Today...

On a whim...

we splashed at the beach...

our toes needed escape...

and our minds too...

some even needed to escape their clothes...

we left fulfilled, but (always) wanting more...

the treasures brought home weren't only in our hands...

sigh...smile...peace.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Happy December!!

I Always Knew I'd Have A Cowboy...

And look at how CUTE he is!!

Jake had a birthday at the beginning of the month, so we drove to Utah to celebrate his and Daddy's (Grandpa M.) birthday! My camera was begging to be chucked out the window so the only pictures I took where on my mom's camera. So there are only pictures from that half of the trip. :(For Jake's birthday Grandpa got him a cowboy hat (his head just keeps growing) and a pair of jeans, and Grandma bought him a pair of boots and made him this cowboy shirt even with pearly snaps!! :)
The smile was HUGE and has not left!

He tells me he is going to be a paleontologist cowboy, and he will have a house for his wife. :) What a cutie! But how can he be 7 already!!!???

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. An extra one for missing last week! :)

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!!

In Season

What is in season in your neck of the woods? I love to feed my family with what is in season, I know it is the healthiest, most nutrient dense food. And I love to see the changes at the farmers market as produce moves in and out of season. This summer we feasted on local strawberries (seriously), now the fruit we are seeing everywhere and enjoying are, sweet, organic Gala apples, Fuyu persimmons, pomegranates, hachiya persimmons, and pineapple guava. My mom grew up with a persimmon tree in her yard and so it is a favorite (especially grandma's persimmon spice cookies), I grew up snatching pomegranates off of the many trees in our neighborhood (there is no hiding the fact with stained fingers), and the house I spent my high school years in had a pineapple guava tree/bush so I always loved slurping those up!

I love the "edible" magazines, Edible Nutmeg in Connecticut, Edible San Diego here they always have a list of what is in season just in case you missed it, they also have a list of what to plant when, find yours at www.ediblecommunities.com .
There is a whole lot of seasonal carnage at our house today...
"You didn't say you were going to kill it...aauurrrhhhaaa!" has been quoted more than once!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

More From This Week!

After choosing a picture for the no words Friday picture, there were just a couple that needed words!We started the week with Leili's first trip to a hospital ever!! And it was to my Grandma's hospital, she was a nurse there for many years. Right before we were going to have cake for Fern's 5th birthday Leili was climbing and fell, hitting under her chi with her bottom lip in her teeth, so she bit all the way through her lip!! Blood everywhere!! Thankfully they did not put any stitches in, they just steri-taped her which I had to redo a couple times before I just gave up and now it is healing great!
Then we have silly boys, They love to play together!

There has been quite a bit of extra cuddling with the healing... and now I need to get back to it, she is calling (loudly) for me to be foo the computer!!

XO

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Just Some Pics!

Sorry for the miss yesterday for anyone looking, I've been sick this week, Fern's birthday is on Monday, Dan is in Mexico, ya know life has been busy!! But this is the picture I was going to share, you just get words too! She would not let me sit with her, such a big girl!! :)
A friend of ours opened a Ju-Jitsu school and had Riley come try it out, well he LOVED it and has now been taking classes a couple times a week for a couple months. Today he earned his second stripe on his belt, he was so happy!!

Here he is getting his stripe from his teachers Aaron, and Jusok!

And working with Aaron on a new skill!

I tried for years to find something he would like to try, and now something clicked and he is LOVE-ING it!!! Yea!!

Tickling!

Lately Riley is getting too old for many things, I never realised 9 1/2 was so old! Thankfully he still enjoys tickling, infact while we have to chase down the other three Riley will just lay there and let you get him! But then it raises the question when is it that you stop enjoying being tickled? I use to love to visit "Uncle Tickle-Monster" but now?! I hate to be tickled and you will probably get punched or kicked, and let me tell you I am a mama that hefts 4 kids I have a little muscle behind those kicks and punches. (Just fair warning, ask Dan.)

So do you remember when tickling turned from fun to not so fun?

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

How do you....

Play the piano? Leili has LOVED playing my old piano since we have been at Grandpa's house, but recently she has developed a new way of playing... with her BOTTOM!!
I know I should do something more constructive than giggling, but look at this face! What would you do!!

Sorry for the slacker blogging to those of you still reading, camera problems, computer stuff, school, ya know life!
Adios!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Here is my gal again with tools, she just loves them so much and also her daddy. She is a daddy's girl through and through. I told Dan the other day that it is a good thing I have the milk or I may not get enough cuddles to prevent this mama from shriveling up and dieing! :)

And another one, we had to get a carseat for Leili and she loves to get into boxes, so the kids helped her into this adventure. I just love to see those golden moments when all four kids are playing together and all of them are having a great time. The sound of four babes laughing together without a parent in there too is just awesome and amazing!
I hope there has been some awesome mixed in with all the regular life for you!
Oh and of course HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dan! I love you, thanks for being my sweetheart! And thanks for requesting a beach day for your birthday! XO

Under the moonlight at Moonlight!

Well Mom, Mary, and I ran out on all our boys and kids and went off to the Moonlight Amphitheatre! It was fun to be there, and fun to be with my mom and sister, we don't get to do that often!

Way back when, eons ago it feels, I lived and worked at Moonlight. Those 4 years during high school I probably saw all of the shows they did, some more than once. Talk about memories, crazy!

Anyway I thought I'd share this photo we snapped of ourselves on Mary's phone just before the show started, right after we stuffed our faces...there are just never very many photos of us these days!

Thanks Mom and Mary! XO

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Art in Life, Life in Art!

This morning as the kids and I, minus traveling Dan made our weekly pilgrimage to the farmers market with Leili on my back, Fern in the stroller laden with our soon to be full bags Riley meandering and Jake ever bouncing I was struck with the fact of how usually as we make our way through touching the avocados, tomatoes, raw wool, smelling the lavender, strawberries, and falafel what a blessing it is that my children can see artist here as a normal part of life. Not tucked away in a no touch museum, not made by some long gone genius; but there under a canopy they talk to the potter and touch his art, the young glass blower, the hippies with their beautiful organic produce (because really it is an art to grow such beautiful food). Then there is the fact that they are not just experiencing the art they are gleaning from the artist, the sweet older lady spinning raw wool, showing them, letting them touch it. The incredible dancing/playing/singing lady, "see Jake that is a fiddle, no not tap dancing, clogging can you hear the double tap with each movement"! Thankfully my children know that life is art and art is life even if I don't pull out those paints too often, and even when we are in a no touch exhibit.

Here is Leili's first finger painting session, she was the cutest canvas of all!!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Just a few...

I've been holden out on! :)When Riley was at Scout Camp, (the ONE week this summer that it has been HOT) Jake, Fern, Leili, and I decided we needed an adventure! So we went to the (formally) Quail Botanical Garden (now just San Diego Botanical Garden), since we had heard they had fun children's gardens now. I had been there as a kid when I needed science projects having to do with native plants and such. Well WOW, not the same old place! We had tons of fun! Here is Leili climbing up the rope to the tree house!
Jake in the tree house!

And thankfully WATER to play in and float boats down, it was really hot!

Leili is quite a daddy's girl, she makes a beeline to Dan's tools whenever she gets in the garage! She has even fallen asleep holding screwdrivers!! :) Here she is helping Dan sand the box for my wonder oven!

Dan got talked into making a swing for the kids and while he was hanging it he put up the baby swing too, Leili is happy and so is every other kid in the neighborhood. The swing is very popular! :)

So Accuweather says that we will have a cool start to the week, so I am thinking it might snow because really could it be cooler in AUGUST in southern California? Crazy! We thought we would be having a fun summer at the beach, we went to the beach more in the spring, summer has been too cool! Crazy! But September is usually BLAZING here and everyone should have vacated the beaches for school so we will just enjoy it then!! :)

Dan is still without a full time job, don't worry you'll hear about a job as I am shouting from the rooftops! At the end of this month it will be 11 months, there are many prayers being offered often all day around here. We know there are amazing blessings coming we just have to get there (while keeping our sanity). Your prayers are all received gratefully, thank you for all your kind words and thoughts too!

Hope your Sabbath was good!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.