Checking out downtown Seattle.
Thanksgiving
So much to be thankful for!
Topping my thankful list is my family. I am so blessed and thankful for my family <3
Our Thanksgiving centered around family and new friends this year, we are visiting one of Sky's brothers. Dinner preparation included many hands and many dishes. My top favs- beside the turkey....were: PW's stuffing (I added sausage to the recipe because Sky's mom always had sausage in hers) the recipe is divine, I could live on this stuff for weeks... and my new friend, Christy's snickers salad. Oh. my. word. I've seen this recipe floating around pinterest, and wow, it is awesome. Several of us bypassed the pies and had more of this. We had a line-up of the usual suspects; sweet potatoes, green been casserole, pumpkin pie, lemon meringue pie, mashed potatoes, homemade dinner rolls. Actually, I think we had three different stuffing dishes prepared by three different people :D
- Pioneer Woman's Stuffing recipe
how was your Thanksgiving?
hope it was super-blessed :)
Costume day
Meg and Josie dressed up for costume day at the Biola Star campus this Thursday. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate the classes they take with Biola Star - the academics are high, the teachers are wonderful and professional and sometimes tough. (I need tough, I'm too easy-going around here...) Meg's Chemistry teacher is a professor at Concordia University. Okay, in addition to the wonderful classes they take, the also get to participate in a sort-of campus life. They get to have hot lunches if they want, get to eat with friends, have study hall and fun activities like prom. This Thursday was costume day, with prizes going to best literary costume. Meg won a prize last year by going as Katniss from the Hunger Games.
Josie decided to go as "The Grim Tickler" from Veggie Tales. It was kind of cool that the other kids at Biola got the reference immediately. Homeschool World has its own culture :)
Meg dressed up as Lindsey Stirling, dubstep violinist. Lindsey is Amie's favorite artist because she often wears miss-matched socks. Amie has found a soul-sister.
We are going to see Lindsey Stirling in concert this month when her concert tour comes to So. California. We are so excited. Check her out, she is a talented and hard-working artist. Her rise to success has been very grass-roots, it's exciting to watch her work getting more notice!
Check her out on Youtube:
my favorites are Come With Us - which include other famous youtube artists, it took us a while to catch on to that, there are links are on the video - Phantom of the Opera and Crystalize. It's hard to pick a favorite, really.
I think I love this song, because when I first met Sky, way back when we were sixteen, he was really into rap music. Hard to believe. This rap-song is the sort he liked, clean and fun. Takes me back to our younger days.... :)
notes from the cool side
Today was to be an unusual scorcher of a day here in Orange County. This could only mean one thing, Beach Day!!
We took off to our favorite beach, to meet our cousins and stay cool, enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the company. It was a beautiful day at the beach.
There are no longer life guards on duty, at one point I went for a bathroom break. When I came back, I noticed a lifeguard jeep out by the water- and then I watched as it slowly left. I asked my sister-in-law if there was a reason they came out? S-I-L replied back that they had to tell some boys on boards to get away from the rocks. I answered with a lazy, "oh". A few seconds went by, and then I said..."um, our boys are the only people on boards in the area..." S-I-L sat up really quick, surprise and mortification on her face, and she said "you're right!" my last comment was a scandalized ...."my, my, now WHERE were their mothers??!!" Yeah, our boys were the trouble makers and S-I-L didn't even register it.
**********
We are looking for a sport for Demi-Sky. Now that Teddy is no longer schooling with us, we kind of feel like he needs some kind of physical activity that involves team work with other boys. I think we've narrowed it down to lacrosse. I found a website for our county, but I was having difficulty contacting the coaches for the two teams near us, so we decided to try a club team a little further away. We figured that "club" means more expensive, but the price I found was steep, but not impossible. The other teams I looked at did not have any pricing information available...sigh, you think in the age of handy-dandy websites it would be easier to find all the information you need.
Anyways, in typical Jen-fashion (in which everything takes longer than is should and is more complicated then it should be and the end result is always un-finished....) I decided to go ahead and sign up for the club team, even though I still felt a bit in the dark about when practices were, and where...but today was the first day for sign ups and they were running a discount if you signed up today...so I went through the very long and involved process of signing him onto the team- and then had to go through the long and involved process of getting him a US membership so we could finish signing him up for the team...and then I got to the check-out page and the price was more than twice what had been stated on the website!! It listed a really steep late sign-up fee... I think it was a typo someone did, late fees start next month. Yeah, so I left a phone message and an email and yeah, we are in limbo now with this. Ugh.
On the bright side, now the kind of steep fee doesn't seem so steep after seeing it doubled!! I guess we will kind of feel like we got it on sale, if they straighten this out and go back to the first fee listed!
**************
Dr. Who. Wow, "Angels take Manhattan" was anyone else a blubbering, upset mess when it finished? A real and satisfying end for the Ponds, but emotionally hard.
***************
I'm on another Grace Livingston Hill run. She was this Christian writer that wrote in the 1930's and 1940's. They are a fun lunch read. I collect her original hardback editions. She wrote over 100 books, and I think I have read almost all of them (I used to work in a Christian book store when I was in High School and College-a perk, I could borrow books!) but I only own maybe 20 of the hardbacks. I re-read them over and over. Always with lunch or a snack, they make me hungry. She lived through the depression and so, I theorize, she appreciated really good food- and took pains to describe delicious, dainty lunches. She also hated flappers and abhorred girls who smoked. I love how a scandalous vamp will often show up in the story.
**************
I tried these dairy- free, oil-free pumpkin muffins Sunday night. I had to add chocolate chips though. I guess they weren't dairy-free after that... They were pretty good, Sky was not real convinced, the texture was a bit different because of the apple sauce used instead of oil. I think it was an okay trade-off for a healthier muffin. (whisper, except for the chocolate chips) the kids and the Bible college boys gobbled them up. }We've always looked forward to making the Trader Joe's pumpkin muffins, but I really thought they were too oily.
*Here's the recipe from S.B. Creatively blog. (found on pinterest!)
So, bloggy friends, how's the weather where you are? Make me believe it is really Fall somewhere!! Any comfy Fall recipes to share?
Quick takes- what I did on Summer Vacation edition
Summer vacation came and went. Wow, it's already time to start the new homeschool year! But first, a quick wrap-up of my fleeting vacation...
~1~
We did a bit of this, but not as much as I had promised. I am vowing to go often now that school is back in session. A perk of homeschooling is hitting the beach when the crowds are gone! I plan to make up for not going as often as I planned this Summer.
~2~
Our Bible conference -with foreign guests (who stayed a extra two weeks) and the U.S. National Fencing Championships all happened at the same time. I survived. Barely. I will forever bless the dear Korean sister who took over the cooking for her family. They were happy (Korean food!) and I was happy, because I really didn't know if I was coming or going! Here's a clip of Josie in fencing action (and me being loud sideline mom in the background-and no, Josie is not her real name.)
~3~
Bible conference and Josie's fencing tournament collided with my mother becoming severely ill and then dying. It all happened so quick it still takes my breath away. I wrote, when she first was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver that I wasn't sad- but angry and detached. I was wrong, there are no words really, to describe the horror and pain of watching your mother suffering. I lost my mother way too young, and despite our lack of a close relationship- or maybe because of that lack, losing her left a big, gaping, jagged hole. This will be forever my Summer of regret.
~4~
Meg had a couple of these. Irish feis time is a lot of fun. Great photo opportunities!
I've discovered the video capabilities on my iphone, here's a short clip of Meg in action at her last feis:
~5~
Sky took time off work to attend a week-long wood marquetry class. I can best describe it as making designs with inlays of wood. He has done two complete projects, and I can't wait to share a photo- I do have to wait though, because one of them is a gift, so I can't spill the beans yet. Grumble.
~6~
The Orange County fair is a family tradition. Lately, we've had several family members enter art into the competitions. This year, Sky entered one of his horse jewelry boxes, Josie entered a dragon painting(and won a blue ribbon!) and Amie entered 3 paintings into the children's competition and won one blue and two red ribbons. It was a good showing for the {Home} gang :)
(I won't bore you with more photos, but if you follow me on instagram, you will see them there. )
How was your Summer? I hope it was a good one, full of lovely, summery memories
<3
7 Quick Takes Friday happens every week, you can join up over at Conversion Diary
Sadness
Hello Bloggy-friends, so much going on here this week, I'm not sure of where to start...
This is our annual week-long Bible conference with our church, we have a family from Korea staying with us. The Bible conference is a big time-commitment, and having foreign guests who need transporting/ hosting adds to it. We so love getting to know other believers though, it is always worth it.
Josie is in our first big fencing tournament - it is the National Championships and just happens to be in a neighboring city. She has to be there for 3 different days. Of course it is this week...!
Now for the sadness. I don't like to air family drama here, mostly because I don't want to hurt loved ones by venting my side of the story. I haven't said anything about the person who hurts me the most in this life - and not because she would read it here, she has never read my blog and she never will because she is not interested in me or my family. She's not interested in my sister either, or my sister's cute/clever/amusing kids. She is not really interested in anyone but herself and she set my sister and I to fend for ourselves emotionally and physically as soon as we were [mostly] capable.
She's my mother and this week she was hospitalized with cirrhosis of the liver. She lives over an hour away, so the driving is added on top of my crazy week.
{The sadness}
I'm not really sad. I'm resigned, a bit angry with her for putting her loved ones through this, angry at her for wasting her life. Sadness though, I walled myself off [long ago] from feeling much in relation to her because it was too painful and pointless. I told someone at the Bible conference today about it all, and this friend prayed for me and my mom and this person was crying. Me...dry-eyed, even as I told her about it. I was an emotional wreck when Sky's dad was dying, but empty about my mom.
This is the sadness, that she shut me out and I had to shut her out.
Friends, if you could pray for her. This would have to be a big miracle- which I do believe God hands-out...but I also believe in free-will. My mother was sitting in a hospital bed, wasted away to about 80lbs, having blood pumped out of her stomach, not allowed to have water and too weak to hold a cup to her mouth for ice-chips...and she kept asking us to get her a "drink". I truly do not think she will live many months once she gets out of the hospital. Prayers for her family as we are manipulated and abused as she detoxes, and prayers for her soul are needed.
thank you,
-Jenn
This is your A.D.D. brain on Summer...
Hello blog-land! I've been a little distracted/confused/busy/busy procrastinating/overwhelmed/exercising/dieting...um, pick one...
So much going on, so much to blog about!! I guess I will do a few catch-up type posts:
***but first a plug to vote for the blawg! I am in the running for Circle of Moms top 25 Homeschooling moms. I am in the middle of a blogging slump, as you can probably tell...so I haven't mentioned it here on the blog, but somehow, I went from like 18 votes to 100+ {wow! someone loves me!} So...if you could click over, scroll down and vote for me, I would so {heart} you. You can vote once a day until June 27th -only 8 days left!
~1~
Meg went to Prom and I had a great "ah-ha" moment for a photography session. We keep driving by this set of railroad tracks next to the freeway with these colorful empty train cars just sitting there. I thought it would be fun, Meg agreed, so we drove around till we found it. This was a Jenn-sort of adventure, I had no idea what street would come close to the cars, or if we could even get close. It all worked out, though. I got some great photos, a few that could have been better. It's such a learning process with me. She had a great time at prom :)
~2~
I attended a small photography workshop here in Orange County at Crescendoh art gallery. I have been wishing/looking for a local class only a day or weekend in length, but could only find semester-long community college classes. I just don't have that kind of time to commit, this class was perfect- one full day of photography/blogger bliss. I got to hang out with other bloggers *AND* have lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, which was just down the street. This class was taught by Cynthia Shaffer and she physically took hold of my Nikon D80 and helped me change/find all the menu settings on it. Finally!! My photography horizons were expanded- I can now do so much more with my camera! She taught us about settings, aperture, lighting- gave us lots of tips and hands-on help and then we went outside for an outside photo lesson, urban style. It was an amazing day!
~3~
Our homeschool year came to a close- and not soon enough for me! This has probably been my most lack-luster homeschool year, I was really overwhelmed & uninspired and we didn't do many creative things at all- just kind of survived the year. I crashed and burned spectacularly with end-year stuff for Meg and Josie. My charter school ES- a saint. She's still talking to me...a miracle. It was this weird situation where I actually had extra time to complete stuff, but I kept procrastinating and dragging my feet anyway. I think in my brain, I was just done/bored/over it. I keep mentioning A.D.D. in a joking way here on the blog, but it's kind of not a joke. I am thinking maybe I have it. Last week I grabbed a few books on A.D.D. at the bookstore and started looking through them, I started to read some of it out loud to Sky and we both laughed at how so much of it sounds like me. It's funny that Sky can be so patient with me, he is so linear and logical and organized- I know just my way of being must drive him crazy, but he tolerates it /looks past it all very well. I like to think that I add the flavor to his life, linear would probably be kind of boring...
~4~
So, in light of #3- I am dedicating this Summer to getting organized/my house clean/and doing some major planning for homeschooling in the Fall. But first! - I am in the middle of serious exercising/weight-loss.
Did I mention I seem to only be able to concentrate on one thing at a time? Right now, it seems to be P90x.
refer to #3 again.
~5~
My baby-girl had her 17th birthday. I can't believe she is 17! She is finally driving, she has her own car now. My life has changed so much just by having her driving! She is my most busy child, I call her my Renaissance kid- if she could dabble in almost every activity/sport/art -she would. Now, she does her various activities, like violin/Irish dance/ high school classes/ her job- on her own. It's like magic! I was kind of in a daze at first, having a day or two where I didn't have to drive anywhere was kind of surreal. Sky has been emphatic that I need to decide what I want to dive into and make this my time to shine. [love that man <3 ]
~6~
First up on Jenn-time is p90x. It's an intense exercise dvd set. So far I have lost a bit over 9 lbs (it keeps bouncing up and down). I am going to do a blog series on it. I have been watching what I eat and counting calories on My Fitness Pal. In the past, when I needed to lose weight, I have done Jenny Craig- but I just couldn't afford it this time and I just couldn't stand the thought of eating the pre-packaged food again. With My Fitness Pal, I can plan to eat the things I like, I just need to pick healthy/ healthier things. More later....
So, blog-friends, how is your Summer shaping up? Have any big plans? What do you hope to accomplish this Summer?
7 Quick things Sunday edition
~1~
The kids had their piano recital last Sunday. Amie's skirt and top were bright pink. I went to target and bought a package of socks so she would have a pair to wear with her silver flats. There were 3 pairs in the pack, they were all glittery- I intended for her to wear the silver glittery socks with her silver flats. [ahem] In the rush of getting ready and out the door, simply handed her the package, figuring that she'd know what to do. Um, no. As usual, I didn't do a feet check until we were actually at the recital. This is what I saw. Many of my most embarrassing moments as a mom involve musical recitals.
~2~
Demi-Sky played a song from the Lord of the Rings movie soundtrack. He played it entirely from memory. I was so proud of him!
His socks were okay, whew!
~3~
Meg and Josie played a song from Tangled. They did a really nice job. It is wonderful to listen to the girls play together. It's like the sacrifice of music lessons has started to pay off in enjoyment now.
Their shoes/socks were fine. I don't have to worry about checking them anymore.
~4~
We have a lot of saber fencing practice happening. There is going to be a big national fencing tournament in Anaheim this Summer. This will be Josie's first national event, she is getting in all the practice that she can.
~5~
Meg and Josie had standardized testing last week. Actually, it was supposed to be this week, but I read the memo wrong, apparently. We'll never really know, since I lost the memo. I think I am A.D.D. mom. So, I sent them off, solo- because Meg has her license! (cue angels singing) and it all worked out okay. They were having testing for kids with modified schedules/requirements and they went ahead and let my girls test, too. It was really nice to have the girls drive to and fro on their own. My days sure have become less hectic.
~6~
Sky finished the rustic farm house table. We brought it inside just in time to host a bunch of Bible school girls. I love my table! More photos coming soon!
~7~
I've decided to do the p90x fitness program. I found an online coach and started an account over at the beachbody club website. The account thing is really neat, I can schedule my workouts and then be kept accountable to actually doing them. I've gained some pounds and frankly, something needed to be done. I am going to be doing more walking/running (by more I mean at all, I have hardly walked the past month) and do the 30day shred for a week before jumping into p90x, it looks pretty intense! I am hoping to blog my journey, but frankly the idea scares me a little. That, and my follow through is usually nil on many things. I'm toying with the idea of just going for it and blogging it straight-up, or maybe blogging it but not publishing them until a few weeks go by and it becomes apparent that I will actually keep it up. Not sure what I will do yet...
Any recommends for favorite at-home workouts? Please share :)
7 quick takes is hosted over at Conversion Diary. Hop over to join up!