, Jack for a boy). To help wake me up a little, I reached over and turned on the radio. I remember hearing the lady on the news radio station say something like, 'There are people just jumping from the building now.' I wondered what on earth they were talking about. I spent a few more minutes listening to the coverage but still couldn't figure it out. I decided to head up to the loft and turn on the TV to see if any stations were covering whatever the news radio was talking about.

Of course, they all were. I sat watching in amazement as I put the pieces together of what they knew about what had happened so far that morning. As I sat there I could hardly believe it when I saw another plane, live on television, crash into the second tower. The news people were almost at a loss for words (amazing in itself) and I sat glued to the TV for the rest of the day, as many of us did, watching the events unfold as we learned about them.

Just over a month later, Anna was born. To her, September 11 will be just a piece of history like Vietnam is for me. For me it will be a vivid memory, like the memory my parents have of where they were when they heard Kennedy had been shot. It is comforting to know God works in history, and 'causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.' My heart aches for those children who will grow up without a mother or father, for the husbands and wives who lost spouses, for parents who lost children. I don't know how people can bear up under it without the hope of Christ.

This link is from Youtube. It is the speech that President Bush gave the night of September 11, 2001 to a shocked and grieving country set to images from that day and days following. It is not too scary for little eyes to see and as I listened to it again these last few days, it helped me realize
the tremendousness of what happened that day and what has happened since. For a president who isn't so good with public speaking, I think this one turned out pretty well! ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZV2L0EM08I

Too Many Posts

In order to see everything I've posted in the last few days, you need to click on the 'older' posts button at the bottom of the page... I've put a lot up!

We don't even have a goldfish...

Caleb, this one's for you...

We live in Norco. There are LOTS of animals in Norco. It is mostly know for its horses, of which there are plenty, but there are also lots of cats, dogs, chickens, miniature horses, donkeys, ostrich, goats, camels... you get the picture.

On the way back to our place on the weekend that my mom was here one of my sisters asked if we were thinking of getting a horse, especially because Anna loves them so much. My answer was something like this, 'No way, we don't even have a dog let alone a horse which take a lot more work. We don't even have a goldfish!!' Well, about three minutes later we walk into our house (nobody was there, they were at the parade) and who do you suppose greeted me in the kitchen? These guys:



They are originally named Goldie and Gold by the kids, I found out later. I also found out that Derek won one at the Annual Norco Fair and the other was given to the kids by someone who also won one but didn't want it. (What a great idea! Too bad they thought of it first.) Anyhow, Derek went to some store and bought a package fish food, bowl and bowl decoration kit and brought it home in time to greet me that morning. So we do have a goldfish, but that doesn't mean we're any closer to getting a horse.

By the way, Derek told me later that the average goldfish lives 2-3 weeks. I then asked him how much that fish bowl and gear cost. Hmmm, seems like we were compounding the unnecessary.

Our Car Didn't Fit in Our Garage

Some of you might laugh or make fun of me for this post title in light of our garage(s), but we just couldn't figure a way to squeeze our van into the garage that we wanted it in. Seeing no other option, we decided to shorten the van a little. Now, we could have taken it to a body shop to do the work for us, or just went out and bought a short one, but we had an excellent idea instead. We decided to slow down to turn left and hope that someone in a relatively small sedan would crash into us at just the right speed to move the bumper slightly under the car, hence being able to close the garage door. It worked! One small negative: we can't open the back hatch. Oh well, we're almost out of the stroller stage anyhow.



Now you're thinking I'm crazy, right?

Today we did some school work and left for some errands including a doctor's appointment. Earlier I had read a child's story book to the kids about Jesus' death and resurrection. It started out with the 'sad days' and the moved to the 'happy days' and called them such. We, too, had a sad/happy day.

Our (relatively minor) sad day things when we left the house: 1. Jack forgot his shoes and I didn't have time to go back so I had to carry him in and out of the library, post office and doctor's office and potentially Costco 2. As we were finding the new doctor's office, a car decided to shorten our van by running into our rear bumper 3. We were late for the doctor's appointment and I forgot Leah's right records (which means we'll have to go back again). 4. I was frazzled by being late and forgot the diaper bag in the car at the Doctor's. Luke decided to fill his diaper as soon as we got there! We had to park far away and I was already late so I was stuck with a very stinky child for awhile. 5. The Doctor's office operates on only cash, which they failed to tell me before I got there. I didn't have enough cash to pay at the end and couldn't tell you where a bank was since I'd never been in that area in my life. 6. Luke had shots 7. We were there almost 2 hours and were very hungry

Our happy day results: 1. Nobody was badly hurt in the car crash, just rattled. The man who bumped our car was insured and took full responsibility (which he should). His insurance is super efficient and we already have our car in for repair with a rental van all taken care of by his insurance. 2. The only flaws on our van were on the back side where I had closed the garage door on it when it was open (twice!). Now they'll be repaired for free! 3. The doctor happened to have an extra diaper in the office 4. The receptionist at the doctor's office spotted me the cash difference and was willing to let me mail her a check 5. We were able to share some precious truths and comforts with our kids about God's care for us, patience with us, and love toward us.

A happy day!

Leah's Birthday!

On Monday we came back to celebrate Leah's 4th birthday. It was a special treat to have two aunts, an uncle and a grandma to celebrate with, too! We had gifts, lots of leftovers, and cupcakes picked out by Leah earlier in the day.


Lots of help with the gifts.

Step one: anticipation

Step two: blow

Step three: enjoy the accomplishment!

McDonalds for Breakfast

Derek went in work late on Luke's birthday to allow me to take Luke out to breakfast for his second birthday. We went to McDonalds and Luke downed two apple juices and almost a whole cinnamon role. It was a short time, but so sweet to hang out with my little man.

M