Memorial Day

Kelly and Jenna attended a local, traditional soccer game on Memorial Day morning, and then I joined them for a barbecue and swimming at Jenna's old soccer coach's house.  Heather had fun relaxing at home which was just what she wanted and needed.  In the afternoon, Kelly and I made a Home Depot trip to get some flowers for the front yard.  It will be nice to have some color out front.  Grandpa arrived in the afternoon, and we enjoyed taco dinner.  Grandpa is here for a few days for some appointments, and it's always fun to visit with him.

We hope everyone had a great weekend remembering those who have given so much for our freedom.

Remembering

We did our annual graveside visits on Sunday prior to Memorial Day.  We had all Sunday afternoon open with our church schedule, and it felt like good use of our time.  We cleaned the stones at our parents' graves and remembered some fun things about them.  It was good to know that the girls still have some good memories of their grandparents who passed when the girls were still young.

Good News

 Washi Tape makes for a good card making border!

 The Jacaranda trees are finally in bloom!

 Jenna received her transfer approval so she can follow in Heather's middle school footsteps!

Winston visited the groomer which is always a good thing!

Disconnected?

In a world where just about everything and everyone is a click away from being "connected,"  is it possible to feel disconnected? I think it might be very possible.

Years ago in my secretarial position at a high school, I would be chastised because I would be "away from my desk" too much.  I worked in a high school office, and when a student needed help I would get up and help them rather than point to wherever it was they could go find their answer (my desk had little to no traffic, so I wasn't leaving anyone in the lurch).  I would get caught at the front desk at the other end of the room helping someone while the secretary was away or busy with someone else, and it was at this job I learned and knew I could not be in a profession where I couldn't talk and interact with people.  In fact, over those first years away from home, I discovered that I needed to be social.  It filled a part of me that found joy in being connected.  Before I had children, friendship and service were hobbies, and there was a lot of energy generated when I was engaged in my hobby.

Things haven't changed in the past twenty-five years.  A lot of the energy that used to go to friends goes to my children, but I'm still the same inside.  My girls have been at school during the day for a while now, and recently they seem to need me less and less.  As I find myself with more time on my hands for friends, I am realizing that a lot of that time is spent with social media.  Social media is wonderful, but as with many good things, moderation is important.  I tend to spend time on facebook where I can interact with friends and family who live down the street, around the corner, or a few hundred miles away.  The term interact, however, has a bit of a false meaning for someone who craves interacting with actual humans.  If you know me well, I text and post and email and keep an active blog; I'm really good at using social media.  I recently noticed the term, "top commenter," by my name on facebook.  When I'm using social media, I use it in an active way, but it can be a very "one-way" type of communication.  I'm feeling lonely, and I think the time has come to look back at that time before social media was a part of our culture to see what was working well for me.

How is social media working for you?  Have you noticed the "down side" yet?  Perhaps it's a personal thing.  It's going to take some effort to engage in the old ways--picking up the telephone for example will be something I haven't done in a while.  I'll let you know how it's going.  In fact, you may be getting a call from me or even...a note in the mail.  Who knows what I'll come up with.

Buddies

Jenna and Sarah had a sleepover Friday to Saturday.  They were together over 24 hours, and they never seem to get enough.  I had Sarah's mom snap a photo of them so we could document their time together.  They are so like sisters and so comfortable with each other.  They are at different schools this year, so they really soak up every minute they have when their together.  My daughters both have amazingly wonderful friends which is such a blessing for them.

The Renaissance Faire

Heather and I were able to get out to the Renaissance Faire on Saturday.  Her primary reason for going was to visit the Drabbit shoppe and purchase a little one for herself.  We accomplished that first thing and then spend the rest of our time looking around, observing costumes and shopping for other little things.  Heather came home with a drabbit, a sword, a fairy powder necklace and a print of a Griffin. The artist was there signing them, so we took a picture with her.  Heather spent all of her own money which she had worked hard for.  She's pretty proud of her stash.  Super fun day, and also very hot and dusty.  Heather wants to go back and dress in costume next year.  We didn't stop for any of the shows, so that would be fun too.

Heather's "costume" - Nerds Make The World A Better Place t-shirt

Traditional May Pole dance

Clover, our new drabbit

This is a better picture--looks like a dragon with feathers and wings and can be controlled with the cable in Heather's hand (head moves and nods)

Heather's new Griffin print

Hiking for YW

I neglected to post Heather's hike!  The girl hiked three miles the morning she and I went to the Renaissance Faire.  Kelly went along too to lead one of the groups.  Heather is like the Energizer Bunny!  I was going to go, but I knew I wouldn't make it through the hours at the Faire if I'd already hiked that day.  Heather was able to pass off some pre-camp requirements, and it was good that we could fit both the hike and the Faire in that day.

Kelly's Family Celebration

Roy, Wendy, Kelly, Kimberly, Charles, Cie

Kelly was able to attend his cousin's daughter's graduation from Whittier College.  Kimberly is Kelly's cousin, Roy's, youngest, and they had a nice celebration for her.  Roy and Wendy, Alexa's kids (Carmen's sister) are on the left, and Roy's wife, Cie, is on the right.  Charles is Roy and Cie's oldest oldest son. Our girls were in school at the time of the graduation ceremony, and then Heather had track practice.  It was great that Kelly was able to get off from work a little early and drive out.  Congratulations Kimberly!

Happy Birthday Sister!

Happy Birthday Michelle!  

I love you and am so happy to have you in my life!

Birthday Friends

Heather and her friends had lunch at Corner Bakery to celebrate Grace's birthday.  Grace has been selected for the All Start softball team and is so swamped for the next few weeks that celebrating with a party wasn't looking too possible.  The girls had fun and so did the moms.  Next year is high school!  High school!!! These girls have known each other since Kindergarten, and it's been such a joy to watch them grow up together.

Oh, that last picture is Heather, after volleyball practice, washing my car.  She is earning as much money as she can to take to the Renaissance Faire on Saturday.  We'll see what she comes home with.  Will it be a dragon or weapons?  Oh the suspense!

Tanaka Farms Field Trip

Tuesday was Jenna's field trip to Tanaka Farms in Irvine.  I didn't know it was so close, and what a great experience!  We got to have a tractor tour which was like a hayride without the hay.  We stopped at several fields and tasted what was growing there.  The farmhands would gather bunches and rinse them and hand them out as we sat in the carts.  And since the whole farm is organic, we could eat everything freshly picked.  Jenna tasted cilantro, spinach, carrots, sugar snap peas, bok choy, and green onions (I skipped the cilantro and onions although I have to say they smelled delicious).  Our last stop was the strawberry field where the kids could pick and eat as much as they wanted.  Delicious!  Each student received a basket of strawberries when we got back from the tour.  I shopped in the stand and loaded up on salsa ingredients, fresh jam, and both jalapeño corn bread and pumpkin bread.  What a treat!  We ate lunch on hay bales in the shade before returning home.  We're totally planning on going back for the pumpkin patch tours!

Weird Weather...Again

It was supposed to be 84 degrees today.  At 2:00PM, it was 90 degrees.  Our weather has been roller coaster style for a while.  Even the butter is having a hard time with it.

Mother's Day

A lovely breakfast, treats at church, and a yummy dinner were enjoyed today.  I even got my own box of See's truffles.  I felt loved.  Our little birds are growing up out in the nest, and their momma seemed to be off today.  Just goes to show you that the babies will eventually grow up and leave the nest.  I'm okay that we humans take more time with the process and get to enjoy mothering our babies just a little bit longer.

Volleyball Saturday

Heather makes a cute line judge, don't ya think?  I recently wrote and deleted a post about Heather's feelings toward volleyball, specifically how she was being treated by a couple of the girls.  I deleted the post because it didn't fit my blogging criteria (either journaling of activities or musings that I'd like to share with future generations).  It was kind of a brain/heart dump about the experience from a mother's heart.  If the problem could just go away with a delete button, that would be something wouldn't it?

While gathering supplies this week for Teacher Appreciation and Jenna's snack assignment for soccer, I decided to put some treats together for the volleyball team.  We usually don't bring food because a lot of the venues don't allow it, but since we were slated to be at CSUF I knew we'd be good bringing something in.

I wrapped a candy bar, cookies and a granola bar in a cellophane bag with a ribbon.  I told Heather that just because people are unkind, it doesn't mean we can't be who we are.  We're nice people, and we would normally bring a treat at some point for our team.  So we did.  Heather was on board, and she smiled and handed the bags out just after everyone arrived.  I told Heather that handing the bags out early might create a positive mood on the team overall. A few girls said thank you, but we'll never really know if it affected any change in the other girls.

When I arrived into the second match, I did see a different team playing.  Two of the problem girls were not at the tournament which may have helped.  But I think the biggest improvement in attitude was in Heather.   She was playing really well, cheering her team mates on, and keeping everyone pumped.  She was happy.

The biggest lesson learned today was that being true to who we are and showing kindness will always generate good feelings within our own hearts and help us the most.  This is why the Savior admonished us to lose ourselves in service when we're down, right?  We asked her later if she had fun playing today.  She told us that yes, she did.

Random Friday Stuff

Teacher appreciation for Middle School

Heather learning to jump from the FVHS jump coach (as if she needs to learn how to jump, haha)

Baby birds are gettin' bigger!

Surprise Sunset

I met Kelly and the girls at Alerto's on Thursday night.  It rained while we were there, and when we left, the sky was glowing behind the buildings (1).  Picture 2 is coming over the freeway, and picture 3 is on our street.  I need to learn how to use my camera settings for these celestial events because they are WAY more beautiful in person.

Nature at Home

The little chicks in our basket are growing exponentially each day.  Momma bird cannot fit them under her anymore.  The chicks have hatched and the blooms are blooming.  Our Star Jasmine is full and fragrant.  It's simply lovely to walk up to the front door and get a whiff of that delicious tropical scent as I enter the house.

Gotcha Award

We were rushing off to school this morning when Heather remembered that she got her first "Gotcha" Card at school yesterday.

H:  I got my first "Gotcha" Card for Caring which is "Helping others in need and showing compassion, forgiveness and thankfulness."

Me, thinking and just about to say: Of course! That's my girl!

H:  You know what I got it for?  Taking care of a cockroach under my teacher's desk!  My teacher was so grateful to me for being the only person out of all the girls and boys who would crawl under the desk and get it that she gave me an award for compassion.

There you have it.

All Because of A Book

Had dinner tonight with some lovely ladies from our original TwilightMoms group.  We bonded over a book, but have remained in touch and built friendships around other things besides the books.  Rhonda was here from Washington, and the rest of us drove from our So Cal locations to meet at Downtown Disney.  We had a nice dinner and talked about kids, church, family stuff, Twilight memories (of course), and our Healthy Living Challenge.  Those early memories will always be fun ones, and we still like to talk about our current friendships being "all because of a book."