Wee Bit Wednesday!

{one} when was the last time you used a pay phone (if ever)?

Hmm… I'm not sure I ever have!

{two} did you ever fail a subject in school?

No, though I'm not sure how I ever passed College Algebra!

I think the professor took pity on me or there was some huge grading curve!!

{three} where do you go to get your favorite hamburger/cheeseburger?

In 'n Out of course!!

{four} have you ever served jury duty?

Yes!! Only once, which is so incredible, and it was so awesome!!

I had a 2 hour lunch break and just laid around and read a book on the lawn!

{five} how old were you when you moved out of your parents’ house?

17 baby!!

{six} what is your favorite color to wear?

My husband loves me in red, and I love that too.

I also loves pinks and whites, and blues to bring out my eyes!

{seven} do you have a pair of shoes that you wear all the time?

Oh yeah. 99% of the time I'm in my brown or black Flojos sandals. Love.

{eight} do you enjoy talk radio?

Nope. Too confrontational and contentious.

It makes me all anxious!

{nine} if you could turn one unhealthy food into a healthy one, what food would it be?

Donuts!!

{ten} who is the best speaker you’ve ever heard in person?

John Bytheway

Easter Celebrations!

Our Easter festivities were spread out this year due to sickness and other family happenings. I love it!! I love to stretch out the fun and find joy in each holiday whenever it works out best!

Our community has an annual spring celebration. I volunteered to help with the Easter Bunny photos. It was fun to see all the kids come dressed up and ready to see Mr. and Mrs. Rabbit.

Kelsey was not so excited.

They had Easter egg hunts divided by ages. Kelsey's age group had parent escorts allowed so it was a little crazy trying to get a picture of her, but here she is inspecting her haul!

There were so many fun activities!

Face painting, games, bounce houses, the rock wall!

Because I volunteered, my family got to do everything for FREE!! Love it!!

Chick-fil-A was there!

Jeremy's favorite thing he won were these sunglasses. He wanted to keep them on all day and for several days after! Silly boy.

Yesterday we went to my sister's house for family easter fun!

Kelsey and her cousin had matching dresses this year! So fun!!

The kids had a fun easter egg hunt!

Off she goes!

He can't stop to take a picture!

Even Fireball got in on the fun!

My beautiful sister and I. Love her!!

Thanks for the memories Easter 2011!

A Time to Remember

We were at a family celebration last night when my brother-in-law broke the news that Osama Bin Laden was dead.

So many emotions. Shock, disbelief, empathy, sadness.

When we got home, the Internet was all abuzz with details and reactions. People celebrating, praising and criticizing

President Obama, and blessing America.

I remember the day it happened.

Waking up to the news, going to work at the Naval Base, listening to the radio and giving updates to everyone in the big meeting down the hall, being locked-down on the base, and then finally being allowed to go home.

I remember the horrific scenes on television, forever seared in my mind, of people who had to choose between jumping to their death or burning alive in the towers.

The heroes made that day who did what they could to fight a battle they could not win.

The countless stories of people miraculously saved by some little thing that kept them home that morning, and the others who were not supposed to be there and died.

The endless, nearly impossible task of identifying the remains.

It seems unreal that nearly 10 years have passed.

The way it has shaped how America operates, and our priorities, and the attempts to make us safe.

As significant an event as 9/11 was and is in history, I cannot bring myself to rejoice in this death. I feel sad, deeply sad.

I feel sure that God believes in justice, but still mourns the loss of one of His children. I don't disagree with his death, but I don't believe that killing one man will make much difference in the safety of our country. After all, he apparently was too much a coward to carry on his mission of death to America, and sent his foot-soldiers instead.  He spread his message of hate far and wide, and it does not die with him. Selfish, misguided, evil indeed. Deserving of death, unquestionably. But I still feel sad that we have to kill to bring peace to our nation.

Three Things Thursday - Be Thankful!

1. I'm thankful for little girls in tutus. How they magically turn into ballerinas with just a touch of tulle and a little imagination.

 2. I'm thankful for strawberry season. When we can eat and eat this beautiful fruit to our hearts' content!!

3. I'm thankful to have been chosen for this great crafting competition!! So many great creative minds, and the chance to challenge myself in ways I would never have done on my own!

What are you thankful for this week??

Wee Bit Wednesday!



{one} have you ever been stuck in an elevator?

NO! Just the thought of it gives me anxiety. I always feel for those people on TV when it happens to them!

{two} have you ever ridden on an elephant?

NO! I always wanted to do it, but I'm too cheap!! Anybody have an elephant wandering around their backyard that I could ride on?

{three} have you ever met a well known celebrity?

No, but I'd probably drool on myself if I did. I'm so opposed to the ridiculous nature of star-gazing but deep down I'm fascinated!!

{four} do you have any food allergies?

Probably, but I don't want to find out, because I absolutely do not like diet restrictions!

{five} do you know how to sew?

Yes, LOVE IT!! But I'm a very timid seamstress. I really only sew things within my comfort zone, i.e. straight lines!!

{six} did you get an allowance when you were young?

No, my mother is even cheaper than me.

{seven} how often do you fill up your gas tank?

About once a month or less!! I am such a homebody that I rarely have to get gas, thank goodness!!

{eight} have you ever been stung by a jelly fish?

No, freaky!!

{nine} have you ever been robbed?

No, that would be so sad!

{ten} what is the worst haircut you’ve ever had?

When I was on my mission, I got my hair cut at a barbershop that basically gave me a bowl cut on top of my regular hair. Terrible.

I had that shelf of hair up there for a while.

Faux-hawks and Froyo

This post is brought to you by my favorite FIL and his faux-hawk.

Today was a busy day.

I really want an elliptical machine, but I had to make room for it in our bedroom. This meant finding a new place for the bookcase in our room. It seemed like an impossible task.

I measured every wall in the house, trying to find a place for it.

Finally I figured it out, and I LOVE where everything ended up so much better than before!!! Love it when that happens. :)

My alter ego, Polkadots on Parade, was chosen to be a contestant in a monthly crafty competition! I'm so excited!!

I had to submit a bio with a picture and I realized I only take pictures of the kids. David was happy to play photographer.

The competition starts next week, wish me luck!!

Tonight for FHE we watched a Jesus movie and then met friends for dinner and dessert. They introduced us to some local Ladera food, Jerry's Dogs and Swirlz. Yum. Kelsey and I would have been perfectly content with the peanuts and lemonade.

I got the California Dog. Avocado, grilled onions, feta cheese?

Is that a hot dog under there??

Who doesn't like something sweet and frozen with mini marshmallows and chocolate? Sweet ending to our day.

Little Black Dress

Several months ago I won a photoshoot over at

Funky Polkadot Giraffe with Sylvia Galloway Photography.

I was SOOOOO EXCITED!!!

We were in the middle of moving and then there was a rash of bad weather and sickness so our photoshoot kept getting postponed.

I really wanted Kelsey to wear a special dress I had bought her, and was afraid she would grow out of it before the photoshoot. Finally the day came! The dress fit, it was a good hair day, and I am in love with these pictures of my beautiful baby girl!!

    

Three Things Thursday - Be Thankful!

 I'm thankful that we live in a community with so many kids,

even if it means CRAZINESS at the egg hunt!!

We stopped at the Bass Pro Shop a few weeks ago.

The sheer amount of camouflage items was mind-boggling

and disturbing all at once. I was AMAZED.

I'm thankful that this chair will NEVER sit in my living room.

I'm thankful for a husband who shaves his face more often than he needs to just because I don't like to kiss a prickly face.

What are you thankful for this week??

Wee Bit Wednesdays

{one} how often do you do laundry?
Definitely on an as-needed basis. And I like to do it all at once and have piles of laundry to fold so I have an excuse to watch TV. :)

{two} what is your favorite type of cookie?
OREOS!!! I don't buy them often because I have no self-control when they're around. Especially when there's MILK. :)

{three} what would you do with an extra $2000 per month?
Hire a chef to make me all the deliciously healthy food I should be eating but don't because I can't make it taste good. And his name would be Sven and he would be my personal masseuse/trainer/bodyguard because if I had that much money I must be a rockstar!! Oh and his wife Olga would clean my house from top to bottom and potty-train my baby for me!!
Hey, I can dream.

{four} what was/is your favorite subject in school?
Ugh. I definitely am not a school-lovin' girl. Which makes it interesting that I should homeschool...

{five} have you ever ridden in a hot air balloon?
No, but I want to!! And skydive too!!

{six} what was your high school mascot?
I was homeschooled so I had no mascot, but whenever I see lame high school mascots I always think why do people choose things like armadillos and leprechauns? Choose something really fierce like lions or hippos! Haha, did I just offend anyone? :)

{seven} if you had the chance to go into space, would you?
That would be so amazing!! But I personally think we spend WAY too much money on the space program, so I'd only go into space on my own dime. When I'm a rockstar of course.

{eight} how often do you go dancing?
Sadly, only at weddings. I didn't properly interview my husband before we got married and missed the detail where he hates dancing. I strongly advise a pre-nup. ;)

{nine} would you rather drive or fly?
FLY!! I get soooo bored in the car since everything makes me carsick! There are just a few spots that are so pretty to see up close that I'd rather drive.

{ten} have you ever been caught re-gifting?
Not yet. :) But I make most of my gifts, so it's a pretty safe bet that the gift you receive from me was intended specifically for you.

Spring

The hills have exploded with these gorgeous purple flowers!

 They're so beautiful, so majestic, I'm in love.

The neighborhood is filled with bunnies hopping and hiding everywhere as well.  We hiked up the hill one night to feed them some lettuce that had passed its prime and enjoy the flowers.

 We spread the lettuce by the bushes and sat down to wait for the skittish bunnies to come out and take a nibble.

 They tried to wait...

 but the big green hill was too much for the kids to resist!

They ran...

and jumped...

 and snuggled.

 Finally the bunnies started to venture out for our leafy offering.

 The sun set.

 And we headed home.

I love the Spring.