Spoons before church...

January 29: Day 29

The reward of being ready to leave for church early is a game of Spoons with Daddy.  

Soccer Saturday...

January 28: Day 28

All three girls began playing arena soccer this Saturday!  We have such a great time spending our day outside in the beautiful weather running and playing hard.  Macky is having a celebratory carne asada burrito after scoring the first goal of the season!

Mike and Isabelle are relaxing in the goal box watching Sarah play her very first soccer game.

Sarah had a smile on her face the entire time she was out on the field.  I must have fed her jumping beans for breakfast because the child didn't stop moving, jumping and spinning the whole 40 minutes.  Every time she ran by Daddy or her sisters she would wave and yell! 

A morning at Brother Bennos...

January 27: Day 27

The girls and I were able to join our Friday Friends and give a few hours to decorating lunch bags and filling bags with rice and beans for a local homeless organization.  We are so thankful for all the blessings that Brother Bennos pours out on not only the homeless, but the working poor families that live in the community. 

A little Thursday ballet...

January 26: Day 26

The girls got a surprise visit from Grandma and Grandpa on Thursday afternoon, so that called for a show!  Here is Sarah giving her best Cinderella ballerina performance. 

Cards anyone?

January 25: Day 25

We were all dressed up and ready to head off to a Mozart concert, but who can resist a quick game of "gold" fish? 

What "picture a day"?

January 24: Day 24

I suppose you should get used to this sort of picture.  This is what happens when Mama waits until 8:15 at night to remember to take a picture for the day.  Woops! But as you can see, life is tough when your sisters have already gone to bed and you have to cuddle on the couch with Daddy. 

Stuffed taters....

January 23: Day 23

Ahh, one of our favorites.  It's a great way to sneak in those green veggies.  I guess if you smother anything in sour cream, butter and cheese then sprinkle on some bacon bits, just about anyone will eat it.  

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink...

January 22: Day 22

Who would have thought that dumping the clean water before we headed home this weekend would have drawn every kid in camp?  But as you can see, channels, pools and canals were rapidly being excavated before the desert drank up this small oasis.  The best part was until after this picture was taken, Macky didn't realize it was the clean water we were dumping!  Really?  Did she really think we would have dumped the dirty water in the middle of camp, and then let the kids play in it? 

Battleship anyone?

January 21: Day 21

The kids are having a lazy day in the enclosed trailer.  The weather was perfect for the first half of the day, but when the winds kicked up, we all ended up eating chips in salsa in the trailer.  The travel games came in very handy for that latter half of the day. 

Waterfalls of sand...

January 20: Day 20

When we go camping at the desert, the girls are nearly ready to explode when we arrive.  It's a tradition of sorts that as soon as the motor home has come to a halt, they run out the door and practically roll around in the soft sand.  Okay, maybe the roll around part is a bit of an exaggeration, but it wasn't long before all three were seated here in a circle, letting the cool sand fall between their fingers. 

Soup-town-plation...

January 19: Day 19

Did you catch the theme of these last few posts?  We can't help it!  We are foodies and gluttons for good fellowship.  Our FNFs (Favorite Neighbor Friends) treated us to Souplantation (or Soup-town-plation, as Macky named it when she was little after combining Souplantation and Hometown Buffet) after watching the boys this day.  We are so blessed to live next door to such a great family. 

...that's what a hamburger's all about!

January 18: Day 18

Now aren't you jealous?  Daddy was still in Florida, and when we found ourselves in the parking lot of In-N-Out and Chick-fil-A, we were faced with a dilemma.  But you can see what we settled on. 

Shhh....

January 17: Day 17

I really feel that these posts are simply a laundry list of the mundane tasks that we accomplished in a day.  We do so much in one day, that if I proceeded to list it all, post after post, I'd fall asleep somewhere around the twenty-fifth of January.  So to prevent any dozing off, I'll try and throw out some interesting thoughts from the day and hopefully I can actually review this blog at some point in the future without regret. 

A quick stop off at the library to pick up this highly classified piece of literature.  It is the latest craze sweeping our playgroup and I wish I could tell you more, but it's extremely hush-hush.  Even the name of this book is a secret.  Go ask Pseudonymous Bosch...oh, I've said too much...

Mom's night out...or in.

January 16: Day 16

Is it lame to post pictures like this?  I had plenty of opportunity to take some really great pictures today.  So much happened.  Mike left on a business trip to Orlando for a few days (we are bummed because we miss Florida a smidge), it was Martin Luther King, Jr. day but I made my kids (mostly Macky) do school anyway, we picked Isabelle up from a sleepover, we picked out a movie for the girls to watch while the best part of all, my dear, sweet mommy friends came over for a mom's night out!  Really that was the pinnacle of the day.  I had straightened the house, made a pie and brownies (okay, Macky really made them as a math assignment), put out the tea and coffee all to get a few precious hours of girlfriend time.  It was wonderful, but all I have to show for this whole day, is the half eaten brownie pan.  It was a good day.

Sundays are the best...

January 15: Day 15

I just love Sundays.  We sleep in, have a great breakfast, pile in one of the cars and head to church, then spend the afternoon resting and relaxing.  And, if we are lucky, we head to dinner out, just like tonight.  We visited our favorite Mexican food restaurant in the world: Casa de Bandini.  It was a good day. 

Nothing like a good sleepover...

January 14:Day 14

As Macky gets older and into her pre-teen years, I remember all the fun things "older" kids get to do; like sleepovers!  Yes, Macky had a wonderful sleepover with her friend Gracie last night.  But, in mind and spirit, she paid the price this afternoon.  To preserve the peace and since I can remember how tired a good sleepover can make a young girl, I suggested she take a rest.  Sure enough, she managed to catch a few Z's and wake up in a much more pleasant mood.  I'm sure some day she will be very upset that I posted this picture, but don't we all look at her completely relaxed face and wish we could sleep this soundly? 

Wii in the morning...

January 13:Day 13

There's nothing like a quick game of Just Dance in the morning.  I'm not a big fan of kids playing video games much.  There are so many better options to "spend" our screen time on.  However, the Wii has a few games that get the girls moving and sweating.  Just Dance is one of them.  They have a blast dancing and even singing to quite a few of the songs.  I am totally going to count this as P.E. credit for school!

Off to the Learning Center...

January 12:Day 12

In my short homeschooling career, I have come to a point where I think my kids would really benefit from taking at least one class from someone (anyone) other than me.  So, thanks to our awesome charter school, I was able to enroll them in a class or two, one day a week and today was their first day!  Now, Sarah of course didn't stay, she left with me for some special mama-time.  But the other two were thrilled to be able to learn something new and make friends at the same time.  I love that I have been blessed with the choice of how to educate my kids and given so many different options and opportunities. 

Barbie die...

January 11:Day 11

Mike was so proud.  I came downstairs during a break from school to find Sarah playing what she called, "Barbie die".  Really, is there anything else I can add that would make this any better or worse?  So, I'll leave you to figure out what is going on in that little head.

Can you guess where we spent the day?

January 10:Day 10

Ten years ago today at 4:56 pm the Lord blessed us with our precious Mackenzie.  So to celebrate, we headed to the most magical place on earth....DISNEYLAND!  We were so thrilled that our dear friends the Warner's could join us.  The kids had a wonderful time practically walking onto every ride and staying late enough to see the parks lit up in a million lights.  What a wonderful way to celebrate Mackenzie's lucky birthday!

Walk at dusk...

January 9:Day 9

We went on yet another family walk tonight.  Unfortunately, my photography doesn't capture the beautiful light that we enjoy at this time of night.  This is such a great time that we all look forward to all day.  At 4:30pm we put on our walking shoes (or Heely's) and head out to the park.  The girls would either try and keep up with Mike and me while we walked laps around our small park, or they would run ahead and get up on the play structure and pose for a picture as I went by.  I think they are taking to this picture-a-day idea.

Hula hoops and left over pizza...

January 8:Day 8

 Another beautiful Sunday in San Diego.  We attended church and came home to left over pizza in the warm sun in the driveway.  Ahhh, what a great day.

Mischief is her middle name...

January 7:Day 7

We had a family birthday party for my sweet 10 year old Mackenzie today.  During the traditional gift-opening time, Sarah did her best to steal just a bit of the attention.  She was attempting to smell the plastic flowers and she thought she was pretty funny.  I just love that look on her face that says, "look how clever I am."  Also, I figured out how to use some cool photo editing software. 

Friday play day!

January 6:Day 6

There's nothing like good friends and here are two of the best!  We celebrated Mackenzie's 10th birthday with her friends at the park today, but we made a quick trip to the house and caught this snapshot.  This is a great reminder to be thankful for God's gifts of great friends.   

Children's museum....

January 5:Day 5

We had an opportunity to visit the new Escondido Children's Museum this morning.  When we walked in, I looked around and thought that most of the exhibits were geared toward little ones.  Luckily I kept my opinion to myself because not one of the kids in my group noticed or complained.  It's so fun to watch kids play and tinker and imagine.  I couldn't post just one picture today.  Enjoy! 

Who has a bigger mouth?

January 4:Day 4
Maybe we shouldn't try and answer that question.  Macky decided at some point during lunch that she would like to know who has the biggest mouth.  Sarah gave it a nice try, but I don't think she won this contest. 

Our New Year's resolutions....

January 3:Day 3
We have decided to walk more as a family.  How can one not go outside as much as possible here in San Diego.  Here are Macky and Isabelle doing one of their favorite things while on a walk, spreading weeds to the neighbors.  Aren't they generous. 

School is back in session...

January 2:Day 2

We began school again today after the wonderful and long Christmas break.  I am so thankful that Mackenzie and Sarah get along so well and that Macky can actually take over some of the teaching. I love homeschooling! 

Happy New Year...

January 1:Day 1
I'm sure most of you have heard of the 365 day photo challenge.  The goal is to take one picture a day for the entire year.  I'm not sure what I'm thinking, but I'm going to give it a try.  I'm hoping it won't go by the way side like all the other New Year's resolutions of past years, so here goes:

I chose this photo for my first of the year because it totally captures our weekly ride to church.  We are all piled into the Falcon, windows down and blowing our perfectly quaffed hair.  As you can see, Isabelle is attempting to hold up her signature "bunny ears", while Sarah, "the ham" is posed for the picture and Mackenzie is irritated with Isabelle, as usual.  Welcome to this life of mine.

Farewell to Florida.

So if you have ever tried to blog, you know that a major part of getting what you want out of it, is making the page look nice.  The most difficult part by far is loading the pictures which is why my poor Florida blog suffered so.  Therefore, in my attempts to bid Florida farewell and the welcome in the New Year, I am throwing a ton of pictures that we took in Florida on this page with as little description as possible.     This was a day that was just gorgeous in our little neighborhood in Florida.  We walked across the street and the girls posed for many pictures and then turned the camera on me.    

Isabelle is a total poser! 

I think I will really love to look back on these pictures of my babies when they are all grown up.  Mom never seems to get into many of the pictures, so I'm sure I'll cherish these few. 

You can always expect this kind of bear hug out of Isabelle.

Sarah is such a nut!  She has a look like she could be thinking of a thousand other things she would rather be doing. 

                                          This was the play set across the street at the little park.  When it wasn't a million degrees out, it actually provided a good amount of entertainment. 

This was such a beautiful park, I didn't want to forget it. 

We had heard of purple potatoes, but we only discovered them for ourselves while in Florida.  This was one of our favorite dinner side dishes. 

Check out the color of the mail trucks in Florida.  I was surprised at first, but then I realized that all of the public transportation had loud and colorful paint jobs, so why should the post office be left out?

 The girls and I took a day and visited Hollywood studios where we got to see our good friend Mr. Hanks play in the Indiana Jones stage show at the park.  He rotates roles between Indiana Jones and some of the other stunt type roles.  It was a blast watching this fun show while realizing we actually knew one of the actors! 

 I'm sure that I mentioned this in previous blogs, but while we spent a lot of time doing things in Florida that we can't do in San Diego, we also tried to have a sense of routine and normalcy.  One of the activities that made it feel more like home was the weekly gymnastic class the girls participated in.

We were fortunate in that there was an AWANA chapter at the church that we attended, so the girls began attending in late August.  It has been such a huge blessing in our family.  They not only are writing the Lord's word on their hearts, they have made some amazing friends. 











We had a Wednesday night weekly tradition of meeting Daddy at Chick-fil-A for some super yummy chicken sandwiches and waffle fries! 

 Here are the sweet T'n'T girls.  Jayden, Macky, Mia, and Hallie.  Talk about being on fire for the Lord, look out world, these girls are burning!

Isabelle got two pictures on the page because we couldn't leave anyone out!  Especially our favorite friends.  To the left is Elle Grace, Isa, Sarah, and ?.  Below is Emma, Isa and ?.  Can you see the energy just flowing around them.  They were a wild bunch of Sparkies! 

Then sweet Sarah and her friend Mia.  Sarah talks about Mia all the time and wishes she could come out to California and visit her. 

The weekend just before Halloween, the Dobbins came up and stayed with us for a few nights.  We had a blast running around a few of the parks with our best friends.  Check out their handsome boys! 

I had to blow this picture up just so you could see what a grump Sarah was.  She wouldn't even look at the camera.  But, if you get to go to the Magic Kingdom, you've got to get a family shot in front of the castle! 

This is just a great shot of Daddy and Sarah on Prince Charming's Carousal.  Mike didn't work every hour in Florida, only most hours. 

I kicked off the fall season with some chocolate cupcakes and coffee for breakfast. 

Sarah the sweet ballerina. 

Lookout super-villains, Wonder Woman to the rescue!

And my beautiful snow princess, Mackenzie. 

The gang headed over to the church for a little trunk-or-treat action.  We got a bunch of candy with a few of our favorite friends. 

The last week of our time in Florida we wanted to be sure to get as much Disney park adventure completed, so here a few shots of some of our favorite characters in one of the parades. 

This was our final field trip with the homeschooling group that we were blessed enough to be a part of.  We went to the Tibet-Butler Preserve and made our own paper! You can see by Isabelle's face that this was a stretch for her.  She doesn't like to touch anything that is wet or cold or messy, so this was quite an accomplishment for her. 

So we say farewell to Florida.  We are so glad that we went on such a wonderful adventure.  We returned home to San Diego on November 5th and hit the ground running.  We missed home so much and are so happy to return, but we were so blessed to meet all the wonderful people that made our adventure so memorable.  Thank you.