Look Mom! No training wheels...

April 7: Day 98

Sarah could hardly pedal, she was laughing so hard.  We spent a good 15 minutes trying to get her used to the feel of her bike without training wheels.  Mike ran back and forth in the grass catching her when she would wobble and giving her an extra push when needed.  To spite our efforts, Sarah was just too excited and laughing hysterically to balance for any length of time.  So after the ol' college try, the training wheels went back on until the next time have the energy to give it a go.  She certainly enjoyed it.

Good Friday...

April 6: Day 97

Matthew 27: 55  Not very far away, many women were watching.  They had followed Jesus from Galilee to take care of his needs.  <(((><  Every year on Good Friday a bunch of us get all the kids together for an Easter egg hunt, but more importantly to tell the Easter story of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and then rising on the third day!  We go all out!  One of the kids inevitably wants to be the donkey that Jesus rides into town on and another always wants to be Pilate.  As you can see, I have three village women whom I'm sure played different and significant roles in this year's sketch. 

A walk in the flowers...

April 5: Day 96

We took a short walk today and enjoyed the beautiful weather and spring scenery.  The girls indulged their creative sides and snapped a ton of pictures of flowers along the way.  These are just a few of our favorites. 

Riding bikes....

April 4: Day 95

When schedules permit, we try to take as many family walks and rides as we can, especially once the time changes and it's lighter later. On this day, the three girls dusted off their bikes and we headed down to the dead end. With summer quickly approaching, we have to hone our skills and get those training wheels off of Sarah's bike so that we can hit some mountain bike trails. 

Wild Kingdom....

April 3: Day 94

We've always got some wild (or maybe domestic) animal in our backyard.  We used to wonder why the neighborhood cats would come and sit on our fence.  Well, I think we answered that question.  Sarah was swinging on the nearby play set when she came running over to me and Mike saying she, "saw a crocodile"!  We of course reminded her that we don't live in Florida anymore and that there are no crocodiles or alligators in California.  She was certain, so we checked it out.  Yep, this "alligator" lizard is pretty close.  In case you can't get a good perspective, it was over a foot long, including the tail.

Butterfly Jungle...

April 2: Day 93

Oh how we love the Wild Animal Park (Zoo's Safari Park) in April.  It's time for Butterfly Jungle.  Walking through the doors, into the butterfly aviary makes one feel like they are in a rain forest somewhere in South America.  There are thousands of butterflies flitting around and they will often alight on one's head or shoulder.  Two of my three girls love the butterflies.  Unfortunately, Sarah steps into a nightmare when she passes through those "jungle" doors.  So, Sarah and I passed through quickly and joined up with our group in the bird aviary just on the other side of this exhibit once everyone had gotten their fill of playing with the clumsy, yet colorful creatures.  Before I got out though, one butterfly did stop by to tell me hi. 

Carlsbad 5000 for the grown-ups...

April 1: Day 92

Mike and I took a turn at running this morning, and the girls just got to come along for the ride, and a quick picture with the Easter bunny.  ;)  Mike ran his best time at this race and completed the 5K in 19:45.  I, on the other hand finished in 30:15 which isn't bad considering I didn't lift one finger to train for this race. 

Junior Carlsbad....

March 31: Day 91

I may have to brag a bit here because I'm so proud of my girls.  After years of watching their daddy prepare for various races, they finally got to run in one of their own!  Mackenzie and Isabelle ran 1 mile against kids their own age, while Sarah ran 1/4 mile against other 4 year olds.  It was so fun and exciting!  They were all a bit nervous at the beginning of the day, but as each one ran and as the others watched, the nervous anticipation changed to competitive thrill. 





Mackenzie ran strong and finished in 7 minutes, 22 seconds. 

She enjoyed running against kids her own age.  It really gave her a goal.

Isabelle abandoned her shy manner and focused to finish in 8 minutes, 1 second.  She loved getting her metal and can't wait to sign up for her next race.

Sarah took us all by surprise and was off the starting line like a bullet.  Mike had to sprint to keep up with her.  She held third for most of the race, but slowed to fourth in the last stretch.  She was the first girl to finish her race!  

Getting ready for race day...

March 30: Day 90

It only occurred to me as I am writing this that the last few pictures have been of things and not people.  I'll have to correct that in the future, but as for now this was our living room the night before the big race.  All three girls were signed up to run in the Kids Carlsbad 5000 races.  So the night before we prepared everything for an early start including shoes and socks; ready to go. 

Strong-willed...

March 29: Day 89

Strong-willed?  Yeah, I have one of those.  I'll let you guess whom I'm speaking of.  This book and spoon have been sitting at the top of my stairs for quite a few weeks now and only just today did I realize how funny (or sad) it was.  It had been a battle of "wills" at my house recently and after reading this great book, I prepared myself with what might have been the instrument of punishment.  Fortunately for the child, it didn't come down to this type of chastisement, but it was a good reminder to whomever passed, that the penalty for unruly behavior was easily accessed by Mama.  The funny part is that I didn't intentionally set these two items together.  The book was placed there at some point after reading it, then the spoon followed sometime later.

Tea, anyone?

March 28: Day 88

I am a bit of a wimp when in comes to the temperature in the house.  I am frozen year round.  So, since I got an electric kettle for my birthday, I have dedicated a bit of the classroom to house my new tea station.  We can boil water in a matter of minutes and we serve tea (Sleepytime Vanilla is my favorite as of late), cocoa and cider.  The girls love it since they too can operate the kettle and get to enjoy a warm drink anytime.  It's especially nice during story time.   

Happy Birthday to me...

March 27: Day 87

What a fabulous day!  My wonderful husband and girls surprised me by taking me out to one of my favorite breakfast locations: The Broken Yolk!  Sarah was pleased that she found something on the menu that was right up her alley.  Then my mom, who visits us once a week, suggested I "find something to do away from the house for an hour".  So, as I did a little shopping, I had a super yummy dish of enchiladas and a dump cake made for me.  My in-laws stopped by and dropped off a gift, so by the time I got home, I had a pile of goodies waiting for me.  Another sucessful birthday. 

School in unusual places...

March 26: Day 86

You would never believe (unless you look at the previous blog) that it was raining just the day before.  God was good and allowed the sun to shine down and warm us up while we took some school work out to one of the warmest spots at our house, our drive way.  Sometimes a change of scenery helps us gain a more positive outlook on school.  

Somewhere Over The Rainbow...

March 25: Day 85

In this case, somewhere over the rainbow lead us to FroYo Love, our favorite frozen yogurt shop.  We were surprised and pleased when we walked out, shivering a little, to see a huge rainbow that stretched across the entire sky.  Before we left the parking lot a second rainbow had formed.  It was breathtaking.  

Out for a hike...

March 24: Day 84

We truly live in a beautiful place.  We walked to the park from our house and decided to go up the hill for a short hike.  I think we ended up hiking for about an hour and the girls were great.  They trooped up and down some really steep sections and we were able to spot our house from way up there.  Hiking is one of my favorite activities to do with my family! 

Once we finished our hike, the trail let out at the dead end, just down from our house.  I let Macky go a little crazy with the camera and as you can see from her shot, Sarah needed a little shoulder time to make it all the way home.  Daddy was pleased to oblige. 

Cups, cups and more cups...

March 23: Day 83

This is so my life.  On this day I had JUST emptied the dishwasher of all the clean dishes to turn around and fill it with more dirty cups.  We can never seem to keep one cup per person.  Two of my girls still drink at least 3 cups of milk out of sipper cups (my preference, not theirs) per day, so there are never enough clean milk cups.  If you notice, there are no other dirty dishes filling the rack, just cups!  Good grief!

Beef, it's what's for dinner...

March 22: Day 82

About 3 times a school year the girls and I take a field trip to downtown San Diego to listen to a special concert presented by Classics for Kids where we learn about different composers and their lives.  This particular trip we learned about Copland's America and felt we were waking up on a farm and herding cattle around.  We were very excited when Mackenzie was chosen to go on stage with about 9 other kids to help bring to life Copland's children's song, "I Bought Me a Cat".  Macky was the duck and gave the sign for "duck" whenever that lyric was sung.  It was very cute.  Of course, none of us left without feeling like we have to serve a steak for dinner. 

Playhouse and a story...

March 21: Day 81

Playing make believe NEVER gets old in my house.  I will sit in the classroom and read to the girls, while they find some playhouse, or Lego kit to keep their hands occupied during the story.  I am thankful this still applies to my 10 year old (going on 25).  It will be a sad day when nail polish takes the place of the playhouse.   

Working on her masterpiece...

March 20: Day 80

I will often walk into any of my girls' rooms to this scene.  They love getting cozy in their beds and color or read or play something quietly.  Sometimes this prevents them from falling asleep as early as I think they need to fall asleep, but how can I complain.  I think they must get it from my hermit tendencies.  I love when ever I get an opportunity to get clean and cozy in my bed with a good book; however rare that opportunity may be. 

PIE night....

March 19: Day 79

One of my favorite nights of the month: Mommy's night out.  It's glorious, all my very best friends meet at a coffee house or in this case, bakery and catch up on all the discussions that get interrupted all those other times that we see each other.  There are no scrapped knees, bee stings, sibling fights, or potty breaks to get in the way of sharing all the wonderful things and often challenging aspects of our lives as moms, wives, home schoolers and sisters in Christ. 

Look at this face...

March 18: Day 78
I must admit that this picture wasn't actually taken on this day.  I have unfortunately missed a day here and there and decided since I have taken more than one good picture on other days that if I miss a day, I'll just fill it in with an extra one.  This is the view I have when Sarah is standing on my feet looking at me.  I get this view very often and adore it. 
Now, on the day that I am actually blogging for, Mike and I went on a date!!  I know, you can understand why I forgot to take a picture.  I was too busy enjoying uninterrupted conversation with my sweet, romantic husband.  Ahhh....

Happy St. Patrick's Day, or is it Christmas?

March 17: Day 77

Although it's St. Patrick's day, apparently Isabelle still felt compelled to remember the Christmas story.  After dinner at some point, she called us to see her creation.  I was impressed that she could take a few toys and recreate the creche. 

Conference day...

March 16: Day 76
We are certainly an non-traditional type of home schooling family, so much so that while one child is talking to our teacher that we meet with every 6 weeks, the others are having a battle and destroying whatever house we are meeting in.  It's total chaos and fabulous!  We look forward to our conference every packet! 

Easter is coming....

March 15: Day 75
The girls are counting down the days to Easter and of course spring break.  They used their own money and bought window markers.  What you don't see are the windows in the living room, playroom, all the bedrooms, classroom and all the mirrored closet doors. 

It's only March!

March 14: Day 74
The girls were thrilled to be getting into their swim suits today.  San Diego is truly the nicest place to live.  Although they looked like they were ready to hit the water, it still was a bit chilly to actually turn on the hose.  But that didn't stop them from running around hoping summer would come soon. 

My music fairy...

March 13: Day 73
I realize it has been about a month since I've posted to this blog, but no need to worry, I've been taking pictures daily. 
Sarah is showing a lot of interest in piano these days.  I'm not entirely sure it's a true interest in the learning to play or just the fact that she is interested in anything her big sisters are doing.  Either way, I'll encourage any interest in music I can kindle.