More progress

Our sweet great dane, Pepper, is a giant. And as such, she steps on and breaks things that, to her, seem tiny and insignificant, like our new plants. So, for our sanity and to keep her from getting in trouble for doing nothing except being a careless dog, Matthew built this fence to create a dog run for her on the shady side of the house. It's a rather large space and contains 3 trees and quite a bit of open space for her to cruise around in when we can't be outside with her. He chose this fence design to be just at her head height (tall enough that she doesn't realize she could easily jump over if she wanted to) and with wide gaps in the boards so that if we are outside but don't want her around, like say a bbq or playdate where she might steal food or knock little kids over, she can still see what's going on and can visit with people who venture to her side. It still needs to be sealed but I'm very happy with how it came out!
While he was building that, the kids helped me plant all the berries and other plants that needed to go in the ground still. Matthew also got all the fruit trees planted and drip lines connected, as well. Well... all except our cherry tree whose intended home turns out to be in solid rock. So, now we've gotta find it a new home. And we will. Tomorrow he'll finish up the prep for the sod which comes Wednesday!!!! I can't wait to post updated pics. Check back soon...

The Orchard is here!

My sweet husband just got back from Clausen's Nursery with a grip of fruit trees, berries and other plants.
We now have a:
Hass Avocado
Valencia Orange
Granny Smith Apple
Red Fuji Apple
Burgundy Plum
Rio Red Grapefruit
Wonderful Pomegranate
Kansas Sweet Cherry
and a Golden Amber Apricot
joining our Navel Orange, Tropic Snow Peach, Lemon and Lime trees! I couldn't be more excited! Here's a pic of our new Pomegranate tree.

He also brought me 2 new raspberries, 2 blackberries and 2 more boysenberries to join our bramble patch.
Food in my yard! That's right y'all.

Where was I?

Well, it's been a wild week. My kids and I have, obviously, been working through some stuff and the Lord is really stretching me although I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be learning yet. I know I need more patience. I know I need more wisdom. And I know I need to just let go and let God. But I also know that my husband and family can't wait for me to figure it all out first. So, what's a stressed out, overwhelmed Mama to do? Pray! SO that's where I'm at people. I'm praying. I don't have an answer for everything. (Surprising, I know.)

Meanwhile, I missed Wordy Wednesday. So, here you go:
This is more wisdom from "Praying the Scriptures for Your Children" by Jodie Berndt. Go buy it!

One of the best ways we can foster a love for God's Word is to encourage our kids to memorize Scripture. Young children, especially, have a seemingly limitless capacity for memorization -- a lesson I learned when Hillary, as a three-year-old, recited the entire peamble to the Beauty and the Beast story on video, word for word. For me, that did it: I figured that any child who could recite a Hollywood script could certainly learn a couple of Bible verses!

Let _______ keep Your words and store up Your commands so that he will live. Cause him to guard Your teachings as the apple of his eye, and let them be written on the tablet of his heart.
Proverbs 7:2-3

Buy it here: http://www.christianbook.com/praying-the-scriptures-for-your-children/jodie-berndt/9780310232162/pd/32166?kw=32166&en=froogle&p=1013824&cm_mmc=CBDfeeds-_-froogle-_-books-_-32166

I think I mentioned in my last post that I'd had to print some forms for Autry's enrollment in the charter school. Well, one of them was a physical form that had to be filled out by his pediatrician. That meant that he needed to go in Tuesday to have it filled out and do whatever was necessary to get ready for kindergarten. Well, that included a PPD test (tuberculosis) which requires bringing him back againfor them to "read" it on Friday. Fine, no big deal.
Then yesterday, Milo started showing some symptoms of another ear infection. Cough, sore ear, swollen glands and (gag) green drainage from his tear ducts. Not uncommon for My poor boy. So, that brought us to the dr's office again this morning to confirm it and get the meds. Could they "read" Autry's arm today. NOPE. Has to be a full 48 hours from the test. Thus, we'll be going back again tomorrow morning. Yay....

We were supposed to have a playdate with my best friend, Delane, Jayme, Rachel and a few other Mamas and the SWARM of kids that belong to us, respectively. lol But you know what they say about the best laid plans.... It just sorta fell apart. With my mental health vacation and my other friends just wanting to lay low today we just decided to push it till next Thursday.

What else can I tell you all??? Oh, I've been thinking about starting a cooking feature on here because I simply love to cook and then eat it. And I hear I'm not too shabby at it. The cooking, that is. hahaha
So, just to kick it off, here's what we're having tonight. Barbeque Ribs in the slow cooker with garlic mashed potatoes and cornbread. Here's a not very exciting pic of my homemade bbq sauce for the ribs. My house smells like Heaven, btw.

BBQ Sauce
Unrefined oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 C brown sugar, packed
1 C ketchup
1 tbsp hot pepper sauce, or to taste
2 small red onions, finely chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 C cider vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder

In a skillet over medium heat, add oil and cook garlic and onions until softened and lightly browned. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer gently for 5 minutes and you're done! Easy peasy!
Now this is just enough for us. It won't be long before I'm doubling this. So, if you've got a bigger family or just big eaters, double it. Enjoy!

Geez louise

Do you ever have those days where nothing in particular goes wrong but just every little thing gets under your skin and no matter how aware you are of simply having a bad attitude you can't shake it? That was me today.
The day started out pretty normal for a shopping day; "what is left for breakfast?" No big deal, there was plenty to eat. Then I ran over to the charter school to meet with our new EF (educational facilitator) whom I adored. She's very chill but also very knowledgeable and organized. She's been facilitating with Dehesa for 8 years and has three boys. We talked about the curriculum we've been following this year and what's working or not working for us. She couldn't believe the level of Milo's reading, writing and math examples that I turned in. :o) And we talked about ordering the Calvert curriculum for both boys next year. Apparently, our former EF couldn't hang and not only didn't order curriculum for any of his assigned students but also just showed up at the office, dropped of his keys and said he quit. Nice.
I went next door to the Montessori side and asked if they could transfer Milo and Autry's registration forms over to the ISP side which, of course, was no problem. I had originally put both boys on the waiting list for the montessori program 2 days a week for next year but found out 2 months ago they won't be getting in until the following year. Oh well. Lame but not a huge bummer. I left this morning feeling pleased and accomplished.
After I got home we hung around and did lazy weekend things. Felafel for lunch. mmmm.... And later in the afternoon took off to run errands. This is where the story goes downhill. First was a stop at the Postal Annex to print out some forms still needed for Autry's enrollment and the boys did very well. Next we went to Target for a few things that TJ's just doesn't sell and the boys weren't specifically wild but they were bothersome. Mild wrestling, Fin wouldn't stay in the cart, begging for gum, knocking things off of shelves and the like. No tantrums, no fighting, yelling or crying. Just irritating.
Next was Jimbo's to try to find some superfood powders that I've never heard of before but are considered essential and instead of my current vitamin ritual per my Nourishing Traditions book (love love love. Thanks Rachel!)

Of course, I couldn't find them and was getting even more agitated by the vitamin counter people ignoring me as they listened to a forever long presentation by a Jason Lotion rep and the boys continued mildly crazy antics.
Finally, over to Trader Joe's we get everything, except 2 qts of whole raw milk (bummer,) and it even cost less than I was expecting, woohoo! However, when the boys pouted and refused the lollipops that were the only available prize for finding Arrrrmando it was so awkward and pretty embarrassing. Out to the car we go but by now I'm fuming. All the way home I cranked up the Smashing Pumpkins so that I couldn't hear their teasing and bickering. Then at home, it's past supper time so I'm rushing to get the cold stuff put away while cooking supper and keeping the kids at bay while Matthew did who knows what out back. The kids liked it but despite not being happy with how it came out myself I was pissed that Matthew didn't like it. After I got the kitchen cleaned up, all the kids in jammies, teeth brushed, stories read and in bed I was exhausted! But now that it's later and Matthew's working on free lance with Jamie at the Yellow Deli, I'm calm and can think back on how I let myself get so bent out of shape. Blah. It makes me sad. I feel like I wasted the afternoon being upset and rude to my kids and husband. I pray tomorrow is a better day from start to finish. Good night all!

Wordy Wednesday!

I'm taking a break from my Psalms devo to pray through the book, "Praying the Scriptures for your Children: Discovering How to Pray God's Will for Their Lives" by Jodie Berndt.

I've done this devo before and after an epiphany yesterday about why some animals eat their babies am feeling led to pray through it again.

Today I read Ch 8 which is Praying for Self-Control, Diligence, and Self-Discipline.
I'm only going to cite a few of the verses because I fully want you all to go out and buy this book. It's awesome!

"Help _____ to be self-controlled. Let him show integrity, seriousness, and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose the gospel may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about him." Titus 2:6-8

"May _____'s sin find him out, so that he will be drawn back to You, Lord, for forgiveness and Your gracious blessing of a new beginning." Numbers 32:23

"Cause _____ to make every effort to add to her faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. Let _____ possess these qualities in increasing measure, so that she will be effective and productive in her knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5-8

And one of the Prayer Principles says;
"When you pray for your children to learn things like diligence and self-control, you are asking God to give them attributes that are absolutely essential to their future happiness and success."

Get your own copy here:
http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Product/ProductDetail.htm?ProdID=com.zondervan.9780310232162&QueryStringSite=Zondervan

Love it or Exchange it

Finding the right cloth diaper for your family can be hard (but fun)! Return any stain-free cloth diaper within 30 days for a full store-credit to purchase any other cloth diapers or items in our store!
Use this link:
http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/customerservice/returnsandcancellations.

Cloth Diaper Contest Giveaway!

Jillian's Drawers is giving away:

2 BabyKicks 3g Pocket Diapers of your choice and
3 Hemparoo Joey-Bunz
to one winner this Friday, May 20th after 9 PM ET
What an excellent chance to build your/ my stash!

http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/products/clothdiapers/fridaygiveaway

Us!!!

I can count on one hand the number of photos, besides wedding photos, with both Matthew and I in them. Well, this beautiful photo was taken at our good friends Tyler & Stephanie's rehearsal dinner. Tyler's brother Ethan tagged us on facebook and now I'm bringing it to you all. Congratulations Tyler and Stephanie!

16 week appt.

It was short and sweet. Weigh in (still only 3lbs gained), blood pressure reading, pee in the cup, general chit chat with my midwife, my uterus and baby now almost reach my belly button, listened to his heartbeat, talked about whether we're still going to try for a girl or not and finally a PPD (tuberculosis) test. Made 3 future appointments and out the door. Yay!

*Update: I do not have tuberculosis. Whew... I was really worried. hahaha

Such a sweet Man

My sweet husband just surprised me with an awesome Moleskine Gardening Journal! I had asked him for one a week ago because I want to keep track of everything and what does well (or doesn't) when to do what to each plant and what we truly end up using so that I know what to plant again, and when, next year. I love this man!

Workin' men...

Somehow or other these photos of my boys didn't make it into my earlier blogs about the yard transformation so I figured I'd just throw them up, anyway.

That's my 6 year old, Milo, filing in irrigation trenches!

And our (current) middle son, Autry, who's 4, digging. They are such great workers and I felt they should get the credit due them. <3

Playdate

We had a great time this afternoon with my Bestie, Delane, and my new "real life" friend, Jayme (talked to her online for more than 3 years before meeting her two months ago) and all of their sweet kiddos. We Mamas had a great time relaxing and chatting while the kids ran amuck through my house and turned the playroom on it's ear in a surprisingly short amount of time. I don't have all the photos, because I'm terrible about remembering to tae photos. But my girl, Delane, is a pro and took a bazillion photos. Check out her blog (Life of a Mombie button to your right)for photos of the event!

Wordy Wednesday!

Theme Because God is Creator, Lord, Savior and Deliverer, He is worthy of our trust and praise. Because He is faithful and His Word is dependable, we can rejoice and sing, giving thanks and praise.
Author Anonymous
Psalm 33
1 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise Him.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to Him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to Him a new song;
play skillfully and shout for joy.

4 For the Word of the Lord is right and true;
He is faithful in all He does.
5 The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of His unfailing love.

6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made.
their starry host by the breath of His mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
He puts the deep into storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the earth revere Him.
9 For He spoke, and it came to be;
He commanded and it stood firm.
10 The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
He thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of His heart through all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people He chose for His inheritance.
13 From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from His dwelling place He watches
all who live on earth-
15 He who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all it's great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him,
on those whose hope is in His unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

20 We wait in hope for the Lord;
He is our help and our sheild.
21 In Him our hearts rejoice;
for we trust in His holy name.
22 May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord,
even as we put our hope in You.

A few plants of note that I'm excited about

This is one of many small blueberry bushes scattered around the yard.

Her's our Tropic Snow Peach tree! Probably another year (maybe two) before we see fruit but I'm excited.

One of 5 echinacea plants that I intend to use for remedies. Yay!

This is called Society Garlic. You cook with the leaves and the whole plant smells like garlic. Delicious!

Boysenberries! I was planning to make jam but they've been so good the boys keep eating them off the vine.

And last, but not least, a Strawberry Tree! I don't have any experience with this one but I'm told it grows sweet edible berries. Not like the ones that come to mind when you think strawberries though. So, we'll see!

Backyard progress!

So, while I've been busy not blogging we've been doing this!

planting...

placing flagstone paths...

mixing in compost where the sod is going....

SOD!

What? we actually have grass IN our yard!

The men laid the sod and cut all the edges to make a nice flowing shape and of course to fit around our flagstone steps...

Yay!!!
Now of course its waterlogged and we have to stay off it for a few weeks so that the sod will take root but 1/3rd of our yard is complete! Hooray!

And this area will be the bbq island!

IT'S A....

Wow, so our 3D/4D ultrasound went great! We went to a place in San Diego called A Baby Visit and they were excellent! The people there were so friendly and helpful. They were recommended to me by my best friend, Delane, who went there to "visit" her last baby, Draven.
I was so excited that so many people were able to come. My parents, Matthew's Mom, our sil, Gina, and our two beautiful nieces, Brooklyn and Austin, of course, my bff Delane and her sweet kiddos, Scarlet, Dexter and Draven. The waiting room was pretty small and looked alot like any old drs office waiting room.

When it was our turn to go into the room, I was surprised by how big the "theater" was.

And the floor to ceiling viewing screen was excellent for all of our guests to get to see our precious little one!

Baby was incredibly active the whole time and was making it very difficult to see what we were looking for. As soon as we got close to seeing, baby would move or kick. And we saw a lot of the baby's back. As if the baby knew we were prying.
Well, after being told to get up and walk /jump around (and drink some orange juice, Thanks Delane!) to see if we could get the baby to turn around....

Delane took this picture, so obviously, she's not in it. So, we had some taken of us together, too.

Wordy Wednesday!

Theme Declaring loyalty to God. If we are genuinely commited to God, we can stand up to the opposition and examination.
Author David, possibly written during the days of Absolom's rebellion

Psalm 26 of David.
1 Vindicate me, O Lord,
for I have led a blameless life;
I have trusted in the Lord
without wavering.
2 Test me, O Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
3 for your love is ever before me,
and I walk continually in Your truth.
4 I do not sit with deceitful men,
nor do I consort with hypocrites;
5 I abhor the assembly of evildoers
and refuse to sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in innocence,
and go about your alter, O Lord,
7 proclaiming aloud your praise
and telling of all Your wonderful deeds.
8 I love the house where You live, O Lord,
the place where Your glory dwells.

9 Do not take away my soul along with sinners,
my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 in whose hands are wicked schemes,
whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But I lead a blameless life;
redeem me and be merciful to me.

12 My feet stand on level ground;
in the great assembly I will praise the Lord.

* Now initially when I read this, I was a little unsure what to think about David claiming to lead a blameless life. Was he being self righteous or even worse trying to decieve the Lord? Because, for real, no one is "blameless." And then the verses about not sitting with hypocrites or deceitful men was troubling because I have friends who are unsaved and I pray that while being their friend and enjoying spending time together they will see Jesus shining through me and that they would know by my actions and heart why I am different and hopefully want it for themselves. But when I looked into the notes at the bottom of the page, I found some excellent insights.
26:1-3 In asking God to declare him "blameless," David was not claiming to be sinless- that is impossible for any human being to achieve. Instead, he was pleading with God to clear his name of the false charges made against him by his enemies. We also can ask God to examine us, trusting Him to forgive our sins and clear our record according to His mercy.
26:4-5 Should we stay away from unbelievers? No.Although Christians should avoid some places, Jesus demonstrated that we must go among unbelievers to help them. There is a difference, however between being with unbelievers and being one of them. Acting like unbelievers harms our witness for God.
Ask about the people you enjoy: If you are with them often, will you become less obedient to God in outlook or action?
If the answer is yes, carefully monitor how you spend your time with these people and their affect on you.
26:12 Too often we complain about our problems to anyone who will listen and praise God only in private. Instead, we ought to complain privately and praise God publicly.

Good grief!

Sorry for going mia on ya! As most of you know, my husband is a graphic designer and by default, not a manual laborer. Well all of his hard work in the yard paid him back with a trip to the dr for some iv fluids for dehydration and an order to back off for awhile. After losing 16 lbs in a few days time, loss of appetite, head aches and lethargy he agreed he should probably give it a rest. So we took a few days off and had others like my parents, myself and our boys pick up the slack on Saturday. We got all the pipes covered and the patio beds dug out (yes, again! thanks a lot, excavator) and the whole yard as smooth as humanly possible.

Yesterday my sweet man rallied and built two of the new garden boxes for me and they came out great! They still need chicken wire stapled to the bottoms (dang gophers) but we still have time to do that.

And now today we have helpers again! Yay! Ramon, Emanuel and Mitch are back and Matthew hopes to have the irrigation completed, the fire pit is almost finished and dg should be moved from my driveway to the back patios this afternoon. Progress!