Wrapping up April...

A few photos of what we've been up to lately.

This doll outfit was a sewing project Naomi did as a birthday gift for her niece.

A trip we made last week, ultimately for Lucas to take his driver's permit exam, but that included a stop at Lake Sonoma and a visit to the fish hatchery.

 

Lunch time in the shade (it was 90+ degrees)!

California Poppies!

A bunny breakfast pancake that Naomi made me as an early "Mother's Day" breakfast.

Lucas with some friends at our Touche year end BBQ and swim party.

Naomi and a friend enjoying some pool time.

A sign I saw recently with a message that rings more true to me each day!

Back to My "Real" Job...

When I had the opportunity this year to put my tax course into practice and do some part time seasonal work for H & R Block, Naomi commented, "Wow, Mom has a real job"! I gently corrected her, telling her that my "real" job is what I've been doing the past 38 years - managing our household, educating our kids and helping Bob with his business!

The last 3 days of the tax season I worked until nearly midnight; it's amazing how many people procrastinate with their taxes! I arrived home on my last day to find this sweet banner that Naomi had made, and all had written on. Truly this is my "real" job!

As for next tax season... we'll see!

Little Mice...

I want to showcase Naomi's recent project. These cute baby booties are for her newest nephew, due next month. Naomi has made each of her new nieces and nephews some kind of handcrafted gift, most recently a couple of granny square blankets. This time she was up for something that was a little more of a challenge. She located this project on a blog, Hopeful Honey and went for it. I have only a little crocheting experience myself, so she was on her own figuring these out. They turned out adorable, so just had to put up a few photos.

Enjoy!

The Gift of Family...

On Saturday, in celebration of Resurrection Day, the family all gathered here for brunch. We were missing one son-in-law who had to work, but it was the first time in quite some while that we had all been together. It was a beautiful day and we were able to enjoy eating our brunch outdoors. The grandkids had a great playday with all their cousins. Of course the food was delicious with all my talented daughters and daughters-in-law! We had eggs and bacon and homemade sausage, scones and coffee cake and homemade yogurt and piles of fresh fruit, and of course good coffee to wash it all down!

To our great surprise, much of the family had made plans to stay and help us get a jump start on our garden after the brunch. They arrived with plants and soil amendment and soon had the rototiller and rakes out. By the time they all left we had most of three garden beds tilled, amended, planted and irrigated! Such a blessing to us! Over the last few years the garden has taken a low priority as many of my gardeners have moved out and other things like travel, weddings, and surgery have taken priority. I do enjoy having fresh produce from the yard, so this was such a great gift!

Here are some pictures from the day:

 Yummy food!

 Jordan, Timothy, Angela (with her youngest), and Peter.

Peter and Melody, who's little one is due next month.

 Outdoor dining.

Outdoor play!

 The granddaughters!

Indoor play!

Reading with Auntie Naomi.

 Lucas and Jordan, rototilling.

Bob and Jordan.

Timothy did the irrigation (with the support of his sweet wife nearby)!

Jordan, planting the basil and cilantro.

This little guy was managing the project, with his ear protection on!

I got to sit on the sidelines and hold the littlest guy!

Becky, cleaning up my kitchen!

A beautiful day spent with our family. You all bless us in so many ways! Thank you!

Speech Tournament...

We just completed a 3 day speech and debate tournament, that our local club hosts. More than 300 students from California as well as a couple of other states came to compete. We are all members of STOA, a christian, homeschool national league.

I am the hospitality coordinator at this event, and that involves providing meals (breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks and dinner) to all our judges over the course of 3 days. We have a lot of helpers and the food is a combination of purchased, donated and prepared by our club families. It is a hectic, busy 3 days, but lots of fun also. Being in the kitchen all day, I don't take many photos, but here are a few from our event.

This is our local club, Touche. Lucas is the center back in a aqua shirt.

Lucas with his trophy for placing 5th in the Duo category. Unfortunately his partner had to leave for another commitment before the award ceremony. Lucas also placed 5th with another speech in the Open Interpretation category.

This is the only photo I took of our judges' buffet table. This was early morning as we were putting out breakfast options.

Enjoy!

2015...so far!

In an effort to be more consistent with posting, I'm putting up some random photos from this year. It's hard to believe we are almost 3 months into 2015 already! So here goes...

My most recently completed baby blanket, for Mr. E. It didn't get finished til a couple months after he was born. I'm now busily working on the next one for Baby #7, due the end of May!

These two pics were from one winter day when these two grands were over for the afternoon.

This little lady is so much bigger now, crawling and standing, but this was one Sunday afternoon when she and her family were by for a visit.

Big brother enjoying his construction vehicles during the same visit.

These toddler size bunks were a project built by Mr. B and Miss M.'s dad with the help of Lucas and Bob. They came out very nicely and will help make space for baby, in May!

Lucas, dressed for one of his costume dances, in 60's attire. He created the tie-dye tee shirt himself!

Lucas and his speech partner at the end of a recent tournament down in Palm Springs.

Well, check back in a week (or so) and hopefully I'll have some of our Disneyland photos up!