Happy 8th Birthday Henry!

Henry had been asking to go bowling for months (okay, maybe it had been years) so his birthday was the perfect opportunity to do it.  Our local Irvine Bowl had a weekday lunch time special- two games with shoes, two hot dogs and soda for $10.  

So on a Thursday, enjoying the homeschool advantage, we went bowling. And Henry is proud to say he even ate 3 of those hot dogs.  Two games were a lot for this crew, so I'm hoping it got the bowling requests out of the system.  Also, grateful that no one got hurt and nothing was broken. 

That evening we had pizza and cake with our good friends, the Blackmans.  Always fun to celebrate!  Favorite gifts were a nerf gun and portable art easel.

Henry wants to be an inventor when he grows up- in fact sometimes he worries he may lose all the good ideas he has now before he is able to put them all into action.  We studied Leonardo da Vinci recently, so he began keeping a journal with drawings of his ideas and plans.  

Henry is a leader at pretend play with Natalie and Peter.  It usually has to do with some sort of animal, often pets, especially cats.  Dad got him a huge cat book for his birthday and now he puts on shows where he poses like the cats in the books.  

Henry is a adventurer.  He does need to have more explicit instructions though- like the time he was on the roof and insisted that no one said he couldn't go out on the roof.  Often his defense is airtight even if wisdom hasn't caught up with him yet. 

Henry is an observer who sees the world differently.  One of his most difficult chores is emptying the dishwasher because he finds out new things about each dish and utensil as he pulls it out- which ones balance on the others, what sounds they make banging together, how much water they can hold, whether or not he can lift them with tongs, etc etc.  Well, I guess it's only difficult for me because the job takes so long!

Henry makes us laugh.  He is also interested in all things 'spy' so I will often have him sneaking up behind me in stealth mode- and he's pretty good at it!  We love you Henry!!

Ever see one of these?

We had a produce box delievered from the local CSA and this was one of the vegetables in the box. Wow! It was beautiful, like lots of tiny Christmas trees. I had to check online to find out it is called a "Romanesco". We steamed it and had it for dinner last night- very yummy and good texture, much like cauliflower.

I'm not sure we'll do the CSA delivery often since it seemed a bit too expensive for what we got. The only reason I decided to try this one is because the local milkman did a sales call here last week and signed us up for milk delivery. In addition to milk, they can deliver lots of other food items such as the produce boxes. They arrive on the doorstep on Wednesday mornings by 5am. Not sure how long we'll stick with the delivery service, but getting that beauty (or mutant depending how you look at it) made the purchase worth it this week!

Sleepy Boy

Peter is a big guy who can keep up with his older siblings (even academically some days, as he adds his two cents to every conversation and surprises me with big words). But he is still the baby around here who finds me in the morning for some 'snuggy huggys', drinks milk from a sippy cup when no one is looking, and has a hard time staying awake for a party (or some nights even for dinner for that matter!).

On Sunday we had our first meeting of a new small group at our house. Toward the end, Peter fussed that he was tired but refused to go to bed. With a crowd of people and kids talking around, this is where he got comfortable. He loved the photo in the morning but didn't remember any of it.

Happy Art

After returning from playing at the park, I noticed Henry working feverishing on something at the school table. A bit later he came up to me, showed me this picture and asked if it made me feel happy. I wasn't quite sure how to respond, but said yeah and asked if it made him feel happy.

He said he was happy and he wanted to draw his happiness on paper so he could remember it. He said when he looks at this it makes his stomach feel funny, but in a good way. He found himself a notebook to store it with plans to pull it out when he is not happy to see if it makes him happy. That makes him an artist with a scientific experiment, I suppose.

Now, personally, I don't get this at all. There's not much artist in me and feelings don't come in colors in my world, but I have a guess that Henry will be exposing me to all sorts of new things in the coming years. Sounds like the Lord knows just what I need.

Tidepool Adventure

My brother and family drove from Albuquerque to spend the end of Christmas vacation with us and to play at the beach! Early in the week on a warm day, we built sandcastles at Big Corona Del Mar (with kids getting in the water by the end).

Yesterday we went to explore the tidepools at Little Corona Del Mar (a first time visit for us). We picked a good low tide and were able to see lots of creatures, especially sea urchins. We found one pool filled with small active fish.

It's pretty rough terrain so we were grateful no one fell and needed stitches. Even the little ones were adventurous to try to get to difficult spots. Definitely a beautiful place that we plan to go back to.

Fancy Natalie Tea Party

Natalie loves to have tea parties so she was very happy when Gramanana gave her an adorable tea set for her birthday in November. She has had many tea parties with brothers and dolls, but when Gramanana suggested they host a 'fancy' tea party over Christmas, Natalie was especially excited.

Gramanana gave Natalie the book Fancy Nancy Tea Party with lots of creative simple ideas for hosting a tea party using french words and fancy frilly decor. Together they chose the menu and decor. But first we all had to have fancy hats, which involved glue guns, sparkle and jewels. As you can see even the boys participated. (I think PopPop's tie is the best!)

On the table, there were flowers, handmade placemats, name cards, fancy napkins, even bejeweled utensils!

Aunt Heather helped Natalie with the food prep including crudites, fancy jelly rolls, tea sandwiches, cookies and beautifully decorated cupcakes. The kitchen was a whirlwind of activity (with lots of sprinkles of course!)

Natalie was an excellent server and insisted that we all keep our pinkies up! (She is also pretty proud of those missing teeth if you didn't notice.)

Thanks Gramanana for planning and carrying out a beautiful event!! What a special memory for all of us!

2010 Recap from the Six Turbos

Sorry for the long delay in posts, but before I start with fresh resolve for the coming year, I'd love to record a bit of 2010 first. It was a wonderful year, full of adventure and joy in the midst of regular old life. Many days ran together, but themes did emerge...

Beach Days! We all love the beach, whether it is boogie boarding, playing in the sand, exploring the tidepools, making new friends, or even just sleeping in the sun. We camped at El Capitan beach near Santa Barbara for a week in June and loved it! I expect it may become an annual tradition. Carson is always in the water. He even tried a surf camp this summer- not quite successful yet but he did learn the basics. Henry is the engineer of sand castles while Natalie and Peter love to dig and collect sea life. We spent many Mondays (Eric's day off) as well as summer Fridays (with our homeschool group) at Corona Del Mar in Newport.

Rainy Days. Yes, it does rain in California and our roof leaked, but the kids love rain and run outside as soon as it starts for fear it will be over too fast. They play in streams on our culdesac and ride bikes in the rain. While camping in Flagstaff, AZ (Lake Mary) this summer with my brothers family, we had lots of rain and the kids were quite creative with their mudpies and mud houses. No, it's not snow; but it does get us excited around here.

School Days. There have been plenty of school days this past year. Carson (4th), Henry (2nd), Natalie (1st) and Peter (preschool) have each been excellent students in our homeschool here known as "Eagle Eye Academy". We studied the Roman Empire last spring and are finishing up the Middle Ages now. There have been lots of fun projects and field trips- the Getty Villa (a full scale reproduction of a Roman villa in Malibu) was a highlight. And of course the Middle Ages have been a blast learning about castles and knights and vikings. We've read lots of good books this year including Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood, Peter Pan, Tales of King Arthur and the Secret Garden. We are also part of a home school co-op (Irvine Christian Academy) where the kids got to be part of their first drama production.

Saturday Sports. Carson and Henry were just the right ages to be able to play on the same baseball team this spring (Irvine Pony machine pitch). It was the first season for both of them and they did an awesome job as they improved. Natalie also had her first chance at a sport this year and played on a girls under 6 soccer team. Turns out she's a pretty intense competitor!

Sunday Church. We love Sovereign Grace Church of Orange County! It's exciting to have Sunday morning services at the OC Plaza since Easter and to keep building friendships with people here, including some brand new families. Eric is doing an awesome job preaching and leading. The kids and I love helping him out any way we can. We get to host guest receptions and home groups at the house and the kids are growing in their love and care for all the people around them. We get to send Dad off to meetings like the Preaching Practicum, T4G, and Leadership Conferences. And everyone loved going to the Sovereign Grace Together conference in San Diego (especially since we got to hang out with some old friends!)

Date Nights. I love date nights! And so do the kids. Eric and I get to go out alone together almost every week. We have some great babysitters. Since August, our friend Kipsy has been living with us while finding a new job. She is a dear sister who loves our kids and is quick to help around the house and send us out. Eric and I like to walk to the local coffee shop or go to the beach. We went away for a weekend in Beverly Hills in the spring and to a concert this fall. We are still in the stage of exploring Orange County and LA any chance we get.

Family Visitors. We love having extended family come to visit! It's always a sweet bonding time with cousins, siblings, and grandparents, And it's an excuse to do more fun things like the beach, whale watching trips, Sawdust festival, OC Great Park, bike rides, etc. I flew back to PA with Natalie and Peter to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday and got to be with all my siblings in one place. Eric's parents and sister Heather came to join us for Christmas and we celebrated in high style.

Vacation Days. It was a great year for vacations. We try to get away as a family regularly even for a short time. We spent some time at a friend's home in Fallbrook, camping at El Capitan with a side trip to Six Flags, camping with my brother and family near Flagstaff AZ (with his boat!), then some time in the mountains dog sitting and four wheeling in the desert. What memories!

All the other days. too many to describe: sick days (gratefully few), holidays(with new friends and old), losing teeth days (many!), lazy days, grumpy days, lego days, birthdays, cleaning days, even a few video game days in there. I'm grateful for this past year, grateful for this particular season of life that the Lord has us in. He is always good, but He is choosing to show His goodness to us through a season of blessing and prosperity right now and I give Him all the glory for it!