Life in the North O.C.

I have a threshold!

2012-01-27T20:07:00.000-08:00

Progress! After the funky, half-wall was removed (last August), this is what was left. Hard wood that needed to be sanded, stained, and even have a few boards replaced. Or...

...just custom order a nice, wide beautiful piece of oak. Thanks Dad and Ralph for cutting, measuring, staining and installing this beauty. I appreciate it soooo much.

Only one more coat of paint on the ceiling, and the kitchen is finally painted. On to the cabinet doors next week. More pictures coming soon - promise!

We've scheduled finger printing for the foster certification next week too. It's so nice to feel like you're actually accomplishing things :)

I'm Still Here!

2012-01-20T18:37:00.000-08:00

I haven't been a good blogger lately, but lack of post does not reflect a lack of activity.

My days have been very focused on completing the never-ending kitchen project. Seriously, it feels like I will never be done, so I made the decision that I will do something in the kitchen everyday. Everyday. And I'm finally seeing progress. We've had a lot of help along the way, but these final steps are all up to me. I'm learning as I go. And because I am not a DIY'er by any means, I'm also proud of myself :)

The first step, which was to replace the counter-top, sink and faucet happened at the end of MAY. I can't wait to show the final pictures. Here's a little reminder of the before...

This also gets us closer to our foster parent certification. That's tentatively scheduled for the end of February (yes, I know it was supposed to be August, but that was before we started tearing our kitchen apart).

We've also made the monumental decision to home school Josh next year! So excited, but that will have to wait for another post.

So much more going on with Bible study, Dinner Club, hosting Bunco on Monday, etc.

Promise to be a good blogger when my kitchen is DONE!

Christmas Cookies

2012-01-05T21:57:00.000-08:00

I just had to share these cute pictures my sister took during our Christmas Cookie Extravaganza. Jenny has always hosted amazing cookie decorating parties, and we've been so fortunate to go the past few years. This year's party was the day after Christmas. So fun to keep the holiday going!

Dylan and Regan are total professionals!

Landon loved eating just as much as decorating.

Emma took her work very seriously - so cute!

Sweet Maddie did a great job with her cookies too.

Malia was a lot more detail oriented and precise this year. Quite an improvement from the gingerbread house!

Jill and Grayson - his first cookie decorating experience :)

Josh (showing off his missing tooth!) had so much fun as always.

Micah really was there, but he slept during most of this. We decorated some cookies when he woke up, but the cameras had been put away. :( We look forward to this every year - such a fun experience for all of us!

Christmas Day

2012-01-03T20:10:00.000-08:00

I've gotten a little behind with my blog, but now is a good time to catch up! I didn't want to let the season slip by without posting some of the great pictures my dad (and sister) took from Christmas. I loved everything about this season, including a wonderful Christmas Eve service at Veritas. Thanks to Pinterest, I now have a billion more ideas for next year!

Here are the folks! We spent Christmas morning with the fam at my parents' house. We had our traditional bacon and egg sandwiches before tearing into the plethora of gifts.

Love this picture of my kids! Malia -5, Josh -6, and Micah -3! Every year they get more and more excited about Christmas and all of the fun traditions. This of course makes it even more fun for Daddy and me!

OK, what's up with Josh's brown suit? We have a very sweet family that comes to our church. They are originally from Bali, and the mom just got back from a trip. She brought back this very handsome suit for Josh (Malia got a beautiful dress on her birthday, and Micah got a cool baseball shirt). Anyhoo, Josh, who is becoming quite the clothes hound, decided that he MUST wear this on Christmas day. He was the best dressed little dude there.

My mom got the kids these fun blankets / snuggies to cuddle up with. Cute!

My bro-in-law's brother sold us these sweet junior golf clubs. Josh was so thrilled to get them on Christmas day. He is becoming quite the little golfer!

Here are my beautiful nieces, Chandler -16 and Regan - 15, with my dad. They are amazingly sweet, smart, Christ-like young ladies. I probably don't tell them enough, but I am so proud of who they are, and I love them dearly.

Christmasy Things

2011-12-13T08:36:00.000-08:00

This December we continued with some of our favorite Christmas traditions from last year.

Behold the Christmas countdown chain! The kids love taking turns cutting off a link each day.

Gingerbread houses! We invited a few friends over and had fun putting together little houses. My kids still haven't got the concept of design and order. Oh well. It tasted good!

Malia just loved to dump everything on top of that poor roof.

Micah was here, but had no interest in decorating. I think he saw that all of the toys were free, and he ran over and played with them while the others were occupied!.

Another favorite thing is reading a few Christmas books each night. I bought a new book this year (love those Scholastic book orders!), and it's become our favorite!

Christmas Letter 2011

2011-12-08T09:33:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of brevity, I promise to write a short Christmas update (as opposed to last year's). Since I blog year-round, I'll just link back to previous posts, so you can read as much, or as little, as you would like! How's that for an interactive Christmas letter?

Josh is 6 years old, in the 1st grade, and loving school. Malia is 5 years old, and she attends preschool 3 days a week. She loves it too. Micah is 3 years old, and he stays home with me. I love it!

Alvin continues his full-time job at the hospital and as the pastor of Veritas Calvary Chapel. He still loves to play golf when he can, surf a little, and spend as much time as he can with the kids. I started out the year mentoring 7 private school teachers getting their clear credential. In the fall I dropped down to 1 teacher, and now I'm officially done! My "free time" is now spent on trying to finish our home projects :)

We took our big vacation this year to Big Bear (tons of snow!), and spent most of our summer swimming and playing sports. We have been on a roller coaster journey to become foster parents this year, but it is a journey, and we are still moving forward. I am so excited to see what 2012 will hold (I cannot believe I just wrote those numbers - 2012! What?!?)

See? That was brief, yes? Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Velardes!

Balboa Adventure

2011-11-30T20:04:00.000-08:00

Last week we went on an adventure with the Platts. I emphasize "adventure" because those crazy Platts are always going on these all-day, super-fun, wild day trips. Alvin had the day off after Thanksgiving, and his one request? To go on an adventure with the Platts! I couldn't have been more excited.

We decided to go to Balboa Island, and the weather was just gorgeous. Everything about the day was perfect, including how well the kids all got along!

I had to take a wider shot, just to show how pretty it is down here. I kept expecting to run into one of the O.C. Housewives, but no such luck.

Besides having lunch and exploring the pier, the kids played on the beach playground, rode the Ferris Wheel at the fun zone, played arcade games, got ice creams, AND we took our car on the ferry over to the island. I didn't get any pictures of the ferry, but the kids thought it was so cool. I totally remember taking that ferry as a kid with my parents. It's still pretty fun :)

If These Walls Could Speak...

2011-11-29T21:32:00.000-08:00

Anyone remember this Amy Grant classic? I can't get it out my head lately.

The kitchen project has gone into high gear. We only have a month people to get our house ready for our foster certification. And there's a lot to do.

A deadline can be a good thing!

So the last few weeks my uncle, my mom and I continued to work on the enormous kitchen project. All of the cabinet doors have been removed, the cabinet boxes have been stripped and re-painted, and the cupboards all have new contact paper. Now for the giant task of sanding and painting the cabinet doors (all 23 of them), painting the drawers (all 9 of them), and re-hanging them. Piece of cake!

Anyway, back to Amy Grant. So as we are stripping layers of paint and contact paper away, it made me wonder about the people that put them there. Our home was built in 1959 - so 52 years ago. I know that we are at least the third owners. I bought the home in 2002, and the previous owners bought the home in 1990. But between 1959 and 1990 I have no idea how many owners there were. Were the original owners a young couple just buying their first house? Did they raise a family here? How many new babies were brought home to this very house? As I look around and see all of the dings and scratches and imperfections in this house, it makes me wonder about this home's history.

Whenever I do those mindless jobs like painting, sanding, etc. I can't help but think of these crazy things. And Amy Grant's "If These Walls Could Talk" keeps going through my mind. I really, really, want to make my home a peaceful, warm, and comforting place. A place where my husband and my children want to be. I know it's more than just aesthetics - it's a home that's covered in prayer, and love, and laughter. That's so much more important than what shade of blue I paint my walls, or how many dings are in the molding :)

Nevertheless, I do still want to conquer those projects so I feel a little less stressed out, and so that we can get past that certification hurdle. We're close!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

Lots o' Thanksgiving pictures ahead! But, you know... that's what I do!

We continued our annual tradition of making cookie turkey hands. Only this year, Mommy thought it would be a good idea to bake the cookies with the candy corn already on! Not a great idea. I didn't get a picture, but the poor birds' beaks were a puddle of orange after a few minutes.

That's OK, I went ahead and added fresh beaks! And no help from me this year, so you can see the amazing artwork they did!

Micah didn't waste time, and pretty much ate his before it was decorated.

Josh was more careful and really put thought into it. He's growing up!

Thanksgiving Day! Photography by my niece Regan :)

On Thanksgiving Day, we celebrated Grandma's birthday too. Here's Malia about to help her blow out her birthday candle.

Jasmine

Lauren and sweet baby Harrison

Chandler and Caleb

Uncle Tim

Regan kept cracking up at this picture of Micah. She loves taking those super close-ups!

A picture of Regan? How did that get in there?

Aww, some of the cousins. When did they get so big? Seriously, these used to be the little guys at the parties!

And a lovely face from Malia! She's inherited my expressive face - such fun :)

My favorite part about Thanksgiving this year was that we took time to read at least 2 -3 Thanksgiving or Fall books each night. One of my favorites was "Give Thanks For Each Day." This was such a sweet book that the kids really enjoyed.

Now I'm ready for December 1st and the Christmas countdown!

Happy 3rd Birthday Micah!

2011-11-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

My baby boy is 3!

Micah is a funny kid. He's so loving and snuggly one minute, then shouting, "No say be quiet!" at you the next. He's a classic boy toddler! Smiles and giggles, tears and drama, and that's just the first few minutes of the morning.

He loves cars, trains, Toy Story, Star Wars and action figures. But because he has a very hands-on older sister, he loves stuffed animals and playing with sissy's doll house. He's just learning to play video games with brother and computer games too.

Micah is our good eater, and always wants to eat whats on Mommy and Daddy's plate. He especially loves when Daddy barbeques steak - he'll eat it all!

We still don't quite understand everything he says, but he'll carry on a conversation with you if you give him the time. Micah still crawls into our bed sometime in the early morning hours, and I love to snuggle with him. We are so blessed and thankful for this little ball of energy.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-10T16:09:00.000-08:00

I realized that I never posted any Halloween pics.

We had such a great weekend with friends. The day before Halloween, we went to a park with friends where a local church was sponsoring a really fun event. The best part of the event? Free In-N-Out! Yep, free cheeseburgers, drinks and chips. We were stuffed!

The carnival also had games, cotton candy and a giant inflatable obstacle course/ slide.

Malia as a fairy princess, Josh as a Transformer, and their friends Ainsley (bee), Maddie (Dorothy), and Emma (Butterfly)

On Halloween night, we make a traditional trip to Gramma Lee's! She loves to see the kids and give them each a ton of candy. Chandler and Regan were there too! Chandler is dressed as a Steampunk girl, and Regan is Dumbo. They looked great!

Malia wore a different dress, since she ripped her other dress on the obstacle course the night before. This one is from ballet last year. Loved that I could use it again :)

Micah was a lion. Josh wore this costume years ago, and it just fit Micah! He kept his hands in the paws most of the night too. Later that night my parents took Josh and Malia to the Platt's for fun trick-or-treating with a ton of friends. Micah was still fighting a cold, so we stayed home and passed out candy.

So much fun!

Fun Week

2011-10-31T10:16:00.000-07:00

The kids had such a fun week, I had to document all the fun. Lots of pictures ahead!

On Friday, my parents took all 3 kids (whoo-hoo!) plus Regan to Safari Park. They had a great time, and Alvin and I had a great time relaxing :)

On Saturday, Josh played in his very first soccer game. He's graduated from the "pee-wee" leagues, and he actually plays other teams now. I think he's enjoying it, although soccer is not his favorite sport.

On Wednesday, we celebrated Malia's birthday in her preschool class. Micah was so excited to join her and the class by decorating cookies and singing "Happy Birthday!"

On Thursday, we went to Disneyland with Emma and Landon. Malia wanted another opportunity to meet the princesses and have them sign her autograph book. This may be her last chance for awhile since her pass is expiring.

On Friday, Josh got to wear his Transformer costume to school for the Halloween parade. He was so excited to see other Transformer guys in his class too!

Happy Birthday Sissy!

2011-10-31T09:44:00.000-07:00

Happy 5th birthday to my sweet Malia! She is such a bundle of joy to our family, and we love her so much. Malia is attending preschool 3 days a week, and playing with her friends as much as she can. She would invite friends over every day if I would let her.

Malia is just starting to play video games with her older brother (uh oh), loves to ride her scooter and bike, play with our new tortoise Munchy, but most of all loves to play with her stuffed animals. She especially loves baby animals and is constantly begging us to get her a puppy.

We are so proud of what a sweet, smart, and loving girl that she is. We are trying to not take one day for granted, because we know that she'll be a big teenager before we know it!

For her birthday party, our creative and talented friend Jenny threw her a cupcake party. My sister took these great pictures. She had a blast!

A Compromise...

2011-10-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update regarding our fost/adopt journey:

We've been in continued talks with our foster agency since deciding to stop the fost/adopt process. A decision which has been really hard for me. I know that we need to be involved with foster children in some way, but seeing God's path has not been clear to both Alvin and I. So after lots of prayers and many discussions, we decided on a compromise of sorts, which is to do respite care for the time being. Respite care is basically providing relief to foster families. We'll be called on to take a foster child for just a couple of days at a time.

I'm really excited about this, because we'll become certified just as foster parents are, and that keeps the door open for future opportunities. Of course we've started a ton of home projects that need to be finished before we can become certified, but that gives us a time line to follow. So, if all goes on schedule, we should be certified by the end of the year.

Celebrating Halloween?

2011-10-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

I must be getting really old (and wiser, right? ha), because with each holiday that isn't about Jesus, I get a little less enthused. Maybe it's because I see everything through my children's eyes, and I hear how ridiculous I sound when trying to explain some of our country's holiday traditions.

The kids have been noticing Halloween decorations going up around our neighbor's houses, and they're wondering when ours are going up. I'll admit that I have a few pumpkins and a couple of "Happy Halloween" signs, but the majority of my fall decorations are Thanksgiving related. I just can't justify "celebrating" Halloween with ghosts, witches, and goblins - all of the things that we tell our children either aren't real or to have nothing to do with the rest of the year.

I know some Christians are on one side where they don't let their kids dress up at all on the "devil's holiday," or acknowledge it in any way. Then there are other groups of Christians that want to take back the night and call it a Harvest Party (what are we harvesting?) with dressing up and non-scary activities. I remember being in elementary school, and our church, our pentecostal, assemblies of God church, put on a haunted house. I even participated.

My sister and I, along with the pastor's sons, dressed up like zombies and sat in a room pretending to eat our dinner, but there was nothing there. In another room, it looked like an operating room. There was a strobe light going, and the doctor was operating with a chain saw. She pretended to cut off the patient's leg, then held the bloody stump up for everyone to see. There were other rooms, all full of gore and scary things. What a far cry from our harvest parties today. It's one of those memories that I think back and wonder, "did that really happen?"

Anyway, I know I'm on super controversial ground, and it's one of those decisions that each family has to make for itself. I am in no way judging other Christian families out there, or trying to be legalistic and rigid. I'm just thinking things through for us. You'll see my kids dressed up this Halloween and asking for candy... because dressing up is fun after all. And you may even be "Boo'd" by the Velardes this month too. But it won't be a little witch coming to your door. Lots to think about.

I also don't let my kids believe in Santa... or the Easter Bunny... or the Tooth Fairy.

I know, I know... I'm robbing them of a magical childhood, right?

Veritas is Two!

2011-10-02T21:07:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we quietly celebrated the two year birthday of Veritas Church. And by "we" I mean just Alvin and I, remembering and reflecting over breakfast one day. We are so, so grateful to God for this church, the faithful, loving people that attend, and the wonderful facility that houses us. So much has changed in the past 2 years, and we are looking forward to what God will bring in the future.

Two years ago, Alvin and I, the Lasch's, and our college friend Paul gathered at the Lasch's home on a Sunday evening and called ourselves "Veritas." 5 adults, 2 teenagers, 3 kids.

We didn't have the backing of a denomination or support from any church. We just knew that this was what God was calling us to do, and we moved forward, learning as we went.

By January of 2010 we moved our meetings to Sunday mornings, marketed ourselves through facebook and a website, and prayed and waited to see who God would bring. During the "home church" phase, we became a 501 (c) (3) charity, and decided to become affiliated with Calvary Chapel ministries.

In Nov. of 2010 we moved into Wittmann Elementary and continued to grow. Calvary Chapel partnered Alvin up with a mentor pastor, who has been a true friend and encourager to him. Alvin has been able to receive so much encouragement and training through the Calvary Chapel organization, and many pastors have become prayer partners and friends.

Today in church there were 26 adults, 2 teenagers, and 4 kids (including 3 visitors!) Growth is slow, but steady. We are confident that God is building His church, and we do not take one precious soul for granted. Thank you God for the opportunity to be apart of this wonderful church.

Malia's heading to preschool!

2011-09-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Malia's first day of preschool! What a totally different day it was for me than for Josh's 1st day last week. There was no sadness about how my baby girl is growing up, or anxiety about all of the new things that she'll be experiencing. Malia is a total pro and has the preschool thing down. Plus I love this school so much, and I know that she will have so much fun - none of that real school pressure.

She's technically old enough for Kindergarten (by 6 days), but we feel like giving her a bonus year in preschool will only benefit her, and give her a great start for her educational career. I learned that preschool's frown on the term "holding back" and much prefer the "bonus year," to get rid of any negative connotations with keeping your 4-year-old from starting Kindergarten.

We're all looking forward to this year, and the loving, nurturing, Christian environment that her preschool provides. I know I've gone on and on.... sorry - just so happy for my baby girl :)

Malia with her teacher Mrs. Miller

On the first day of 1st grade...

2011-08-31T21:58:00.000-07:00

Another school year has begun, and man it doesn't get any easier on Mom, does it? Last year, Josh was in half - day Kindergarten and out by 11:30. That made the transition so much smoother.

Now he's in school until almost 2:00, and he's there for lunch, everyday! Why does this cause me anxiety? He was just fine and so excited about it.

We've adjusted back to the early bed-time, and Josh was up today before the alarm. Look how independent he looks! He hardly needs me... sniff, sniff

We started the family walk in the double stroller. Then we quickly realized that one tire was almost flat. Good thing we left early.

Daddy quickly changed strollers and ran to catch up to us :)

This picture with Josh and his teacher cracks me up! He's so shy that he can't even bring himself to look at the camera, but he knows he's supposed to, so he's trying his best. We laughed at the picture when we got home.

He had a great day, although it was painful to have to recount every detail of his day to his mama when he got home. You know I asked a million questions, and Alvin just asked, "How was it?" Josh said, "Good," and that was the end of their conversation. Poor Josh has to endure his all of his mama's questions, suggestions, and helpful hints. Good thing that he loves school and can't wait to go back tomorrow, despite all of my baseless worries. How will we ever survive elementary school?

The Hole in our Gospel

2011-08-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

My sweet friend Melanie, sent me this amazing, challenging, but very hard to read book. But it was a gift... so I'm pressing on.

It took me months to get past the first chapter (not a real page turner, per se), but once I really got into the thick of it, I definitely had a love / hate relationship with it. The book is authored by the President of World Vision. He's is speaking about the massive disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots" in this world - what he's personally witnessed. Unimaginable poverty and injustice. And it's really... hard ...to... read, yet I am compelled and can't put it down at times.

I'm about two-thirds of the way through, and I know that I must finish. The last half is all about what we can do to help. I should at least finish the positive part :) The first part was painting a realistic picture of what is happening to the world's poor, and the Biblical position about what the Church's response should be.

It all comes at such a weird place in my life. As I've mentioned previously, I really have been preparing the past few months to fost /adopt, and I was so sure that was what my mission, my responsibility, my future was supposed to be. Every time I close this book I feel compelled to pray, and again question and ask God, what do You want me to do? Because I believe that it would be next to impossible to read this book without walking away asking God the same question.

I still feel like big changes, Godly changes, are coming for the Velardes. I don't know what that will look like, or how it will impact our family. It may not be what I had planned, but I know something's coming, and I want to be ready for it.

More Summer Favorites

2011-08-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my dad and sister for these great summer photos!

No big summer trips this year, but a LOT of swimming,VBS, and sports. We had fun :)

Josh's 1st time in Karate

Both Josh and Malia turned into little fish this summer and great swimmers.

Malia, Emma and Maddie were able to take soccer and t-ball clinics this summer. They had so much fun together!

Sad

2011-08-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

I realize that for the most part, this blog is more of an on-line scrapbook than a personal diary. It's sort of become a place to share moments and photos that give a snapshot of what's going on with the family - keep it light, fun. But since this is also the place that I've shared about our new venture into fost / adopt, I feel like I should also follow up with what's going on with that.

We're not going to become foster parents. And the best word that I can think of to describe my how I'm feeling is sad. I used to scold my former English students for using such a simple word like "sad" to describe their feelings, so in the spirit of good writing I could add disappointed, broken-hearted, upset, confused, but mostly just sad.

I know that there are some foster parents that are in it for the wrong reasons, like getting that monthly check, but for our family, becoming a fost/adopt family, needed to be a spiritual calling. It was certainly never about the money, or the feeling that something was wrong with our family. Both Alvin and I needed to know that we were 100% called by God to become parents to a baby girl that needed us. Our hearts and desires needed to be aligned and ready to love the little girl that would come into our lives whole-heartedly. This is a huge commitment that I thought we moving towards, but we're not.

It's very hard to go from imagining this little girl in our lives, planning for her, getting excited for her, and praying for her the past 5 months to just letting go of that dream. It's a loss. But I need to trust that this decision that my husband feels so strongly about, is the right one. I can't explain why God doesn't want us to go forward with this, and to be honest it's very hard to accept (insert me crying every time I think about it, talk about it, etc).

I don't know what the future holds. I wish there was a happy little way of wrapping up this blog post with something encouraging. This stinks. I am still very committed to seeking out ways to help a child in need, and I know that Alvin is too. So we'll see. Until then I will have to change my way of thinking and planning, and say good-bye to the little girl that never was mine.

Favorite Pics of Summer...so far!

2011-08-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

Kitchen Project - step 3

2011-08-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

So we're moving along slowly, but slowly with our kitchen project. The next step is tearing down a wall and opening up another.

Here is the before view from our living room.

Here is the same wall, but from the kitchen. I felt like the kitchen was too closed off and isolated, so I wanted to open up that wall.

Then there was this funky half wall, that someone added to the house. I cannot imagine why. It made our dining room feel smaller, and we couldn't walk around the dining room table. So good-bye wall and our plant holders :)

So here's the new view from the living room. I LOVE being able to see out of the kitchen and it feels so much bigger.

Here's the view from the kitchen. The half wall is gone and we can walk around the dining room table now.

Now on to painting and finishing the cabinets! I can't wait until it's done. Our goal was to get it all done by the end of the month. Maybe if I really light a fire under my rear-end :) But it needs to be done before baby girl comes, so I'm going to get busy!

The Freezer Foxes (our Dinner Club)

2011-08-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about my new Dinner Club -the Freezer Foxes (it's a working title...). My sister-in-law first told me that she was in dinner club a few months ago. I asked her a ton of questions, did a little on-line research, and then decided to start one of my own.

There are 10 of us in the group, and each month we bring 10 meals that we've made - 1 to keep and 9 to exchange. Our first exchange was last week, and it went really well. I made Shepherd's Pie for the group (which was really too time consuming), but I ended up with Chicken Fajitas, Alpine Meatballs, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Sweet and Sour Meatballs, Pulled Pork, Spaghetti Sauce, Minestrone Soup, Beef Stroganoff, and Tangy Pineapple Chicken.

Yum!

The theory is to save time and money, because you are buying for just one recipe times 10 - around $100. Plus you are supposed to be able to make the 10 meals in under 3 hours. If you were making 10 different meals, that would be very hard to do.

It's been so fun to pull a meal out of the freezer and not have to worry about what to make for dinner. So far we've tried half of the meals (in a week! ) and have really enjoyed them all.
If you're thinking at all about starting your own club, I highly recommend this blog. It was super helpful in getting started.

I can't wait for next month to try even more delicious dinners :)

My Highly Successful Household (or getting there)

2011-07-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

This is sort of a follow up to my last post. At least in the area of housecleaning...

If you know me well, or follow this blog, then you know that my house has been a major source of stress for me the past few years. Stress, frustration, irritation, and even embarrassment at times. It's not that my house should be featured on "Hoarders" or anything of that nature, but there is certainly enough clutter, junk, dust and unfinished projects that it's easy to get discouraged. There's just never enough time to get to it, right? My sister-in-law said that trying to clean your house with a toddler at home is like trying to shovel snow in a snowstorm. So true!

Plus there's the day-to-day chores that pile up and up.

However (!) in the past month or so, I've had a "come to Jesus" moment ... with myself. I realized that in order to get what I want out of my time and energy, I have to face two very important things about my personality:

1. I am a morning person - so early to bed and early to rise works so well for me. I have to take advantage of those early morning hours.

2. I am lazy - what do you do with this one? It's true... I'm not one of those "have to be busy" kind of people. Solution is to do as much as I can before I slump into my evening down time of becoming one with the couch and my remote control.

I've also looked to guidance to help me form my plan of attack. I know there are many books, websites, etc. that are designed to help us busy moms organize our day and clean our houses, but I found one that I think works the best for me.

Behold the Daily 7 for a Highly Successful Household!

(This is from Stephanie O'Dea, the lady that has the 365 days of Crock-pot recipes)

Number 1: Make Beds Right Away - I'm teaching my kids to make their own beds too. This is also a deterrent for them messing it up later :)

Number 2: Do One Complete Load of Laundry - including putting it all away. Laundry tends to get piled up at my house, and I find myself spending hours putting away about 6 loads. It's overwhelming - but one load a day I can handle.

Number 3: Empty All Garbage Cans - yep, it helps with the stink

Number 4: Keep Your Kitchen Sink Empty - I don't have a dishwasher, so I just do dishes once a day, but my new motto is to not go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink. I'm sure many of you already do this, but this is new (and hard) for me. However, I love the feeling of waking up in the morning with a clean sink. It's surprisingly a lot easier to do dishes when you haven't let them pile up for a few days :)

Number 5: Clean Up After Yourself and Help Children Do the Same - remember that we're raising capable adults. While picking up our kids' rooms ourselves is a lot easier and quicker, I'm now spending the time teaching them to pick up and organize throughout the day. They don't go to bed with toys on their floors.

Number 6: Bathroom Wipe-Down - this is huge! At the end of the day, I'm taking a Clorox wipe and wiping the sink down, and the inside and outside of the toilet. According to the author, I'll never have to use toilet bowl cleaner and the nasty scrub brush again. So far it's working. And if you have little boys, you know how quickly your toilet can become disgusting. The other part of this is making sure to wipe down your showers with a towel to prevent mildew and soap scum. I'm also wiping the floors and baseboards after that.

Number 7: Before Bed 10-Minute Clean Up - quick pick up of anything still left out from the day. I also dust during this time too. Again, it's so nice to wake up to a picked-up house.

After following these rules for 2 weeks now, my house is so clean! I can't remember the last time that it was so clean for this long. I'm hoping that people will pop by just so that I can show them how clean my house is! I've also found time to finish painting my closet doors, I've read 3 books, and I've started tackling the shredding / filing of the important documents. The best part is that I've watched very little TV, and honestly haven't missed it much. It's a far, far better feeling to have a highly successful household than to fill my time with lame TV shows. I'm not feeling so lazy anymore :)

Jar of Rocks

2011-07-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

I think that most of us have seen this bit of wisdom passed around in e-mails, etc. OK, maybe not this exact version with the beer joke, but you get the point. I can't stop thinking about it.

Our lives are only truly full when we place the "rocks" in first, then the pebbles, and finally the sand.

So what are my "rocks?"

What are those things in my life that I want to take the highest priority? I have felt a restlessness for months now, maybe longer, that at the end of the day I feel like I haven't done any of the things that I truly wanted to do. I fill my day with too much "sand." I know what the sand is, unfortunately. It's those time suckers that I thought I would eliminate a year ago. I gave it a go, for a few months, but slowly they crept back in and took over.

It's funny, my life felt so much more organized when I was working full-time, or even my part-time teaching schedule. The less I work outside the home, the less I feel like I get accomplished. The thing I miss about work, crazy as it sounds, is the fact that I was up, dressed, and ready for the day by 6:00 am. I am a total morning person, and I find myself being so productive in those early morning hours. But without being forced into it, it's not easy to get up that early just because I want to.

That's HARD!

But I 'm ready. I'm going to give those "rocks" the highest priority of my day. Devotional time, time alone with Alvin, fun activities with the kids, exercise, sticking to a housework schedule, etc. Then, I can fill my extra time with the pebbles and sand. Sounds like a lot of discipline. Sounds like a lot of intentional scheduling, rather than just letting my day happen. But I know that this is what God's calling me to - being a good steward of my time. I'm excited to see how these changes will affect my life

We Camp!

2011-07-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to go camping this week with Alvin's brother and his family. Since we've been married, Alvin and I have only gone camping one time, and that was 5 years ago. We don't really feel prepared at all, so this was a great test to see what we need to have a good experience.

We camped for one night only up in Santa Barbara. The weather was perfect, and the cousins loved playing together. It was so much fun, and now I think we could do this by ourselves if we had to. But it's so much more fun with family and friends. :)

Malia on the surfboard with Daddy

Cousin Samuel at the beach

Josh loves playing in the surf

Cousin Lucas playing in the water


Our enormous tent! First time that we've used it. Seriously it's like 8 feet tall in the middle

Malia snapped a picture of Mommy and Daddy

Micah and Samuel enjoying the spaghetti

Lucas and Malia


Josh and Daddy.

Another Project

2011-06-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

Although we are in the middle of our kitchen project we are finally going to put in closet doors! When I first moved in, there were 3 large sliding closet doors that were off the track and falling apart. Our quick solution was to take the doors down and put up curtains. Although we could close them, this is what it looked like most of the time. This was supposed to be temporary...

Fast forward 9 years... a few weeks ago my uncle Kent came out from Arizona to help us get the project started. He framed in closet so that we could put in normal doors, and he added a post down the middle to make it look like 2 closets. I love how it's turning out.

Almost done! My dad and his friend came over to install the doors and start the painting. It changes the whole look of the room by actually having closet doors.

Now we just need to finish painting the wall and the doors. I'm getting excited because my bedroom is finally becoming the room that I envisioned. More changes ahead!

Sun Scholars Summer Program

2011-06-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

Before the kids got out of school, I started thinking about what we wanted to do this summer. Last summer I copied many friends and did a "Summer List," where we filled it with all of the fun things we wanted to accomplish. I love that idea, and the kids loved checking off the activities.

This summer I was looking to do something a little more structured, and a little more academic. Since Josh is doing so well with his reading and writing, I wanted to make sure that he had a lot of fun opportunities to keep that going.

I found an amazing program - the Sun Scholars Summer Program. I was fortunate to buy it when it was on sale, but it's she also sells it a week at a time. Each day there are 4 activities to do that includes reading, writing, math, art, or science in a very fun, creative way. It's a lot to keep them busy, and some days we don't get to all of the activities...which is OK... no pressure to do it all.

The program is organized so well, and the printables are great. I'll start posting some pictures of the kids in action. Anyway, I highly recommend it. The best part is that I feel like I'm homeschooling, and it's fun - go figure :)

Foster training - part 1

2011-06-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Alvin and I spent a weekend training with 15 other couples at Olive Crest. We actually had a really great time and felt an instant connection with the other couples. It's amazing what a bond you feel with like-minded people. I lost count how many times I burst into tears - both from joy and sadness. It was emotional to say the least.

At times it's overwhelming to grasp how great the need is, and your heart just aches for these abused and neglected children. But when you hear stories of successful reunification or adoptions, and the joy that comes to both the child and their new family, you really get a sense of hope for what is possible.

My favorite part of the training was hearing from a couple with 5 boys of their own, and have fostered 3 additional children in the past 2 years. They are actually in the process of adopting 2 boys that they fostered (the girl went back with her mom). It was exciting to hear stories of their struggles and successes, but how much it impacted their children in such a positive way. They said that their boys are now more patient, helpful, giving and forgiving. WOW! Sign me up! Ha ha...

We still have so much to do in these next few months, but I am motivated and ready to get all of these requirements done. At least we got one item checked off the list -

We got a new car!!!!

So excited about our Toyota Sienna! The kids just love it, and now we can have enough room for baby girl! I'll have to post some pictures soon of the family in our new Swagger Wagon!

Next up: CPR and 1st Aid training :)

End of Kinder / Preschool

2011-06-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Malia ended her preschool year with a park day.

Malia and one of her besties

Another one of her besties

Fun time singing together one last time!

Malia had a wonderful year with Mrs. Zemke. She is such a loving, nurturing teacher. Malia just adored her, and loved all of the crafts, stories, songs, and of course making new friends. We decided to give Malia a bonus year in pre-school next year, and she will be in the pre-K class. I am so happy that we have found such a great, Christian pre-school with amazing teachers.

Josh's last day of Kinder was so emotional for me. I worked in his classroom one day a week, so I really felt like I know these kids pretty well. I absolutely loved his teacher - she's amazing - and so watching him move on to 1st grade is tough. But I am so proud of Josh!

After a lot of fun events outside, we came in for cupcakes.

Can you tell Josh loves his teacher? He jumped on her lap when I told him to take a picture with her.

After school we celebrated with Grandma and Papa at his favorite restaurant - Soup Plantation. We looked at his memory book together and read his report card. I am one proud Mama!

Love this kid, and we can't wait to see how much he will grow and learn in 1st grade!

Kitchen Project - step 2

2011-06-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

We have tile!!! I'm loving the clean look of the white tile back-splash. My dad knows a guy that has done quite a bit of handy man / construction work for friends, and heard nothing but great reviews. Well, he did great work for us, and got this all done in a day. If you need a tile / handy man in So. Cal, please contact me and I'll give you his info!

He replaced all of the electrical outlets and switches. He even found a way to get rid of this hideous giant electrical box by the oven, and went ahead and put in 2 additional boxes (both hidden). It looks great.

By the way... pay no attention to the banged up window frame. It will be painted :)

New electrical plug

So now the hard work begins on our part. Lots of painting, stripping the cabinets and changing out the hardware. Hopefully I'll be posting new pictures soon!

Pre-Certified

2011-06-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

We got news this week that we've been "pre-certified" in our fost / adopt process. That means that we can go ahead and start the training. Our first big training event is actually next weekend! It works out perfectly, because Alvin already took that Saturday off (it's at the end of the pastor's conference he's attending). So excited! We should actually finish up all of the training by the end of summer - our final walk-through is scheduled before Aug. 31st. Feeling nervous of course, but excited too.

So much to do to get ready for this little girl - home projects, buy a new car, more paperwork, finger-printing, get CPR certified, collect required documents, etc. We feel ready to tackle this, but we would appreciate your prayers too.

Kitchen project - step 1

2011-05-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

When I bought this house 9 years ago, I knew that I would need to redo the kitchen sooner or later. But you know how things go, and you end up fixing up the most horrible things first. Then you get busy, and you run out of money, and you learn to live with the awful thing that bugged you so much at one time.

Well thanks to my dad and his neighbor, we're finally getting a kitchen face lift! I'm so excited. Here is the horrible aqua blue counter top that I had before, with the corroded faucet and rust stained sink.

Here's my favorite part of the the kitchen counter! My molded / mildew stained butcher block. Let me think... I've used this butcher block ummmm, never! I did have it covered with a dish towel just about every day. Wouldn't you?

So here's the "before" picture of the whole counter top.

And here's the mid- way picture. We decided to go with a charcoal gray / marble counter top. We're going to do a white tile back splash, repaint the walls a bright white, strip and repaint the cabinet doors and replace all of the knobs. No problem, right? Piece of cake.

So excited to have a beautiful new faucet and sink. Wall mounted faucets are pretty rare, so not a lot of choices, but this one is soooo much better than the last one, so I'm happy.

Lots of work to do, but I'm anxious to get going. I'll keep you posted!

The Waiting Game

2011-05-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in awhile, and honestly there hasn't been too much to report on our fost /adopt process. We met with the clinical interviewer / social worker for our big 3 1/2 hour interview back on April 18th. It actually was not as painful as that sounds, and it went by pretty quickly. The social worker was super nice and definitely put us at ease. Our next step is to wait until the board meets and they will make the decision about whether or not we can move forward in the training process. Well, since it is taking so long (board members on vacation), our social worker called today and told us that we are "pre-certified" and can go ahead and begin some portions of the training process. So this is a good thing! Progress!

We've already begun to collect baby items from friends, since we gave away or sold almost everything. We've got a crib, car seat, stroller, and more baby stuff to come. Since we have no idea who we will be getting, it's a little hard to prepare, but the social worker told us that we will get a girl in the 0 - 2 year age range (younger than Micah to keep with the birth order), and the odds are actually higher of getting an infant. We're trying to prepare for the fact that this infant will most likely be born addicted to drugs, born in prison, or born to a mother who has had previous children removed from her home. It may also be a baby that was dropped off to a hospital or fire station (safe surrender). We may have to drive this girl for visits to see her birth family, even up to three times a week (Honestly though, if we are getting a girl that is highly adoptable, I doubt that there will be any visiting). We're estimating that we can complete all training by the end of summer, and then it could be very soon after that that we get our little girl!

So there is a lot of uncertainty in the future, but we are confident that God is directing our path. In the meantime, we are preparing our hearts and preparing our home. We're launching into quite a few home projects, and hoping that we can complete them all this summer. I'll share with you our kitchen project in my next blog!

Love these kids!

2011-04-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

Success!

2011-03-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

I wish that you could have seen me today - hooting and hollering, jumping, dancing and cheering, "I am proud of you - said I am proud of you! hey, hey, hey!"

OK I take that back. I am sooo glad that you didn't see me making a ginormous fool of myself, but it was all for a good cause.

One of my picky little eaters, Malia, is no longer a picky little eater! In the last few weeks my baby girl has eaten pb&j, grilled cheese sandwich, cinnamon toast, turkey hot dog, and today a scrambled egg. Those are all new things that she would have never touched in the past. Josh is eating new foods as well, but still with tons of complaining and attempts at deal making.

But with the last 2 new foods, Malia has just willing sat down and popped the bite right in. I'm so proud of her!

Josh informs me that he will now try a banana without any complaining so that I can do my happy dance for him. Unfortunately Malia ate the last banana this morning. Maybe next time...

Moving forward

2011-03-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

We completed the first step today in becoming foster parents.

This past week we filled out a super long application, and answered questions ranging from our income and budget needs, to how often we argue and what we argue about. A funny part of the survey was where Alvin and I answer questions about each other. I felt like we were back in pre-marital counseling. We had to check off adjectives that described each other, and of course I had to challenge him on some of his responses. He kept saying, "But this is my opinion!" as I was chasing him around the room trying to cross off an answer or two.
Oh well...

So today, we met with a foster specialist. I was expecting a third-degree grilling on all of our responses to the survey, but I guess that happens next time during the 3-4 hour interview. Yeah, that sounds like fun. Anyway, today was just really pleasant. The lady was so sweet, and really it was just more of an informational meeting. But, one of the last things that she said was, "I'll need to see a crib set up in this room the next time I come by."

What?

I know that we selected that we would be willing to take a girl from 0 - 5 years, but I guess I really didn't think about getting a baby. Do you know that I have been purging every single baby item from our home the last year? Whenever anyone would ask me if we were going to have another child, I would always answer with a very firm, "NO!" Our crib, infant car seat, and of course all baby clothes... long gone.

But I guess this is how I know that this desire to bring another little girl into our family is truly a God thing. And He's changing my heart everyday.

Side note: I asked Malia, if we get an opportunity to name this girl, what would you like to call her? She said, "Malia." I said, "But wouldn't that be confusing?" After some thought, she said, "Well, I'll be Malia #1 and she can be Malia #2." What a nut!

Diet update: Our diet contest is rapidly coming to an end. With less than 2 weeks left, I really need to get it in gear. After losing 17 pounds, I have really hit a wall, and I've had a hard time sticking to the plan. So I'm going back to the 17 day diet cycle 1 and hoping to lose at least another 5 in the next two weeks. I'd really love to win the $345. And the bragging rights would nice too :)

More changes coming for the Velardes

2011-03-02T13:47:00.000-08:00

Last night I filled out the pre-application form to become foster parents. Our goal is to adopt a foster child in the near future. Big, big, huge changes coming to our family, but we are so excited, nervous, hopeful and our hearts are so full.

This decision seems sudden for us, but God has been preparing our hearts for years. Our involvement and service with Royal Family Kids' Camp throughout the years has helped us to fall in love with foster kids and see the huge need in our society to support these abused kids. As a teacher at Bellflower, I met so many wonderful foster kids that I tried to encourage, help and support. Just knowing that these kids often bounce from home to home without ever having a true sense of belonging, of love, of acceptance is heart breaking. I've always wanted to help more, do more, give more, but you know... life happens and you continue to just do what you can.

The final push to go for fost/ adopt happened last weekend when I stumbled across a blog written by a 20-year-old girl who grew up in foster care. Her blog is heart wrenching - so hard to read. She's writing not only about her experiences of living in 13 different homes, but how screwed up her life is now as a result. She suffers from PTSD and dissociative identity disorder, can't keep a job, and is totally alone in the world. The thing that struck me over and over as I read this blog were the words, "... because I was in foster care and never adopted..." She emphasizes this so many times, I couldn't help but stop and really let that sink in. Unless a child (ward of the state) is adopted, they age out of foster care with nothing. There are some state agencies that try to help them, but the resources are limited, and money certainly cannot replace a forever family. She lists statistics of aged out foster kids on her blog - those that become teen moms, wind up in jail, never graduate or become homeless. It's unbelievable.

I shared this blog with Alvin, and through many tears I told him that I think we should fost / adopt. Without any hesitation he replied, "OK." Just like that. OK. How about adding another girl to our family? Sure! We talked and talked about how this will impact our family, how we'll need another car, how we may need a bigger house. But the bottom line is that we can change a child's life forever. I keep thinking of the RFKC's starfish story, and the, "it makes a difference to this one." We desperately want to make a difference to someone.

I'll keep you posted on our journey. Like I said, we have only filled out the pre-application, so there is so much more to do. Please pray that we make it through the application process and that God will continue to guide our steps as we move forward with this. But most of all, please pray that we can make a difference to the life of one little girl.

The Great Peanut Butter and Jelly Challenge

2011-02-25T16:03:00.000-08:00

(The furniture post is coming soon... just need to take some pics)

I can't believe that it was April when I wrote about my picky eaters.

Unfortunately, not much has changed, except Josh and Malia hate it when I say it's time for family dinner. They know that Mom is going to make them eat something that they don't want to eat, and the experience is so unpleasant for all of us.

I know I mentioned this in the previous post, but seriously I feel like I've tried everything, but I haven't really been as consistent as I would like.

Well, I found new motivation to become consistent in my efforts. My goal? I would like my kids to try a new food (they don't have to love it, just try it), without complaining, pushing it away, hiding under the table, staring at it for hours, or throwing a fit and crying.

On Tuesday, I decided that I would start with something simple, that most kids will readily eat: a pb&j.

First of all, we started with prayer. I figure that since prayer is helping me so much with my own self-control over food, then prayer can help them with overcome their fear / dislike of new foods.

Micah (my good little eater) polished off his sandwich in a few minutes and loved it. The other two? Not so much. We're going to need a lot more prayer. But as the day wore on and their little tummies grew hungrier, they eventually ate a few bites without tears. Each day this week, they have eventually taken a few bites, but it's hours after lunch time when their growling tummies give in. But this is also after many, many complaints. I told my kids that the day that I plop a pb&j in front of them, and they just take a few bites without one complaint - I won't give it to them anymore. So we're still waiting for that day. Of course they don't know that after pb&j I will immediately introduce another new food.

I'm just so mean.

Quick Update

2011-02-07T11:01:00.000-08:00

I just have time for a quick update, but will sit down and do a much more detailed blog later.

I'm down 14 pounds! I just started Cycle 3 where I can now have bread, pasta, or even cereal. All whole grain of course, but it's still so nice for a change. I also had a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich yesterday. Yummmmmm. It has been over a month since I've had any type of dessert, so it tasted like cheesecake to me.

I'm in my new skinny-er jeans and feeling great.

There is a lot more going on in my life, including lots of household/ furniture changes, so I'll blog about that next.

The 17 Day Diet in Review - Cycle 1

2011-01-22T18:48:00.000-08:00

I officially made it through Cycle 1 of the 17 Day Diet. I have to say that the doctor wasn't kidding when he said the diet can be summed up in two words, "fast results." My friend Angel and I are doing this diet together, and we have both lost 7 pounds in 2 weeks! I have never lost weight this quickly. Well maybe when I was taking my friend's prescription of Fen Phen, but you know, it was deemed "dangerous" and yanked off the market. So there you go.

Anyway, if you're thinking of trying this diet, here are some of the pros and cons:

Pros:
-fast results! which keeps you motivated
-you feel really good, because you're eating VERY healthy
-unlimited amounts of lean protein, so you're free to eat until your full
-I have eaten more vegetables in the last 17 days than I have in my life - and I'm learning to like some of them
-I have been making the. best. smoothies. ever. and yes, it's all part of the diet

Cons:
-The first cycle is very strict on what you can eat, so it did get a little repetative.
-When you are hungry, sometimes you really just want to reach for a quick snack. This is very hard to do on this diet, unless you have prepared enough meat or vegetables for the day. This is probably why I'm losing weight so quickly, because in the past I would have just munched on Lucky Charms, chips, cookies, etc. Now I'm taking the time to prepare healthy food, so during those late night cravings I have to really ask myself if it's worth it.

The next cycle includes adding natural starches and adding to the list of proteins. The third cycle will include some CARBS! Of course it's something like whole wheat pasta, All-Bran cereal, etc., but still - I'm looking forward to those carbs.

So we'll see how the weight loss progresses during cycle 2. I can totally see now, how doing this diet with friends is so encouraging and fun. Even though I will totally kick her butt in the weight loss challenge (ha ha), I'm loving swapping recipes and keeping each other on track.

Diet / Resolution Update

2011-01-06T16:18:00.000-08:00

Diet Contest: Going great! Lost 3 pounds already. The hardest part is the green tea. Blech! I'm so not a tea drinker.

Yesterday Alvin's mom brought over these lovelies. Curse you Grandma Annie!!! Ha ha. But seriously, this is one of my hardest temptations. I'm not a big chocolate person, but give me a good butter cookie (or shortbread), and I could eat the entire container. So I'm not even going to have a nibble, or a taste, or even a sniff.

Resolution: Going to bed by 10pm is one of the best decisions that I've made in a long time. Loving my bedtime :)

Diet Contest!!!

2011-01-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow starts a diet contest that I crazily started with some family and friends. Life as I know it will change drastically. But I'm ready. The contest will run for 3 months- highest percentage wins. Usually this kind of pressure makes me crazy, and I crack. Hopefully I'll stick this one out. I just hope to lose something in the 3 months. I really don't expect to win, but I'm happy to join.

I heard good things about this diet, so I'm going to give it a try. I've never done such a strict eating plan, and I'm a little nervous. I'll let you know how it goes...

http://www.the17daydiet.com/

New Year's Resolution

2011-01-01T01:04:00.000-08:00

I will make one resolution this year. Just one that I really am going to try to stick to...

I will go to bed by 10.

Yes, I am giving myself a bedtime. I seem to go to bed later and later (for no good reason), and yet my kids still get up around 6:30. I am a morning person. I know this about myself, and I need to just give in. I am completely unproductive at night - in fact after I put the kids to bed, I am glued to the couch. So staying up just to sit on the couch watching dumb shows, or at the computer aimlessly internet surfing, is just a waste, and it makes me even more tired.

So I'm going to be hitting the hay a little earlier. Starting tomorrow :)

Busy December

2010-12-29T20:53:00.000-08:00

You may have seen some of these photos on my dad's facebook page, but I just had to post them here too before I forgot. I'm so thankful that my dad has captured some great pictures of the kids.

Malia's ballet class had a recital a few weeks ago. She danced to the Sugar Plum Fairy number. I'm telling you - that girl loves to perform. She loved every minute on that stage and can't wait to do it again.

I love this picture here with Emma. She's giving Malia the "what are you doing?" look. So funny.

More of dad's great pics...

Before Christmas break, the Kindergarten classes had a special Christmas performance for the parents. They sang songs, recited poems, and danced. Like his sister, Josh loves to perform too.

Jazz hands? I'm just believing that he was following his director's instructions :)

Our last tot school was so much fun. We made another great craft (didn't get a picture though... grrr...), and the kids decorated and ate cookies. I don't know who has more fun - the kids or the moms.

Finally a picture with all 5 of them! I can't wait to start up tot school again with the kiddos next month.

It was the best of times, it was the ... well not the worst, but still pretty bad.

2010-12-25T20:51:00.000-08:00

Alvin and I were able to get away this week for 3 days. In 6 1/2 years of marriage, this is only the second time that we've gone away without the kids. That's something that I hope to correct, now that the kids are older and can do just fine without us. We asked my parents to watch the kids for us, and they were kind enough to agree.

Side note to the story: We scored this deal a few months ago - 2 nights at the Mandalay Bay with 2 tickets to see the Lion King for $200. We were so jazzed about this awesome deal, and then about a week before we left we saw that Jet Blue was offering one-way tickets to Vegas from Long Beach for $18. We hadn't planned to fly, but with all of the rain I'm sure glad that we did.

OK, back to the story. Our stay in Vegas was amazing. I knew that since we were going to be there such a short time, I didn't want to leave the hotel. Besides seeing the show and eating in some very cool restaurants, I read, finished my Daniel Bible study, and relaxed. It was awesome, and Alvin and I had so much time to just be together. I can't remember the last time that I just had so much time to be still and not worry about cleaning, cooking, getting little ones dressed, washed, etc. It's a little sad to say, but I think we don't realize how much the kids and the stresses of life really affect our temperament, our patience, and the way we treat each other. I'm trying to hold on to that vacation feeling now back in the real world.

On the last day of our trip, Alvin and I went to the Shark Reef Aquarium in the hotel. As we were waiting in line for tickets, I called my parent's house to check in and see how the kids were doing. It's never good to hear your dad begin a conversation with..."Hi Lori. I'm glad that you called actually. OK, be calm and know that's everything's OK. The paramedics are here..." Poor Alvin just watched me burst into tears and waited patiently to find out what had happened.

Malia had a febrile seizure that morning. Without warning her fever spiked to 103, causing her to throw up, have a seizure, and then become unresponsive. My mom, who was home by herself with the kids at the time, quickly called 911 while doing her best to wake up Malia (she couldn't) and keep the boys calm. Fortunately my dad arrived home just as the paramedics and ambulance arrived. Then I called home in the midst of all of this and ended up giving some medical history to one of the paramedics. This is every parent's worst fear, right? You leave your kids for a couple of days, never imagining that something like this could happen.

But this was not Malia's first seizure. She had the same experience when she was 14 months, and I think having gone through that experience with her already helped keep Alvin and I calm while hearing that your little girl is in an ambulance on her way to the E.R. It was all too familiar, because our first experience with it was just as frightening as it was to my mom. It was also helpful to know that so many of our friends and family were praying for her. We appreciated every text, phone call and e-mail.

Unfortunately, our flight that afternoon was delayed 3 hours due to the rain. Alvin and I felt so helpless sitting in that airport, just waiting to get home to our babies. But by the time we got home that night, Malia was home from the hospital, her fever was down, she was smiling and drinking hot chocolate while watching a Christmas movie. She looked healthy and happy. We missed all of the drama, the tension, and the long hours in the E.R.

My facebook status that night began with, "My parents are awesome..." I really, really wish that they didn't have to go through that. I know it rattled them pretty good, but they are so strong and took such good care of my sweetie. I couldn't have asked for better parents and grandparents to my kids. I know how much they love and care for my kids -I'm so blessed to have them. I just wonder if they'll ever watch our kids for us again :)

Christmas Letter 2010

2010-12-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! I wanted to do a snap shot Christmas letter for my friends and family that may not be regular readers of "Life in the North O.C." aka - this blog. I love this time of year, because it provides a natural reflection of the past year's high and low moments. It also provides a great opportunity to give thanks and honor to God, who continually blesses us far beyond what we deserve.

Micah - just turned 2

The word for Micah is "talk." This little guy is talking up a storm. We only understand about half, which makes for frustrating moments, but Micah is so determined. He is such a boy - high energy, loves to makes things fight and crash, wants to do whatever the big boys are doing, but still loves to cuddle with Momma. Micah is a great eater, but is still a poor sleeper. We are looking forward to potty training soon, and then he'll start preschool next fall. So many changes in the year ahead for Micah.

Malia - 4 years old
The word for Malia is "pretend." This girl loves to make up stories and songs. Her toys are always talking to each other, and when I stop to really listen to the dialogue I find myself cracking up. Malia started preschool twice a week, and she really enjoys it. She makes friends easily, and if she had her way, there would always be a friend at our house. Malia loves books, and she tries to help Josh with his homework. She's actually picking up a lot this way, and she can read simple words. Malia will continue with preschool next year, but will up her days to three times a week.

Joshua - 5 years old.
The word for Joshua is "growth." Josh has seen the most changes this year, and he's growing up in so many ways. He started Kindergarten in the fall, and he is really doing well. We've seen him grow socially, and he's really learning to build friendships and not just play independently. He's grown academically and is reading whole books by himself. Josh used to hate coloring and writing, but now he can't wait to sit down and work on his homework each day. He actually asks if he can have more things to color. Crazy! Josh still loves to play video and computer games, and his favorite place is still Disneyland. He's becoming a roller coaster junkie.

Lori -still under 40
I think the word for me this year is "prayer." Yep, when you help launch a church, and when that church moves from a home into a building... you do a lot of praying. Prayers for guidance, wisdom, patience, direction, resources, and love. When I wrote this almost a year ago, I believe now that I was prophesying, (well, sort of... ha ha)
"... our best plans are not God's plans, and His best plans are far better than we could ever imagine. We know that the people that are with us now are amazing, and excited, and there for a reason."

Those words have come true over and over this past year. There are so many examples of our plans not working out (actually failing pretty miserably), but we see now where God was clearly leading and providing. And it was way better than what we thought we wanted! Our faith has been built! I don't say this to brag or to say, "Look at us!" but to encourage you to trust God's plan. I don't know if "excited" accurately describes how I feel about the future of Veritas, but it will do for now. I'm excited.

As for my money-making job, I am still mentoring private school teachers getting their clear credential through Concordia University. I have 9 teachers that I mentor in south Orange County. It's been much more difficult this year since I have 2 kids in school half-day, and I volunteer in Josh's class once a week. I also started a tot school for Micah and his friends twice a month. Somehow I squeeze in all of the meetings, observations, trainings, etc. for my mentoring job - thanks to a great hubby and wonderful grandparents who watch the kids for me :)

Alvin - turning 43 on Christmas Day
Alvin's word this year is "learn." Talk about a steep learning curve. Not only has Alvin learned so much through his weekly preparation for delivering the message, but he has had to learn all about church planting 101. How do we become a 501(c)(3) organization? How do we get insured to rent a facility? How can we record the messages and podcast them? How do we become affiliated with Calvary Chapel? How do we set up a website or write by-laws or articulate our statement of beliefs? Ask Alvin, he knows!

Seriously, I am so impressed with how hard Alvin has worked this year. If he didn't know how to do something, or even where to start, he would just start asking, researching, and figuring it out. At times he may have felt a little overwhelmed, but instead of quitting, he would press on and finish everything that needed to be done. Now we are surrounded by a wonderful core group of volunteers that devote so much time and energy to Veritas. Alvin definitely laid the ground work, but it's our awesome volunteers that are keeping this church running each week.

Alvin is still working full-time at St. Joseph's. For a few months my crazy husband actually picked up a part-time job at Anaheim General as well, but had to quit when he needed to start devoting more time to the church. In September he started attending weekly meetings with Calvary Chapel pastors. Those have been so encouraging and enlightening for him.

Merry Christmas! We pray that you have a fabulous holiday celebrating the birth of Christ.

New Traditions

2010-12-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

We're trying out some new Christmas traditions in the Velarde house, and the kids are having so much fun with them. One new thing is the Christmas Countdown Chain. They helped me make it, and each day I let one of the kids cut off a link. I hope this helps put how many days until Christmas into perspective.

Normally we only decorate Christmas cookies on one day. This year I decided to make a bunch of cookies (freeze them), and everyday the kids get to decorate and each just one. By the time the big Platt - family -cookie -decorating - extravaganza happens, they'll be ready!

Gingerbread Houses!

I have to admit that we have never decorated gingerbread houses before. Thanks to our friends the Jacksons, Josh and Malia got to decorate their own little structure.

Each little building was part of a village. They were little - just the right size.

Josh didn't go too crazy...

Malia, on the other hand, loaded that poor little roof with more than it could handle. She ate the rest of her icing, so no decorations on the sides.

Thanks Jacksons for helping us start a new tradition! It was so much fun :)

Star Student

2010-12-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

Joshua was the star student in his Kindergarten class this week. He had to bring in 4 objects that represented him, and then he needed to fill out this poster. The objects we picked were: his trophy from pee-wee baseball, his favorite basketball, his bowling trophy/ birthday party souvenir, and his star speeder from the Star Tours ride (toy spaceship - which represents both his love for space and for Disney)

The funniest thing about this poster was the question: When I grow up, I want to be _____? Josh surprised us all with " a submarine captain." Where did that come from? I thought it was too cute.

He was soooo excited (can you tell?) to share this poster and his objects with the class. We're so proud of you Josh :)

Thanksgiving Treats

2010-11-27T18:17:00.000-08:00

The kids saw this cute, yummy treat on Nick Jr., and begged me to help them make it. So, although I am not crafty in anyway, I can copy ideas with the best of them.

First I rolled out cookie dough, and then I traced their hands and cut out the dough.

Then we iced the cookie hands and started decorating.

Here's the first part: a chocolate chip eye, a candy corn beak, and a red icing waddle

Malia is my big helper in the kitchen, and she wants to do it all by herself.

Ta-da! Josh's finished project. He's so proud.

Sissy posing with her turkey. I helped with the legs, but she decorated the rest.

Another cute craft that Malia helped me make was this tissue paper tree. The trunk is a painted paper towel roll, then we just glued tissue paper to the branches. I got this idea here.

We made these at our last tot school, but Micah had a bad cold, so he couldn't join us. Malia was more than happy to make this craft when she got home from preschool. I actually enjoyed these crafts with my kids this season. I can't wait to start making some Christmas crafts with them :)

Child Photography is Hard!

2010-11-27T17:57:00.000-08:00

Last week we went over to our friend's house for dinner and a movie. She wanted to do breakfast for dinner (strawberry topped waffles - yummy!), so in keeping with the theme, the kids all stayed in their jammies. They looked so cute, and I wanted to get a picture of all of them together.

First it was hard to get them all to sit on the same couch. Malia's clearly not happy

Then it was, "Ezra put your foot down" "Micah move that racket" "Malia... please smile"

"Micah, move that racket" "Malia... please smile" "Everybody look at meeee!"

"OK, Micah now put the racket down" "Ezra don't strangle your sister" "Malia, you better smile right now, or you're going to be in trouble!"

"Oh forget it... go have fun"

Big Brother?

2010-11-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

I use gmail for my e-mail service. I love it for so many reasons.

But today was a little creepy. Helpful, but creepy.

I was typing an e-mail to one of the teachers that I work with, and in the e-mail I told him that I was attaching a document for him. I forgot the attachment, and hit "send."

Immediately a box popped up and said, "You wrote the words, 'I'm attaching' in your e-mail, but there is no attachment. Send anyway?"

Whoa. It freaked me out a little. Are you reading my e-mails, gmail? I guess so. Thanks for the reminder, but still. Weird!

I love kindergarten

2010-11-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

Josh's Thanksgiving Feast today was so much fun! There were plenty of parent helpers, and we combined the two Kindergarten classes. So with 2 very long tables, we served 60 kids at once. It was awesome.

I'm already sad thinking about Kindergarten being over (I know, it's only November). But thankfully I have two more kids who will go to this magical wonderland of fun songs, cute poems, funny stories, lots of hats, drawing and painting, and best of all - an awesome teacher.

I LOVE Kindergarten ;)

Pity Party for 1

2010-11-17T16:53:00.000-08:00

This past month or so has been a little rough.

I got the stomach flu and had to miss our church's last summer barbecue

My car died (transmission), and we decided to fork out the 2 thousand to repair it (which took a week).

I've been battling a terrible eye infection (that's now a sinus infection), and even now a week later my eye is still bright red and irritated. This dumb eye infection has caused me to miss our first week at church in the new building, I've had to cancel dinner dates, work meetings and observations. (Now I'm behind with so many work related tasks)

I feel like I've gotten nothing done for awhile now except sit around eating Halloween candy, getting fat, and looking hideous.

Waaah, waaah, waah...

So I'm driving down the road, minding my own business, when one my favorite songs comes on, "Bring the Rain" by Mercy Me .

And as I'm belting out the lyrics to the chorus,

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I realize (and laugh) at how pathetic I am. In the midst of my pity party, the words of this song are convicting to me. The "pain" referred to in this song must be talking about something tragically noble like heartache, loss of a loved one, a terminal illness. Right? I mean isn't that the kind of pain that would turn us back to Jesus and offer praise?

I thought so.

But my annoying eye infection and money pit Isuzu is my "pain" right now. Last night in my Bible study I was reminded that we are to praise and worship God regardless of our current circumstances, because He is worthy of praise. I am not praising God because of my eye infection, but rather because in great times or not, He is still God on the throne who loves me beyond my understanding. He is constant; my circumstances are not. While I am thankful, grateful, and awed by the many blessings that He has provided, that cannot be my reason to worship God.

Because those things can change - instantly.

It's hard to have a pity party once you've taken your focus off of yourself and begin to meditate, praise, worship the only one deserving of our focus. Hopefully by learning this principal in the small "pains" I will be ready when the big "pains" come.

My baby is 2

2010-11-13T08:06:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe my baby is 2 already. Boy this kid has sure kept us on our toes. Micah is feisty and funny, cuddly and opinionated. He still loves to "fight" and will grab two of anything, hand you one, and yell "fight" as he starts swinging. He loves to wrestle and chase, and he will defend his food, toy, game, etc. to the death if he thinks you're trying to steal from him. Outside he loves to ride his bike, throw and catch balls, use the small golf clubs to hit golf balls in the street and watch Mommy go get them, and he'll even play with Sissy and her giant doll house.

Micah's favorite movie right now is Toy Story, and he loves anything with Buzz or Woody. He's talking just enough that you can understand about half of what he says, and we end up saying, "show me" quite a bit. The other night he was wrestling with Josh and Malia in the other room, when I heard him get hurt. Then clear as day I hear Micah say, "I go tell Mommy!" Sure enough, out he marches to tell me, "Sissy hit me on head!"

Micah has never been a good sleeper, and even now he's up around 5 am yelling, "Mommmm -eeeee." Once up, I'll bring him in bed with me where he loves to cuddle and usually goes back to sleep. He's friendly, but still very jealous if I pick up or play with another baby.

So far Micah is the least picky of my 3, and we hope that lasts. He'll pretty much eat whatever we give him, but he does request chocolate quite a bit. Wonder how that happened?

We are so grateful to have this little guy in our family. He may be a "little" guy, but he has a big personality, and we are excited to see how he continues to grow and learn.

Veritas gets a new home

2010-11-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

Our little Veritas Church is no longer a "home church." We've moved! This past weekend we moved into our new home at Wittmann Elementary School in Cerritos. It's so amazing how all of this came about, but you know, God is pretty amazing :) Right now we have a wonderful core team of volunteers that are so excited about creating a warm and inviting environment, and now it's time to spread the word.

Here's our information / welcome table. We learned so many great things from our time at Revolution Church. Signage (is that a word?), clear direction, information, and organization. Important stuff.

Our children's program, KidVenture, is taking shape. My mom has done a great job organizing and helping us out with curriculum. Last week we had 10 kids - the most so far! My 3 kids loved every minute of it, and they can't stop talking about how much fun they had with their friends. We are able to use the school's playgrounds, so that's a plus :)

Here's Alvin with the school's principal and custodian. They were so awesome and let us bring all of our equipment over on a Saturday and set up. The principal is happy to have a church here, one reason is because he said he wanted prayers for his school. How awesome is that? The custodian is also very excited to have us come, because he gets more money to come and work on Sunday. They have both gone above and beyond, and we are truly grateful for the wonderful welcome that we've received.

Here's our fabulous core group. Alvin and I are so thankful for this hard-working, fun, great group of people.

Thanks for your continued prayers. We are really hoping to be a blessing to this school and this community.

Malia is 4

2010-10-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

My little girl is 4 this week. I wanted to add some pictures that capture her life right now. Malia is currently enrolled in a ballet class, which she loves, and she gets to take it with two of her best friends.

A few weeks ago, they were able to reprise their "I am Kitty" routine and perform at the Seal Beach birthday festivities. She just loves performing, and we love to cheer her on.

Malia, Josh and Emma were able to go to a pre-Halloween event this week.

Sissy loved riding the pony. She isn't afraid of much, and she loves animals. There was a petting zoo, bounce houses and trunk-r-treating. So much fun!

Grandma brought over a cake for her on Monday. Malia told us that it wasn't officially her birthday until someone made her a cake. Oh goodness...

We also celebrated her birthday at her preschool. Malia is loving going to preschool twice a week. She's doing great, and restraining herself from running the show. I think this girl's going to be a teacher like her mommy. Isn't that what bossy people do?

We are so proud of our little girl, and we feel so blessed as parents to have her in our lives. Malia loves her stuffed animals, especially the tiny ones given to her by her great-grandma Lee. She loves playing with her brothers, and she is always making up stories and songs with her dolls. Malia and I take weekly trips to Disneyland with her best buddy Emma, and she gushes all over baby Landon. Her favorite foods are still pasta (all shapes and sizes), apples, and milk. She loves putting on Mama's make-up, playing on the computer, watching movies where she can sing along, and doing anything that involves her cousins.

Happy birthday Baby Girl!

10 Day Give Challenge - Days 3 - 10

2010-10-09T20:23:00.000-07:00

We spent the rest of our give challenge making these bags and cards to give to the homeless.  The kids enjoyed this more than I thought.  Everyday Josh was asking to work on his bags, and Malia loved making cards with pictures of her family.  We filled them with some non-perishable food, bottled water and then made sandwiches too.  The kids prayed over each bag.  We've just started distributing them.  Today Alvin and the kids spoke with one woman for 30 minutes, just getting to know her and then praying for her.  Josh and Malia were so excited to tell me about it when they got home.

We also spent time this week collecting items to donate to one of the charities that comes by for pick-ups (I can't think of the name?  something about Hope?)  Anyway... we picked out clothing and toys that they wanted to donate.  It was good to purge to a worthy cause.


I'm so glad that we participated in this challenge this year. Next year I'll have to be a little more organized and plan ahead.  We'll save up more money too, so that we can be a financial blessing as well.

10 Day Give Challenge - Days 1 & 2

2010-10-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

This challenge has been so fun so far. More fun than I expected.

Day 1 :  Finally did something I've always wanted to do...  we paid for the lady's food behind us in the McDonald's drive-thru!  Although we didn't get to see her reaction, the cashier's reaction was priceless.

"Is she your neighbor or something?" "Do you know her?" then the look of "Then why are you doing this?"

Day 2:  I made lasagna and delivered it to the Clarkes and Jacksons.  The Clarkes because Aaron has hinted and hinted, and well... asked for some, and the Jacksons because Momma Jackson is by herself 3 little ones while Daddy Jackson is in gone for a few months (Army stuff).  We loved surprising them, and at the Jacksons we stayed, played, and yes... we ate the lasagna.  It was so nice of them to share with us.  :)

We're trying to be creative with our giving, and to do something that is out of the ordinary for us.  I'm a little stumped for ideas, and we have 8 more days to go!  So maybe we'll repeat some ideas (anyone want lasagna, ha ha), we'll see.  I keep trying to explain to the kids why we're doing this.  I'm not sure they get it yet, but hopefully they will.  I need to do something that gets them more involved.

Stress = Crunch

2010-09-29T17:14:00.000-07:00

I read once that your body craves different types of food depending on your emotional needs.

Well, I'm feeling stressed and theoretically, no, realistically I'm craving crunchy foods. I've been aimlessly snacking on dry handfuls of Lucky Charms all day. October is going to be the busiest, most stressful month that I've had in a long time. My natural instinct is to crunch away on dry cereal, chips, cookies, etc.

No, no, no

I've worked too hard to lose weight to gain it back because of a stressful month. I need to find another outlet to get that tension out. Alvin said that I could start going back to the gym at the crack of dawn (yippee!) and he will get up early with Micah, so I'm hoping that early morning workouts will relieve that crunching tendency.

So even though I haven't been to the gym in months and months, I'm getting excited to start going again. I've loaded the ipod with some new tunes. Hopefully this will help me get to my goal. I'll keep you posted for sure.

Tot School #2

2010-09-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

Our second tot school was another fun and successful day!

But I forgot my camera :( boo

So you'll just have to imagine Micah and his friends Mekiah and Grace while they played together and learned all about shapes.

I used some coloring pages from here , but for the most part we just worked with shape sorters, puzzles, books about shapes, and magnets with shapes. Something that Micah really enjoyed was using magnets on a baking sheet. I put a paper with a large circle down on the baking sheet, and then he moved all of the magnets into the circle, then out. He was saying, "circle" by the end of the day :)

I'm looking forward to watching all these kids as they grow and develop. I'll be documenting our tot schools with my camera next time for sure.

10 Day Give Challenge

2010-09-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

I just saw this 10 Day Give Challenge starting Oct. 1st. What a great, intentional way to be generous and giving. I'm already planning and getting excited about ways my family can join in this. The great thing is that this isn't just about money, but giving of our time or talents as well. What about you? Will you join us in this challenge?

5 Pound Challenge Update

2010-09-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

The weigh - in for September:

I lost 4 more pounds! - feeling good about that.

This was the month that I was supposed to have completed my 25 pound goal. Well, there has definitely been some ups and downs the past 5 months, so I'm still 9 pounds away. But I'm already comfortably wearing clothes that I couldn't wear a few months ago. That's such a great feeling.

I won't post about my weight loss again until I hit my goal. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself, because I know these last few pounds will be the hardest. Weight loss is seriously at least 90% mental. Pretty much all respectable diets (WW, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, etc.) WORK. They do. It's just deciding to do it. I've talked to sooooo many friends that struggle with their weight like I do, and they all say the same thing. You have to be in the right place mentally or your weight loss will fail.

I want to encourage any of you that are still working on your weight loss goal to keep it up. Everyday is a chance for a fresh start.

Eye Opening

2010-09-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

I worked in Josh's kindergarten class today. It was... sad.

The first thing that the teacher had for me was to test each student's alphabet recognition. About half of the class had already passed with 100%. There were a few that knew maybe half, but then there were about 5 or 6 kids that couldn't recognize one letter of the alphabet. Not one.

I even asked one little boy if he could tell me how to spell his name. His name has 4 letters, and he couldn't do it. He only knew 2 of the letters, and they weren't even in the right order.

Now here's where the big debate begins. Clearly some parents feel it's the school's job to educate their child, so they've spent little or no time teaching them the basics. Or maybe, these students' brains just aren't ready to process this kind of information. Unfortunately, these kids are in a public school in California, where there are standards. The standards don't care if your little brain is ready. These poor teachers have the overwhelming task of getting these kids proficient in all standards before passing them along to the next grade.

Driving home, I just kept thinking about how I can help these kids. Maybe I can come in one or two days a week and spend time tutoring them. Maybe I should buy each of them a copy of The Letter Factory to watch at home. Or maybe, I should just continue to volunteer my time one day a week like I signed up for, let his teacher utilize me in the best way she knows, and continue to prepare my own children for school.

You know, this opens up a great discussion for homeschooling. :) Maybe in another post...

Our First Tot School!

2010-09-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about starting tot school. On Tuesdays, Malia is in preschool, so I wanted to do something fun with Micah. My friend Jill has been running a tot school for her 3-year-old, and it inspired me to do something similar for Micah and his friends. Unfortunately Micah slept through about half of it, but oh well. It allowed me to play with the other cuties. I decided to do a cars / vehicle theme for the day, but honestly the kids just loved running around playing and exploring. I think the "theme" of tot school will become more exciting for them the older that they get. To check out the philosophy of "tot school" go here.

We had 4 kids today, ranging in age from 12 to 22 months. I tried to take a picture with all of them together, but it wasn't going to happen. Jenny tried to bribe them all with her fishy crackers. It almost worked :)

Matthew and Justin were big helpers today. I think they liked the toys too.

Mekiah is such a fun, happy boy. He and Micah go way back.


This was the twins first time at our house. Alyssa just wanted to explore everything, while Brian hung more with his brothers. They are 2 of the sweetest kids ever.

OK, so here are the activities that I planned to go along with the theme. Micah is really into cars right now, so I thought it would be a fun place to start.

I had a race car picture to color, which was fun when they weren't eating the crayons.

We sang "The Wheels on the Bus" and read these books about things that go. Micah was sleeping through all of this.


This is a fun, noisy racetrack, but it's a hit with the kids.

I can't wait for more tot schools. We're planning to do 2 a month, and we'll rotate host homes. Next meeting, we'll add 2, maybe 3 more kids - yay! It will be a little more crazy, but definitely fun for the kids.

Time-suckers

2010-09-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

Time suckers are taking over my life. What am I referring to? Oh Facebook, dumb TV shows, dumb celebrity websites, more and more Facebook. I've been feeling convicted of this for a few months now, and then after reading

Bruce Kane's Blog

I felt some serious confirmation. I could completely relate with the hour or so wasted "just checking" those status updates. Ugh. No wonder I feel like I get nothing accomplished during the day, and my house is ~~a little unorganized,~~ a health-hazard disaster. With school starting, me going back to work, and our fall Bible study starting soon, I just can't afford these time suckers any longer.

I think some drastic measures are going to have to be put in place. The first one being... deleting my fb account. I know, the horror. I just don't think I can keep it, even if I never check it and only wait until I receive e-mail notification that someone has contacted me. Nope. Don't think I could resist the sweet, voyeristic charm that is facebook. I'm going to have to delete. Will it be today? Hmmmm.

The other thing I'm going to have to seriously limit is our TV watching time. With the fall shows starting up soon, I'm reevaluating what is worth watching and what is going off my DVR list. I feel like I'm starting a diet of sorts. It's hard to be disciplined, but the reward is worth it. Oh sure that ~~fattening~~ entertaining Real Housewives sure is fun, but is it worth an hour of my life anymore. Sorry girls, I don't think so.

I do want to keep blogging though. I find value in getting thoughts written down, plus I love to go back and read old posts. I want to be a better blogger, and hopefully I'll find more time and energy to do it right.

This is going to be an interesting experiment for sure :)

"I'm gonna write a letter"

2010-09-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

Do you know how many times I have used this phrase in my life? In my "the pen is mightier than the sword" attitude, I am convinced that letter writing will solve the many injustices and right all the wrongs.

Once, I did write a letter when a plumbing company charged me almost $500 (which I paid) and I was still left with the same blocked pipe. The sharply written letter (with a CC to the Better Business Bureau) actually got my money back. I know my dad is an expert letter writer, and he has also received great responses from his letters. He is a great encourager to just "write a letter."

But other than the monetary need, I say I'm going to write a letter all the time... but it just never happens. Well, the letter writing need is starting to back-up, and I'm really going to write these things. Really. So I'm putting it out here in blogland to push me to just do it.

Letter #1 is going to the head of parks and rec in our city. Our local neighborhood park is kinda scary, and I think it's become an after-school hang out for teenage delinquents. We never go to this park (I've been once in 8 years), but the fact that it's my neighborhood park, and it's gross and not usable makes me angry.

Letter #2 is going to the Superintendent of Josh's school district. I found out this week that she has cancelled Open House for every school in the district. This was at (some) teachers requests, because they are overwhelmed and under funded. I get it... I really do. But this is the time that you rally your parent and community volunteers, not punish the kids and their families. Open House is a sacred cow that should not die.

I'll keep you posted of my progress :)

1st Day of Kindergarten

2010-08-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

We all survived the 1st day of kindergarten - even me. We walked to school, which is going to be good exercise for all of us, and we avoided the traffic jams. Josh was excited, but I had to wake him up this morning (usually he pretty much gets to sleep as late as he wants), and he wasn't so thrilled about that.

We waited at the gate to meet Mrs. Spangenberg. She's such a sweetie, and I think that Josh will really like her. He followed her to class with an air-kiss goodbye, and that was it. I cried a little, but there was no sobbing. Micah was getting antsy, so that was a distraction. Grandma came and walked with us to pick up Josh after school. He had a great time, and he even wants to go back tomorrow. Yay!

Another milestone

2010-08-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

See this cutie? He's starting Kindergarten on Monday. Mom's not doing too well, as I cried several times today during orientation. I knew this would be hard, but not this hard... I'll update on Monday.