enjoying the process » loving the journey, not just the destination

A Beautiful Life.

Today was so beautiful. I have to be honest- most days I just feel like staying home. I love my home, I love my kids, I love my husband, I love being here and with them. But it was so beautiful outside today. James (being the thoughtful and loving husband that he is) took the kids to the bank and barber while I took a little needed rest. When he came home he asked me if I wanted to take some photos of the kids since I’ve been talking about it for a while now.  I want to take advantage of all the GREEN we have in SoCal right now. It will be brown in a week, I’m sure.  So we loaded up the kids and took a little drive. It is just breathtaking right now where we live. We don’t get to see this much green very often!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day 🙂

March 18, 2010 - 3:05 pm

Hallie - I’m proud of you for going outside! Your family is super cute!

March 18, 2010 - 7:18 pm

Mary - It’s so pretty. Are you sure that’s near here? Your kids are pretty too. Okay, so boys aren’t supposed to be pretty but you know what I mean. 🙂

March 30, 2010 - 7:04 pm

jenny - Emily, you should move to WV. It is all green all the time (maybe more like red-green), and even if you WANTED to go somewhere there is nothing to do or see. Maybe we could trade houses like they do in that movie. . . Did I mention that I live near a Wal-mart? It’s the happening place in these parts. Lots of picture potential.

He’s Here….

My very best friend in the whole entire world gave birth to the most beautiful baby boy last week. I had the privilege of visiting not long after he arrived and I cannot tell you how perfect he is.  He arrived a little early, weighing in at 3lbs. 12oz.  He is so amazing. I didn’t want to let him go, I didn’t want to leave.  Hallie was amazing, of course. She is such a perfect example of a Godly woman. Always kind, always sweet, always looking for and speaking what is “true”, always complimenting others, always wondering how you’re doing instead of wanting all the attention on herself, always trusting that God is in control and knows what is best… I’m not just saying these things because she reads my blog. Ask anyone who knows her, they’ll tell you it’s true. I’m sure  the nurses will tell you how kind she is!  Well, here are a few photos…I don’t want to post too many because I know Hallie will want to post on her blog once she’s able.

March 15, 2010 - 9:10 pm

april - Name?

March 15, 2010 - 10:48 pm

Kelli - OH MY! He is too cute! I need some kleenex. I have some clothes for her…some TINY clothes too! Let me know when you’re doing to see sweet, Hallie! Praise the Lord for their sweet little BOY!

March 15, 2010 - 11:01 pm

Melinda Cassol - I want to die, I can’t handle it!! You are right, he is soooo perfect. He is tiny and sweet and lovable and just so yummy! I can’t wait to meet him! Thank’s for putting up pictures, I have been looking at yours and her site, waiting patiently!!!

March 16, 2010 - 3:26 pm

Hallie - Oh Emily. The pictures are just perfect. It’s a little surreal to see him like that. Thanks so much for coming. Please don’t say such nice things about me, it makes me cry and hurts my incision.

March 16, 2010 - 3:30 pm

Mary - He is perfect! I love him. God is so good!

March 17, 2010 - 3:22 pm

Julie Park - He is beautiful! Wow. I am amazed at how sweet and tiny he is. What a wonderful memory the family will have with these photos. You’ve captured emotion and expression so beautifully. Thank you for sharing.

Hallie,
I’m a friend of Jenny’s in WV and Jenny’s mom is my surrogate mom. 🙂

March 19, 2010 - 1:22 pm

Cari - Such a sweet baby and such a sweet friend you are.

Happy Mail.

I. LOVE. MAIL.  I have always LOVED mail. Even if it’s just junk – I don’t care. I love to get the mail, sort it, toss it, file it.. you name it. BUT… when a package arrives on our doorstep (does anyone use the word “doorstep” anymore? hmm..) I am giddy!  This week was a VERY happy mail week. Auntie Lil & Auntie Mel sent not one, but TWO packages this week. The kids were thrilled!!  Then my, oh so sweet sister, Abby sent a VERY happy package. I’m posting some of the photos below.

You see, I come from a VERY creative family. My mom has always made things: crocheted goodies, handmade treats, clothing, you name it she can make it.  She sent this package to the kids for Valentine’s Day. Now if you know me, you know that I don’t really care what’s inside the package as long as it’s cute on the outside (not to be confused with what Jesus wants- He really DOES care about what’s on the inside 🙂 )  She handstamped the white wrapping paper. She MADE the cards for the kids- look how cute. Love you mom.


Next up.. my sister Abby.  Her package was UN- BE-LIEVABLE!! She made a card for Canyon’s bday with gumballs with the letter “C” on them!  Then, she made each of the kids a heart valentine filled with pink & white nerds (see below).  How does she come up with this stuff??

Then… she made these amazing gray & yellow cards! Do you see my blog colors?? I love these cards so much I don’t ever want to use them. Does that make sense?

THEN…. that’s right. There’s more!! She made this book for Chloe.  I can’t wait to fill it with pictures!

A little peek inside..

Now, I know you’re going to ask so I’ll tell you first. YES. She does sell her creations- YAY!!! So if anyone is interested, leave me a comment or send me an email & I’ll get you in touch with her, or vice versa.  It really is amazing craftmanship.  Thank you Abby!!!

Now… I’m very behind on everything so here’s a little sampling of what we’ve been up to..

Chloe turned 2 months old 🙁  She weighs 11 pounds 7 ounces and she’s 21.5 inches long)

I take Chloe & Keagan to the grocery store with me and this is how I have to shop… not super convenient 🙂

Cari & I threw a baby shower for Hallie.

Cari modeled a little bit..In homeschooling news… we learned a TON about Ancient Greece, we even made a lighthouse and Athenian coins, all of my kids can name the pronouns and find them in stories, the boys write better in cursive than printing, we learned to draw from our Veggie Tales DVDs, and we took a field trip to the Post Office. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside, but they were allowed to take a letter and mail it “behind the scenes.”  It was fascinating.

Okay, now you’re up to speed.

February 27, 2010 - 11:12 am

cari - I’ll be expecting residual checks for all the money you’ll get from having my picture on here. No really, doing that shower with you was great!! I didn’t have to do anything.

February 27, 2010 - 3:37 pm

Hallie - Wow! Abby and your mom are Amazing! It most run in the family! You couldn’t have photoshopped some magic on my arms?

March 17, 2010 - 1:26 pm

jenny - Cari, your hair seriously rocks my world. Can I just borrow it for a little while? Please???

A Perfect Day.

February 14th:

We weren’t able to go to church today because of the little flu bug that’s been in my house this past week. As Mary says, “we’re not nursery worthy.”  We’re not even Sunday School or church worthy yet. But we were all able to hang out together & do some fun things today. Did I mention I LOVE Valentine’s Day?  I like pink and hearts and the word “love” and all the things that go along with it. James & I even have a song- it’s called Cupid by Sam Cooke. I’m a sap.  James made muffins with the kids this morning while Chloe & I snuggled in bed a little longer than usual. Then they brought me presents:)  James gave me the most wonderful book about the history of the camera. I fell in love with it immediately & didn’t want to put it down. They also gave me a really cool brown hat (because brown is my favorite color). James made a dvd that made me cry. He used “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds and an obscure Toad song that I love. We had a picnic at our park and played baseball and football, we had naps, we made pizzas shaped like hearts. I made clues for our little Amazing Race Challenge since tonight was the season premiere. Each team (Kennedy and James were team#1 and Cade  & Canyon were team#2) had to list 10 pronouns, then they had to travel to the playroom and find a basket full of socks. Inside 4 of the socks were letters. They had to find all 4 letters & unscramble them to make a word. Then they had to run outside find a bucket full of water with measuring cups and fill another cup with water from the bucket using only the measuring cup.  The boys won but it was really close.
I made a pink cake with pink frosting and a red sugared heart design on top.  We ate cake & watched the Amazing Race. Overall it was a perfect day. Before the boys went to bed Cade said, “we should call this happy happy happy valentine’s day.”  That made my heart smile♥

I’m about 2 weeks behind in everything. I wrote this post after Valentine’s day, but I’m just now getting to the photos. Yikes! Hopefully things will slow down next week? When you have 5 kids do things ever slow down? Stef? Jenny? Carolyn?  Anyone else with 5 kids want to share a little encouragement?

February 26, 2010 - 4:24 pm

Dena - I think Fisher and Chloe have the same hairdresser..
As for the encouragement.. I have no words.. you must be super mom. I have NO idea how you do it. I have always wanted to home school but with 4 kids I am seriously considering Kindergarten for Cooper..
Your V day sounds amazing..

February 26, 2010 - 5:41 pm

Hallie - Just stop it. Stop the cuteness, it’s making my blood pressure rise!

February 27, 2010 - 11:06 am

cari - Do you offer training courses? Sign me up.

March 17, 2010 - 1:25 pm

jenny - “Life is pain, Princess. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something. . . ”
-Wesley, The Princess Bride

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