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Ring Ring

J has created an address book with all the phone numbers of his favorite people in it. I told him he could use our phone anytime as we have free long distance and and he has been calling them on a regular hour by hour basis for the last two days, planning trips out here, requesting orders, and many other things I'm not even sure about. Luckily he hasn't thought of you yet Allison!

S asked me to write down a phone number for him yesterday and it takes him about three minutes, but he dials it number by number. So. He's also been calling people on an hour by hour basis. Not so many requests on his part though. He mostly just wants to talk about snowboarding. At least to Oma. Oma, and K, their cousin, seem to be the top two. And our neighbor, M.

S just came up to me and said, "Mom, I got dressed. Army, army [shirt & pants]" with a look of am I going to get in trouble? I say, "You wore those yesterday, didn't you?" With a big grin and a look of relief that I'm not going to make him change, he says, "Yeah."

It's Back

The cuteness is back. Actually it was there all along I just haven't been blogging it lately.

Yesterday coming home from... somewhere I had the radio on and "Our God is An Awesome God" was playing. I changed it to another station, but from the back I hear J singing, "Our God is an awesome God, our God is an awesome God." and in a few minutes S chimes in with, "Does God make the trees? Yes or no?! Yes! Does God make the houses? Yes or no?! Yes! Is God the sweetest God? Yes or no?! Yes God is the sweetest God!" and many more phrases he came up with completely on his own to his own tune. They even did their duet for Daddy and again today.

J has been teaching us all he's been learning about from Sunday School and it floors us. "Did you know God is everywhere?" he asks. He had quite a few really deep questions for me the other night. I answered them the best I could then wrote them down to ask his Sunday School teacher who might actually be able to give him answers from the Bible.

B keeps saying we must do something right. That's my prayer.

Container Gardening

I started my streak on container gardening. We'll see how it goes. I found a huge planter at Costco and some pretty flowers and tomato plants at the Natural Gardener (their website crows). I ended up with pink snapdragons, bright yellow and orange zinnias for the boys to plant, patio tomatoes, basil, purple petunias, blue calibrachoa spring flings, purple trailing vines, and I honestly couldn't tell you what else, though there was some white in there. I also found a beverage tub to make into a planter for the boys zinnia seeds. Anybody know if metal is good for a container?

New Decor and Pretty Gifts

Outside this time. I never realized outside could be considered just another room of the house until now. I gained an extra room by this gorgeous little seating area that is so peaceful and fun to eat lunch on or read a book or just bask in the sun with my ipod sitting in its speakers playing soft music.


The decor on my verandah.


My mosaic seating area.


The cafe table on the verandah.


Spa baskets I made for SIG and my SIL on B's side.

The Cute Stuff

So I've decided enough with this beachy cute style that I absolutely love and have working on attaing more fashionable items. At Forever 21 I ended up with light and summery white embroidered pants with a tie that fit just perfect and a turqouise v-neck tee and three pairs of dangly earrings. I could only find pictures for these two.

At Fast Forward I found a bikini. Couldn't find the picture there either, argh. It's turquoise with an embroidered brown edge and embroidered flowers on one side of the top and the back of the bottom. It's that halter top style which leaves some FUNKY tan lines. All for lookin' good though : ) .

Last night I went to Burlington Coat Factory which I had no idea was such an AWESOME store - it sounds like, well, a coat factory, but it's far from. I found my first two pairs of high heels and my first pair of espadrilles. Shocking I know. I come from a beach town though so we are a cult of flip flops.





And my last fun but totally random item. A chocolate brown boho skirt similar to this one. I have a shirt like the one in the pic too. With my new chocolate espadrilles, that would be a cute outfit.

WhosSpace MySpace

Please tell me. Am I missing something? Because I just don't get it. I've been searching MySpace for online profiles of people I once knew or who knew me and I can't believe how many are on there!!!! Full names, half names, pictures, whatever. I am able to identify them somehow someway. That is pretty cool I have to admit. BUT I have absolutely no desire to do anything at all with mine though. I'm not sure if it's just me again but that whole thing seems pretty darn complicated to customize and I really don't feel like sticking all my information out there for just anybody with a myspace to peruse. What's with all the comments on the FIRST page you see and having to scroll waaaaaaay down to add a comment. Reading some of these it's like listening to half a conversation. "Hey Dude what's up?" "Yeah Saturday night. Let's do that." "You're so funny!" Drivin' me freakin' NUTS!!! Oh and one paragraph about the person is supposed to sum up their life. That's my wordy self talking. Oh and don't get me started on the one picture sums me up. Why is it all the pictures on there are so pretty? People we are NOT that pretty in real life. Their school search SUCKS. It always says "School not found." and then you have to go look it up by city and by golly there it is, just as you typed it.

The few people I was actually close to at some point and know currently who have profiles up there feel the same way about myspace in some form or another, still they have theirs up there for their friends. Maybe I just haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet. Can somebody out there explain to me the fun in it?

Or maybe I'm blog spoiled. My own personal page, no half ass conversations, no pretty pictures. Just me. Just the way I like it.

A little googling and here's a site that talks a little about a few things I didn't even cover, liked the herding instinct and the friends factor. Oh and the "1996 Internet called and it wants its cliches back." commenting on the bad graphics, font colors, and layouts. Love that line.

And this one just makes me laugh. Okay maybe I should just change the title of this post to the Myspace Hate post, but really that's not what it's intended to be... too much any way :) .

On Tornado Watch

Our first one since we've been out here. Now I know why California is so conducive to a life style all about the self. You don't have this weather to freak you out and keep you in shape every few months!



We've been watching Serenity - spoiler in white here so highlight it to read it that scene they show you on the site is one of the very last ones in the movie. It is a very good movie especially if you watch the Firefly series on DVD beforehand. Since about five minutes into it when the first flash of lightning or multiple flashes I should say hit and the thunder shook the house. Did NOT help the freak level of the movie at all I must say. The lightning doesn't scare me but the thunder sends my heart a pounding. It's still going strong. Now I suppose we're off to open up the blinds so we can watch the lights while we lay in bed.

Oh great. B just freaked me out by saying God forbid anything should happen while we're here or ever, but if it does our closet or the boys closet would be the safest place to be. He's putting on Sky High for a moment so at least our minds will be on something else than Serenity while we go to sleep. Good idea.

The Purties

These are all the new and fun things I've been talking about lately for my house. I'm in love with the whole cafe theme in the kitchen, I can't wait to do more with it. And the living room is so peaceful now I love it.



The island centerpiece and my spring flowers


Above my cabinets. I painted that olive plate. If you look close you can see the faded white leaves that I drew on paper and cut out to make a stencil.


My barstool cushions


Corner of the kitchen counter


How it all ties in. Those letters above the counter and sink to the right are for the phonics program I'm doing with J. The kitchen is also my school room so they stay for now.


My bathroom candles


Living room table behind the loveseat


Living room window seat - my BIL made this for me!!!! So gorgeous. It opens up in two seperate pieces and has TONS of room for walk in the house crap and DVDs and stuff that needs to go out and never come back. You can see my pretty tree that puts some greenery in here too. This is what you see when you walk in our front door.


Window seat. That's tiger maple on the edges of the lids.


My coffee table. That middle part was a big hole before. That's actually the ping pong table from our game table covered in fabric. Works like a charm.

First Flowers of Spring

All winter I've been mourning the loss of Santa Cruz abound with flowers and Texas with nothing but green and brown. Just this last week plants have started blooming small sweet flowers and I remembered. Spring. The beautiful sight of spring. My boys brought me the first flowers of spring this morning. "Two for you, one for Daddy." says S. And then more a few minutes later "One for you, one for Daddy." says J. And now a stem of vibrant green leaves. "Half for you, half for Daddy." says J.

I wish I had my camera here to capture their sweet boyish faces with baseball hats affixed backwards and crookedly on their heads with their little tufts of hair coming out the front. And the flowers in the vase sitting so pretty in my new cafe paris center piece on the island in my kitchen. The flowers I will capture later, the adorable faces with the adorable little hats I can only hope will stay in my memory as an innocent picture of their childhood to enjoy when the moment escapes me.

Austin Bergstrom Airport Fire Station

Yesterday we toured Austin Bergstrom Airport Fire Station. We enjoyed the huge trucks that don't look like our normal fire trucks. They sprayed the water for the kids, including the needle spray that punctures into the side of a plane. We looked up at the control tower right next to their building. We watched the planes take off and land as the kids climbed in and out of the trucks.
We came home with our Planes book and our Firefighters book. One of the firemen told me if we come in a smaller group next time they take the kids driving in the trucks.

Weekend to Remember

Friday my sis picked up the kids and we took off to the Renaissance Hotel at the arboretum for the first evening for the first evening of our marriage conference this weekend. We have been at a point in our marriage where we are wondering where we go from here. We love everything about us, our relationship, and our family, but if we had stayed where we were at we were going nowhere. We want to grow. This was the perfect timing and the perfect message to bring that opportunity to us. As with everything there were some things that were just for us, and some things that were for others. They had us take 45 minute breaks several times throughout the day as well as our two hour lunch to do projects alone but together. Then during that same break had us share what we had answered with each other and talk about it. There was nothing more stimulating for our relationship than that in the whole weekend. Before we ended each project we decided on one sentence that we would take home and work on together. We ended up with five that we can work on. I love that. Out of a weekend full of seminars five things that we can actually do. Here are our five:



From Sessions 1&2:
Change critical questions into thoughtful interest.

From Sessions 3&4: They used the story of the speaker and his wife finally getting their kids a puppy and their 6 year old holding the puppy with tears streaming down her face saying, "Dreams really do come true." Receiving is different than accepting.
Receive each other & appreciate receiving each other.


From Session 8: This one was on sex and it was REALLY insightful.
Realize we are there for the other person.


From Session 11: This one was on being a parent.
Visibly portray our relationship with God.

From Session 12:
Be wiling to forgive for me & listen & understand for B.

They sound so simple on paper. The nice thing is we are on the same page about each of those statements, we know what they mean to each other and what they're supposed to mean.

The Cheesecake Factory was a two minute walk so we had appetizers, cappucinos, and cheesecake Friday night twice, and salads and cheesecake once on Sunday. We discovered they have Paradise Iced Tea, there are real flowers in the brew. I am in heaven.

Saturday night we went on a date and went downtown to the warehouse district and checked out Malagas Tapas & Bar, then went to Fado's Irish Pub and had potato pancakes with cheddar. The food was excellent, the atmosphere not so much. We won't be back, but it was fun trying them out. We ended up at Whole Foods headquarters and our heads spun with all the choices. We settled on sushi for B, Balsamic fire roasted beets, chocolate fairy cakes, sweet fruit salad for me, and a chocolate chip canoli for both of us at the end.

We came home, lit lots of candles, and had incredible passionate sex like never before. The project for the part on sex asked very intimate questions about what my true needs are and what I think his true needs are and vice versa. That and what they taught about sex somehow turned on a light bulb in both our minds. Crossing my fingers we can hang on to that part : ) hehe.

I HIGHLY recommend the whole weekend to anyone wanting to know how to keep going in their marriage, and keep going on the same page. Even if you're thinking about getting married. They had a few special sessions just for pre-marrieds. I honestly would love to go back every year just to refresh and remember. I know I would get something completely different out of it next year in relation to where we are at then.

I wish I was in California...

'cause then I would get to see my friends." Big Guy and Little Guy

"K is my favorite friend, and I'll never forget that." Big Guy

"My friends are K, and L, and .... B. Who is B [L's older sister]?" Little Guy

"I want to move back to California and go and see the pig races [at the Santa Cruz County Fair] and go to the Boardwalk with Oma, Grandpa, and Grandma, too." Little Guy

Bouncing

A year later I'm back again. Did I mention I like change? I also miss the community blogger provides. When it's up, everybody's on. Somehow it's easier to go from blogspot to blogspot, easy on the eyes without having to adjust to a whole new format each time you visit a different format. Or maybe I've lost my knack for writing interesting posts. Hehe. That could be it.

Refresh

You know that feeling you get when you dive into a pool on a hot day and come up out of the water with the water rushing over your face? I felt that way twice this morning. In the shower with the almost cool water after using up all the hot water running over my face. And when I put on my fabulous Dr. Hauscka face cream.

Random Thoughts

I used to wonder why people would have several different blogs or hop addresses. Now I know. It's an addiction of sorts. Hubby is sleeping and I want so badly to play online games with him - it's his thing and it keeps him UP LOL. But he's out cold, so here I am.

Sprucing Up

Got the cutest Cafe cushions for my barstools and tonight some Cafe Au Lait pictures for my kitchen. Decorated the table behind the loveseat with a deep red striped tablecloth, an ironwork lamp, candles and candleholders and a bowl of oh so good smelling pretty potpourri. Found a gorgeous deep red square plate with black on the rim and underneath to hold one of those fun four wick candles. Have been slowly putting stuff into storage and got the majority of it in there tonight. Things are starting to look nice around here.

Ladela

I just can't seem to write for therapy right now. Everything I write about is recording an event or events. I don't want to miss a moment. Our tenant came over and dropped off a check today. Yesterday M and I went to Walmart until 1am in the morning and came back and watched Noel. A very touching movie. It was good. I didn't get to bed until 3:45am. Started back up with school with J this morning after being off for Oma's visit last week. We did do a lot of field trips though. I worry sometimes that I'm not consistent enough with his schooling. I know how much he's getting out of it but there's still the push to have that everyday school experience, even if they are learning just as much or more otherwise. It stresses me out.

J has these amazing strengths that are incomparable to other kids his age, but then some things he just seems so immature in. I worry about those, and know I shouldn't. He will mature, or he will strengthen his strenghts and balance those out. S enthralls me. The things he sees, the color he implies, and the way he works with his hands amazes me. He is an auditory learner and that is the weakest point for me. It fascinates me how he can listen to a song and learn everything about it. I worry that I'm not able to see how he does things enough and that I won't be able to teach him how he needs to be taught.

I don't know if we are doing this homeschooling forever. I have such doubts lately. I've never ruled out school, but I don't want to fight the system for J. Never mind fight the system, I don't want to have to put in the same amount of work and give him a lesser experience. For S, I'm not so sure. He's a totally different guy. Maybe he'd work with it better. He still won't go into a nursery to this day. He loves people, and if he sees you genuinely care about HIM he's all over you, but if you're just there to take care of him forget about it.

There are these schools now called university schools where you take your core courses and your electives. You go to the school twice a week and homeschool the rest. I love the sound of that. Unfortuently then one at our church ends their registration this week, not giving us enough time to pray about it. B's first reaction is don't mess with a good thing, too far to drive, and of course moolah. There is another one that the church we used to go is possibly starting up here, so maybe that will be an option. I also heard about a few others today.

Well I guess I am writing for therapy. It helps. I can see I'm worrying too much and need to place it in God's hands. There are so many options available here it makes my head spin to know that I am doing the right one.