What Do You Do When You Have the Carpets Cleaned on a Rainy Day?

We had our carpets cleaned recently, something we do several times a year. We the guy (Mr. Robert) came to clean for the first time, he walked into our family room, took one look at our carpets and said, "Pet stains, huh?" Ah, no. Those are kid stains - spit up, pee, and I'm not going to lie, the occasional poop. Plus the coffee, wine, lemonade and a myriad of other things that Ian and I spill. Taking care of our carpets (at least preventively) is not our strong suit. Calling Mr. Robert? We are very good at that.

Anyway, so the weekend we ended up scheduling him this past time was rainy. We were only having him do the 3 main rooms (living, dining and family), so the baby was able to sleep in his room while the 4 of us hunkered down in Ruthie and Jonah's room for an hour or two.

Here are the three movie lovers, watching Tangled on Ian's computer. You got to love modern technology!

Backyard Camp Out

This is my final post from Spring Break. It's been fun reliving it and I actually feel a little sad that it is truly and officially over. Ah, well, summer isn't that far way!

Last summer we attempted a back yard camp out (twice) and only made it until about 8 or 9pm both times. So we didn't really have too high of hopes for this camp out. But the kids had been asking and we do want to be a camping family, so we thought we'd give it a try. We've got to build up our muscles, you know!

Here we are, setting up camp. Ruthie was very eager to help set up the tent.

We had hot dogs on our grill outside, as well as watermelon, grilled bell peppers, and chips. It wouldn't be a camp out without chips!

Then we had to have s'mores. Why is it that the world's messiest dessert is the one you eat while camping, when bathrooms and sinks are hard to come by? Obviously, we had our kitchen and bathrooms nearby but it does make me wonder about when we really go camping...

I love Jonah's face here - mustard from the hot dog and chocolate from the s'more. A face like this is how you know you've had a good camp out!

And what do you think - did we make it through the night? Jonah had to go in to go to the bathroom at 2am and asked at that time to go to his bed. I went in with him, since I had been listening on the monitor for Isaiah anyway, and Jonah and I slept in my bed together the rest of the night. But Ian and Ruthie made it all night! It gave us great encouragement for this summer, when all four of us might make it. (Though I am not going to lie - when Jonah said he wanted to go to a bed, I was secretly relieved and very happy to be heading to my soft, warm bed.)

Sneak Peak

I'm working on a new blog project this year that I'm really excited about. My sister, Sarah, had the idea to start a blog based off the One Year Bible. Both my sisters and my mom and I have read the One Year Bible (off and on) for many years and so she invited us to join her. It's been great doing a little more writing, and being a part of something so special with my sisters and mom. I'd like to preview a few of the posts here, since we won't be launching our blog until January 1 of next year.

So here's a sneak peak of what I wrote for March 31:

I am a celebrator. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, the first day of Spring – you name it, I like to celebrate it. And I love that God does, too. In today’s passages, we see several instances of God’s party-lovin’.

In Deuteronomy 16, God tells his people to keep the Feast of Weeks – seven weeks after the first harvest they are “rejoice before the LORD your God” (16: 11); just a few verses later, we read about the Feast of Booths, during which they spend seven days where they also “rejoice in feasting” (16:14) so that they “will be altogether joyful” (16:15b). Did you notice that? Seven days of rejoicing, feasting and being joyful. That sounds like a great party, if I’ve ever heard of one! I’ve thrown some big shin-digs in my day but never one that lasted a whole week! I love the lavish, abundant celebration God plans for his people, “because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands” (16:15a).

As we keep reading we find in our New Testament passage the feeding of the 5,000. We’ve already read an account of this story in both Matthew and Mark but reading it again today I’m once more struck by the hugeness of this miracle. The throngs have been waiting for Jesus and when he comes down from the mountain, they are crowded around, anxious for him to teach and heal them. All day they are with him, listening to him teaching about the kingdom of God and seeing him restore health and wellness. As the day comes to an end, the disciples tell him to send the people away to get food. But Jesus wants to bring abundant blessing (a party!) to these people he’s been with all day and so he takes five loaves of bread and two fish and feeds thousands. Incredible! The text says there were 5,000 men – if each of those men had a wife and even just two kids with them, then Jesus is actually feeding 20,000 hungry people by multiplying two fish and five loaves. If each person eats (modestly) 1/3 of a fish and 1/3 of a loaf, we’re talking about almost 7,000 fish and 7,000 loaves – that’s a lot of fish and bread!! Again, what a demonstration of the abundant and lavish way God provides for his people. And you’d better believe those 15,000 folks were celebrating at an unexpected and miraculous dinner!

What ways does your family celebrate the lavish goodness of God? Do you have a specific time of year where you “rejoice before the LORD your God” and where you spend dedicated time “being altogether joyful?” I’m reminded of our family tradition to spend a week each summer in Mexico, basically partying all week long. My parents rent each family unit a condo right on the water, in a gated community that has two pools, tennis courts and a grassy area of the kids to run and play (no one is paying me to say this, but if you’re looking for an affordable getaway, can I just recommend Mexico?). Every morning my dad makes an abundant breakfast of pancakes with syrup and whipped cream or breakfast burritos with 10 different toppings or waffles with fresh peaches sliced on top. After breakfast each day we play in the sun, lathering babies in sunscreen and hitting the pool or beach. In the afternoons, we walk from condo unit to condo unit, rounding up people for a game of Settlers of Catan or Rook, while we snack on lavish treats like mini Twix bars and fruit roll ups (can I get an amen for vacation snacks?). In the evenings, after a delicious dinner that we take turns cooking, we round everyone up for family activities, like a game of charades or “Grass Olympics” or kick ball or our now famous Talent Show. If I haven’t convinced you yet, let me just say, it’s a non-stop party. And throughout the whole week, we are reminded of God’s goodness and we consistently take time to thank him for his lavish gifts.

If your family doesn’t have a “Feast of Booths” in place yet, let this year be the year you start. It’s never too late to celebrate what God has done!

Here's a photo from our 2015 Mexico "Feast of Booths."

Abalone Cove

It is hard for me to overstate the beauty of this place. If you live in So Cal and haven't been to Abalone Cove, go. You won't regret it. We have been here twice now and both times were magical and breathtaking.

We went over Spring Break, one of our many wonderful day trips. I carried Isaiah in the Moby (love that carrier!) and the older two walked. They did such a great job; I could even see progress from the first time we did the hike in late December.

The first part of the hike is up on some bluffs, overlooking the ocean. Then as you descend down, it opens up into a rocky beach filled with cool little tide pools, and lots of rocks for little boys to throw.

Here's Ian and the kids, exploring.

And here we are, stopping for a lunch break. Don't you love Ruthie's hiking outfit? Gold sequence shirt, Cinderella shirt and a crown. But she's tougher than she looks! 

Speaking of throwing rocks, see Exhibit A. Doesn't Jonah have impressive looking form? And do you see his rock in the far left hand corner? This kid's got an arm! 

I love this photo because Jonah is wearing Ruthie's princess hat. Ian and I were both wearing hats and Ruthie had brought this one and Jonah really wanted to wear a hat like everyone else. So sister shared with him. And truth be told, Jonah does love princesses! You should hear how he pronounces the word "Rapunzel." It's pretty much to die for.

It was a wonderful day, exploring with the kids and enjoying the out of doors and the beautiful Pacific Ocean. And not to add unicorns to an already incredible day, but a group (school?) of dolphins played and jumped about twenty feet from us, playing in the waves for 15 minutes while we watched. The kids were ecstatic, calling out "I see one. I see another one!" It was awesome! Yay for Spring Break! 

Chocolate Fountain Party

We really lived it up this past Spring Break. I've already shown you a little of what we did and there is plenty more to come. One of the fun things we did was a Chocolate Fountain Party night with my sisters and their families. I bought a chocolate fountain off Groupon and was dying to try it out, so we got a bunch of yummy foods to dip in there, invited them over and fired that baby up!

When Mary's family arrived at the party, her five year old Abbie called from the car, "But where's the fountain?" Ah, poor girl. Her expectations were really high. A front lawn fountain that spewed chocolate would be something indeed!

Here's Mary's oldest, Sam, enjoying some treats:


And here's Abbie, who clearly reconciled herself to the true size of the fountain and still quite enjoyed herself:

And here's Clare, a little timid but eventually won over by strawberries and marshmallows coated in chocolate:

I realize now that there are no pictures of Sarah's family (well, that is Eric's hand holding a Madeline cookie about to dip it in the chocolate) and I'm sorry about that. They were there, too, I promise! In fact, when everyone was in the dining room enjoying the fountain I made a comment about how maybe this should become a spring break tradition and Sarah's oldest, Caleb, said, "How about an every other week tradition?" Now there's a boy after my own heart.

Don't be surprised if this fountain makes its way into many more parties!

Spring Break Joys

Last week was Ian's spring break. We had SUCH a great spring break, filled with fun family time. We relaxed, slept in, ate big breakfasts, went on day trips (or more like two hours trips in between nap times) and even had a camp out in our backyard.

We started the week off with a trip to Lighthouse Park to fly our kite and then head over to the Aquarium. The kids had never really flown a kite before, just seen other people do it, so it was super fun watching their excitement. They looked up at that kite flying like it was magical. I guess in a way it was! 

This adventure led to much signing of "Let's Go Fly a Kite," which is one of Ian's favorite songs. So it was a great morning, to say the least.

Easter

We had a lovely Easter. We went to our church in the morning and then headed over to my parents' house in Brea. Easter is always a great time because we have a fun crowd of friends and family and a huge Easter egg hunt, as was previously mentioned in this post.

An egg hunt of this size definitely takes some coordination. So after a delicious lunch and a nap for the babies, the kids are all sent to front yard (with an adult or two to supervise) to draw with chalk and play around while the dads and older cousins/kids hide the eggs.

Then everyone four years old and younger is sent to the backyard to collect their baskets, which Grandma has labeled and set out on a table. Those kids get about 5 minutes to look around before the older kids come and find the more strategically placed eggs. 

Here's Jonah and Isaiah, each with their basket. Jonah had such a great time this year looking for eggs. He definitely understood the point of the hunt! 

Here's a shot of all the "littles" as they get read to begin their hunt.


And thankfully, we were able to snag a decent shot of the five of us, which is a good thing because I think the only other photo of all of us is a hospital one, where someone (I won't say who) looks very puffy and swollen.

I hope you and your family had a great Easter!