Some stuff that happened

Hello, friends!
Okay, remember that whole, "I'm blogging again" thing? Sorry about all that. But thought you should know what happened in the last 2 months. Good stuff. First there was a week off/staycation for Steve. (Kiddos at a park in Garden Grove.)


Then a Boy to Celebrate.


Twice.
Actually 3 times.


Which brings me to our awesome vacation up at Shaver Lake. The Earle Clan was all there for the week to celebrate the Senior Earles' 45th anniversary, so we decided to celebrate Søren's birthday there, too.


It just so happened that my sister & her peeps were going to be in Fresno that very same time, so we did a little magic, and voilá, every single aunt, uncle and grandparent was assembled to birthday that Boy. Here's the invitation. I bought these on our honeymoon and had been hoarding them for a special occasion. This seemed pretty special.

I told the family to look around carefully... the next time this group was assembled could very well be one of these kids' weddings!

We had a great party, and a great week with the fam. Lots of lake fun and some hiking/bouldering for the So. Cal Earles. Søren preferred microbouldering.


Two notes for this post:
1.) I don't have the pictures on my computer at the moment, but I have discovered that the best cupcake on the face of the earth is a Kahlua cupcake with caramel penuche frosting. Best cupcake Ev-ER!

2.) How about that amazing cake my sis-in-law made! Actually two cakes! And cupcakes!

3.) Read Post Two. Cause some other stuff happened, too. Good stuff. (No, I'm not pregnant! Goodness, people!)

Kingdom Quest

Happy 4th, everyone!

Lucy says today: "Mom, I don't fink today is America's Birfday. It's just on another day."
Me: "What, are you changing history as we speak?"
Lucy: "Not changing it, just having another idea."

Uh-oh. I have a Revisionist on my hands. =)

I am juuuust coming up for air from last week. Well, from JUNE really. I had in-laws here for 12 days, then started in on getting Adventure Week planning done. I ran the Parent Cafe this year, and had no idea what I was doing. So of course, the week before, Lucy got sick. It was a very strange sickness, in that she would have a very high temp and be miserable, and then be fine for a period of time. Her symptoms were presenting strangely, and for a few days we thought she might have an appendicitis. Thankfully she didn't, and recovered just in the nick of time for Adventure Week. God was so gracious in providing where I was deficient. It was so cool to see him using others to bless the parents at the Parent Cafe.

A very sick Bear.

And a very contented Søren. Thankful for that! He was a real trooper.

Sari gave me these jammies for Lucy from their trip to England last year. She just now fits into them--PERFECT for the Castle theme of Adventure Week!

I began to panic when three times as many parents came this year as were here last year. But, in true Grace fashion, people stepped up to the plate cheerfully and brought all this awesomeness. It dawned on me the other day that THOUSANDS of calories passed through my hands this week. You'd think I'd be tired of sweets at the end of the week. You'd think.

Søren was elated that Adventure Week for him meant climbing between chairs all week. He was a champ!

Just looking at this makes me a little teary--it was an incredible joy to see Lucy singing the songs and really beginning to make some connections about who Christ is and who she is. I thank God constantly for a church that is helping me raise my kids to know Jesus.
A couple of friars grabbing a tasty brew.
Time to go write thank you notes to my wonderful volunteers!

Yumminess

I started with this...


And ended up with this!
Home-made wheat boulle from Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes A Day, scooped out the inside bread and stuffed in thinly sliced ham, provalone, pesto and ribboned zucchini. Stuck the whole thing on the George Foreman Grill (since I don't have a sandwich press), and voilá! Crunchy, oozy yumminess.

Oh no you dih-int!

Oh, but I did.

Western. Bacon. Cheeseburger.

Getting ready...

Onion rings! Arent' they cute?

Sizzle, sizzle!
Many did not survive to grace the burger.

And there it is. Home-made bbq sauce and all.

My walk

I've been walking a lot. I was dreading it at first because I live in a 1950's track housing neighborhood. However, when I committed to some slightly longer walks, I realized I live in a gold mine of walks for Affordable(ish) Suburban Southern California. Come, take a walk with me!

It's May, so the amazing Jacaranda trees are blooming. There's just something amazing about a big purple tree.

Hey, look! What's behind all that shrubbery? Oh, it's my house! (Sorry for the overexposure there.)

Hello, there, little ducks! Seriously, like two weeks ago you guys were still little tiny ducklings!

This is a part of the creek/rain run-off canal that runs behind my house. I love it when we get a good So Cal Dump in February and it fills up like a raging river.
This is the new Olive Grove park on the East side of Biola's campus. It's a favorite for Lucy, as it's basically just a looped path that she can run around and around.
Look familiar anyone?
Missed this shot by a few seconds, but we see a surprising amount of animals on our walk. Here's Mr. Rooster. Mmmmm.... tastes like chicken...
The Hill of Doom. Pushing 70+ pounds up this hill causes me to almost go completely vertical. It looks tame, but I have big kids.
We often see horses come down this trail. And lots of skinny Biola Cross-Country Runners with shorts that are too short. Ew.
I love the curves of this park. I also love how quiet it is.
Bridges are a fascination for my girl. We like to play Pooh Sticks here.
This guy was flippin' awesome. We saw him this morning.
And some lovely trees waiting for us at home.

Exercise

That's right, THIS is why I haven't been doing the Wii Fit lately...

They don't give you a "my child won't leave the Wii Fit Board alone" handicap.


Nor do they give you extra credit for doing this. Lift aaaaaaand kick!

A-what I'm up to

Okay, I've been meaning to post since that last one because I couldn't stand all that ME ME ME stuff! So, here's some just me me and some other people stuff. =)

I learned how to make crepes on Monday night, as we made 65 for our women's group end-of-year brunch at church. Seriously, if you're going to learn to make something, start by making 65. I loved them so much that we had them for dinner that night. i think this will be a staple in my house now.

Look how pretty!
Here's Lucy (with help from Søren) frosting her cake. She got a cake for FINALLY pooping in the big potty. I took the little potty outside the house, so I am officially DONE with potty training. After 1 year and 10 months. Yeah.
Making playdough! Ours was sadly disgusting, so we made more. LOVE the new recipe I tried. Super easy to make. I was totally surprised that the Bear wanted yellow and orange, seeing as how her "fravrint" colors are pink and purple (of course).
So there you go. That's what I'm up to.

The color formerly known as blonde

Did any of you ever see that slideshow of Hillary's Hair? (As in the Secretary of State Hillary.) Anyway, I was looking through some old PhotoBooth pictures and had to chuckle at my hair. Up, down. Shaaaaagy, chop! Thought you'd enjoy a laugh. And no, I'm not quite as brave as Susan and did not choose to share all of my, um, outtakes. =) (By the way, Susan, your short do with no bangs looks AWESOME.)

Okay, are you ready?

No for reals, are you ready?

Ooo, trying to look sultry there, eh?

Up and away, the modern Jane Austen. Except not.

Is it curly? Yes? No?


Getting longer and shaggier... (Enter the Bear, my hair model partner.)

Longer still...
And chopped again! (making fishy faces.)

Just after I stuck my fingers in a light socket, which helped also to expose the lovely shade of my roots.

Didn't quite make it to long hair this time....
Chopped again!! Zoikes!

Growing it out...

Medium length...

Add the hat...

And this is today. Trying for long again.

Votes anyone? Short? Long? Medium?

(By the way, usually these photos were to show my sister my latest haircut or hat, or to get Lucy to smile with me for a picture for her.)