We did it!

Remember that post that I told you I was going to get out and garden...I was gonna rip those nasty weeds out of my backyard? Remember that I hoped my parents would join me? Well, it happened...and they did. God bless my parents. I don't think I would have tackled the job on my own but it's finished! I was even able to pick out new plants without getting cold feet (it's hard taking care of a garden with 3 kids and a busy schedule!). I definitely don't want to get in over my head with overplanting but I chose some azalea bushes, a new rose bush and some sweet alyssum to make my backyard garden look pretty again and Will promised to stucco the wall in the coming weeks. I'll add the bricks to the top and it should be finished at last. You can see all of my new plants lined up on the wall and I can't wait to plant them.

I did splurge a little at the flower store. I saw this gorgeous Calla Lily and just had to have it. It had red in it and was so bright! I just love it!
Some sweet alyssum to fill in the "dead" space.
And my hubby's favorite, what my mom calls, "freeway daisies." You can imagine where she got the name. California tends to plant them by freeways because they're easy to take care of and get really big, really quick. But they're also beautiful and she promised that, from here on out, she'll call them by their real name "african daisies" to make Will feel better about one of his favorite flowers. These are for the front yard which I haven't really gotten to yet.
I'm feeling really good about our progress. So this year I've already cleaned out the kid's rooms, "reupholstered" (ok, re-covered) my couch cushions and weeded my backyard! My New Year's resolutions are actually coming true! Now, if I could lose those last 10 pounds, this year would be starting out perfectly!

Bigger than an elephant...

Lynnea gets in everyone's way. It's inevitable. She's kid #3, she's loud, bossy, and can tend to want everything you have just because you're having fun with it. Ya, she pushes her weight around. But she kind of has to be that way. She's #3 after all. If she doesn't fight for it, she doesn't get it. I get that. That is why, when she chooses to be nice, it just makes my heart melt.

One thing she loves to do is tell me that she loves me. This is usually done spontaneously, like everything else, and it makes my heart melt. She will run up to me, wrap her arms around me, close her eyes lightly, eyebrows raised like a princess, and she'll say, "Mommy, I love you bigger than an elephant and a giraffe!" In her world, those are the biggest animals she can think of and they're the only ones she uses.

Mommy loves you too, Lynnea!

An Ode to my Backyard

Here's my yard...Ya, it's got a lot of weeds. I keep meaning to get rid of all of those weeds but that takes time..more likely a Saturday of time that, until now, I haven't wanted to give up. In the next few weeks that's going to change. Yep, I'm going to attack those weeds and get rid of them once and for all. See all that lowly green and those cute, yellow flowers? Oxalis. The weed that chose my backyard and will not leave it alone. The weed I will, yes, WILL, eradicate.

On to the actual planted flowers. That bush on the left? I actually bought that..spent good money on it. Of course, when I did, it was a cute little stick bush with a beautiful purple flower on it. I loved the flower. So I bought it. I can hear my mom laughing right now. I had little concern for what it would become. Little did I know that it would fall in love with my garden and go into turbo-growth. I cut that bad boy down every few months and what happens? It grows back...bigger...stronger...flowerier. Don't get me wrong, I still love the flowers. People ask me all the time what kind of bush it is. Now I'm tempted to say, "do you want it? I'll dig it out and give it to you, free!" For now, I'll let it stay a part of the Lee backyard but I think its days are numbered unless I can get it under control and that actually takes a green thumb, which I don't have.

The "bush" to the right of that is a rose my mom gave me because she didn't want it in her garden. Now I know why. It will grow about 6 feet and then, at the very tippy top of the branch, a beautiful, fluffy pink rose will form. It takes patience, lots of patience...and lots of room. I think my neighbors like it but I do occasionally see a chopped off branch that trespassed a little too far into their domain. I never wanted to get rid of it because the flower itself was so beautiful. Thankfully, my mom brought me a rose that has the fluffy, pink, beauty of the one I own but the ability to produce more than one flower on a branch! Imagine the possibilities! Imagine the wall of pink, fluffy flowers! I can't wait!

My iris are my pride and joy. I love them. I don't have enough of them. Unfortunately, they are always getting stepped on by the phone company guys who come in my backyard to drill that large log (also known as a telephone pole) and check for termites every 6 months. Yes, guys, there are flowers in that bed of weeds and you're KILLING them! Reason # 400 for cleaning the weeds out of my yard.

Next to that (If you're still reading, I appreciate your support of my yard "venting), is a hibiscus. It froze a little while back and it still looks like it's suffering the results of that freeze. It only produces a handful of flowers and I'm constantly questioning "to-rip-out or to-not-rip-out" only to forget about it and watch as it daily clings to life. Oh, and you can't miss that hot pink bouganvillia hovering over my hibiscus from the neighbor's backyard. A little bit of bougan is ok...as long as I don't have it planted in my yard.

Next is my Joseph's Coat Rose. This rose is my favorite! It flowers in shades of yellow, orange, red, and pink and LOVES its place in the sun. Definitely staying put!

The orange tree is last and smells the best. Seriously, it's got to be one of my favorite scents. Springtime brings so many blossoms that burst with fragrance and turn into so many oranges that it's hard to know what to do with them all.

So, now you know how my next few weekends will be spent...with a shovel...and an ipod...and hopefully my parent's help. Weeds-be-gone and new plants welcome! I can't wait.

In my "dreaming" about my backyard and what to put in it to enhance that "retreat" feel, I wandered through Lowe's the other day and found this fountain...

Here's a zoomed-out view. Isn't it sweet? Just dreaming...and chatting with the birds. Just what a garden is made for.

Simple Things

I wandered outside to find Lynnea playing in the puddle of rainwater left on the top of the sandbox. She was pretending 2 leaves were mermaids and they were swimming back and forth in their personal swimming pool. My barefooted, creative, little girl made me stop and appreciate the simple things.

Welcome...Nintendo DS

For quite a while now, my kids have been saving their money. Every weekend, Will's parents give them a little cash and, while I used to take it and claim it as a "mommy payment" for fun extras like frozen yogurt and fun drinks, they finally realized that the money was really theirs and could be saved for some pretty cool things...like a Nintendo DS.So today Mikayla finally had enough money to purchase the one thing on her "want" list and we set out to Best Buy to make it happen. Tyler is still a little short in his savings but, to prevent the "when can I play, Mikayla?" we decided to have him owe us money and got him his own DS as well. (It will take about a month to pay us back but he couldn't be more excited).

With the 2 games we bought Mikayla for her only birthday present, they spent the battery life of their new toys swapping the games back and forth.

I love the fact that they earned them and I love how excited they were. I feel grateful to Will's parents that they can, in fact, buy something so fun and can't wait to get my hands on it to try a little game play myself.

My Baby is 8!

I can't believe it. When I think about the past 8 years, it seems so long...yet when I look at my beautiful Mikayla it seems like 8 years went by in the blink of an eye. How could she be 8 already?

I remember rocking her to sleep because she would cry if I didn't.
I remember her long eyelashes, her ruby red lips, and her ringlets of curls.
I remember that if I walked out of the room, she would cry for me to stay.
I remember rushing her to the hospital after a particularly bad flu, trying to hide my fear.
I remember her excitement when Tyler was born.
I remember her first day of Kindergarten when she turned away from me to hide her tears.
I remember the first friend she made in school and how her eyes lit up when they played together.
I remember her first heartbreak, her first lost tooth.
Her first crush, her first "job well done"
I remember her first talent show (and I still can't get the song out of my head)
I remember the gentleness with which she first held Lynnea.

In remembering all this, I am grateful. I can't wait to make even more memories.
I love so much about her.
I love ... her crooked smile
... her unconditional love
.... her compassion
.... her sense of humor
...her laugh
....how she wants to still hold my hand
....how she hates when I leave her
....her desire to learn
...her devotion to share God with others
....her zest for life

I don't remember as much as I should of Mikayla's baby years but I do remember wondering how something so wonderful could come from me. How could this little life be entrusted to me? I was so imperfect, so NOT ready to be a mom. I struggled for the first few months to accept the responsibility placed before me. But now I'm proud. Proud of who she has become, in spite of me. Proud that God is first in her life and that she is unashamed of her Savior. I'm also humbled. I'm humbled that God chose me for her. I couldn't be more grateful for His gift.


To celebrate her birthday, I took her and 2 of her friends to Color Me Mine. Here are some photos of our afternoon.

Glittery pink cupcakes for my princess...

Decisions, decisions....
Finally decided on a unicorn...
My little artist painting away...
Her friend, Katie, painting her puppy.
And her other friend, Mikaela, gave her duckling a stylish 'do.
My beautiful 8 year old.
All 3 girls with their finished pieces.
Happy Birthday, Mikayla!

Palm Springs

This past weekend I had the honor of being the emcee at my church's yearly women's retreat. This year we drove to the exciting location of Palm Springs and, let me tell you, it was the perfect time of year, the perfect temperature, and the perfect view! Look at this!We stayed at a nice resort and enjoyed our weekend away with just the ladies. Here's a sample of the breakfast breads the first day. Notice we're actually outside eating breakfast? How much more perfect could it be? The wind was gently blowing, the temperature was in the 70's...*I'm taking a moment here to remember the beautiful, blissful, without-children moment.* ok, it's over.Here's a picture of Aly and me enjoying our child-free breakfast moment before I had to rush into the meeting room and get my 7 pages of announcement notes ready to share with the 270+ women.
One of the nights my friend, Laurinda, organized her own version of "Minute to win it" and it was hilarious. This particular shot was taken before the women feverishly built a tower of cups and then took them down again. I can't even remember who won. I got up there and demonstrated my prowess at stacking 6 dice on top of a large tongue depresser stuck between my teeth...all in one minute. You wouldn't believe how much your hands could shake when you're in a time crunch. It felt like I'd had about 10 espressos. My friend, Jenny, got a lovely picture from below the stage of my cross-eyed self stacking the dice. I told her that if it ever surfaced on the internet, she'd be in trouble.
Here is our amazing speaker, Jan, as she's getting "mic'd" up for the last session. Wade, our sound guy and the ONLY guy at the women's retreat, is doing his best "I'm-trying-to-look-serious" look. He did an amazing job that weekend and it was fun to have a guy there to break up all that estrogen.
Me and Debbie, our Women's Ministries Director. I love her!
...and the girls of room 340. Aly, Valerie, Mina and I had so much fun talking, hanging out, getting too little sleep, and enjoying our view from the balcony. I wish it could have been longer.
And last, but not least, my friend, Jenn, who led worship throughout the weekend. It was both of our "first" shot at the whole "retreat leadership" stuff and I think we both did well. Thank you, Lord, for a wonderful (somewhat tear-filled) time of reconnecting!

The Lines Are Blurred

Behold, our tv.
Our colossal, inherited, large-screen tv.
Scene-stealer of our living room.
Wall-inhabiting fixture that, until now, has been constant, loyal, and free from failure.
It has failed.
The lenses have shifted.
I'm in trouble.
Reluctantly, I look behind the giant.
This is what I see...

Too many wires.
No skills.
Kids put on 3d glasses to take advantage of situation.
They claim they can actually see it in 3d.
I try glasses. It's true. I can too.
All I can do now is laugh...and pray for miraculous healing.

The Zoo

My MOPS group decided to go to the zoo for a little mid-week outing and the kids were so excited. However, this is not your San Diego, goes-on-for-miles, zoo. As a mom, that makes me very happy but, as a child who runs everywhere, you can pretty much see the zoo in a few hours. Perfect timing, if you ask me. It was empty too which made for the perfect no-stress afternoon with some wonderful friends.So, we began our day at the "outpost" where the kids got to push buttons and listen to lots of sounds. Fun for the kids, noise pollution for the moms. After a little of that (and after touching some very realistic animal skeletons), we lured them outside so they could play on all of the large, rock animals. This was especially exciting for my active little ones. Notice, Tyler is carrying a map of the zoo. It never left his fingers.
Here are some real animal friends. Very vibrant..
We meandered to the Howler Monkey exhibit. After searching the enclosure for anything that looked like a monkey, we finally found them having a girl's day out, picking fleas off of one another. It actually looked pretty relaxing. For a moment, I wished I was in the tree with them...
On to the rest of the exhibits. We came across their newest addition, the anteater. I have never seen one of these guys in real life. They're big. Really big. And their tail is the largest part of them, it seems. Quick fact about the anteater that I learned that day - they walk on their knuckles. Seems strange, almost like God kind of threw that in there to make them even more "different": like they weren't unique enough already. "No teeth, A foot-long tongue, Oh, and throw in the walk-on-knuckle thing...that oughtta stop people from ever doubting that I have creativity." God's definitely got a sense of humor.
Then there's the emu. Red eyes? Really? It's not freaky enough that they can run 30 miles an hour instead of fly and have long, flowing feathers all over their body, He's gotta give them dark, red eyes to stare at you with? To top it all off, this guy followed us all the way down the fence and almost jumped into the Wallaby habitat to join our little tour group. Be it known that this picture was taken with the zoom feature on my camera.
On to the camels. The only thing I can say (besides the fact I thought they were fake because they didn't move at all), is these animals are HUGE!! Don't mess with a camel!
The orange monkeys were a favorite.
The aviary had a very cool, very murky lake that all of the kids loved looking at. Yes, there were turtles in there but you couldn't see an inch past the surface so we kept them at a safe distance. Can't you tell? =)
I had to get a good waterfall shot.
Feeding time!
In this next picture, I want you to notice the fluffy feathers on the back of the rear turkey. He's angry. At me. I guess me and my camera got too close to the pair because I was warned with a very turkey-like gobble and fluffed-up feathers. Having owned a bird, I know they meant business. So glad there was a chain link fence between us. Apparently these two were pardoned by the President at Thanksgiving? I don't think I would have been as kind.
We ended our day with lunch and a little play time. These hollowed out eggs gave our kids a few minutes of fun...and mud.
Conveniently, there was a pretty large mud puddle in front of this particular egg (below) and the boys found it quickly. It's probably safe to say that all of our kids walked away with mud on at least one article of clothing at the day's end. All in all, we had lots of fun together!
Oh, we rode the train too! Short and sweet, but worth it for the smiles on our boy's faces.

Remember?

Remember those brand new slipcovers I just put on my couches?
You probably can't see it very well but Lynnea thought it needed a pretty design. With a pen. And it's much darker than it looks. *sigh*

New Pet?

Complete exhilaration is how I would characterize my son's reaction to finding this in some nearby dirt... Ya, I'm not really sure what it is but it wiggles like a caterpillar so I guess it's safe to assume that it is one. Enter the "bug park." Yep, Cara, the one you gave Tyler for his birthday. I labeled each fun activity that the caterpillar gets to enjoy just so you get the full effect of our new pet's "digs." I'll give you a minute to check it out... Cool, huh? So I guess we've added to our "pet" population. I can't help but feel sorry for the poor thing since yes, he has tried out each and every attraction (forcefully at times). Aren't you happy you don't have a caterpillar as a pet? You're welcome to adopt ours.

Grace

It's always refreshing to be able to laugh after a long day. I pretty much have long days every day so it's nice to giggle a little at least once. Sometimes that's a pretty tall order.

Lynnea was the cause of the laughter this afternoon when she misunderstood some "advice" I was giving the kids.

It had been a loong afternoon. Usually afternoons consist of homework, Lynnea getting in someone's way, raised voices due to Lynnea's constant "involvement" in daily activities and, as always, constant chatter.

It's a wonder I still have my sanity...do I?

Mikayla was taking a spelling test and Tyler's voice was raising and raising with each passing moment as Lynnea sat on him, took his toys, and made him watch Princess Stories on DVD. So I said, "guys, let's just try to give each other some grace. I know it's been a long day," to which Lynnea responded,

"I want some grapes!!"

Small Changes

My couches have seen a lot of life. Milk spills, vomit, baby poop, and many rounds of washing and, frankly, I'm kind of tired of them. They're tired.
Will and I have looked for good deals on couches but we just love the comfort of our blue ones. According to furniture rules, it's "got good bones." But it's hard to see new couches and not want something new!

Then we got realistic. We have a 3 year old! How "new" can a couch look with a 3 year old in the house? Solution? Slipcovers. OK, so the big pillows are kind of a challenge and make the couches look a little on the "comfortable" side but it changed the whole look of our room and kept our money, for the most part, in our wallet. So, here is the transition from old......to new! I made some quick pillows to dress it up a little and I've got a brand new couch!