EKjourney Backup

One thing that I love about the place that I live are stormy skies!  The storms usually blow in from the West and settle against the foothills and when the sun is setting, the combination of light and color is amazingly magnificently, breathtaking! Thank goodness for modern technology as well, we took these photos using Phil's phone.        

She can escape the Bumbo with ease and now she is trying to work her way out of a belted bouncy seat and go for small forbidden legos.       Breakfast time! 

We went to the annual pet parade. Here are the troops eagerly awaiting the tossing of candy. Look closely at this picture... This is the parade's grand marshal.  Apparently, he notified his owner that the historic movie theater was on fire and was honored for his heroism (sheesh!).  Anyway, at the start of the parade, he took a nice big poop right in front of us. On a side note, I once asked a fellow teacher, "how do I know if my skirt is long enough and she said, "bend over and look in the mirror".  I would encourage all ladies to wear skirts that hit their knees... ....like these lovely and modest ladies!  Aren't they sweet with their little chicken set up. I did a lot of laughing during the parade! I am dog a big hairy dog fan, but you do have to appreciate these dogs!  Loved the pet rock!  Wearing the children out is lots of fun!  Evi took a quick car nap, while wearing earphones around her neck.  Old school chairs  So...

Willigs!!  (Glorielle...Gigi...Geewilligers...Willigers...Willigs) She isn't totally thrilled but only because she saw me.  If she sees me, she thinks I should be holding her.  It is very upsetting for her LOL!  The children are wonderful with her!  They play with her, help take care of her, and even fight over her.  (That part isn't so wonderful but at least they adore her that much.)  Sitting in a chair playing with food.  She still isn't interested in eating so we just give her food to play with. Sisters Sweet little underbite grin!  Some banana actually made it into her mouth.  I see this look a lot.  We play this little game where I sniff her loudly and she makes the same noise back but with her mouth.   

Does life ever really turn out the way we envisioned?  Even when we have an idea that we want to be married and have a family, is it ever really like we imagined it would be?  Do we really fully understand that love is an action word not an emotional word?  Do we really understand how much the Lord loves us and what He did for us?  Do we really understand what is means to die to ourselves, to serve others, to learn to find contentment and joy through our daily tasks and duties.  Did we understand how much our flaws would be laid out in the open and our character refined?  Do we grasp the concept of sanctification?  Do we understand the meaning of the word blessing?  Do we know what it means to surrender?  Did we know that we would often feel like we don't have what it takes and realize how much the Lord carries us?  I didn't.  I still don't but I am learning!!  My children and my experience being a mom has led me...

For Mother's Day, I really wanted to go to the Chinese Gardens and out to an "authentic" Chinese lunch.  Phil arranged the whole thing and surprised me with tickets.  My parent's joined us for our cultural outing. I forgot my camera, so these photos are courtesy of Phil and his phone! The children loved the big koi! Water gardens are my most favorite kind of landscape garden.  I would have a slew of container gardens if I could figure out how to keep the raccoons out of them.   I dream of turning the steepest part of our hillside into a cascading waterfall. The Kellys!  Glorielle is grabbing at leaves from the backpack and not so cooperative about looking toward the camera.  What a beautiful day it turned out to be!  Weeping trees are one of my favorites.  I love how they incorporated rocks into the landscaping.  Lanterns at the gate  One thing that is so charming about the Chinese Garden is that you literally step in...

Early morning on the Urban Farm actually comes quite late.  We are located in a ravine of sorts, against a steep hillside, with huge trees towering about our little piece of land to the East.  It takes the sun a good long while to get high enough in shower us with "early" morning light.  Truthfully, I love a big open space and rolling hills.  I have had to learn to like the big trees and their shadows. The tomato plants are in and some sort of squash/pumpkin plant volunteers are covering the compost pile.  I haven't had the heart to tear them.  Eventually, this will be the melon and squash patch this year so I will leave a few and see what they turn out to be. I made a bit of an error in judgement about the tomatoes.  I planted next to the fence line and I don't think they are going to get enough light to be productive.  I ended up planting an extra bed just in case.  This chicken loves to have slugs and bugs tossed to her.  She eagerly ...