Starrs In Denver

And Now For My Last Post Here...

2008-01-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

This is my 550th post on blogger!

As you may have read below, I decided to start two new blogs for 2008. Here are the links, so you'll have to add them to Google Reader and change the link to me on your blog (if you have one). It'll take me awhile to add all the links from this blog to the new one, but I will!

My personal family blog continues the adventure here: www.6starrs.blogspot.com

My photography blog is here: www.rosestarrphotos.blogspot.com

See you there!
~Rose
p.s. If you'd like to join me in starting a photo blog, please do! The plan (which could change if a better idea pops into my head) is to post every Tuesday two of my favorite photos from the past week. 52 posts for 2008. One in B&W and one in color. Let me know if you do and I'll add your link to that blog.

Pet Surgery

2008-01-07T23:00:00.001-07:00

A few of the kid's stuffed animals had tears or open gaping wounds that needed sewing up. After much pleading, I finally got out the needle and thread and fixed those little guys right up. All is well for the stuffed animals in the Starr household again.
~Rose

Yep, I'm Starting New Blogs

2008-01-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

This morning I signed up for an AOL email. With that I signed up for a new Google account and am creating two new blogs. One will continue this blog...the family story. The other will be a photography blog like I mentioned below. I'll post the links tomorrow...gotta add a few finishing touches and pic my photos for the photo blog.

~Rose

Out of Photo Storage!

2008-01-07T11:20:00.000-07:00

So I am just about out of photo storage for this blogger account. I would have to purchase storage via Picasa to get more storage. I am thinking about setting up a new account with a new email. Has anyone else come across this?

I am also thinking of setting up a photography blog (thanks to Melissa for the idea) where I post my favorite image or two once a week for all of 2008. Maybe one black and white and one color. Would anyone like to join me in this? I will add your photography blog as a link. Otherwise I am going to keep that blog real clean and simple.

Well, we got the Christmas stuff put away and the house seems bigger! Love that :) All the bedrooms and closets have been cleaned out and all the new toys have a place to be put away. Today Hope and I dive back into school. I am glad to get back into a normal routine. Thank you notes are almost all written and sent off. Later this week I'll dive into creating our family I Photo Album for 2007. Gotta use that 20% off coupon through apple.com!

Happy Monday!
~Rose

A Photo From Hope

2008-01-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

Hope took this a few days ago. I think it's so sweet!Emma (4 in March) is holding a photo of herself as a 1 year old. She still has those wonderfully kissable cheeks!

~Rose

Party On!

2008-01-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

We have truly been blessed with wonderful friends that have become our family. The Friday after Christmas we had a BUNCH of people over for dinner (thanks Courtney, Jeanne, Heather -it was so tasty!) games and lots of laughter. At the end of the night we said our goodbyes and I glanced at the clock thinking, "wow, almost 10...gotta get these kids in bed!" Once upstairs I realized it was really almost 11pm! We had a wonderful time and look forward to our next party. A big shout out to Ryan who played sword/gun fight with Owen and Ezra for hours! I don't think the boys have ever had so much fun fighting anyone! Thanks to everyone else who took the time to play with all the kiddos that night.

The slide show includes photos from the previous night (Thursday). Hope and I got to go see the "White Christmas" musical with everyone because Ryan's folks couldn't make it. They all hired a limo so everyone could go together and not worry about the crazy amounts of snow that kept dumping. Desi and the kids got to jump in to ride along to drop the group off downtown. Needless to say the kids were super excited (so were we) to ride in it! Hope and I had a wonderful time at the show.
~Rose

Spite and Malice

2008-01-04T00:47:00.000-07:00

I was talking to my friend Sharee recently and we got on the subject of card games. She talked about how she grew up playing different games and then mentioned Spite and Malice which triggered an "Oh my gosh!" from me. I used to play that game with my Grandma Nina a lot. It was one of my favorites. I told Sharee I'd Google it to see if I could find the rules. I found them easily and taught Desi last night. We played 4 games! If you like card games, this is a really fun one for two people. Check out the rules here.

I am amazed at how fast the week has gone and how sore I am again from water aerobics. I'm still working on a few projects:

Clean out Desi's clothes
Thank You Notes
APC accounting
Blog about Schaffner visit (slide show)
Salvation army load dropped off
New glasses (got a coupon though!)

I did get quite a bit done though:

Sledding :)
Thank you notes painted by kids
Christmas Away (including outdoor lights)
Exercise 3 times this week (4 if you count sledding)
Clean & organized girl's room and closet
Clean & organized boy's room and closet and hide out
Organized and re-arranged basement
Blogging ;D
Personal accounting
Clean & Organized my closet

The basement has a large donate pile and our upstairs hallway is FILLED with stuff to donate. It's awful how much unneeded stuff we have just filling in spaces. I am glad to be able to purge and get rid of things we are not using or have grown out of. Speaking of grown out of, I found a box of 18-24 month boy clothes and wouldn't you know it...there were snow pants and a nice winter coat in Levi's size! No more Tigger costume to stay warm in the snow. I got rid of a TON of clothes that I won't wear anymore, but found a cute pair of jeans that were previously too small that I fit into now! Hooray!

Now for a game of Uno Spin before the kids are off to bed.

~Rose

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. ~Phyllis Diller

Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they're going to catch you in next. ~Franklin P. Jones

You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again. ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762

A Recommended Recipe

2008-01-02T22:50:00.000-07:00

We got two packages from Desi's Uncle for Christmas. They were filled with wonderful gifts for all of us from Neil and Peggy. The books are wonderful...there's one that is the Polar Express where you shine a flash light through it in a dark room and it shines a picture on the wall. Very unique books that we are all enjoying. Thanks so much for your thoughtfulness Neil and Peggy!

One book was a cook book and Neil recommended a recipe on page 27. Here's a scan of it.

If you cannot read it it says:
ELEPHANT STEW ALA ELLIE DORR

1 elephant (medium)
salt and pepper
brown gravy
2 rabbits (optional)

Cut the elephant into bite-size pieces. This should only take about 2 months. Add enough brown gravy to cover. Cook over kerosene fire about 4 weeks at 465 degrees. Makes 3,800 servings. (To extend it, add the rabbits, but do this only if necessary, as most persons do not like to find hare in their stew.)

Ha ha ha!
~Rose

And Then It Was 2008

2008-01-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

I have to say my first day this year has been lovely. Desi and I slept in a bit and awoke to the sounds of laughter and pitter-pattering of Owen and Emma’s little feet. They were playing some jolly game downstairs and while I was annoyed at how loud they were (two other kids were still asleep), I was filled with joy at the sound of their happy playing.

We enjoyed our traditional cinnamon rolls and quiche for breakfast and then dove into our new games. We played Zingo (Emma’s favorite), SpongeBob Uno (Owen’s favorite) and Kings in the Corner (a new one for our family). Grandma Kate came over for lunch, puzzle putting together and more games. Desi was new to Kings in the Corner, which he really liked. I grew up playing this game (among many others) with my grandmother. Emma and I made Lemon Pudding Cake from scratch and we all enjoyed it while it was still warm. Before we ate, we took out a sheet of paper and wrote out all the blessings from last year that we could think of. Both sides of the page were full!

While our family was blessed with 6 birthdays, an 8th anniversary, vacations, a kitchen remodel, generous gifts from friends and family and new house churches in our network, I think the biggest blessing in our lives has been the gift of friendship and fellowship that we have with the people God has brought into our lives. I have grown closer to my brother than we’ve ever been, I have a couple of close girlfriends that I feel I could confide anything to and they would love, accept and support me. Our kids have numerous people in their lives who love them, interact with them and are great examples to them. Best of all one of our family members is now walking with God!

Our day ended with Micah stopping by to have dinner with us and play a few rounds of Uno Spin before the kids went to bed. They were excited to show off the newly decorated “Starr Kids Club Hideout” which is an extra space behind a wall in Owen’s room. I put up new lights (thanks to Grandma Kate) and cleaned it all up. One side is brick and the other is plywood that goes up to the underside of the roof. I told the kids let’s draw on the wood! We enjoyed creating art all over the wall. I jotted down the date and the kids ages for posterity. Who knows how long we’ll be in this house!

Last night my parents and Mark came over for games and fellowship. I made chicken pot pie, warm spinach salad and monkey bread thinking we’d have more people over. We found a You Tube video of last year’s New York ball drop/countdown to watch with the kids. We joined in the count down and cheered Happy New Year around 8:15. Next year I’d like to have it a bit better planned out (maybe have some poppers or something and let the kids stay up a bit later). As it ended up, everyone left around 8:30 so Desi and I had a quiet evening together. We ended up watching Seinfeld and totally missed the passing of midnight because we were caught up in an episode. Sad, I know.

I decided this past weekend that Hope and I would take another week off school. I have a lot that I’d love to accomplish and skipping school this week will really help. We already have began working on the first thing on the list: Organize toys (throw out broken toys, donate unwanted old toys and clean up the rest). We have a small selection in the living room, more in the basement and even more up in the kid’s two rooms. I am trying to make their rooms appealing to play in. They are used to playing down stairs because I’ve had babies sleeping up there the past few years.

The rest of our week will include:

Putting away the Christmas stuff.
Sledding.
Going through all the kid’s clothes (toss, donate or store for the next kid).
Thank you notes written and mailed off.
APC accounting (my volunteer job for our church).
Library trip to pick up my books on hold and pay my $2 late fee.
Blogging (duh).
More game playing with the kids. All of the sudden we love playing games together…how fun! Think of the possibilities as they get older: Rummy games, Risk, Hearts, Texas Hold ‘Em, Monopoly, Catch Phrase, Cranium, Dominos, Majahong, and more.
Exercise and water aerobics on Friday.
Work on Photo books for Owen and Hope’s last birthdays and our family album for 2007 (Apple’s photo books are 20% off till February)
Costco trip (we need kitty litter, paper towels, salad stuff and fruit).
Possible Lens Crafters trip (not counting on this one though). My glasses are over two years old and fall off my face periodically. No good. I need a new prescription!
And the usual laundry, dishes, diapers, cleaning and cooking ;D

Well, here I go rambling on and on…forgive my lengthy post!

May this new year bring us closer to God and those around us. I pray that we are filled with joy and peace that passes all understanding as we put our hope in Him alone. May we bring God’s kingdom here on earth where ever we go and may we find fellowship in the least expected places. May we enjoy God to the fullest each day that He graciously gives us.

~Rose

Hope's First Job

2007-12-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow will be the last day of Hope's first job. Our friends have been on holiday and asked Hope to come over to feed, love and play with their two dogs. Toby and Rudy are so sweet and cute and Hope adores them (of course). She was overjoyed at the prospect of "getting a job". One of our families favorite Arthur (PBS cartoon) books is called Pet Business where Arthur gets a job watching people's pets. Desi has been taking Hope over once or twice a day. He reads and she does her job. Tonight I took Hope and Levi over to love on the dogs before a shopping trip to Target (I will love not buying diapers someday). I wanted to snap a few shots to send to our friends and here they are!

~Rose

Starr Christmas 2007

2007-12-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: This post is long and mostly re-caps our Christmas for our long distance family (but you are welcome to read!) and the slide show is LONG as well.

Create Your Own

We have been wonderfully blessed this Christmas with the love and presence of family and friends. Thank you to all who gave and sent wonderful gifts for all of us. Andy (mentioned in the slide show) is Micah and Mark's room mate who moved here in Nov and stayed in our house with the guys while we were in Cali. He is a sweet guy and gave our family really fun gifts. Thanks Andy! Our youngest turned 18 months old on the 26th and the other kiddos are at such a wonderful age for Christmas morning excitement. They were very good about taking turns and waiting patiently for others to open their gifts. We played all day with new toys and games. What fun!

Christmas Eve ended up being just our family, which was unexpected. We had planned on my brother, his friend (we'll call him Jay-more on him later) and Mark. Mark ended up cooking at the guy's house (where Jason and Jay were staying) and invited neighbors over to watch football. Our family had a simple candle light dinner, listened to the Christmas passage from the Bible, and took funny Baby Jesus pictures. We put the kids to bed early, finished wrapping gifts and enjoyed a movie.

My parents arrived Christmas morning around nine with quiche and cinnamon rolls in hand. Mark had to work (RTD never sleeps) and Jason and Jay arrived about an hour later. The day was filled with opening toys packaged like Fort Knox. Thankfully we had all the batteries we needed and there were plenty of people for various games. The trash we created was pretty amazing...but with four kids all getting gifts from an aunt, an uncle, a great uncle, 4 grandparents and 6 great grandparents (as well as a few friends) what else would you expect?!

Mark worked a split shift and came over for a late lunch before returning to work. He said it wasn't busy, but he had some homeless folks get on his bus just to get out of the cold. My parents left around 2. We had a simple spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread and ceasar salad dinner. Jason and Jay stayed late so they could pick Mark up after his shift was over and go back to the guy's house. All in all it was a wonderful day despite being cooped up inside all day and we were very blessed.

Back to Jay. Jason met him in Boulder (where he goes to CU Boulder) a few months ago. Jay has been homeless for about 8 years. He has an abandoned truck with a covered bed that he sleeps in. Jason has been spending a lot of time with Jay, inviting him to hang out at the frat house and has brought him down here on Saturdays and Sundays for the past few weeks (they stay at the guy's house). Jay's father left when he was young, his mother has joined the Mormon church and says that Jay is unfit for heaven and pretty much ignores him. He has a typical history with drug abuse, ect... He has lots of issues and is on meds for a few things. Currently he is waiting for disability to start and says that because of his metal issues that it's really hard to hold down a job for any length of time. He talks about his future with some hope though. He wants to go to college to be a lawyer ("to fight for the little guy" and "then my mom will be proud of me" as he told my mom). He wants to have a place to live and a normal life.

Overall, I see him as a lost and hurt soul who really needs love. He's been wounded and has a very high and thick wall up so he won't get hurt again. But, I am finding it difficult to show him love. He smells of cigarette smoke mixed with bo, he's pretty grizzly looking and doesn't have the best manners/people skills. I am being totally honest here which is a bit hard. I didn't want to spend my Christmas with him in our house all day! I don't like how he makes everything about him, how he complains about everything and is negative most of the time. I battled my thoughts all day and sort of steered clear of him. My mom was amazing toward him though. She brought him a gift, included him in a game and was just really sweet and kind. The kids have gotten to know him a little over the past month or so and have been totally unbiased to him as well. Emma even climbed up on his lap with a book and asked him to read to her! Upon leaving he thanked us and said it was the best Christmas he's had in a really long time and he doesn't remember when he's had so many home cooked meals. Later that evening he told Jason that being around all of us (including our APC family) has improved his morale. You know as I look back on our day I do not feel like we were robbed of "family time" at all. I am thankful (sort of) for this opportunity to grow!

So, pray for "Jay" that God will reach his lost soul. Pray for my brother as he finds a balance in his friendship with Jay. Jay is the type of person that suffocates a friendship till the other person is done. Jason is feeling this now. Jason just really wants to learn from this and already has grown and learned a lot. It's amazing to see his maturity and love (that is totally from God) towards Jay. Jason wants to help Jay without enabling him to continue down the path he's on. I am praying that Jay will learn and grow from my brother and be open to God who sent Jesus to call sinners to repentance.

I think we all have people who come into our lives who at first glance seem easy to judge. May we be quick to show kindness, love and generosity and very slow to make assumptions or judgments. The world is FULL to the brim of hurting souls in need of a touch, kind word or deed done as unto Jesus by those who love Him. The Bible says we love Him because He first loved us and I think a lot of that love we experience from Him comes through other people here on earth. What are your thoughts?

~Rose

Luke 5:30-32 "And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Our Little Artist

2007-12-28T14:00:00.001-07:00

Our friend Andy (one of Micah's room mates) brought some gifts over for the kids and Desi and I before Christmas. Hope's was an artist's easel set complete with canvas and paints. Hope got right to work the next morning and I snapped a few shots. This was my favorite. Notice the tongue. It moves around while she's really concentrating. I love it! Thanks for the gifts Andy :)We loved the show last night. It wasn't Bing Crosby (I LOVE Bing), but the actors were wonderful and Hope and I really enjoyed our time together. After the show we all went to eat at the Denver Diner open 7 days/24 hours. Hope asked me "What is a diner?" I had a hard time answering her..."Well, they are open all the time, they always have coffee, pie, burgers, fries and breakfast food."

While we were eating the waitress brought over a chocolate milk for one gal at our table. She said it was from the gentleman over at such and such a table. We all looked over, he smiled, made a friendly motion with his hands and was off. It was so surreal. When does that ever happen, except for in movies? A perfect stranger buying another person some treat without expecting anything in return!

And one more pic...my total favorite Christmas pic of Levi.
Man, he is really cute!

~Rose

The Christmas Photos Will Have To Wait

2007-12-27T15:53:00.001-07:00

Hope and I just got invited to go to a musical downtown tonight! Our long time friends the Schaffner Family are in Colorado visiting their oldest daughter and husband. I guess they had two people who are not able to go tonight and they though of us!!!! Desi will stay home with the younger kidlets and Hope and I get to go. We are so excited. The musical is Irving Berlin's White Christmas (my all time favorite musical/Christmas movie) at the Denver Center for Performing Arts. Time to get gussied up and be ready for our limo pick up...can you believe it?!
~Rose
p.s. It's still snowing and I found the cutest little bird foot prints in the snow on our porch. We hung a soda bottle bird feeder near by so we can watch the birds from the window.

Zingo, Walking in the Snow and Gingerbread

2007-12-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

Christmas Morning Smiles!

Well, it's snowing (dumping) again. Yesterday was sunny and warm (sort of). My brother spent Tue night with us. We all slept in a bit and enjoyed coffee and quiche for breakfast. We then played quite a few rounds of Zingo (a new game Emma got for Christmas). We all took turns being the dealer and had a jolly time. Jason wanted to get back to Boulder, so he packed up and slid around a bit on his motorcycle till he got to clear streets.

Once Levi was down for his nap I got the shovel out and finished shoveling our half of the block (the house next door is empty and the other one's owners are on holiday). After that I took the kids on a walk to Safeway so we could rent a movie. We saw they had a gingerbread house kit on sale for $3.75 so we bought it and rented The 12 Dogs Of Christmas. By the time we were home our noses and chins were freezing! We snuggled up in blankets and enjoyed the movie. After dinner we decorated our gingerbread house and then ate some of it. Dec. 26th is Levi's half b-day so he's officially 18 months old! He loved picking the jelly beans off the house but was not into the gingerbread at all. Desi and I watched a movie after the kids went to bed and a few episodes of Seinfeld (The Gum, The Rye and The Caddy) before hitting the sack.

The day was so full that I never sat down to the computer (that hardly ever happens!). So, today I get to catch up on bills, the checkbook, edit and post photos from Christmas, shovel the sidewalk again and enjoy being snuggled up inside on a cold snowy day.
~Rose

I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas!

2007-12-25T08:26:00.001-07:00

Good Morning and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

This is what we woke up to:
This is only the 14th Christmas with snowfall in Denver in the last 100 years! In 2005 we had a high in the 60's on Christmas.
I like little facts like that.

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."
Matthew 1:21

Merry Christmas from the Starr Family to you!!!

~Rose

What to do on Christmas Eve?

2007-12-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

Surprise your kids with a trip to the movie theater! Our kids see a movie in the theater only a few times a year, so it's very special. Little do they know daddy is taking them to the discount cinemas ;) Desi took them to a 2pm showing of Bee Movie which I'm sure they'll love.

I think Desi and I both would have liked to take them, but I opted to stay home while Levi naps and enjoy the peace and quiet. I'll blog a bit, read a few chapters out of my current book (A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren) with a cup of tea, listen to some classical music and start on food prep for tonight and tomorrow's meals. Sounds divine. The only thing missing is a roaring fire...but I'll settle for the dish heater.

Hope your day is lovely.

~Rose

Welcome Home Verity

2007-12-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

Desi and I have friends from back in our Bible College days that we have recently caught up with via the blogging world. They have a beautiful daughter Faith who is a few years old and Kellee gave birth to their 2nd daughter Verity about 3 months ago. Verity was only 28 weeks old. Normal is 40 weeks. Aaron, Kellee's husband started writing about their journey via The V Files blog. We've been praying for Verity to grow and thrive and that they can take her home by Christmas. I just read their last post. She's home! What a beautiful story of God's providence.

May we all be thankful for what God has given us instead of focusing on what we don't have. May we spend time with those we love and make sure they know it by our words and actions.
~Rose

If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle.
-- Vincent van Gogh

Happy Christmas Eve!

2007-12-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

Christmas hath a darkness; Brighter than the blazing noon; Christmas hath a chillness Warmer than the heat of June, Christmas hath a beauty Lovelier than the world can show: For Christmas bringeth Jesus, Brought for us so low.
- Christina Rosetti

Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won't make it 'white'."
~ Bing Crosby (1904-1977), American singer and film actor.

Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect."
~ Oren Arnold

Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more."
~ Dr. Seuss (1904-1991), American author of children's books. From 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas'.

This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ.
- Frank McKibben

Matthew 1:21
And she will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.

On the Cutting Edge!

2007-12-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

The Kylanders came over last Sunday for dinner and brought a gift that was sent to them for both our families from Brent and Lisa. We opened it together and all had a good laugh when we saw it was a Flowbee Hair Cutting System.

After dinner the guys decided to try it out. I had to take some pics (of course). We I-chatted with Brent and Lisa, so they could see it in action. I have no idea how these sold (or are still selling- check it out). You have to pull out the vacuum, plug it in, plug the Flowbee in, attach various hoses and then you can't even get all that close of a cut. We didn't really read the directions though. Too much work and too many hoses for a hair cut. I prefer clippers and scissors. It's not that hard to sweep up the hair after.

Desi even tried it on Owen the next day. NOT A GOOD IDEA. That one ended in tears and had to be fixed with the clippers. Josh did a great job on Desi's hair, but I did have to clean it up a bit with my clippers!

Thanks again Brent and Lisa. That was a great gift ;) Now, who do we pass this baby along to who will appreciate it? Any takers?
~Rose

Happy 1st Day of Winter!

2007-12-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.

~Bill Morgan, Jr.

Mullet in Turquoise

2007-12-20T17:46:00.001-07:00

We got this picture in the mail recently from our friend Kelley (in the black). That's my husband (right corner) at a science fair in 8th grade. Let's see, 8th grade was 1990/1991 and we see that shoulder pads are in as well as mullets and turquoise.

Thanks to Kelley for the laughs. It was great to see you and meet your wonderful family last month!

~Rose

Super Sledding Saturday

2007-12-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we were invited to my parent's house for lunch. Honestly I didn't really want to go since I still had so much to do, but looking back I am so glad we did. I think we all needed to get out and enjoy time away from home. I thought we could try sledding if it was warm enough. The sun was shining so we geared up to go out before lunch. Levi got a present early: a little sled thing with a seat and seat belt. The kids took turns pulling it and if for that day alone, it was worth the price! Desi and mom worked on setting up a berm to start off from and away the kids went. I love our "boogie board" type of sled. It's flexible and light weight. I think we may need another one...it's hard to wait your turn when 6 people are sledding. We all went down, even Grandma and Desi and I. What fun! I love being outdoors when the ground is covered in snow. It's magical. I feel God's love when I am in His beautiful creation.
~Rose

The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found? ~J.B. Priestley

Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella. ~Pepper Giardino

There's one good thing about snow, it makes your lawn look as nice as your neighbor's. ~Clyde Moore

3.8 Million Packages

2007-12-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

"By midnight, the metro area expected to take in about 3.8 million packages, the second-heaviest volume, behind Phoenix." -John C. Ensslin for the Rocky Mtn News

Yesterday I skipped school with Hope in order to finish my Christmas cards and get my packages to be mailed all ready to go. Desi agreed to take them to the post office for me so I could get dinner ready. He went to our BIG downtown post office and I told him, hopefully you won't be in line for a long time, but be prepared! While he was waiting, a reporter from the Rocky Mtn News came in to interview people. He wanted to know where packages were going, what people were sending, ect... He asked Desi if this was late for him to be mailing the boxes. Desi told him, for me no, but since it's my wife, yes it's late for her because she usually has her act together. I searched on line for the article and low and behold, Desi got quoted in it! Here's the link.

Now I'm off to mail the last three to my grandparents and Desi's parent's house. I had ordered something earlier in the month and finally they arrived this morning. They are wrapped and ready to go. I hope they make it on time!
~Rose

Snowballs and Uno

2007-12-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

This shot cracks me up...it's so hard to get all four kiddos in one shot, and i just love this moment that I happened to capture.
And Levi in the Tigger costume- too cute!
Hope made snowballs for everyone with our snowball maker. I know, a snowball maker...we got it on clearance at the end of the season and it's great!

Yep, they eat their snowballs. I explained how dirty the snow really is.
They don't care. Gross.

My Christmas card helper. Seven year olds are great!

My dinner helper. Counter tops are great!

Our new favorite past time. UNO. We LOVE this game...especially Owen. All five of us play and I am amazed to see Owen and Emma learning their numbers as a result. We play Sponge Bob Uno where there is a wild card that when played the person with the least amount of cards has to pick one from the deck and one from the players to the right and left of them. Very exciting. The kids are learning the joy of playing games and are learning that you can lose a game and still have fun. Good lessons for little people!

I just finished my Christmas shopping last night! What a great feeling. I have 7 packages to mail and still have a bunch of cards to mail as well, but we still have over a week. We made peppermint bark to give to our neighbors...hopefully this afternoon. The sun is out and Denver is defrosting, which is nice. I am hoping for a White Christmas though.

As far as exercising goes, I LOVE water aerobics! I was so sore for two days from Friday's workout. I am usually getting two 30 minute stationary bike workouts in every week as well, but would like to up that. I am finding that it is difficult to start out on the bike, but once I get over that "hump" I really can enjoy the workout and all that sweat! I am amazed at how getting moving is helping me to get up earlier. I love to sleep. Always have, always will. I had been wanting to get up earlier though to have some quiet morning time to read and pray. For awhile I was not exercising and just doing my morning time but it was so hard. Now it is so much easier. I did not expect that at all. Thanks for all the encouragement from you my friends!

Happy Sunday to you. May you find time to connect with your Creator and enjoy some peace, joy and love of family or friends. Find your Uno deck and grab some kids for some fun!

~Rose

One More California Slideshow!

2007-12-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post one last slide show of various pics from our CA trip. We loved the Los Alamos Sports Park playground! The shade tent was wonderful and it was fun to meet old and new friends there for lunch. I took the kids back there one day while Desi had a lunch meeting. Owen almost fell asleep in the sand. It was so warm we were all in flip flops and the sand felt so good between our toes :)

For Thanksgiving we were at Desi's parent's house. Jan drove Papa up from Escondido and we were all sad that Grandma Maxine had to miss out since she was in the hospital. We made the most of it though and enjoyed Shannon's wonderful cooking, Costco pies for dessert and pin the hat on the turkey after dinner. Grandpa Des amazed Owen and Emma with his barrel of monkeys skills and Owen got to show Papa his magnetic car. As far as Grandma Maxine goes, she is doing better at home but is still not fully healthy. Thanks for your continued prayers.

On our last Saturday, we got to spend time with our friends the Eberts and that night our friends the Piphers hosted a potluck for us. It was wonderful to see long time friends. We dined on great food and played Cranium and pool. Thanks again Scott and Tracy (and Megan) we had a wonderful time with you guys!

Sunday the kids got to play a little b-ball and we visited with so many wonderful people at Calvary Chapel Murrieta. That night we were treated to the best carne asada tacos at Joe and Rosie's. Somehow I failed to get a pic of their dog (which I wanted to steal). Our kids loved playing there and it was so hard to leave!

The last pic is of Owen and Emma sharing a rocking chair. Amazing. They are touching and smiling at the same time! Precious moments :) Thanks again to our family and friends. We miss you and are blessed to have you in our lives.
~Rose

Home School Weekly Digest

2007-12-09T15:08:00.000-07:00

Boy was it a challenge for me to get back into "school" mode with Hope! I have so much to catch up on after being gone, but it was nice to take the afternoons to spend with her and just rest from my to-do list.

For science she is studying birds right now. Each state that we study has a state bird that we learn about and she colors it in on the state sheet. We had a few fun activities this past week. One was to make nests that we could eat. We did not have the exact ingredients so we substituted. We melted and mixed 1 cup choc chips with 1 cup peanut butter (aka: mud). Into that we mixed shredded wheat (aka: grass) and Fiber One cereal (aka: twigs). Hope formed 4 little nests. It was pretty hard to do! We put them in the fridge to harden and then served them with red grapes (aka: eggs) for dessert. Yum!
At the end of the week we used an empty soda bottle to make a bird feeder. I don't have a photo of it outdoors, but we hung it up at the end of our porch so we can see it from the front window. Hopefully the birds will find it before the squirrels figure out how to reach it!
We are studying each state as it joined the Union. Last week was Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and South Carolina. For each day we find the state on a map, color it in on a paper map and the color the state sheet. Hope loves to look at the state card which shows in color the state bird and flower. I read some interesting facts or a library book about that state.

We are learning America The Beautiful now and listen to it a few time a week. Hope loves to sing. We also started reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's book Farmer Boy. She writes in such a captivating way. Hope did her dictation from her favorite part of the book: Almanzo goes into the barn and watches the new baby horses. He's not allowed to touch them, but still they are his favorite. Almanzo is 9 in the book and grew up to marry the real Laura who authored the books. Farmer Boy tells of his life growing up on a farm.
Farmer Boy has a part in it where Almanzo remembers a popcorn and milk trick. You can fill a glass full of milk and another the same size full of popcorn. One at a time put the popcorn in the glass of milk and it will not overflow. It sounded pretty amazing so we tried it.
Wouldn't you know, it worked! Owen and Emma ate all the soggy popcorn-ewwww.
My mom took the older two to story and craft at the library so I could get more to-dos checked off. They made Christmas wreaths from red and green cut outs of their hands and then put glitter glue all over them. Later that day we prepared lentil soup. There was a lot of chopping involved and I figured Hope was old enough to use a REAL knife under supervision. She was so excited. She chopped carrots, celery and potatoes. Owen and Emma did not want to be left out, so they used butter knives to "chop" green beans. The soup was delicious and everyone ate some because they helped make it.
~Rose
p.s. Hope vacuumed and mopped the whole main level yesterday. All I had to do was sweep! She told me she loves house work. Now if that is not music to my ears, I don't know what is!

We Love Snow!

2007-12-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

But then again, we don't exactly live in the mid west! Here in Denver we get snow, the sun comes out, melts it in a few days and we're ready for more. It does not stay "white" all winter long here. I doubt I'd love it as much if I had to deal with it daily for months on end. Here are a few pics from the kids playing outside tonight. They were in and out all day, usually playing alone, but tonight all four got in on the action. Even Bedhead (our cat) made it out for a bit. Owen called to me, "Mom, there's a mystery out here! Some dog got in our yard! Look at the foot prints!" I was sort of bummed to tell him it was the cat, but he thought it was pretty cool anyhow.

Hope got to go with my mom to the Ladies Christmas Tea last night. It was sort of short notice and I wish she had something really fancy to wear, but she looked wonderful in her cute brown outfit. She even got new shoes to wear with it! They had a wonderful time. Thanks mom for taking her!
~Rose

Water Aerobics

2007-12-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right...water aerobics. I joined my friends Shannon and Brian this morning at an indoor pool for an hour of kick my behind aerobics. There were 7 of us in the class (4 older gals) and us three young'ns. Our instructor is a really unique guy, which makes the class even more fun. He wore his sweat pants in the pool. Weird. He's totally buff though...so he must be doing something right.

I am so sore...all over. That water resistance is amazing and I love how low impact it is. It's a whole lot easier to do these exercises in the water than on land, but still a great work out. I'll be taking this class Mondays and Fridays from 8:45-9:45am. I am so pumped about it! The cost is minimal ($3 a class for non members) and it will add variety to my work outs. I'm down three pounds this past week. Hip Hip Hooray!

~Rose

Please Pray for Maxine

2007-12-06T17:02:00.000-07:00

My husband's grandmother was in the hospital for about a week or so while we were in CA over Thanksgiving. She was very sick, but got healthy enough to go home (still being very weak and not fully recovered). We took the kids to see her before we left and she seemed to be doing better each day and even came outside for a bit.

Well, we got a text from Desi's mom that her mom was getting worse today. Please pray for Jan (Desi's mom) to have strength, patience, love, and wisdom as she helps her mom and dad. Pray for Maxine's healing as well and poor Jerry as he see's how sick his wife is. Thanks so much!

Here are a few pics of our trip to their house.
~Rose

Music Is A Gift

2007-12-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

I just emailed a friend. We have been discussing teaching math to our daughters and eating right (eating foods the way God created them) and getting our bodies moving. I shared with her this song that has been ministering to me lately. I am amazed at the gift that music is to us. It really helps me in many situations throughout the day...calms me down, lifts me up or gets me moving. The kids love music too...in many varieties. I thought I'd share this song with you. Moms with little ones at home, I'm sure this will bless you!
~Rose

If you want to mute the song from the slide show below just click on the sound icon in the bottom left corner of the slide show box!

Caedmon's Call
Sacred
Words and Music by Randall Goodgame and Andrew Osenga
(c) 2007 House of Mirrors Music (ASCAP) admin. by Simpleville Music, Inc. / 2007 Mighty Molecule Music. (ASCAP) admin by Music Services

this house is a good mess
it’s the proof of life
no way would I trade jobs
but it don’t pay overtime

I’ll get to the laundry
I don’t know when
I’m saying a prayer tonight
cause tomorrow it starts again

could it be that everything is sacred?
and all this time
everything I’ve dreamed of
has been right before my eyes

the children are sleeping
but they’re running through my mind
the sun makes them happy
and the music makes them unwind

my cup runneth over
and I worry about the stain
teach me to run to You
like they run to me for every little thing

when I forget to drink from you
I can feel the banks harden
Lord, make me like a stream
to feed the garden

wake up, little sleeper
the Lord, God Almighty
made your Mama keeper
so rise and shine
rise and shine cause

everything is sacred
and all this time
everything I’ve dreamed of
has been right before my eyes

p.s. You've got to hear it too...the whole album is great if you like their stuff.

I got in seven miles on the bike last night and I start water aerobics on Friday with a friend. We'll do it two days a week (M & F) and I'll do cardio and strength training 3 days a week.

Photograhphy Is Calling My Name

2007-12-03T15:22:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine recently posted some of her beautiful photos on her blog. She talked about being on a "picture high" and I can totally relate. I have been sorting through the almost 700 photos I took while on vacation. I want to use them for Christmas gifts this year and am researching ideas. If you look at her photos (she's got the gift) you'll notice her name on the photos. I wanted to start to do something like that. Copyright my stuff. Put my name on it. Not totally sure how to go about it, but following her advice to use the website Picnik I played around with this photo a bit. Too much fun for me with my to do list, but I look at this as taking a little break! I think it came out well and I like it, which is all that matters in such a subjective thing as art. ~Rose
~Rose

Tim & Lauren's Wedding

2007-12-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

Finally I am getting these pictures up. Tim and Lauren got married November 11th in the Temecula wine country. It was so picturesque-like out of a movie! We had such a blast at this wedding! It was fun to see friends that we have not seen for a year or longer. Desi was the best man and gave a great, if not long, toast. The dinner was super yum and we finished the night off with dancing. Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day!
~Rose

Deck The Halls

2007-12-01T14:51:00.001-07:00

The kids have been dying to get the Christmas tree out. After unpacking (all the suitcases except for the hand-me-down clothes), we gathered up the fall decorations and boxed them up. My brother came over and while Desi was gone studying we put up the tree and decorated it. The kids loved seeing which ornaments had their names on them (I buy or make a new ornament for each kid every year and write their name and the year on them). Little Levi got in on the action as well. We had to put all the breakable ornaments at least 2.5 feet up and higher. I told the 3 olders that their job is to find ornaments that Levi takes off the tree and put them back on. They were so bugged that he kept "messing up" the tree.

Here is my favorite snap shot from yesterday: look at all those toes!Before:After:

Oh to have the sheer joy these kids had in decorating the tree. May God grant each of us His peace and joy in this season.

~Rose

Thanks!

2007-12-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

My sweet friends...thanks for your encouraging words. I totally feel that I am not alone in this and thank you all for your little bits of advice and encouragement. I just sliced 5 bananas into a bowl, added honey, oats and flax seeds, gently mixed and put on a cookie sheet into the freezer. I love frozen banana slices! I know it's the little things like that...frozen banana bits instead of Whoppers. Salads instead of sandwiches. Watching my portions/calories. Most of all-getting my body MOVING! I am excited to be on this road. Thanks for joining me!

For those who asked, yes it's a stationary bike. I used resistance 2. I'll work up to higher resistance and longer times. I did leg, arm and stomach exercises as well. I'd like to exercise in the mornings, but realistically late afternoons will probably work better. Desi's gone today till Monday night, so I'll have to get creative for the workouts until he gets back.
~Rose

Fitness - if it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body. ~Cher

The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, side-stepping responsibility, and pushing their luck! ~Author Unknown

If your dog is fat, you're not getting enough exercise. ~Author Unknown

Five Miles

2007-11-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

Five miles on the bike tonight!
The first few workouts are the hardest.
~Rose

Home Sweet Home!

2007-11-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

We all slept so well last night! It's so good to be home. We had the best trip yet to Cali, but there really is no place like home. It even felt good driving around last night as we picked up dinner. Weird. It's just so different here than in Murrieta, CA where we stayed for the past 3 weeks and I had no idea how accustomed we had become to things here. I'm not saying it's better here...just diff. One thing I will miss though...the weather was perfectly balmy there. In the upper 70's with a breeze and morning cloud cover. It was 36 degrees when we landed (with snow on the ground). I do love Denver winters though...I just cannot wear flip flops year round here!

Today I have one goal: empty all the suitcases. We had 10 checked bags (including 3 car seats in one bag) and 5 carry ons. Yeah, that is a lot of bags to unpack. Two of them were old suitcases filled with hand me downs. I think Hope got like $300 worth of the cutest jeans, skirts, shirts, coats, ect... Thanks again Rosie if you are reading this! One good thing: most of the clothes are clean :) I'm currently about 3/4 through...all that's left is the clothes upstairs. Levi fell asleep on the couch, so I'm staying down here till he wakes up. Here is my to do list...

My immediate to do list:
Unpack
Mail sorting
Bills
APC accounting
Meal planning
Meal shopping
Get phone looked at-it won't charge with a new charger
Download trip photos (all 680 of them)
Put away Fall decor
Get out Xmas decor & tree
Look over Hope's home school for Monday

Next week to do list:
Christmas Cards (take family photo, order at Costco)
Write a gift list
Newsletter
Weather strip two doors
Exercise at least three times, hopefully 5 times

And now for a true confession: I am overweight. I knew it for awhile now, but have not wanted to admit it. Having to buy a dress for the wedding was not fun. I had to get a size 14 and it was not my first choice for attractiveness. All this to say. I need to exercise so bad. I need to eat better as well. My family will benefit from the choices I make to keep myself healthy. Poor Owen has food sensitivities as well and needs to eat very healthy for his digestive track to work properly, so this change will be good for him too.

I have decided to post my weight and ask you my friends to keep me accountable. I can say it's hard because I have 4 kids and home school, but that is just an excuse. So, here it goes...I weigh 185 pounds! I'm going to put a ticker on the bottom of my blog and keep it updated as to my progress. Thanks for reading!

~Rose

Going Home

2007-11-27T11:29:00.002-07:00

This is how I feel today!

Today is our last full day here in Cali. Time for laundry and packing...a trip to Trader Joes with a gift card we got Sunday. Our last meal with Desi's family. Tomorrow our flight leaves Ontairo at 2pm. I am so thankful to be going home!

Our time here has been amazing. Totally wonderful and amazing. God provided lots of special time for Grandma Jan and the kids before we left for the desert. The second day we were there we heard that G-gma Maxine had to go to the hospital. The whole time we were gone, Jan was busy with her mom and dad. Since Thanksgiving we've only seen her in bits. Lots of Grandpa Des time...and for that we are thankful! Yesterday we saw Maxine. She was doing so much better and is on the road to recovery. Too bad we could not spend more time with her, but God knows. Please pray for her recovery as well as Jan (she is spending a LOT of time down there). I think she'll have to visit us in the Spring for more good Grandma time.

Thanks to all of you who had us over and spent time with us. We are so grateful for the wonderful friends we have here. We will miss you all!

~Rose

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet.
~James Openheim

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.
~Margaret Young

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
~Abraham Lincoln

Tidepools and the Beach

2007-11-23T12:11:00.001-07:00

After saying goodbye to Kameron and Steph, we headed down MacArthur Blvd to the Crystal Cove area. Thanks to Kameron's recommendation we had a blast at the beach. I LOVE the beach and it is the thing I miss the most living in land locked Colorado.

Our Family

Beautiful views

The tide pools and coast

The kids enjoyed finding critters. A lady came out and showed us good places to look and what the rules of the tide pools are. Good stuff to know.

We found this cool coral just laying on the ground.

The kids quickly tired of carefully walking along the rocks and such, so we moved over to the beach. The kids loved the wet sand, running away from the water and finding treasures. Hope asked me why we didn't bring our swim suits. It was so warm I was wondering the same thing. We all got pretty wet. Oh well.

Levi loved the wet sand and chatted with the water. Shells were good for throwing.
It was so stinkin hard to pull ourselves away from the beach. Next time we visit Cali, we are spending more than a few hours here. It will be an all day event!

~Rose

Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among seaweed and whitened timbers like the homesick refugees of a long war. ~Loren Eiseley

Long Time Friends

2007-11-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

These pics are from our first week out here in Cali. We drove down to Santa Ana to see my long time friend Kamron and her son Aidan (sorry we missed you Paul) and our friend Steph (whom Kameron and I have both had as a room mate). The kids enjoyed the cool playground near Kameron's house.

Aidan did so well sharing his toys. The biggest problem was seeing Levi using his old cup!

Steph, Kameron and me. Thanks for your hospitality Kameron! It was a joy to see you and Steph. I am thankful for bloggie land to help us stay in touch :)

~Rose
p.s. pray for Kameron...she's due any day now with baby #2! Doesn't she look wonderful for being 9 months pregnant?!

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. ~C.S. Lewis

It takes a long time to grow an old friend. ~John Leonard

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T12:46:00.000-07:00

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~Melody Beattie

So, Today is Thanksgiving. I have fond memories of past Thanksgivings. Growing up we usually spent it with my mom's side of the family. Grandma Nina (in Lomita, CA) or Aunt Nina (in Carpinteria, CA) would host and all the aunts and uncles and cousins would gather for card games and the feast! I have 7 cousins on that side. Most years we would not all be together since one family is in Australia and another in Washington. But some years we were all together and then even more family of family would come. I loved it as a kid. The games, the conversation, the good food. It brings tears to my eyes when I think back on those fond memories.

As our family grows and now that we live in Denver, the past few Thanksgivings have been different. The Thanksgiving after 911 Desi spent in New York. Grandma Nina had passed away less than a week before 9/11 so we gathered around Grandpa Dave and tried to enjoy the holiday without the one who made it most special. Other years we have spent it with our church family in Denver. This year we find ourselves in California with Desi's family. His grandmother Maxine is in the hospital and won't be with us today. She's been in for almost a week now. They discovered an ulcer, black spots on her lungs and she has penumonia. She should get out tomorrow. Pray for her recovery! Desi is down there now with his mom and grandfather. We will have dinner together this afternoon. We are thankful to be here now and to have this time with Desi's parents, sister and grandparents.

Speaking of thankful, I love the focus of Thanksgiving. Giving thanks is good to do-all the time. It's amazing how it will put things into perspective when you are struggling with something. I pray that you are able to spend some time today (and each day) giving thanks to God from whom all blessings flow. Spend time with your family and friends. Turn the TV off and go on a walk. Talk. Pray. Look into the eyes of those you love and tell them what they mean to you. We do not know what tomorrow will bring. Make the most of today!

I thank you...my blog friends and readers. You are a blessing to me. I blog for soul adjustment and perspective. I hope that I do not paint this "perfect" picture of my life...but rather just honest depictions of little snippets of my life. The "highlights" if you will. Sometimes I confess my sins, my hopes, my strong beliefs and my dreams. Thank you for accepting me for who I am and joining me in my journey. I have enjoyed being a "part" of your lives as well.
~Rose

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~Edward Sandford Martin

Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds. ~Theodore Roosevelt

Camping In The Desert With 9 Children!

2007-11-22T09:44:00.001-07:00

So, we got back last night from the desert. We were about 10 miles from Yuma, Arizona. It was about a 5 hour drive from Temecula, CA where we are staying. We drove up in the motor home and back in a car. David and Sharee brought up their 4 neice/nephews and a friend as well so it was a full house. We played games, rode the quads, enjoyed campfires, made new friends and just relaxed! What a great trip :)

The Gang: Four adults and 9 children!

Hope learned how to ride the little 50cc "little red" and went around this berm track over and over again. Owen learned how to ride it as well and Emma and Levi got rides on it with an adult.

I think we really got hooked on this desert dune thing!

David and Desi on their last ride together. They went out to the dunes and rode up the "hill" twice! That's my man!

This is the "hill"...at the top are two large sand rails and I think that is a quad near the top. David and Sharee are on their way up. I was not comfortable on the 400cc bikes (I rode it once) and my little 90 would not make it up. The hill was way too intimidating for me to go up alone, but I got to go up in Dave Van Hulzen's beefy 4runner. It was probably the most fun I have had since my roller coaster days. We rode with a large group of sand rails and quads and spent probably close to an hour in the dunes going in and out of the bowls.

Sunset on our last night. Buddy (the Adam's dog) was a big hit with Levi. You could hear Levi calling "Buuudee" when he saw him.

I took close to 200 pictures out there, so I have more to share, but this was all I time to load up today. More to come at a later date. We had a blast camping and it was relaxing and fun to be there with many families and kiddos. Hope made a friend named Selah and they are going to be pen pals. Thank you David and Sharee for bringing us out along with your kiddos. This will be one of the most memorable trips our family has ever taken. We are truly blessed and enjoyed our time with you both.

~Rose

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

A Good Family is Worth It's Weight In Gold!

2007-11-15T15:59:00.001-07:00

We are really enjoying our time here. It seems the days go by so quickly though. Yesterday we drove down to Santa Ana to see my long time friend Kameron and old friend/roomie Steph. I still need to download the pics so bear with me :) It was fantastic to see Kameron (who happened to be my BFF in High School and maid of honor in my wedding) and her cutie pie son Aidan. We played at a near by park and then took a snack break in her cute condo. Thanks for your hospitality Kameron. You look fantastic and I'll be praying for a smooth labor and delivery...hopefully sooner rather than later ;)

After saying our good-buys and rounding up our wild and noisy kiddos we headed down MacArthur Blvd to PCH to go to the Corona Tide Pools. Man, we should have brought our suits, it was so warm we could have gone in the ocean. The kids loved the beach and did NOT want to leave. But alas, in Orange County you must beware the traffic on the 91!

Today the family (save Levi and I) went back to Knott's. I am not feeling all that well and wanted to get laundry and snack shopping done before we leave tomorrow for camping (in a motorhome). I think it will be nice to be out there for the next few days and just stay put in one spot. I am not used to all this coming and going (and neither are the kids for that matter). So, I'll be offline till Wed evening :D

Here are a few pics of Desi's family and the kids. They are the best in-laws ever! Grandpa Des-ever sweet and kind. I feel at peace around him.Aunt Shannon in her classroom. She is a fantastic aunt and sister. I only wish we lived closer so we could see her more often.

Grandma Jan, full of wisdom and joy. She brings a positive spirit to our family and is so encouraging and just knows how to have fun with the kids.

Now time for some honesty. I am really struggling with loving Owen on this trip. It's totally my thing and I do not blame him for acting like a child. He is still having bowel issues and it's so darn frusterating to have him continue to whine and cry way more than the girls. He is a really great kid, but I have been having a really hard time with him. It's so hard to admit this, but this is what God is using in my life right now. I do not have health issues, I do not have difficult co-workers, I do not have loss in my life right now. What I have is a boy who needs a lot of love and patience and I am failing at giving it. Please pray for me on this camping trip that I will be able to connect with Owen and find my joy in God in the midst of situations that usually get me angry. I know God wants to help me in this and I am ready to surrender it to Him. Thank you my friends.
~Rose

Little Aunt Shannon and A Potluck Dinner

2007-11-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am so stinkin' tired. But I knew that's how I would feel going into this vacation! Here is a pic from Saturday night. Jan had put on a tape of little 5 year old Aunt Shannon singing Thanksgiving Day songs. She was so cute and our kids had a blast watching her.I met my friend Lori at the Los Alamos Sports Park today for a few hours of playground fun while Desi drove the newlyweds to LAX. Thanks to Des Sr, Levi and I got a little shopping and rest in this afternoon and we all had dinner together once Desi got home. After dinner it was over to the Pipher's to hang out. Speaking of the Piphers, they have graciously offered their house for a get together. I emailed a bunch of people, but if you are reading this and did not get the invite, than this is your invitation! We hope to see you there.

~Rose

You are all invited (and anyone else you know) to come potluck with us!
Where: the Pipher abode
When: Saturday November 24th
Time: arrive 4:30 Dinner at 5pm
Please Bring: a main dish, side dish, dessert or drinks :)

There is a nice pool table so if we get enough people we can have a little tourney. This is a family friendly event so bring your little tykes if you have any. Hope to see you there! RSVP back to me only if you feel like it.

At every party there are two kinds of people - those who want to go home and those who don't. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other. ~Ann Landers

California Adventures With Grandpa Des

2007-11-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

The above pic was taken last Wednesday while waiting for our plane to arrive in DIA. Notice the two goofs to the left of Hope. The next few pics are from the following day when Des Sr. (aka: Grandpa) took us to In-N-Out and Knott's Berry Farm.

This is my favorite shot from the day. Little Emma enjoying Lucy's Tugboat so much that she can do "no hands" all by herself!

~Rose

And We Have Sitters!

2007-11-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

Whew, we've got sitters for the kids! Desi and I took the kids over to CCM yesterday to see Grandpa Des's office and say hi to a bunch of people. We interrupted Aunt Shannon's class and wouldn't you know it, the gal that was recommended to me for babysitting the boys was in her class! I asked and Erica said yes! Yipee! I am very confident that she'll be fine with the boys. I'll attempt to put Levi down for a nap and then there is always the cell phone, so I can come to the condo if needed. What did we do before cell phones? Those poor babysitters just had to deal with the screaming babies (been there, done that!).

Desi is out with Tim doing last minute errands. They have been friends since they were little boys and it's such a blessing to be a part of Tim's wedding. Lauren is super wonderful and a great fit for Tim. We look forward to a life long friendship with them.

The kids have all had one on one time with Grandma Jan and are loving it. They get to spend the night and be the center of attention. Hope's night is tonight. She gets to go see High Tops the musical at CCM with Aunt Shannon and Grandma Jan. Tomorrow we get to church when 1st ends, go to 2nd service, stay till 3rd starts and then Desi is off with Tim to make sure he eats and is dressed and ready by 1pm. I'll have to leave to take the girls to Erin's house by 1:45 or so. The wedding starts at 2:30. After the wedding, I'll grab the girls and head home. Shannon and her boyfriend will come over so we can get to know Gregg a bit better (which will be nice, since we won't get to see him again this trip-he lives up in Northridge-I think).

~Rose
p.s. one of my bestest friends in the whole world (Dori) sent me a link to a great website full of quotes...as you can tell I am hooked! Hope you enjoy the quotes...otherwise ignore them ;)

There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.
~Martin Luther
(of whom we named our son after: Levi Martin Luther Starr)

Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.
~Emily Brontë

Come, let's be a comfortable couple and take care of each other! How glad we shall be, that we have somebody we are fond of always, to talk to and sit with.
~Charles Dickens

Love one another and you will be happy.
It's as simple and as difficult as that.
~Michael Leunig

Sometimes It's Good To Be A Veteran

2007-11-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Des got all 7 of us into Knott's for only $51!!!!! Can you believe it? We arrived shortly after lunch and stayed till the 6pm closing. The weather was cool and cloudy (wonderful) and there were hardly any people there! The kids were pumped and a bit overwhelmed at first. Camp Snoopy was a big hit.

Owen's favorite ride: Charlie Brown Speedway-where the best ride operator ever let the kids ride three times in a row. Emma's favorite ride: the airplanes (even though she never got her's up in the air). Hope's favorite ride (and mine): the LOG RIDE! We did it three times and I could have done it more. Love it! We talked Owen and Emma into joining us on the first go and they were so stinkin scared! Owen said he was not scared, but did NOT want to ride again. The only ride we had to wait in line for was for the stagecoach. All in all it was fantastic. We got home with kids in bed by 9pm. Not bad.

Thank you Grandpa Des for a wonderful day at Knotts and tasty dinner after. To quote Hope, "This was the best day of my whole entire life!"

Tomorrow is Tim and Lauren's rehersal and dinner. Des and Jan will babysit so we can go together. Pray for the kids to be good for their grandparents! We are still working on babysitters for Sunday afternoon (the wedding is from 2:30-8). I'm planning on splitting the kids up if we can so no one is overwhelmed by our four loud children!
~Rose

We should all have one person who knows how to bless us despite the evidence, Grandmother was that person to me.
~Phyllis Theroux

The best baby-sitters, of course, are the baby's grandparents. You feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida.
~Dave Barry

Is It Always So Moist Here?

2007-11-08T10:42:00.000-07:00

We arrived safe and sound in Ontairo, CA yesterday around 1pm. The plane ride was wonderful. The seat near Owen and I never got a body, so Levi had his own space to move around in. The kids did very well and the only bad part was landing...Levi just screamed...I mean SCREAMED for the whole landing. Everyone around us was really understanding and one grandma said some encouraging words to me as I tried to restrain the crazy Levi.

We have a super nice two bedroom condo to stay in in Murrieta. Boy has this place changed and grown since we first lived here over 8 years ago! Calvary Chapel Murrieta has blessed our socks off with providing this place for us to stay as well as gift cards for food and gas.

Grandpa Des is taking us to Knott's Berry Farm today as a surprise for the kids. Grandma Jan is not feeling well, so pray for her as she stays home to rest. We'll get to see Aunt Shannon tonight hopefully and catch up with her. Time to go! I'll post pics in a few days.

I miss all you Denver folk already!
~Rose

APC Fall Retreat 2007

2007-11-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we celebrated Hope's 7th birthday up in the mountains with our church family. She had asked to invite everyone from church so it made sense to celebrate on our retreat. Click here to see all the pics from our fantastic weekend.

I'm 97% packed and totally pumped that I found some new bras today. It's amazing how great a nice new bra can make a mom of 4 feel ;) Looking forward to seeing some of you very soon!

~Rose

"Independence"... [is] middle-class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.
~G.B. Shaw, Pygmalion, 1912

Holy Smokes! 500 posts!

2007-11-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

Yeah, this is my 500th post! I was just going to drop a line to tell ya'll that we had a great weekend up in Dillon, CO with our house church group.

I kind of feel like those big anniversary posts should be special, but this is all I've got ;)

It was such a fun retreat...only one scheduled event...Sunday morning gathering. The rest of the time we ate, sang, prayed, hiked, walked, fellowshipped and just enjoyed each other's company. Levi slept with me (aka: no sleep for momma) and the rest of the kids shared a bedroom with the Kylander kids. It was one big slumber party. I'll post pics soon.

Today I did laundry, science experiments with a pumpkin and the kids, shopped for a few last minute things and just enjoyed being home most of the day. Tonight I had my LTG with S and A. They are such sweet girls and I find a place of peace, love and acceptance with them that is so refreshing in this world. I will truly miss them these next three weeks!

My goal for tomorrow is to check off everything that is on my list and to be packed by tomorrow night. We leave the house at 9:30am Wednesday for 3 weeks in CA!

Micah and Mark (who have moved in) will be taking care of the best cat in the world (Bedhead) and will be watching/taking care of our old girl of a house. We are thankful she won't sit empty for three weeks.
~Rose

"Household tasks are easier and quicker when they are done by somebody else."
James Thorpe

"I must take issue with the term 'a mere child,' for it has been my invariable experience that the company of a mere child is infinitely preferable to that of a mere adult."
Fran Lebowitz US writer and humorist (1950 - )

Library Day!

2007-11-02T15:15:00.000-06:00

Every Thursday we go to the BIG library downtown. They have a wonderfully fabulous story time and free craft at 10:30am. I go every other week with all four kids and my mom to help. The other weeks she will take one or two kids alone. We have really enjoyed getting to know Miss Christy the librarian. She uses colorful voices as she reads, has the kids get up for dancing or songs and uses a theme to tie in the books and craft. Two weeks ago I brought my camera to capture a "trip to the library" for posterity's sake.

The day was so warm we ended up getting wet in the fountains in front of the Art Museum. Mom and I were cracking up because of how happy Levi was (squealing with laughter) and then the older kids started playing follow the leader (Levi was the leader). It was one of the funniest things they have done in a long time. I'm sure the sophisticated adults sitting around sipping their lattes were appalled.

Thanks again mom for all your help and not running away from the noise our kids create.
~Rose

Random Pics

2007-11-02T14:56:00.000-06:00

I found these random shots today. So cute. I made the hat for Emma. Hope wants one now. The flower and trim makes the hat in my opinion!

This is the house next door. Dan moved out last week. The bank sent people to unload the stuff that was left. All day long people came to scavenge. I feel bad for Dan losing the house. It's happening all over the country though. Praying for nice new neighbors. Devin: now you can come stay with us and don't have to sneak in at night!

Dress up fun.

~Rose

Home School Weekly Digest

2007-11-02T14:40:00.000-06:00

Last week Hope began her study of the individual states in the order they joined the Union. We began with Delaware. For each state, she gets a state sheet, learns some facts, puts the flag sticker on and colors the state bird and flower (looking at a colored card for reference). You can pause the slide show to get a longer look at the pages. I had borrowed two books on each state: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Georgia to learn about the states in colonial times and what they are like now. I love the library.

We began reading Indian in the Cupboard for our read aloud since there was no scheduled read aloud this week. Both Hope and Owen are loving the book. We read it over the next week or so. We'll take the next 4 weeks off for our vacation (except for a little Thanksgiving unit and one week of spelling in CA). What a joy it is to teach and I am thankful to be a teacher (it's in my blood).
~Rose

Dumb

2007-11-02T14:21:00.000-06:00

So, I don't know how it happened, but upon erasing some pics from Picasa, they got deleted off my blog. It's like someone ripping photos out of a scrapbook page. Ouch.

I re-posted all the pics (and some new ones) into slide shows for this page. Eventually I'll go back and re post them to the older posts. This is when the perfectionist and impatience comes out in me. I want the blog fixed and I want it fixed correct and asap! Time to learn to let go and have some patience.
~Rose

What? No Snow on Halloween?

2007-11-01T21:41:00.000-06:00

It usually snows on or the day before/after Halloween. Because of this we have usually stayed in our warm house or gone up to Thornton to enjoy the Kylander's fireplace. This year we decided to stay home because Desi had a late afternoon meeting.

The weather turned out to be wonderful. After dinner we suited up the kiddos and hit the streets. Our friend Brian came over with his two cutie pie dogs (his wife was home sick). We saw almost all our neighbors, met many new neighbors and had a blast! Once home we quickly handed out our large bag of dum-dums. It's amazing how CUTE kids are in costumes.

The best part of the night was as we were almost home. A full grown woman came up to the door behind us to trick or treat with her Safeway bag. She had no costume and Desi talked with her a bit. She wondered why people were hassling her for asking for candy and she said Halloween is for adults too. Yeah, that is my neighborhood.

It was the best Halloween for our family yet. I think the reason is the good weather...who wants to trek through snow or bitter cold wind? I think of all the "holidays" that we Americans celebrate, Halloween is the most community centered. When else are most people's porch lights on and doors open with a smiling face behind it? Hope you enjoyed last night too!

~Rose

Art Class- Henry Matisse (And an Autumn Project For You To Do)

2007-10-31T13:15:00.001-06:00

We skipped art class for the past few weeks. This weekend we studied Henry Matisse. I even found a cute book from the library with works from Matisse in it. He was a painter but got ill in his later life and started to "draw with scissors" in bed. The featured piece is called The Sorrows of the King. We got to do a collage piece with musical instruments. The first one is Hope's and the second is mine. I am enjoying this art class as much as the kids!

This is a banner that Hope and I made 4 years ago. It says Give Thanks and is made from construction paper, raffia and bits o' nature. The last two pics are close ups of a few letters. Some were glued on and some were sewed on. This is a great project to do on (or before) Thanksgiving. Take a little nature walk with lunch sacks for the kids. Have them gather bits o' nature to use for making the banner. I have loosely stored this for the past few years and it's done amazingly well. Hope you enjoy it if you choose to make one!

~Rose

Happy Birthday Hope!

2007-10-30T20:48:00.001-06:00

Our oldest turned 7 today...SEVEN! Where oh where has the time gone?! We celebrated with breakfast of her choice...oatmeal (because Grandma Kate made her pancakes yesterday, Hope reasoned). We still had to do school, but not much. We skipped math today. We took off for an early dinner of Hope's choosing. Those Olive Garden commercials did the trick, so Olive Garden it was! Once home, Hope opened a few gifts and we are currently watching Meet The Robinsons. It's a great movie about the value of family (no matter what your family looks like or how God brought it together). Here are a few pics from the evening. Thanks to Nana Daphne for the savings bond and $7, Grandma Jan for the cabbage patch doll and the Garvey Grandparents for the check!

I thank God daily for Hope and the beautiful, smart and gifted girl that she is. She is a true joy in my life and helps to keep me sane in this noisy house! Hope loves art, babies, kittens and playing make believe. I am blessed to be her momma and excited to see what God has in store for her in the future.

We are getting ready for our church retreat this weekend in the Dillon area. We'll have a little party for Hope up there on Saturday with cake and family and friends. Once we get back from that on Sunday I have two days to get us packed and ready for our California trip. We'll be gone from the 7th to the 28th. Our friends Micah and Mark are moving in, so the house will not be empty, which is always nice. They are looking to rent a bigger place and hopefully will have found something by the time we get back ;)

~Rose

Cheap Thrills and Not-So-Cheap Costumes

2007-10-30T11:47:00.001-06:00

Here are a few more pics from last weekend. God really blessed me with providing friends to come over and fellowship. I don't really like being alone for long periods of time! The kids and I picked up wooden leaves at Hobby Lobby to paint Friday night. My brother came over and we enjoyed fellowship and rented Wild Hogs. With the low expectations we had for the movie, it was rather enjoyable! Here are my darlings painting. The wooden leaves were $1.50 each, so for less than $5 we had a easy fall craft that now adorns our wall. Painting is a FAVORITE thing to do in our house. I included a few close ups of the new costumes as well. Dress up is another favorite in our house so I know we'll get good use out of the costumes.

I was blessed to have Brian and Shannon come over Sat to watch the game with me and we had church after until after midnight. I was encouraged with the fellowship. I skipped Sunday morning...had these great plans for sleeping in...but alas, Owen, Emma and Levi were up VERY early...and I did not have a good attitude about it. My folks came over for lunch and much to my surprise and delight, Mark and Micah offered to make dinner Sunday night. A few more friends came over to watch our Rockies lose...(we were swept by those Red Socks) and my neighbor Nafisa and her daughter joined us for dinner as well. I was so blessed to have people around and enjoy fellowship with them. Now if I could just get time to connect with Desi and hear how his weekend went!
~Rose

My Father's World New Customer Discount

2007-10-30T11:35:00.001-06:00

The curriculum that I am using for Hope and Owen is on sale right now for new customers until Dec 21st. I cannot say enough about how well My Father's World is put together. I love how it's Biblically centered. The hands on activities are really quite easy and fun. The curriculum is very flexible, you can start any time of the year and your kids will love it!
Check it out here.

~Rose

Home School Weekly Digest

2007-10-29T11:06:00.001-06:00

So last week Hope learned about how Jesus is the giver of living water. Boy it's interesting to talk to her about our spirit vs physical bodies and how we can thirst in both ways. We read about the woman at the well and how Jesus told her that if she drank the water He would give her she would never thirst again.

I was talking to my brother about it Friday night...the difference between our bodies and our spirits...and how we are truly spiritual beings.

He quoted C.S. Lewis: "You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

Ponder that one for awhile!

We learned more about George Washington this week and how he became our first president.

We made Johnny Cakes out of cornmeal...another pioneer dish. It was commonly served with apple butter (which I found at the store). We enjoyed a tea party with the Johnny Cakes, apple butter and tea.
How fun...and messy.

For science we did experiments with water. We put some dry pinto beans into a cup, added water and covered it with plastic wrap...by the end of the day they had soaked up most of the water and had swelled up and over the top. Cool.

We listened to highlights from the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky. What beautiful music he made. We will continue to study his music this week. Math continues to go well, but is really a struggle for her. Hope got 100% on her spelling test, which elated her. We had finished Sarah Witcher's Story last week and have a few weeks with no scheduled reading. We started a Nancy Drew (written at a younger level...shorter book) mystery about a pony. Hope loves it-of course. She did a wonderful job with dictation this week and had a good attitude through it. Thank You Lord!

~Rose

The Flash, a Princess, Tigger and a Chicken...

2007-10-28T10:58:00.000-06:00

Today the kids and I went to Carrie's Halloween Outreach/Party for her neighborhood kiddos. We had a blast! There was a great turn out and she had a wonderful team of people who put on a really fun party! We are praying (and you can too) that God will draw people to Carrie's house as she starts a church in it. She is specifically wanting to reach the families in her neighborhood and will begin meeting soon.

Hope and Owen had grown out of most of the dress up clothes we have. I discovered that Target's Halloween stuff was 25% off, so we went shopping today. I ended up buying new costumes for all 4 of them. I couldn't resist...would you just look at that pic of Levi? And Emma as a chicken...hilarious! So, to make my investment worthwhile (and justify the cost) I am going to use Levi's as a winter coat. Whenever we go out and will be in the cold I'm gonna stuff him into the Tigger suit....what wonderful winter gear! Hope's dress is a bit big, so she'll have something to dress up in for at least another 2 years...Owen's Flash suit can be handed down to Levi and the chicken suit...well, I hope to convince Levi to wear it at some point.

Check out all the photos Micah and I took here!
~Rose

Another Meme (pronounced to rhyme with theme)

2007-10-27T09:42:00.000-06:00

My friend Toni has tagged me for this 4x9 meme. What is a meme you may ask? Here is a great link to find out more.

So, onto my 4x9 meme...

Four Jobs I've Had:
1. At 17 my dad made me get a job. I was content with allowance money and the occasional babysitting job. He picked up an application to Blockbuster Video in Costa Mesa, CA. I worked there for 3 months, joined cross country and oh, what a bummer...I had to quit because I was in a sport for school!
2. After Bible College I worked part time at Oscar's On The Pond which is now called Pat & Oscars in Temecula, CA as a waitress. I was happy to quit that job...hard work! I love their bread sticks and greek salads and whenever we visit Desi's family I have to eat there!
3. At the same time I had #2 job, I worked part time at Family Fitness or 24hour Fitness as it's now called. I was a babysitter. Yeah, I was glad to quit that job too.
4. I have worked at 2 book stores: Springs Of Life at Calvary Chapel Conference Center in Murrieta Hot Springs, CA and the bookstore at Calvary Chapel Murrieta in you guessed it, Murrieta, CA.

Four Movies I'd Watch Over and Over Again:
1. Lord of the Rings
2. White Christmas and other oldie but goodie musicals like the Sound Of Music and Singing in the Rain
3. The Count Of Monte Cristo
4. Christopher Guest Films such as Mighty Wind, Best in Show and Waiting For Guffman
To tell you the truth, I don't really like watching movies again once I've seen them. If I do, I usually read, crochet or blog at the same time.

Four Places I've Lived:
1. Los Angeles, CA (born in Englewood)
2. Huntington Beach, CA (most of my childhood...I love the beach...it's the only thing Denver does not have going for itself...oh, and Trader Joes)
3. Twin Peaks, CA (Bible College in the Mtns of So CA...my first taste of real winter...loved it)
4. Murrieta Hot Springs, CA (Where Desi and I had our first apartment in an area we called "ghetto hawk" because it was a low income area (still nice) and all the housing areas that were being built surrounding us had silly names like "red hawk and silver hawk, ect...")

Four TV Shows I Watch:
1. Survivor
2. The Office
3. Kid Nation
4. Extreme Makeover Home Edition
We do not have cable...rabbit ears provides limited channels, otherwise I would watch tv all day...cooking shows, decorating shows, real estate shows, nature shows, TLC, ect...

Four Places I've Been:
1. Bermuda (thanks to my parents)
2. Kauaii (thanks again to my parents)
3. Mt Rushmore (thanks to Tim Bergon)
4. Victoria, Canada (thanks to my parents and Desi-been there twice)
I'd like to take this moment to give a shout out to my parents for all the wonderful camping trips they took Jason and I on as kiddos. From Mexico (3 times), to Yosemite, to Yellowstone, to Sequoia and many others, THANK YOU! I have such fond memories from all those trips.

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
1. Yahoo Mail
2. Google Reader (to keep up on my wonderful blogging buddies)
3. My Father's World Message Board
4. My own blog to read the devotional and see if people have commented...some comments are emailed to me and others are not...weird.

Four Of My Favorite Foods:
1. Seafood
2. Good Pizza
3. Good Chinese
4. Panini Turkey Sandwiches with Avacado

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now:
1. Reading or sleeping in the sun on a quiet, clean beach.
2. Out to coffee and lunch with a good friend.
3. On a date with my man.
4. Reading or watching a movie with my man in front of a roaring fire.

Four Blogger's I've Tagged:
Well, if you are reading this, you are tagged, but to make it official, I'll tag a few...
1. Becky in Plavanland
2. Dori
3. Josh or Lori
4. One of the Phams

~Rose

A Drive By

2007-10-25T22:23:00.001-06:00

I snapped this shot from the van window on our way home from my folks house last Saturday. It was such a picturesque autumn day. This is our state capital. The view from the dome is amazing (360 degrees). I got to go up this summer and got great shots, but alas...somehow they were deleted. Que sera sera.

I am reading 2 & 3 John and Jude for my LTG this week. The end of Jude is just beautiful.

Jude 24-25 "Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

~Rose

p.s. pray for me...Desi will be out of town to Virginia from early tomorrow am to late Sunday night! He is going to a house church gathering conference thing. At least Levi is not an infant anymore...but I have a feeling it will be a long three days...moms...you know what I mean!

A Visit To The Grandparents

2007-10-24T21:59:00.000-06:00

We went to my parents house for lunch last Saturday. Here are a few shots I snapped.
~Rose

Rainbow Cat

2007-10-23T20:47:00.000-06:00

Hope recently borrowed a cute book from the library and we noticed that the author was also the illustrator. There was a little blurb about her in the back. I told Hope that she could write books as well and perhaps make books for a job someday. She then proceeded to create her own book. She asked me to write, but the words are hers. Enjoy her book!

~Rose

Home School Weekly Digest

2007-10-22T17:37:00.001-06:00

I took so many pictures last week I needed to put them into a slideshow! We had a full week and enjoyed many hands on activities...which is only one of the many great parts of Hope's curriculum. We made hasty pudding...like in the song "Yankee Doodle"(which we listened to a few times)...there is a line that says "the men and boys were thick as hasty pudding". Hasty pudding is milk and cornmeal cooked till thick. We enjoyed it with butter and maple syrup. We learned about Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. We used berry ink and a quill pen to write our names like John Hancock did. Here is the dictation that Hope did from the book we just finished. Very cool story...if your kids like to listen to you read aloud I really recommend this book: Sarah Whitcher's Story by Elizabeth Yates. It's about a little girl who got lost and her bravery, her father's unwavering faith in God and a stranger who had a dream (or vision) about her and walked 30 miles to help find her (which he did). Ollie (mentioned in Hope's dictation) was a bear whom Sarah mistook for her family dog.

Here is a picture Hope drew with the quill pen and berry ink. I think it's for you Abby!

I tried my name...it was a bit difficult to figure out the quill pen. Hope wrote the other names. The ink was bright purple and dried really dark purple. I am thankful for modern pens after trying out the quill.

Owen did two days of school this week. We have one day left in the first unit (Ss, sun, Jesus is the light of the world). Each unit has 6 days of work and we are taking our sweet time. Owen needs to develop better small motor skills and hand eye coordination. I brought out salt (couldn't find my cornmeal) and poured it on a cookie tray for him to practice writing in. He loved it! He also made a sun dial and practiced writing with a pencil.

~Rose

1st Snow!

2007-10-21T17:28:00.001-06:00

We have never (in our last 4 winters) had snow this early. Usually we see the white stuff around Halloween for the first time. We were pleasantly surprised to see this beautiful sight this morning:

I took Hope and Owen out this afternoon to get some winter gear. They both needed boots and Owen needed a coat. We got a really nice coat on sale for $19.99 and found wonderful boots for Hope (also on sale), but no boots in Owen's size. We'll go to another Target later this week. The winter boots they make for kids the past few years are great...with velcro straps, they can put them on without any help! Emma was super excited about her hand-me-down Sponge Bob boots (thank You Lord!) and is using Owen's Gap coat from last year. It's the nicest coat in the house...thanks to Heather who snagged it at a Gap sale! We just LOVE winter around here and are ready for more snow!

~Rose

Fun With The Kitchen Sink

2007-10-21T16:41:00.000-06:00

Levi has been restless with teething lately which means he's grouchy. Last week I found something to occupy him for a bit. Playing in the kitchen sink proved to be very entertaining (for Levi and myself). Don't you just love those chubby toes?! By the way, this week he went from more crawling than walking to almost all walking! He's so fun to watch walk. It's the little things I enjoy so much :)
~Rose

Stapleton Central Park Playground

2007-10-19T08:51:00.000-06:00

We got a tip from a neighbor that Stapleton, which is a relatively new development to the east of us (about a 10 min drive) had a really great playground that the kids would love. Boy was she right! This place was amazing and simply blew me away. I love this new modern playground and how it makes kids use their imaginations a bit more and really get creative with their play. HERE is a great article from the Denver Post with this title:

New playgrounds exercise kids' fancies

The Denver area is in front of a nationwide evolution in play spaces of the future, designed to work minds and muscles.

Now for some (ok...a lot) of pictures I took from our visit almost two weeks ago. Micah and Mark joined us and we all had a blast. Give me a call and we'd be happy to meet you there!

~Rose

One Of My Favorite Things

2007-10-17T19:45:00.001-06:00

So this silver pitcher was given to me by my mom's mom- Ninalee Wilkinson. It is one of my favorite things because it reminds me of her every day. She passed away from a stroke when Hope (now almost 7) was 11 months old. She was a HUGE spiritual influence in my life and had such a peaceful love of her Savior that you could almost see it. She was a prayer warrior, encourager and a very smart and practical woman. She was the grandma who re-used zip lock bags and hand made gifts for everyone at Christmas. She wasn't perfect, but showed amazing Proverbs 31 qualities. She totally had a meek and quiet spirit that was very precious in the eyes of God. I am thankful for the heritage I have in her. She taught me to play Mahjong, all sorts of card games, to sew, knit, crochet, bake, cook, and make gifts. She always had ice cream in the fridge and whenever I stayed over I had a big bowl after lunch AND dinner. Mint Chip was a staple and maybe it's because of her that Mint Chip is my favorite flavor.

Now it's your turn. If you have a blog then take a pic of one of your favorite things and explain why it's so special. Leave me a comment so I can check it out! If you don't have a blog (think about starting one...they are so easy) just post a comment and tell me what one of your favorite things is and why. Thanks for playing along!

~Rose

Devotions, Corn Bread and Simple Play

2007-10-17T18:13:00.000-06:00

We are using this book for morning (some days it's noon time) devotions. We enjoy the simple conversation like passages and discussion questions. I choose a song on I tunes to play after. They love to sing and dance and even Levi joins in.

Don't you just LOVE corn bread in Autumn? I made chili last week and corn bread from a mix. It just has to be sweet in my opinion and this batch was delish!

My girl loves corn bread too!

I post about Hope's school and realized I haven't posted much about the other kiddos. They love to have free play time and usually play very well together. Last week Owen found and caught a spider in the backyard. Here Owen and Emma are looking for another spider in the leaves.

Thanks Grandma Jan for the bug boxes. We are using them! It's hard to see, but our pet spider is in here. Owen caught a fly at my mom's house and brought it home (alive) to feed to our spider. She liked the fly and we discovered an egg sac in the box yesterday. We are on the constant look out for live food for her. I hope we get to see the baby spiders!

A funny sight to me...all four playing together and stuffed into a tight spot! I get a lot of joy in listening and observing their free play. They are quite creative and play "movies" or "games" where they have certain roles. They "pause" the game or movie to use the bathroom or get a snack.

~Rose

I've Been Awarded and Tagged!

2007-10-16T20:28:00.001-06:00

Thanks to my new friend Miss Sniz for the Totally Fabulous Award! You are too kind ;)

She also tagged me for a meme. I need to share 7 true things about me and then tag 7 of my blogging friends. Well, I really don't know who to tag, so if you are reading this than you are it!

Here are my 7 true things in totally random order:

1. My least favorite house keeping chore is cleaning the shower. Second to that is mopping although I recently bought a steam mop and to tell the truth I do enjoy mopping with it!

2. I love my Crocs but only wear them in the winter with socks...I'm in flip flops all summer.

3. I really enjoy crocheting. Is that spelled right? Knitting takes two needles and I never know where a dropped loop goes. When I crochet it is one hook and I can drop it and pick it up easily.

4. I LOVE photography and want to pursue it at a deeper than hobby level.

5. I go through favorite candy phases. For instance, I will crave only Red Vines for months and then switch to Jr. Mints. Right now I'm in a Whopper phase. That is the only candy I want...I won't eat anything else.

6. I love to sleep in. I set my alarm to get up early, but secretly hope that once the kids are older we can all sleep in together!

7. I never had a dog growing up. I have never lived with a dog. I love our friend's two Peka-Poms or whatever they are.

~Rose

Discipleship and Junk

2007-10-16T08:34:00.001-06:00

So, I caused a bit of a stir with my post (two below) in regards to raising my children. I hope to clarify my thoughts here. First, that article is not how I feel about things...for me it sparked the fact that our kids are being influenced. For me it sparked the thought of discipleship and how we as Christian parents are responsible for discipling our kids and teaching them that they are to disciple their kids. I do feel that home education is a great way to do that, but not the only way!

My husband and sister in law are great examples of two people who went through the public school system and came out the other end walking with God. I think the biggest reason they were was 1. God was covering them and 2. Their parents were VERY involved in their daily lives. Jan was SUPER involved in what was going on in their schools from the get go.

So, in my passion, it may have come across that I feel that home education is the only way for parents to go. That was not my intent. For those of you who know me, I hope you realize that I was not out to criticize or hurt anyone. I love you my friends! I pray that we as Christian parents are constantly keeping ourselves in check no matter how we choose to educate our kids. Parents on both sides can do well or not do well...it's not the education method here...it's the parent involvement in their children's daily lives.

I hope that we are praying with and over our kids and using every experience to bring them to God. Their little lives, as well as ours are battlefields. Our enemy roams around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. May we be every ready to teach them and draw them to God, weather it's in the public classroom or in our own homes, discussing evolution or the man smoking crack in our alley.

On a lighter side:
Upon arriving home last Sunday we were greeted with this Sanford and Son delight:In our "neck of the woods" its common to put unwanted things next to dumpsters as a sign of giving things away. I did this awhile back with an old stroller. It was gone within 30 minutes. I have an inkling this stuff belonged to my next door neighbor. I just laughed when we saw it...yep, this is our neighborhood! He went a bit overboard don't ya think?!

As the saying goes, "One man's trash is another man's treasure!"

Anyone need a computer monitor or spare tire or nice retro flowered plastic chair?

How about a nice polka dotted elephant toy bin? There are 3 old basketballs, a soccer ball and old phone in there too!

~Rose

Camp Timberline

2007-10-15T13:12:00.000-06:00

Warning...this is a bit long...but I want to share the saga that was my weekend. Read on at your own risk!

Desi was asked to teach at a youth winter camp this past weekend. There were about 70 jr and sr high kids and 20 leaders who came up from Faith Evangelical Church in Fort Collins, CO. We had done a few outreaches with Grant (the youth pastor) and the kids over this past summer. Our whole family was invited to come up and stay for the weekend. I thought, "How fun! and we can be there with Desi instead of missing him all weekend!"

So, Friday we head up I25 around 5pm. We arrive at Camp Timberline just after 7pm. We are told we will be staying in the boys dorm (what?) and our room name was "Otis". I have an uncle named Otis. Otis turns out to be one of many rooms (which included a bathroom) in the boys dorm building. We have 7 bunk beds, two showers and a toilet and sink all to ourselves. So, we walk into the room and I see...cement tile floor, plastic thinner-than-twin mattresses, plywood under the mattresses, and exposed pipes. It the dawns on me...I brought sleeping bags for the kids, but nothing for Desi and I. Negative thoughts begin to plague me. I do not bring them into captivity.

At this point I, 1.feel foolish for forgetting towels and bedding and 2.am trying real hard to have a good attitude. We've stayed at youth camps before and there have been motel-like rooms for the leaders. This was different. Some of the guys who work there round up a few sheets, blankets and towels. I go to work covering each mattress we were using with sheets. The kids are very excited to have their own bunk beds and think our room is tops. Oh to have their perspective on things.

We have a late dinner, enjoy worship with the group in the Party Barn and head to our room. At least the heat works. The kids are in their beds around 10pm. Levi has a rough go of getting to sleep, but Owen and Emma are out pretty quick. By the time the boys next door come to bed Hope is still up and we get to hear fart stories and talk of girls as we fall asleep. I think to myself...I sure don't want Owen and Levi acting like that. I share my feelings with Desi and he says, "Too bad...they will."

Levi wakes up at 5:17 (I had my phone near by). He is happy and I give him a few cheese fishies, some water and put him in bed with me. He stays awake for an hour and then falls asleep. I have half of a thinner-than-twin mattress (with no pillow) to try to get back to sleep on. More "great" thoughts are swimming in my head.

The rest of Saturday goes a bit better. I get a nice hot shower. (Oh yeah, I had started my period Thursday night...so a shower was necessary!) Back to camp. We enjoy breakfast, more worship and go back to our room to hang out while daddy teaches. Owen hated being in the party barn listening to worship and Emma loved it. She clung to Desi all weekend and cried at the drop of a hat. Hope stayed with some of the girls to listen to her dad.

After the teaching, the kids are divided into four groups for the day and have an hour at each station. We watch them do a zip line, gut check, leap of faith, ect... It gets pretty cold and sort of snows in the afternoon. Owen complains about the new coat I bought him. It looks like Emma's. He refuses to wear it. I let Owen and Emma play outside in the softly falling snow. They are wearing their sweatshirts. I get Levi to nap and then take the other three to the "game" room. They play fooseball, air hockey and table tennis.

After dinner, more worship and back to our room. I am not doing so well at this point. I have totally failed at having that great attitude that I had wanted to have all weekend. I get upset at the kids and say some horrible things. I am totally in sin at this point. I hate being in that place. I apologize and ask for forgiveness from my kids. I am so down, that I don't even feel like praying. I am able to get the kids in bed by 8. They are pretty tuckered out and CRANKY. We let Levi cry it out to sleep later (only a few minutes and he is out). Hope has a hard time falling asleep again. It could be the boys jumping up and down above us, or the boys next door telling their funny stories again. Who knows.

Finally all is quiet and as I try to get comfortable I pray. "Lord, help me get through this night...if I can just make it through and a few hours tomorrow, we'll be in the car and on our way home. I know with Your help God, I can do this. I want to glorify You! This place isn't all that bad and it's much nicer than many families have all around the world. Help me be thankful."

Then the power goes out.

Owen freaks out because it is so dark. We find a book light and turn it on.

Levi wakes up at 4:25 and since it's so cold joins me in my spacious bed. Desi puts another sheet on me and I put a sweatshirt on.

We all wake up around 7ish. It's dark. The power is still out. I go to use the bathroom and get my hands half washed. For some reason the water is off.

I hear people talking outside. I open our door to about 8 inches of SNOW!!!!! It was crazy to see...and beautiful. I overhear some guys talking. No, the power will not be coming back on any time soon. And yes, the water is somehow connected with the power so no water either. So, I do not get a shower and have to pack us up in the cold dark. Oh joy. Another bad attitude erupts.

We gather with the group in the dining hall (lots of windows) and enjoy granola bars for breakfast. The snow is falling fast and I'm wondering..."I sure hope our little Toyota can get out of here!" Desi shares and I take the kids down below to the game room and two fireplaces.

Finally, we are done and Desi treks out to the parking lot to hopefully bring our van up to load. Thankfully he makes it and with some high school boys' help we get the van turned around and are on our way out! We drive in other trucks tracks and make it down the hill safely. We then go about 9 miles into Estes Park and enjoy some coffee and donuts from Safeway.

We end our adventure with lunch at this McDonalds that has maybe the most fun play place ever.
~Rose

I was so thankful to get home. And so humbled by my bad attitude.

I Am Raising My Children

2007-10-15T09:45:00.000-06:00

So, most of you know we home educate our kiddos. We know God has called us to it and will equip us to do it. I subscribe to a newsletter from Crosswalk.com called Home School Encouragement. I read an article this morning that really resonated with me. It is titled "I Was Raised By Wolves." Read it here.

The author has a very interesting blog. I have only read a few of her recent posts, but it's one that I have bookmarked. She has a lot of great info on what is going on in government schools as well as fun and useful links and encouraging words in regards to home education.
If your interested, click here to see it.

I know home education can be a controversial subject...and can make people uncomfortable. Sometimes it's good to feel uncomfortable ;) I apologize if I offend at all, but I feel passionately about parents taking responsibility for discipling their children. I am a Christ follower who seeks to lead my children to know God personally, to know what God has done in the past and is doing now, and to know what God is calling them to do in obedience to His word. To me that is of utmost importance. I am far from perfect when it comes to doing this, but my aim is in the right place. God's grace is evident daily in our home as He leads me, convicts me of sin and helps me to move forward in His strength.

~Rose

Free Day At The Museum of Nature and Science

2007-10-14T22:12:00.000-06:00

As the title suggests, we got in free last Wednesday, so it became an automatic field trip! The kids had fun and especially loved the man who "wore" different dinos and walked around the museum. I didn't get a photo, but when we were leaving, he had a big T-Rex that was twice the size of the white one I took a photo of. We only saw a fraction of the museum in a few hours, but we'll be back for the next free day!

~Rose

Home School Weekly Digest

2007-10-14T21:50:00.000-06:00

Last week Hope continued to memorize Matthew 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." We painted rocks to remind us of our verse. The kids love paint. Look at Hope's tongue in this picture...she moves it around when doing art. So cute!

Emma's rocks:

Owen's rocks:

The finished product: Hope and my rocks:

For music Hope and I have been listening to this wonderful Biography in music and words on CD about Peter Tchaikovsky. Hope recognized the waltz from Sleeping Beauty as well as a few other pieces that she had heard on Fantasia. We listen to a lot of classical, but have not really studied any composers. It was fun to learn more about him and be able to recognize his work.

I also played the song Yankee Doodle Dandy for Hope and we learned about the history of the song. It's a funny song. We'll listen to it for another week or so to learn the words. Hope has already learned God Bless America and America.

We learned about George Washington this week as well. Hope and I made this tricorne hat, but Hope did not like it. Maybe it was the color. Emma's current favorite color is blue so she was very happy when Hope gave it to her. Now if I could only teach Hope to give away things that actually have value to her!

Our little revolutionaries!

We started a new book this week called Sarah Whitcher's Story by Elizabeth Yates. It's about w little girl (we are guessing she's 3 something) who gets lost in the woods. Hope is so cute...she always wants to read way more than what is scheduled and some days we do!
This is Hope's dictation from the book.

~Rose

Art Class-Alexander Calder

2007-10-14T21:14:00.000-06:00

Last week we looked at Alexander Calder for art class. Check out this website for tons of photos and a great bio. He came from a family of artists and was the first to sculpt with wire (like drawing 3D pictures with wire). He is known around the world for inventing the mobile which is art in motion. He has done many large metal pieces that are displayed around the world in outdoor areas. I enjoyed looking at his many pieces and think his work is quite fun. I went overboard taking pics, so I put them in a slide show. The kids really enjoyed this art class.

~Rose

Enjoying The Journey

2007-10-12T16:26:00.000-06:00

This is a little sign I have above my back/kitchen door. It's such a good reminder for me. I tend to not enjoy the process as much as the finished product. I doubt God really wants me to live like that, but rather to enjoy each moment He gives me breath. To that end, I am joining my husband and we are taking all 4 kiddos up to Estes Park for the weekend. Desi will be teaching 4 sessions at a winter camp for Jr & Sr Highers from Faith Evangelical Free Church in Ft. Collins. I know all you moms out there know...it would be so much easier for me to stay home. But I believe God wants us to go and I want to enjoy it instead of getting stressed. So pray for us! I'll be back in a few days.

~Rose

Dan & Paul's Visit and An APC Morning at Carrie's House

2007-10-11T18:36:00.000-06:00

We were blessed to have Dan and Paul from Calvary Chapel Murrieta come visit us last weekend. We really enjoyed showing them around Denver and spending time in fellowship with them. They got to come to our first Saturday night house church gathering in our house and the next morning joined our Sunday morning crew at Carrie's house. Their prayers and true love were comforting and encouraging. We look forward to seeing them in November when we visit. Here are some pics from last weekend with some cheesy captions.

~Rose

Camouflage

2007-10-10T16:05:00.001-06:00

Last week at the zoo, Owen and I noticed a snake that was camouflaged rather well in some leaves. We really enjoyed looking for more camouflaged snakes, lizards and other reptiles. A few days ago I noticed our cat Bedhead on our new kitchen floor. Talk about camouflage! I have almost stepped on him many times becuase he blends in so well. Ha ha!

~Rose

Get That Fridge Back in the Kitchen!

2007-10-10T15:57:00.001-06:00

After three LONG months of having the fridge in our living room (originally put there for our kitchen remodel) we finally, I mean FINALLY got it put away where it belongs! I pushed it to the kitchen doorway and quickly realized that the doors needed to be taken off. With help from Mark, Desi got the doors off and we easily got the fridge back home. It took a few days of me walking into the living room to get something in the fridge to remember it wasn't there anymore. It's wonderful to cook with it so close at hand now! Thank you Desi my love (and Mark). I am so so so so so glad it's been put away!

~Rose

Homeschool Weekly Digest

2007-10-08T09:14:00.000-06:00

Last week was pretty normal as far as school goes. I didn't take any pics (except for when we went to this new park in Denver-the most fun park we've ever been to...and somehow the wonderful pictures I took got deleted...what a bummer. I am so frusterated!) Well, maybe that will make me more careful when deleting photos in the future. I am trying to look on the positive side when I'm still missing the 50 or so photos that are gone!

Back to Hope's week. She finished her 1st math book this week and will start in on the next one soon. We started to memorize Matthew 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." One game we play to memorize it is to print out the verse in large font, cut it up into 2 word sections and mix them up. Hope puts them together like a puzzle. Another is to use a white board to write it out and then I erase one or two words at a time and Hope reads the verse.

For history we have moved onto Benjamin Franklin. Between the books we read from her curriculum and the 4 we borrowed from the library (LOVE THE PUBLIC LIBRARY...which was an invention of Ben Franklin...thank you very much!). Hope had to summarize what we learned. After I wrote everything we knew about him down, she chose a few things and came up with this:

We finished The Courage Of Sarah Nobel on Monday and used a part of it for Hope's Thursday dictation exercise. At the library this week, I found a Nancy Drew Mystery (written at a younger level) that we'll read until our next scheduled chapter book. Hope loves to have me read to her and I find it quite a joy to snuggle in the bed downstairs and take time to do that with her.

Hope did well on her spelling test missing only one word. Chair. For the words she misses, I have her write the word on one side of a 3x5 card and draw a picture or write a sentence leaving that word blank on the other. She can then quiz herself using her own cards.

~Rose

Butterfly Pavillion

2007-10-07T21:26:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago we went to the Butterfly Pavillion. We bought a pass almost a year ago and wanted to "get our money's worth" before it expires. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and we enjoyed the surrounding gardens and nature walk as much as the indoor areas. The bug room is way cool with all sorts of bugs to get up close to and gaze at. The butterfly area is always fun to stroll through. We all hope that a butterfly will land on us! Then there is a very kid friendly area with a new "spider web" to climb on. We are blessed to be able to do such fun things!

~Rose

Meek and Quiet Spirit

2007-10-06T13:31:00.000-06:00

For my lady readers:

About 4 weeks ago I joined a Life Transformation Group (LTG) with two other women from our church. An LTG is basically a group of 2-3 people of the same gender who meet weekly to pray for the lost, discuss an agreed upon passage, ask accountability questions and encourage each other in their walks with God. My group decided to read 1 Peter for the first few weeks. There was a passage (well, more than one) that stood out to me in particular.

1 Peter 3:1-6 “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.”

The part about that “gentle and quiet spirit” that is precious (very precious) to God and the end that talks about doing good and not fearing anything that is frightening really stuck out to me. I’ve read this passage many times, but I really wanted to ponder this passage. I just “happened” upon a study guide that I have called “Homeschooling With A Meek And Quiet Spirit.” So I pulled it out and am about half way through. I am so enjoying it and the scriptures. Last week I looked up the definition of MEEK and QUIET. Interesting.

MEEK: humbly patient, gentle, courteous, kind, not likely to complain, argue or react strongly.

QUIET: making no noise, silent, restrained in speech and manner, being at rest, tranquil, peaceful, making no disturbance or trouble, moving very gently, free from disturbing thoughts and emotions, to make tranquil or peaceful, to calm mentally.

I listed how my life differs from the above definitions. I often lack humble patience, I am likely to complain, argue and react strongly. I am often not restrained in speech and I am often not free from disturbing thoughts. Bummer. I am far from where I’d like to be. The next verse I read gave me such wonderful hope:

Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

I then listed the “works” that God has begun in me that I can see progress in. I am more of a thankful person, I have lower stress in parenting, I am more extroverted, I am more open sexually with my husband, I am more open to God’s leading and my following that lead. Now, I have not attained in these areas, but over the last 8-10 years have seen vast improvement…Praise His Name!

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I then had to list my top five “Meek and Quiet Spirit Robbers” and find scriptures for each to help me think about truth in that situation. Boy was this interesting! I’ll share mine with you and I’d encourage you other gals out there to do the same. It’s a great exercise to get your focus back on what matters as you deal with the situations.

1. Screaming/crying/whining child:
Psalm 34:1 “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” And Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.”
2. Bickering Children:
Ephesians 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
3. Finding big messes in and around the house:
Phil 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
4. Bad attitudes in the children when it comes to chores or school work:
Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 18:6 “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.”
5. Thinking about things Desi has not done:
Phil 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Just wanted to share with you! I’d love to hear back from you about what God is teaching you lately (if you so feel led). May God’s peace and joy fill you today.
~Rose

Zoo Trip With Grandma

2007-10-05T18:18:00.000-06:00

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful Autumn weather so we skipped art class and went to the zoo instead. We had a great time and enjoyed a game of zoo bingo. I printed off zoo bingo cards and the kids really enjoyed finding the animals on their cards. We are so thankful to have the zoo only a mile from our house.

~Rose

Dance Party

2007-10-04T17:56:00.000-06:00

Last Monday after dinner we had a dance party. It started with classical during dinner (which the girls and I love) then Owen complained about not wanting any more classical. He wanted something fun. I played Goofy Goober Rock (SpongeBob) which got the kids moving. We did a search on iTunes for "rock" and found plenty to dance to. We had group dances, solo dances and freeze dance. Way fun. Desi did draw the curtains though! 45 minutes later, we were pretty wiped out.

~Rose

Book Baby

2007-10-03T13:30:00.000-06:00

I recently brought some board books down to keep in the living room for Levi. The kids have a large book basket near the TV for library books and I don't want Levi getting into those! He was playing with some books a few days ago and I grabbed the camera for some darling shots. I think one year old is one of the BEST ages ever...just sooooooooooooo darn cute! Here are a few tips Levi wanted to share with you.

Reading tip from Levi:
Cherish those books! Reading can bring joy to your heart.Reading tip from Levi:
Find a comfy place to read and for heaven's sake...take off your shoes! Pants are optional depending on your age and who is in the room with you.

Reading tip from Levi:
Reading is fun when done in the company of friends.

Reading tip from Levi:
If you have been reading in one position, say sitting, for awhile and are getting stiff, try another position!

Reading tip from Levi:
Be willing to share your books.

Reading tip from Levi:
Don't be afraid to get into a good discussion over what you are reading.

~Rose

Scott & Jay's Visit

2007-10-03T13:01:00.000-06:00

Our friends Scott and his son Jay came out from CA to visit last weekend. It was great to hang with them and catch up on life.
Everyone likes to make fun of my sign...Jay is covering up the exclamation point!We got Tom's for lunch Thursday. For those of you who know...YUM! For those of you who don't...it's the best, and I mean BEST Southern Comfort food in Denver...and it's a short 2 block walk from our house. We limit ourselves to about once a month or every other or when friends are visiting. It's soooooo good my mouth is watering.

If you want to try it, you'll have to visit during a weekday for lunch. They are only open M-F from 11am to 3pm or when they run out of food...cash only!

We were all planning on enjoying a Rockies game Friday night, but I didn't realize how good they were doing this year, so due to the crowds, Desi, Scott and Jay went and the kiddos and I stayed home. Enjoyable game, but the Rockies lost that night. They are in the playoffs now and Denver has Rockies fever like never before...literally-I don't think the Rockies have ever done this well...correct me if I'm wrong.

My brother came over Saturday night and we enjoyed a lengthy spiritual discussion on Christianity and God.

I just realized that this was the only shot of Scott I took! Hey Scott, thanks again for coming and I'm sorry I missed you in the am when you left. I had a horrible nights sleep (probably distressed that you guys were leaving!). We enjoyed our time with you and Jay...Tracy and Megan...we missed you! See you in November.

~Rose

Home School Weekly Digest

2007-10-01T10:02:00.000-06:00

Last week our theme was Jesus is the Bread of Life. One of Hope's activities was to make play dough. The kids were SO excited to make their own play dough, having never done it before! Hope chose pink (of course).

Emma chose blue (she goes back and forth between blue and pink as favorite colors...depending on who she is closer to at the time- Hope or Owen!)

Mixing and heating the flour, salt, cream of tartar, oil, and food coloring.

It takes a few minutes for the dough to ball up.

Owen chose blue/green so we could tell his apart from Emma's.

After the dough gets balled up, it kneeds to be kneaded till it's smooth! Love those puns!

They enjoyed playing with their new and hand made play dough! Great experience, but buying PlayDoh at the store is cheaper!

Another activity Hope had was to make bread. Last week we did yeast experiments, so this week when we used the yeast to make the bread, Hope really got a visual on what the yeast does to the dough. We had talked about yeast representing sin and how the Isrealites ate unleavened bread. She asked me why we were eating bread with sin in it!
Hope made rolls (with a little help) to go with our soup for dinner. We also made butter, but I forgot to take pics...it was delish on those rolls!

Letting them rise before baking.

The finished product...Yum!

We also made a bread of life napkin holder to remind us of her verse:
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." John 6:35
Hope didn't want to write the words...so I did.

Hope's dictation assignment: Taken from The Courage of Sarah Nobel. We are loving this book which I read aloud to her daily. Hope's darling drawings just bless my heart!

I had to add one from Levi my little man. He is a JOY to interact with and it's so fun to watch him with that walker! He went to the corner and had I not been there, he would have continued into the street and down the next block. He was so MAD when I turned him around to go back home! So "it" begins! Lord, help me :)

We also studied about French pioneers who used Birch bark canoes bought from Indians to travel along rivers. Lord, forgive me for EVER complaining about anything related to my housing...those pioneers had it rough! Hope continues to do well in spelling, reading, and art. She struggles now and then with math, Spanish and writing assignments. Those are the times that we can talk about struggles, calling on God for help and forging ahead with determination.
~Rose

The Flower Fades

2007-09-30T23:01:00.001-06:00

Bits from Isaiah chapter 40 (read it all when you get a chance)
~Rose

A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.

Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.

Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Art Class- Paul Klee

2007-09-30T17:17:00.001-06:00

Last week we learned about Paul Klee. He was an accomplished violinist but at a young age decided to pursue art. I love his bright, childlike paintings. When he died at age 60, he left behind 8926 works of art, some of which sell for up to 7.5 million! We looked at The Golden Fish which combined oil paint and watercolors.

The book suggested sketching an underwater scene, coloring it in with oil pastels and then do a wash with dark watercolors.

This week I decided to join in the fun...this is what I drew. It felt good to get creative!

Owen had help with the oil pastels, but did the watercolor himself.

Hope's artwork:

Owen's artwork:

My artwork:

The aftermath! Love those plastic tables!

~Rose

Hope's Haircut

2007-09-29T20:45:00.001-06:00

This morning Hope asked if she could have her hair cut. She's asked before and we've put her off. I told her to ask her daddy and he said yes, so I made sure she knew how long it would be before it would grow back. Yes, she still wanted it cut...like Abby's (her best friend).
So here is the before: Notice the tucked in cat!And here is the after...

Yes, she IS a cutie! I think she looks older. And yes, I need to finish painting our bathroom!

~Rose

Walkers...Used Most by Babies and Great-Grandparents!

2007-09-27T14:39:00.001-06:00

But your great-grandparent's walkers are not as fun as this one!
Levi absolutely LOVES his walker. He is still not walking on his own, but with this walker, he just zooms around the house. He goes from the kitchen to the living room, dining room (around the table), front door and down the hall to the kitchen again...all the while giggling, smiling and laughing with delight.

Emma loves to chase him and they just laugh and giggle! Such wonderful sounds!

Levi is doing a LOT of this standing up in various places. He's taking a few steps to the couch or us lately. I think he'll be walking by the time we come out to CA in November!

A nice balancing "trick" by Emma.

Levi also loves his Pooh Bear train. Sometimes Emma rides it with him...more giggling and laughing.

A few recent shots of Owen. He did NOT want me to take a pic with his eyes open. He is a big time goof. Hmmmm, I wonder who he got that from?!

It's a little blue lizard he got at Chuck E Cheese.

~Rose

Art Class- Pablo Picasso

2007-09-24T22:58:00.000-06:00

Last Tuesday we learned a little about Pablo Picasso and took a look at his piece called "Punchinello with a Guitar". I guess Picasso loved the circus and went regularly. This is a painting of a clown with a guitar coming out from the curtains to perform on stage.The book suggested painting a stage and using collage to cut and paste shapes to make a clown.

Hope hard at work...

And her finished product:

Owen did not want to do it, which is fine, so I got to help Emma. This is a cooperative piece!

~Rose

Home School Weekly Digest

2007-09-24T13:03:00.000-06:00

Last week Owen did two days of Kindergarten! I'm letting him take his time, doing 1-3 days a week depending on him. His first unit is Ss, Sun, Jesus is the Light of the World. Each unit has 6 days of work. His fine motor skills are not well developed, so writing is challenging. After a brownie payment (bribe), he agreed to use the grip and try for 5 letter S's. He did great and was very excited to show his work to Grandma and Daddy. It's interesting, he wants his letters to be perfect and gets upset when they are not! We're working on that.

This is a math page. He traced his name and wrote the number one. He then was asked to draw one of something. He chose to draw a large rock and write a large one next to it.

One of his projects was painting a sun with alternate colors for the rays (patterns). Emma joined in on the painting.

Working hard!

Beautiful job Owen!

I got a smile :)

Another project he got to do was make raisins. We decided to use the oven instead of the sun so it would go faster. We used the dehydrate function and at the end of the day we had raisins!

They were kinda sweet, but not all that flavorful.

Hope got to do an experiment using yeast, sugar and water. We mixed yeast with warm water and added some sugar, put it in a jar and stuck the balloon over the top.

The yeast uses the sugar for food and creates carbon dioxide. This showed us how bread rises. This week she'll be making bread and play doh as we study more about bread.

It was so exciting to watch the balloon fill up. Within minutes it was pretty full.

Hope drew what was happening and noted the time. I love her drawings :)

This is Hope's first dictation page. Instead of doing it from her grammar book, I chose a passage from the book we are reading (The Courage of Sarah Noble-the story of a young girl traveling with her daddy into Indian territory to build a house for their family on land he had bought). It was a bit of a challenge for Hope, but she did a beautiful job and finished it in one sitting (I gave her the option to do it over two days). Her drawing is beautiful! This is the kind of stuff that keeps me going some days! I am blessed, challenged and humbled to be able to stay home with our kids and teach them.
I love it.

~Rose

The Finished Breakfast Nook!

2007-09-24T12:49:00.001-06:00

Wish I had a good before shot...but here it is...our little breakfast nook! We had our washer and dryer where the table is. That was one of the things I didn't really like about the kitchen when we bought the house. Thanks to Josh, Des, Dale, Desi and others, we were able to move them and create this cozy little spot! I love to sit here in the morning sipping tea or coffee and reading my Bible. I am trying to wake before the kids and have that quiet time first thing since our house is quite noisy during the rest of the day! Some days I make it, and some days I don't. I do think it's a matter of getting to be earlier! We used chalkboard paint for the black rectangle and I have written Hope's memory verse there: John 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me shall never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

~Rose

Oscar Mayer Lounge Singer?

2007-09-21T17:42:00.000-06:00

Desi was driving with a friend (Mark) recently and they happened upon the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. They got the chance to sing the theme song for this contest. If you want to see Desi's song, and I know you do...follow this link and type in the code: EZ96JG
~Rose

Let Trials Bless

2007-09-21T07:59:00.000-06:00

I read this this morning and was encouraged. It's challenging though. I love the part about how grace changes the outcome of those tribulations...our patience instead of our getting annoyed and upset. It's through difficult circumstances that we are refined or perhaps burned up depending on where we are with God. I pray we can look to our tribulations as tools in the hand of our loving Father, who does not want us to continue to be spoiled children, but rather desires us to mature in His ways so He can use us to reach others with His love.
~Rose

Faith's Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon

Friday September 21, 2007

Let Trials Bless

Knowing that tribulation worketh patience. (Romans 5:3)

This is a promise in essence if not in form. We have need of patience,
and here we see the way of getting it. It is only by enduring that we
learn to endure, even as by swimming men learn to swim. You could not
learn that art on dry land, nor learn patience without trouble. Is it not
worth while to suffer tribulation for the sake of gaining that
beautiful equanimity of mind which quietly acquiesces in all the will of God?

Yet our text sets forth a singular fact, which is not according to
nature but is supernatural. Tribulation in and of itself worketh petulance, unbelief, and rebellion. It is only by the sacred alchemy of grace
that it is made to work in us patience. We do not thresh the wheat to lay
the dust: yet the rail of tribulation does this upon God's floor. We do
not toss a man about in order to give him rest, and yet so the Lord
dealeth with His children. Truly this is not the manner of man but
greatly redounds to the glory of our all-wise God.

Oh, for grace to let my trials bless me! Why should I wish to stay
their gracious operation? Lord, I ask Thee to remove my affliction, but I
beseech Thee ten times more to remove my impatience. Precious Lord
Jesus, with Thy cross engrave the image of Thy patience on my heart.

The Usborne Art Treasury

2007-09-19T09:11:00.000-06:00

Ok ladies! A few of you have mentioned that you cannot find this book. Here is a link to it on Amazon. The ISBN is 9780746075616 if you want to look it up at your library. We are loving this book...so much that I bought it...on Amazon. Hope you find it!

I took this back in January...so rare to see a hummingbird be still!

~Rose

Art Class -Katsushika Hokusai

2007-09-17T21:25:00.001-06:00

Katsushika Hokusai's block prints are amazing! To think he created this truly beautiful piece (The Great Wave off Kanagawa) of art 175 years ago boggles my mind. I guess this is the first and most famous of a series called "Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji." I would just love to see this in person at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We learned that this piece was done with a series of blocks. Some of his pieces were so popular that the block prints wore out!

My mom was on a road trip this week, so I was solo with the kiddos on this one. We were excited to see if we could do it!

We used styrofoam plates and sharp pencils to carve a wave design. I did most of the waves and the kids poked holes for splash effects.

We smeared on a mixture of blue and green poster paint with foam brushes.

This one turned out to have too much paint on it. We tried three before we figured out that it needed just a little paint (think stamp). We then turned over the plate onto a white paper and rubbed away with our little fingers. It was messy. But good art often is messy!

This was the result as we carefully peeled the paper off the plate. I like the round design.
Just beautiful! This week we will do Picasso inspired art.

This is a shout out to my man. He conquered the kitchen floor to rest of the house issue! Look at that lovely reducer piece installed and wonderful. He did 3 total and I love how it finishes off the floor. Thank you Desi! You are the best for putting up with all my "prodding." ;)

~Rose