Babies, Babies everywhere!

Here is the son of one of the dear friends that I had the privilege of being pregnant with. Little Timothy Lamar is just a doll! We just cracked up when I got there... I said, "Wow, look at all that hair!" She said, "Wow, look at her little bald, fuzzy head!" =) Timothy is on my list of "approved boys to choose from." I want good in-laws, but don't believe in arranged marriages, so I figure I'll just give Lucy a list. =) Just kidding.

We had a wonderful, wonderful time walking on the beach and just catching up. The last time we had seen each other was my shower, only about 10 days before Lucy was born, so we were both pregnant. It was so great to get out of the 100 degree weather, too, and go to the beautiful beach. We live so close to the beach, and we don't go nearly often enough. After today, I think I'm going to need to make it a habit. Pull out the 30spf! Aside-- I had no idea baby sunscreen smelled so much better than regular stuff! I think I'm going with the Coppertone from now on! And by the way, does it seem weird to anyone that the Coppertone baby has a tan line, when this stuff is supposed to be impenetrable?

Here they are doing "tummy time" together.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

They say the greatest gift you can give your kids is to have a healthy marriage. They're right. To grow up knowing without a doubt that my parents loved each other was the most secure thing in the world, like knowing your house will not fall down in a thunder storm. It taught me to love my own husband deeply, too. My parents were novices at their faith and at building a healthy family, but they always sought out people and resources to help them. They always knew they were on the same team.

Here they are at their wedding. So cute! Now 21 seems like they are practically babies!


Grandparenting is one of their greatest joys! I am so grateful that my kids and my nieces will grow up so tight with their grandparents. I love that they will see God not just in our lives, but in theirs, too.






Now that they are empty nesters, they are having more fun together than ever! What a great reward for all the years of tough parenting work.


Happy 36th anniversary,Mom and Dad!!

Weekend

(Lucy in wedding attire.)

Phew! I have been a bit nervous about playing for this wedding this weekend for some time now, because I have such a hard time getting to the piano these days. The other thing that is hard about playing for a wedding is that you are not only paying attention to playing well, but you have to watch the flow, and know when to quit so that be-silked and be-tuxed people aren't standing around while you flourish on. But all went well, better even than expected, and it sounded like Lucy did fine while I was playing. It is difficult to have to feed a baby so often while at a wedding. We were fortunate in that we had the nursery available to us for feeding, and I was so grateful. Lucy has not been the most cooperative eater lately, so it is tough to nurse her in awkward places. But the wedding went off without a hitch.

To those who do not know who I'm talking about-- this is a gal that I've mentored for about 4 years. I hired her to work for me at Biola, and she worked for me for 3 years, which is like dog years for a college kid. =) She met her new husband their freshman year, and I met him really early on and have walked through their relationship with them. It's an amazingly humble thing to realize that someone really listens to what you say. Thankfully much of what has come out of my mouth when talking with her is just passed on from some really wise people who have invested in my life. I am so grateful that God used me in Amanda's life. She is a sweet gal, and I think they have a shot at making a healthy marriage.

We spent the rest of the weekend recovering. Really great sermon at church--fodder for another blog entry if I get to it. Made the Kaluah cake again, or as I like calling it, the "Better than Sin" cake. =)

Here is Lucy swimming in the pool for the first time!!

Happy Solstice!

Seattle:
Sunrise: 5:11 am / Sunset: 9:11 pm

La Mirada
Sunrise: 5:41 am / Sunset: 8:06 pm

Mazatlan, Mexico (on the tropic of Cancer--The sun was directly overhead at noon today--no shadows)
Sunrise: 6:20 am Sunset: 7:54 pm

Belém, Brazil (almost on the Equator)
Sunrise: 6:14 am / Sunset: 6:17 pm

Khatanga, Russia (closest City to the North Pole)
Sunrise: 5:07 pm Sunset: 5:07 pm

Base Marambio Centro Met. Antartico (somewhat close to the South Pole)
Sunrise: 9:47 am / Sunset: 1:51 pm


Here's a little NPR.ditty abouth the crazies who celebrate the "holiday" at Stonehenge. I will celebrate by cleaning the bathroom and then going in the pool.

Bathing Beauties

This is kind of a dream come true for me. Last summer I looked longingly at the girls in my pool with the kids, wishing I could be there (and wishing I didn't feel sick!). Not that I thought this would be easier, but just feeling that maternal instinct tugging. I think I didn't realize then how badly I needed out of my job, too. So when I got to join the girls and the kids, it was like a big sigh I was releasing.

In other news--Lucy rolled over and got hair (fuzz) this week! Pictures to come to prove both.

My favorite yarn spinner

I would like to call for a re-telling of a few stories from one of the Great Embellishers of Our Time, Ezekiel Sunrise. I want to hear "The Chickens Who Were Returned To The Wild," "The Spider That Looked At Me," and "I Win More Than I Lose." I am aching for a good story, and Zeke is one of the most gifted story-tellers I know, along with Eric T. (K, you're my favorite writer!)

Finally picked up the Earrings

So my long-awaited Christmas presents are finally in my lobes. As you may recall, the original gift was the February birthstone, as we were certain that a mid-February due date made it pretty safe to land the kid in February. So when Lucy came in January, I decided to trade in the earrings for garnet earrings. The jeweler is a friend, and accomodated with pleasure. I'm realizing now I think I posted this a couple of weeks ago, but I found a picture that looks pretty close to what I got. White gold with a slightly more square and beveled stone. The really fun part of going in is that when I ask about a piece, Kevin will pull something out and let me try it on. Today it was a bracelet. I have discovered that I adore really delicate jewelry with tiny, tiny diamonds all in a row, and this piece just made me feel like a princess. I think I will go in once a week, just to try on jewelry I will never buy. Maybe next time I'll see if he's got a tiara!

It was hot, hot, hot today. I remember complaining about "processed air" when I worked, but now having no air conditioning (and once we fix the air conditioning, paying for air conditioning) is awfully sobering. However, I was ready for it, and combatted it bravely. I shut down the house around 10:30, when it was warmer outside than in. I shut all the blinds, turned on every fan, and thanked God for $7 tank tops from Target. Lucy went down for a fantastic nap in the afternoon, so I brought the monitor outside and just waded around the pool for a good 45 minutes. THAT is the stuff! Cools your whole body down from the outside in, and you can retain that cool for a good 30 minutes afterward.

Went to Naples Island tonight to visit friends. Ah, the sweet smell of salt, fermenting seaweed and beach fires! There is nothing like it! We had a lovely time with our friends, which I think I needed after a long, hot day. Friend Kimberly gave Lucy THE CUTEST outfit!

I think the color on the website is a little too intense, but just a super-cute outfit froma new place called The Children's Place . Super cute!!

Farmers' Market

I went down to the Farmers' Market in Fullerton today. I have been aching for some real farm fruit. I'm pretty sure grocery stores make their fruit out of wax and high fructose corn syrup. I was underwhelmed by the market, but came home with these lovelies anyway. I had to stop eating fruit because my teeth are sore from the acid!

My husband has a vivid imagination, which is also connected to his "worst case scenario" lobe of his brain. For example, if we hear a noise as we walk in the door after being gone, it is most certainly Bad Guys looting the place, and I am to wait in the bedroom while the house gets checked out. I used to roll my eyes--okay, I still roll my eyes, but my lip also twitches with amusement--until I realized he might be right one of these days. Clearly the logical explanation for the middle-of-the-night-rumble is going to actually be aliens one day instead of the neighbor taking out his garbage cans a little early. On the other hand, I am a little too laizzes-faire about noises and such. I am very quick to come up with the easiest and most logical explanation and cling to it with all my might. I was the first to discover that, in fact, Los Angeles was not being attacked every night at 9:30, but that Disneyland was shooting off Magical Pixie Dust (fireworks). But this also gives me the ability to write things off a little too quickly. For example: I am certain that the two winged ants I saw were merely a phenomenon, where as my husband will be certain there is a colony of them about to take over, and they are going to be poisenous. Who is right? Probably somewhere in the middle.

Go fish

Someone gave us some barracuda. Any suggestions on preparing it?

Also, anyone know any good bakeries around La Mirada?

In other news, BIG CONGRATS to Eric, Mandi, Colin and Lauren Twisselmann on the birth of here-to-fore unnamed Baby Girl Twisselbaby! All are healthy and safe. Can't wait to go see them!!

Routine

We are back to our routine after 11 days with family. It was so great to be with everyone, and my in-laws are such easy house guests, but it is nice to get back into routine, too. I have a hard time cleaning when someone is visiting because I want to hang out, and because there is so much happy chaos that my need to organize shuts down or something--except in the kitchen. That always must be cleaned or I go a little batty. Don't get the idea that I actually have a really clean house. I think it has more to do with dominion over clutter.

I am also feeling pensive after a good discussion with Steve about the Holy Spirit. I think the Holy Spirit is simply not someone you can conjure or manipulate, to quote my husband. And if we are reconciled to God, we are in his will. I think I appreciate the Hebrew idea of "walking" with God. It is not a life of skipping from one emotional high to another, then feeling like you are out of God's will for your life if you don't feel something. As if you can take Rosecrans instead of Imperial and be out of his will. His will is to be reconciled to him and to walk with him. This hardly does justice to what is on my heart, and clearly isn't the whole picture, nor does it express the questions I have still, but I can't see that it is a poor focus in life, just to seek to know God and to walk with him.

What did you eat this week?

In general, I really enjoy putting together meals for the week, and I also really enjoy cooking with Steve's mom when they're in town. So far this week we have had Chicken Marsala and Spicy Pulled Pork Sandwiches. Both super yummy! My mother-in-law lost her sense of taste a few years ago, but shecan taste limited thing, like spicy stuff, so I was glad to introduce her to the pork recipe. Highly recommend it! What are ou making this week?

Well, they did it!

Just got back from the wedding cruise. A good time was had by all, though there were a couple of tentative tummies. The wedding went off without a hitch--except for the hole in Jamie's tux pants. Yes, right in the front! Ah, well. We had nice weather, and generally just relaxed. Lucy was universally declared cute, and multiple times mistaken for an actual doll. It was all I could do to keep peoples' hands off of her. I think the things I enjoyed the most were quiet outdoor strolls in the night-time fog, away from all the drinking and gambling college students, then hot chocolate afterwards. Dinners were generally good food, though I'll admit to having been a bit underwhelmed. It was nice to be with the family, and good to get a couple extra naps. Glad to be home, though. In-laws here this week, so we will putter around the house. More pictures at the Earle homepage.

4 months

I never did commemorate Lucy turning 4 months! I wonder how long I will keepthis up. "And here you see my 100 month old, getting the award for good citizenship." She is doing better on her tummy, as you can see. She still only lasts a short time, but she's doing better. Her laughs are killer, and she's playing a game now called "bibble bibble" (a family name for it) or "Indian Cheif." I mean Native American. It's where she makes noises and we pat her mouth so she goes "wah-wah-wah." She will start on rice cereal next month already!! I'm not suure I'm ready for that yet!!

Why you should never brag

For the 3rd night in a row I'm back up in the "wee sma's." Lucy chucked her commendable sleeping habits this week, possibly left over from a schedule skew after the trip to Grammie's. I've been up at 1, 2, and 3 this week (not every night, just one of those each night). I don't mind too much, really, but it bothers me that by the time she goes back down I'm wide awake. That's why I'm writing right now. She's wide awake right now, but I put her in the swing to see if she would get mad and want to snack a little more. If I don't wait a few minutes, I'll go lay down, she'll get pissed right away, and I'll have the psychological agony of thinking I get to go back to bed only to be yanked right back out of bed. However, she's gone almost 5 minutes now, and all I hear are yawns.

But the really horrific thing is that as I sat in the dimmed light I swore I saw something creeping out of the corner of my eye. I chalked it up to a wayward chunk of hair and went on. But then I saw it again This time I knew it was for real. I tried to shine the computer light on it to no avail. Then it made its big move across a band of light. A big, UGLY cockroach. I'm nursing, so I'm helpless. I can do nothing. I see it creep across under my ottoman and I wonder to myself if cockroaches like the floor or whether they like to climb. I convince myself they like the floor. I finish nursing Lucy and put her in the swing; as we said, she is wide awake. I go get a jar from under the sink to create a jail for the icky creature. I move the ottoman. No cockroach. I move the chair. No cockroach. So now I am sitting with my feet up on the ottoman and the light at full candles, saying to myself over and over, "Cockroaches like the ground. Cockroaches like the ground." And do you want to know the STINK of it? They were introduced into La Mirada ON PURPOSE to eat some little bug that was eating the olives. Idiots.

I heard a peep from the Poop, so I'll give it another try. With my feet up.

The Rules: An Exercize in Modern Anthropology

1. At least one roll of toilet paper must be stored within reach of the toilet.
2. Candles are in the bathroom for a reason.
3. Bowls or plates must be rinsed off right away or put to soak.
4. No food left out to tempt the ants. (Of course they seem to attack when my kitchen is the cleaneest!)
5. Always mute the commercials.
6. Practice good "Homeland Security." (Shut and lock everything when leaving.)
7. You wake it, you rock it.
8. Ice cream is served in bowl-shaped coffee cups. Coffee is served in mugs.
9. No running by or eating in the pool.
10. No using the pool for purposes associated with Rule #1.

Party, Party, Party

Day 4 of partying is winding to a close. Friday was MOL graduation, Saturday was my (former) boss's daughter's graduation, Sunday we did a 'cue here with Biblio Study, then today celebrated the other Jennifer Earle's birthday. I did the whole chicken dinner thing. Yum! Chicken, Stuffing, Salad, and apple cobbler for dessert. Great, American Meal, for a Great American Lady. She is the epitome of a service woman. She truly does her job because she wants to serve people.

Up this week: 4-month apt. for Lucy-Pants (which means shots!); laundry and packing; preparing for in-laws to stay here after the wedding; planning meals for this week and next; maybe getting my toenails done. Hoo-yah!

Graduation

It was SOOO nice to go to the graduation tonight and not have to work. Someone else organized it, someone else ran it. Ahhhhh. I came because some of "my" students were graduating, so it was fun to see them and introduce them to Lucy Pants. She chose the silent diva look for the evening and saved her cutesy squeals for Daddy at home. =)

My kind of craft!

Today I made this, based on a segment on Martha. (Thank heavens for Tivo... I can fast forward through most of the segments and get to the good stuff. She annoys me, but I love the ideas.) I'm inspired by Kris, but I am too lazy to do anything too complicated. This one is far from detailed and can even have ragged edges.




Sorry the 2nd picture is a little blurry. Basically I made it sleeveless, cut some shape into it, and laced up the sides. Took 15 minutes!!

I think I might check out the book that Martha's guest wrote. Looks like there's other fun stuff!

My next craft is a pillow case for a body pillow that someone gave me for my pregnancy. Comfy, but orange. K and I went fabric shopping to celebrate her graduation and re-entry into the world of evening outings. I'll show you the finished product soon.

Lucy: A tryptic

These were taken about 10 seconds apart.