Our adventure in fairies

Agatha and I hosted a magical Fairy Tea today for some lovely girls. We studied Fairies all week by watching a fairy movie, reading fairy books, studying the art of Fairy Tea, dressing up, playing with paper dolls, and writing a story about what we have learned about Fairy Lore. It has been very fun for me because I love fairies and the break from princess everything has been nice. The tea was our culmination and was beautiful. Aggie posted about it so you can read her account. Funny thing though, I not much for this kind of thing (my girls know Santa is just a fun pretend that we play to remember the spirit of giving...) but while I was cleaning up this little ceramic figurine caught my eye. It was lying in my flower beds next to our tea table. The wings were broken off, so we repaired them. Aggie thinks the fairies flew over because our tea was so yummy, ate the crumbs, and this injured fairy stayed behind so we could help her. She thinks maybe the little fairy will come to life when we are sleeping. Maybe...:) She says fairies can see Jesus all the time. If that is the case, I really do want to be a fairy!

Lauren, My favorite Creative Arts Coordinator

Lauren is leaving. Me and my girls (and my husband's department) will miss her terribly. She was the best Creative Arts Coordinator that we almost had. I know life is calling her onward, but I hope God sends us someone who can fill her shoes. She is going to do amazing things for arts somewhere. But, I have to admit I still wish it were here. I will miss the trust I could put in her as a pastor's wife that my husband's ministry details would always be done on time to the best degree. I will miss how well we could work together and communicate. I will miss all the lunches and shopping trips I had planned after I exit this stage of life of infancy confinement. I will miss that Adam and I could ask her to do anything and she always considered our word interchangeable. I will miss how she viewed femininity and women in ministry. I will miss the example she would have been to my girls. I will miss her beauty. I will miss her. I will miss you Lauren. Come and visit us, please.

Happy Chinese Moon Festival

We attended a great local festival based on the Autumn Moon celebration of the Chinese Moon Festival or Festival of Lanterns. It was so fun. I love it when Homeschool Projects turn out perfectly. We studied the festival all day-making lanterns, reading about the fable and culture online, looking at pictures of dragon dances, the Moon Goddess, Mooncakes and lanterns, making dragon masks, reading picture books on China, and most obviously dressing up in ethnic costumes. Then we attended a wonderful little festival at the Riverside Heritage House and actually ate mooncakes, noodles, did tanagrams (Chinese math diagrams), made paper lanterns, got the girls names written in Chinese, listened to a Chinese Storyteller, and enjoyed the beautiful Full Moon and red lanterns strewn in the gardens. We even topped it off with Chinese Food at Mr. You's. My fortune said "You will always be surrounded by true friends." (I hope so-hint, hint) It was a beautiful night with my family. It was a beautiful night as a homeschool teacher. Fun, Fun!

Crying in the Carseat

Gwyneth hates riding in the car seat...we are growing and not every time in tumultuous, but many are. Hysterics, choking on saliva, choking on burp, giving herself heartburn, making mommy cry cause I can't pick her up and fix it. It isn't pretty. But Aggie is such a good sister. She calmly leans across and holds Gwyn's shaking fist through it all. She says "I feel bad for her, I don't want her to feel alone." My sweet girl.

Taco Station with Friends

We have eaten dinner with friends two nights in a row! And for a couple of introverts that is a record! Last night we had the Dunlaps over for fish after their workday. It was lovely to chat and eat together-they are wonderful, sincere people and a great addition to the neighborhood. Tonight we walked to Taco Station with the Diazes and their girls (Agatha loves them!). It was a great time. I am enjoying connecting with friends! Did you know Taco Station was the original Shell Gas Station in Riverside...I love Riverside history.

Little Sew-er

I am making Christmas Lists for the girls and this is on Aggie's. Isn't it cute? It would be so fun to sew side by side. And it is pink-Aggie says "I don't just like pink, I love it!" My Fancy Pink Girl!

Some Kind of Professional

I had a harried meeting today! We forgot to give Gwyn her GERD meds until 4 hours late so she was uncomfortable, arching, whining, grunting and urping chunky loads of breastmilk all over me in a work meeting today. The meeting was at a bookstore and I had no table which today seemed annoying even though I usually don't. I had to wash my hair today, but had no time to blow dry so it was a frizzy mess. I had time only for mascara which I made sure I wore so as not to get the comments-Oh, you look so tired! I am still in my chubby clothes (because I am still chubby) and my shirt was too big and my pants too tight. Neither really matched my shoes. Her kids thought the burps and drool were yucky and a bit disgusted by it. I tried to conduct myself in as professional a manner as possible, but with all these variables I felt a mess. My job is great because I can bring my kids to some things, but today that seemed a mistake. I tried to be professional when presenting my information, and luckily the parent is a friend as well...but I couldn't listen to her kids read with mine yelling in all our ears and I just felt rushed. Oh, and Gwyn pooped half way through so I had to leave early to have time to change her before picking up my preschooler. Holy Moley-a millennium woman with so many hats. I don't feel like I wore any ONE of them well this morning.

Cottingley Fairies

I saw a movie today on the Cottingley Fairies from England in 1914. It was quite fun and magical. I love fairies and am trying deperately to inspire my Little Princess Agatha to play imaginatively in the Fairy Realm. We are going to do a fairy unit this week in homeschool and throw a fairy tea on Friday. Maybe she will play fairies with me. Or maybe Gwyn will be my fairy child.

Broken needle Heartburn

I have recently taken up sewing again. I learned under the tutelage of my mother and Girl Scouts, but rebelled for a while. Now, I am embracing the organic mother that I am-so in comes sewing again. Anyway I was sewing a burp cloth out of some cool pink tattoo looking flannel and BAM-a broken needle. It's like a metaphor for this whole GERD madness of ours. Everything seems to be going along fine and then BAM heartburn, spitup and screaming. You really have to be paying attention, always maintaining, always watching to keep it from breaking-or GERDing! I feel like I am always on my toes. Don't bounce, sway. Don't recline, keep her upright. Don't hold across the abdomen while on my hip-across the chest. On and on. I can't wait until we grow out of it. Thanks to Dr. Sears for all the calming advice and information. I love that guy. Too bad he didn't write my sewing machine manual. I hate that thing. Where's Adam to figure out how to change the needle?

My little Orca

Gwyneth has begun to voice her frustrations-good for her. She has a funny, Orca-like squawk that goes with this face. It comes out whenever anything frustrates or bores her-so quite often! I did it back at one point today and she stopped for a second, looked me in the eye, and started at it again. Her personality is fun. I can't wait to get to know her as she grows. PS. I take my infants everywhere and this noise is really great in the middle of a lecture, or women's bible study, or business meeting, or lunch with a friend, or...you get the idea. Really great!

A Mother to follow in the footsteps of

My Mother. She is going through a lot right now. Her life is changing with emotional pain and questions daily, but a brighter and more peaceful future ahead of her. She is going the LA County Fair for the first time in her life and vacationing on the beach this weekend for the first time in years. She is taking time to enjoy her life and find happiness in her daily existence. I am glad for that. Mostly because her whole life up this point has been to find happiness for those around her instead of herself. Luckily, I was one of those people around her! She is very self sacrificing and made a beautiful childhood for me and my siblings. So many of my organic qualities I get from my mom. I call her a hippie behind her back, though I don't know if she would claim the title. She instilled in me the importance of healthy and fresh foods, nursing your babies, cloth diapers, recycling, sewing (she just bought me an awesome machine), gardening (though I don't live up to her example), respect and love for family, and conserving what the Earth has left. But more than all those ideals she taught me about love and providing for others. She has done so much for me and our family. She carted us all over to lessons and meetings and practices and performances and ministries. She always made sure we ate breakfast and dinner together with no TV and amazing food to talk over. She kept an sparkling clean house (changing the sheets weekly!) well stocked (I never remember running out of milk!). She taught us about responsibility with meaningful chores and managing money with allowances. She had amazing patience when I (with high anxiety as always) was screaming while learning to drive a car. She loved me and trusted me through some yucky boyfriend experiences. And she was always there when I needed her as a mom and now a friend. She is supportive and complimentary about my adult life without being intrusive or overbearing. She loves my kids more than anything, but never takes them out of my arms or asks to "steal" them away for the day (I hate that). She loves my husband as if he were her own. She is amazing. I have learned more from her than she knows. Thanks Mom.

Concentrating on my family

Today was hard. I am feeling overwhelmed. I have too much work-I think I need to cut back...again. I have too much school-to keep my credential...for work. I am loosing yet another close friend to a move I think. My husband's amazing, blessing on my life assistant is moving home to her family. I tried to get involved in a few ministries to connect with women again...and now with reflection think I moved on too quickly. The kids are very demanding on my time with a GERD infant and four year old who homeschools, doesn't watch TV and recently gave up her nap. My house is a wreck with laundry everywhere, dishes piled up and trash to be taken out. I have cried alot today. I have prayed alot today. But then my daughter and I came across this picture. I am nursing here, I am with my girls, I am a mom. That is where I belong right now. That is where I have chosen to be. I need to cherish these moments and be in these moments. Everything else can wait. It is lonely here though. I have girlfriends to raise kids with and they just keep moving away. What is that? I know they are a phone call away-but it isn't the same. I guess it all boils down to God and your immediate family. I need to be content in that. I need to depend on that. I still feel sad today, though. Maybe it is the rainy weather. Maybe it is the Fall. Maybe I just need to find the beauty in what is in front of me-those two precious girls.

My kitchen smells like butt

My husband has a bad habit of letting potatoes go bad in our pantry to the point of leaking liquid and stinking to high heaven. Nasty. It makes the whole house smell like butt. At least this time I figured it out before the maggots came! Seriously-there were maggots last time. I think I threw up a little bit in my mouth.

My great siblings

I found this on my sister's new site. This was the last night my siblings and I were all together recently. My youngest brother Steven is off exploring Italy and hopefully making the right choices and staying out of trouble. (Steve-if you check in here, comment-I miss you) My sister Krista moved to Texas to start afresh. And my brother Rick has been working on strong roots in the Hollywood area for a few years now. We went bowling this night for my mom's birthday. What a great night. I love my brothers and sister more than they know. Even when life scatters us I treasure the moments in life that do bring us together. We can sit and talk and joke more comfortably than anyone else. We have experienced a childhood that made us a little unit of inner trust. Our Mom made great sacrifices to provide for us and protect us and cultivate that sibling love. I miss them all and can't wait to be together again. Christmas at my house-Mom is cooking!

Wish I would have...

We all have "wish I would haves" I suppose. One of mine came up in conversation with my husband about one of my students. It seems most of us rush through life, esp. when we are young. I graduated from high school and went straight into a four year school. I had already done AP tests and community college courses to enter at mid year sophomore. Then I took 20-21 units a semester, plus summer work to graduate with a BA in 2 years. Why? I wish I would have slowed down and enjoyed the experience. Now at my reunions I don't see the people I entered with. I didn't have time to cultivate relationships with dear friends. It was such a rush, all I remember is reading philosophy all night (I damaged my eyes and now wear glasses because of the over reading) and stress, stress, stress. I have a student now who is determined to graduate High School and have an AA at the same time. Why rush? Slow down and enjoy the experience. Be young. I want my girls to spend at least a year traveling before they enter school full time. I want them to find themselves, have relationship and experience every moment of life. I want them to be at peace with themselves and love God. I want them to treasure the day they are in and not rush to the next. I want them to value this before they are 30 like me. Just take time today to experience your life, whether it hurts today...or it is a glorious moment of serenity. Just be in it, don't rush to the next goal or milestone. I wish I would have...but at least I do now. One day at a time...

Sisters

I am always "protecting" 4 month old Gywn from the craziness of her four year old sister Agatha. But, judging from this picture I think I need to lighten up. I need to lighten up about lots of things, but that is beside the point. I think I need to let their sisterly adoration blossom under my watchful eye. They are beautiful together.

My little Wonder Woman

She really is. Agatha is so gifted. She moves through music with singing, violin and piano in ways I only dream of. She is active with dance and movement beyond words. She is so smart that I am positive she will surpass me before I am done homeschooling her. She already reads some, writes some and understands abstract concepts my kinders didn't. She is so empathetic to friends that she is always involving the new kid. She is fun and her giggle is infectious. She tells amazing stories and she can talk with an adult longer and more sincerely than I ever could. People love her and I do too. Go check out her new blog that she has started as a part of our homeschool activities.

PS. Don't get me wrong...my above seemingly perfect child has opposites to all those amazing qualities including the annoying need to be the center of attention all the time, a overly loud voice that is constantly going, and a dramatic/emotional side that brings on big tears at playdates (which she inherited from me!). But, in our house we celebrate both sides of personality traits because without the bad, you wouldn't have the good.

Teething sucks

Why must babies go through such pain? Look at this face...She chews on her fingers all day and ran a fever most of the day. That shouldn't have to be her first year. And nursing a teether is always fun too. A bit pinchy. I wish I could take it away.

A little bit of fancy

Aggie and I had an extra hour this week and Gwyn was in a great mood, so we marched into a nail salon and ordered up two pedicures. We had so much fun with the hot water spas and massages. We even got flowers on our big toes! I painted hot pink to match Aggie on Gwynie's toes. It was a fun, fancy day with my girls-a glimpse of my future...woohoo!

Kid Music that Soothes My Soul

This is music for the soul. My quest in children's music is to find stuff that my kids enjoy and stuff that doesn't drive me crazy with low musical quality all rolled into one. I can't handle kid's choirs with echoey reverb and synthesizers-sorry kids. This is the find of my quest. I listen to it even without Aggie in the car. Elizabeth Mitchell is a folky alto who uses guitar, piano and funky percussion combine into tracks that just soothe as you ride along. We all (even my music connoisseur husband) sing with the wholesome, fun and quirky songs and somehow come out more peaceful on the other side. Elizabeth Mitchell is my new favorite. She has other three CDs: You Are My Sunshine, You are my Little Bird, You are my Flower and a CD/book Catch the Moon-all just as good.

A few of my other recommendations are For the Kids, For the Kids Too!, Here Come the ABCs, and Late Last Night.