Crush the Turtle

A few days ago, Joel and Bryan were outside playing. Normally I can hear them shouting and yelling, but on this particular day, they were awfully quiet....and I wondered what was going on. I walked outside and set my eyes on their creation.
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I think they used an entire box of chalk to make the turtle. And thankfully since it won't be raining any time soon, we can have their artwork displayed for a while.

For your Info.

First of all, I'm glad that many of you are enjoying our blog. It has been so fun to be able to share stories and pictures with our friends and family that are so far away. Some of you have wondered how you can make comments to a post that we can see. If you scroll down to the end of the post and see "0 thoughts from friends" you can click on it and it will open a window where you can type in a message. You don't have to have a blogger account, you would just leave a comment as anonymous (but maybe put your name on the end, so we know who you are).

And the second thing is something I just discovered right now. If you want to see a picture on the slide show that I've created, you just click on the picture and it'll open a new window for you to look at the picture. In fact, any picture on the blog you can click on, collage or not, and it will open in a bigger size for you.

So there you have it. Happy Reading!

Mother's Day

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I had a lovely Mother's Day on Sunday. After church, Carl took pictures of me and the kids. Then he made a great lunch for us to have with Derek and Laura and her sister Sarah. They stayed and Kezia did Sarah's hair and had a tea party with Laura. After they went home, we had a pentecost celebration with the courtyard. There was singing, a devotional, and lots of food. What a treat that I didn't have to cook at all during the day. Well, in fact, I haven't cooked since last Tuesday. I wonder how long this break will last....

It was a special day to be honoured as a Mother, but I also thought a lot about my Mom and my Mother in Law. Being so far away, we didn't have the chance to spend Mother's Day with our Moms. I'm really thankful to have these two women in our lives. Some things I admire about my Mom and Mother in Law are:

-being able to cook something fabulous without having much on hand
-sense of humour
-hair cutting skills
-quilting and crocheting skills
-the way they take care of everyone around them; a HUGE servant heart
-strong leadership skills in the church
-putting up with all the boys, even those crazy husbands!
-the wisdom they impart by living as godly examples
-encouragement they give to me as a young mother
-the blessing they are as grandmothers

It was a good Mother's Day to be recognized as a Mother but also to give God thanks for our two fabulous Moms. We love you!!
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Road Trip - Kiddie Style

This past Wednesday, my friend Kelly and I took our kids on a road trip. We had been talking for some time about going to Legoland in Carlsbad near San Diego. Well, this past week, we did it, and it was awesome.

We left on Wednesday around supper time because Kelly had a meeting in the late afternoon. We loaded up the kids, handed out the snacks, and hit the road. Before the trip was over, we stopped 4 times to go pee, once to nurse a baby, and once to move all the carseats around because we couldn't find a rear jack for the dvd player. We arrived at Kelly's grandparents' place around 1:30 in the morning and carried all 5 sleeping children into the house. Once we got everything in, we had some of Grandma's awesome pasta salad before we headed to bed.

We all had a great sleep (though it was a bit short), enjoyed a huge breakfast, and packed up to drive to Legoland. We managed to get out of the house before 11:00 and went to the local Subway because we figured we could get a coupon for free passes there. Nope. So we drove 45 min. to Carlsbad and checked out another Subway. Nope. So we went to Costco and picked up passes for $15 cheaper than at the gate. YES! While were there we figured we'd buy pizzas and feed the kids lunch before we went to Legoland.
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The afternoon at Legoland was AWESOME. There were so many neat things for the kids. Lots of little rides that toured them through a jungle of animals, all made out of lego. And then things to climb on, all made out of lego. There were figures all over the park, singing and dancing, all made out of lego. Joel loved the Volvo Driving School where he got to drive around a track. Kezia and Emma loved the 3 storey tree house, the Hideaways in Castle Hill. There was even a playground called Playtown for Asha and Paige, all made out of lego. Though Kelly and I had to take turns taking the kids on the little rides, the lines were very short and we only had to wait 5 minutes. We also went to a very entertaining little show that all the kids enjoyed. Kelly and I loved the Miniland which was mini replicas of the Las Vegas strip, then there was the Eiffel Tower, The White House, New Orleans, Hollywood, Pier 39 etc....all made out of lego.
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Well, after a long day, we headed to Kelly's cousins house to pick her up. Jenn was a very neat person and we enjoyed the 45 minute drive back with her, especially Joel. Once we got back to Kelly's Grandma and Grandpa's house, there were 15-20 people there for supper, all family. It was like I was back at a Plett gathering! It was wonderful. The food was amazing and it was so nice to meet Kelly's extended family. Her grandparents are very hospitable people. The kids were so wiped that they almost fell asleep in the bathtub. Kelly, some of her cousins, and I watched Grey's Anatomy before we stumbled off to our beds. Oh I slept so soundly that night.

The next morning, Friday, we packed up because we were heading to SeaWorld for the morning. Since we all had been there before, we decided to go to 2 shows and only stay for a few hours. We saw the Shamu show, but unfortunately there wasn't any sound. It wasn't as spectacular as when we saw it with Mom and Dad Heppner in March. And then we saw the Pet's Rule show, which the kids loved. We might have stayed longer at the park, but there were a ton of people and we were all getting tired of elbowing people. So we headed out around 3 p.m. and drove north to Carlsbad, to the amazing and glorious outlet stores.
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Kelly and I really enjoyed shopping and I was surprised at how beautiful the stores were, for being outlets and all. It was like walking through a courtyard with cobblestone paths and fountains. So I don't know if it was the atmosphere or the really well behaved kids, but we did a lot of shopping.

By 5:30 we knew we had to get out of there before we got anymore things for our kids (plus the kids knocked over a rack of jeans at the Gap) and so we drove to Costco to get pizzas for supper. Then we headed to her cousin Jenn's house, fed and changed the kids and loaded back into the van for the trip home to Fresno. The kids were exhausted and slept most of the way, and this time, we didn't have to move carseats around; Grandpa found the carjack for the dvd player in the back of the van!

The kids had such a wonderful time on the trip. Kezia and Emma had a blast, they are best friends, Joel loved being the biggest, the only boy, and our official helper. Paige and Asha were so content and happy on the trip. And I had such a great time with Kelly. Her and I were easy going about the schedule and the kids. We got out the door when we were ready, left places when the kids were tired, and ate when we were hungry. Very low stress and very high fun. And it was nice for us to visit for the 12+ hours we drove in the van. She's an amazing person and I'm sad that we won't have more opportunities to go on road trips with her and the kids.

Going, Going, Gone!

Pretty Proud

This past week I had reasons to be proud of Joel and Kezia. They didn't do anything grand or extreme, but they did things that really made my day.

Last week Kezia's preschool teacher (who is so amazing) had extra strawberries at her place and decided to bring them to school. Now most people would just bring them for snack, but Corina thought it would be cool to make jam with her little three year olds...all 12 of them! So Kezia mashed her own strawberries and added in the ingredients and even filled her own jar. It was quite the experience for her. She was proud as ever coming home with her homemade jam for us. It tasted wonderful!
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A few days ago, I was tidying up the apartment and I just made mention to Kezia and Joel that I would like to vaccuum their room. Kezia jumped up immediately and said she would clean up the room all by herself, and then Joel offered to vaccuum. It was quite thoughtful of them. Joel insisted that I sit in the kitchen and just let him vaccuum, since I always have to do it and it would be nice for me to take a break. So that's what I did; I sat down and watched him vaccuum the entire apartment. What a considerate guy.
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Sometimes I'm reminded how much Joel and Kezia can do. It's great for me to have kids who do things to bring joy into other people's lives.

I'm THIRTY

On Friday I celebrated my THIRTIETH birthday. A few months ago I was dreading turning the big 3-0, but after a while, I realized that turning THIRTY is what you make of it. The birthday comes whether you stay in bed in a pair of sweat pants, or get all dolled up and celebrate with family and friends. And I decided to choose the latter!

The day started with presents and breakfast from my family and a phone call from Tammy. I had talked to my Mom and Jenny on the phone the night before and gotten all my birthday cards in the mail. I LOVE getting mail. Joel and Kezia given me a great top and skirt for me to wear. Asha got me a pair of yoga pants, though, sadly I haven't done yoga in years, but hey, I have the pants now! Carl made pancakes and our neighbour Megan brought over delicious banana muffins. My present from Carl will come later because I'll purchase it once we move and get settled (no point in packing more!)

After breakfast I went to the cosmetology school and got a facial and pedicure. It was heavenly! I slept during my entire facial, the most relaxation I've had in ages. After I got home, it was already mid afternoon. I spent time on the phone with Shana, Rhonda, and Judy and straightened my hair. I thought it would be kind of fun to do something different with it for the day, since I'm THIRTY now!

For supper, we all were doing out as a family to Tahoe Joe's. It's a neat steakhouse that was recommended by Ray and Kelly. Well, when we got there, I was surprised to see Kevin and Rhonda and three of their kids. SURPRISE! It wasn't just our family for supper. And then Ray and Kelly showed up too. DOUBLE SURPRISE! What a great time we had. It was pretty special to celebrate my birthday with our friends.

Afterwards we headed back to Kevin and Rhonda's, we all put our kids to bed and then played Bohnanza. It's been months since we've been able to play games, I think the last time was mid-Februrary. After the game, it was 11:00, but we still weren't done; we put on a Brian Regan video. He is the most hilarious comedian I have ever seen. Kevin made frapuccinos and we all laughed until we just about puked. It was awesome. I went home that night, thankful for the special day orchestrated by my wonderful husband.

The next day, I took Joel to baseball in the morning. At 1:00 Carl hosted a courtyard birthday party. We had all our neighbours come and have cake and drinks with us. I think I was just tickled pink to go to a party that I didn't have to do anything for. Carl got the cake, set out the dishes, put up balloons, made the juice. What a guy!

So turning THIRTY isn't that bad at all. THIRTY year old women aren't frumpy, haggard by kids, sweat pant wearers. But they are strong women who can multi-task, raise a family, play dress up, have a great husband, make cards and watch t.v. and go to school, be challenged by others, laugh and drink with friends, eat cake for lunch and supper, and still have time to go for a pedicure to feel pampered. I must say, if this is what my THIRTIES are all about, then I'm really looking forward to them. Thanks Carl for making me feel special.