Winter

Tulips usually help me through the dreaded winter blues.

And that they get to wear these coats to church.

And the snow has not been lacking.

I am probably the only mom here that hasn't built a snowman with their kids. Not that they aren't asking they are.  I just really don't like the snow. It's cold and wet and gets in every nook and cranny.  Sand castles, that is up my alley... snowmen not so much.
But the forecast says more days of snow so I keep telling myself I will have plenty of opportunities.






But those snow covered mountains (insert emoji with the heart shaped eyes).

 So we've been doing plenty of indoor activities. I have implemented a new system. I was tired of Saturdays feeling like they were wasted. Planning on getting soooooo much done, to only just sit around all day long and realize by Sunday night it was a wasted weekend. One that was not fun filled or productive. I blame it on winter blues. So we do chores in the morning. We have a list and everyone has a job. If we finish the job by lunch then we can go somewhere fun. This particular Saturday was the dinosaur museum. 

I thought it would be busy since it was a Saturday but I was pleasantly surprised.

Cancer Sucks

 This is how she rolled for 14 days. She had more mast cell tumors, so we got them removed. She is just shy of her 14th birthday, so our days of putting her under to remove the tumors are limited.

She doesn't act her age so I think she still has many more years, so when I hear things like "cancer" and "the tumors can show up over night", "you need to consider her old age will take her before the cancer", it kind of sucker punches me in the gut.

Our days our limited with her, I know that. However, it could be next month or who knows another 3 years. Seriously, though the amount of stuff she has ingested we're lucky she made it to 14!

All I know, is I will enjoy her presence while I have it. When she follows me from room to room. Barks at the UPS man. Wakes me up with her dog breath in my face. I will cherish it all. Because she was my first dog, at let's me honest I am gonna be a mess when she goes.

Hello There 2017

It's the early hours of a New Year, so I thought I would dust off the ol' blog.

I've taken a bit of a break from social media since before Christmas; something I really wish I would have done sooner. I love social media, particularly for family, but it's the other stuff that comes with it I needed a break from, so I thought for this year less social media more blogging (ironic since I remember a time I needed to take a break from blogs).

2016 has not been a personally low year for us, in fact it's been very good to us. I however, have never had so much gut wrenching reactions while reading the news like I have this year. I get a pang of distress every time I open a news website (funny no more newspaper) and sometimes read it with one eye open in hopes that will soften the blow to what I will read next. I know throughout human history there is darkness and there always will be. It's just a bit darker than I imagined it would be in my lifetime, and so I turn to my blog. My little space in the world.  My space where I can share goodness, light and laughter. I can come here and write the good things I have done, seen and experienced. (For some reason it feels a little less braggy than posting it on instagram?)

According to instagram this is my top 9. These are the 9 pictures that received the highest amount of likes. And although, yes, I do love these pictures. I decided to make my own 9, except I couldn't just narrow it down to 9... I made my top 16 pictures.













1. One of my favorite pictures from Kaua'i. This is on Pihea trail. Pihea Trail over looking the Kalalau Valley.
2. I am just going to own my narcissism, this is probably just one of very few pictures I actually like of myself. Is it weird I want to frame it? Not to put in my house for all to see but for me? In my little inspirational shelf in my closet?
3. Our last minute trip to Disneyland. We loaded the kids in the car at midnight and drove all night, to make it to Mickey's-Not-So-Scary-Halloween Party. Best Party Ever,
4. PINK! (Favorite thing I ever did to my hair... and I've done a lot of things to my hair)
5. Because he makes me laugh and I love National Parks. 
6. Highlight of the year, I got to spend Mother's Day with my Nanny and Mother. Afternoon Tea at the Grand America.
7. Our little Califlower learned how to lock the doors but not how to unlock them earlier this year. (She now knows how to unlock)
8. Little Miss Broccoli insisted we throw Sydney at 13th birthday party, it was small. This year she has been planning another one and it will be bigger.
9. Exactly one year ago today we started our year in Del Mar with our entire little family. It was one of the best mornings I have ever had.
10. This is probably my favorite picture of us.
11. What Santa brought Syd for Christmas
12. One of the many camping trips we went on this year, and she is in her element.
13. Because I love how they love each other. They both just brighten my day.
14. I find random lengths of toilet paper all over the house because Califlower likes to pretend she is an animal, and of course, she needs a tail. She loves being a wolf, and here she is in a wolf costume. Cutest little wolf. She wore that trail until it there was nothing left.
15. Probably my favorite picture of the year. I love her adventurous spirit. 
16. Friendship. Me with my childhood friend who came for a visit. If there is one thing I can say I am truly blessed with, it's friends. They bring a lot of fulfillment and laughter in my life.

And a little year review...

Our year in numbers

418 loads of laundry
200 pounds of Alaskan caught fish
26 miles totaled hiked as a family
2 ER visits
7 stitiches
0 broken bones

2nd Annual Dance Recital (and graduation)

Our summer adventures began in the good month of May. When my grandmother made a special visit out here to see Miss B's dance recital. But first we celebrated Mother's day with my mom and grandmother with afternoon tea at the ritzy hotel downtown.

 My grandmother had sent the tiaras out for the girls a few months ago and B couldn't wait to wear it to afternoon tea with her Nanny.

The recital. With her wonderful and patient teacher. This dance studio do recitals a little different. It's actually a production. Each class has a part and the older girls are the soloists. This year it was Tinker Bell's Version of Peter Pan. B's class was the fairy dust and they danced to "Sail me to the Moon". 

Grandparent photos. 

Her special visitor, Nanny.

Since it was the month between birthdays we celebrated the girls birthdays with everyone here.

And someone graduated from preschool. I had no idea the program was as involved as it was or grandparents would have received an invitation.. oops. She sang a solo (and had I known it was a solo I would have practiced a little more diligently - but she did great) She had lines to recite and then she read a book.

Her preschool teacher was fabulous. B thrived so well under her direction. Thankfully, we kept her influence in our life and she is now her music teacher.

Scratch That Bucket List of the List

(As the norm I am behind on my blog I've admitted I may actually never catch up so I better just start with the most current - on a side note I am pretty sad blogs are dying, I miss reading the stories behind the Instagram pics). 

So at the beginning of summer (actually when it was still spring) I had seen on Instagram and Pinterest summer bucket lists. Now, let me say I am NOT a  list person. Yes, I will do the typical store list (usually on an old receipt written in eye liner) and the packing list, but other than that I don't do lists, and I don't do lists because I get side tracked very easily and the list never gets done. 

But I loved the idea of a bucket list, make a list then make a little scrapbook of our bucket list. 

It was a grand idea. 

That fell flat on it's face, or whatever the face of an idea is. 

Now I am being a bit dramatic here, but I feel like I became prisoner to the summer bucket list, and I started getting frustrated, particularly when I saw people crossing off theirs with what seemed like ease with flawless execution. So then I would get annoyed and feel this panic that I MUST cross off the the bucket list or I would RUIN summer, RUIN IT!  It's the ol' expectation vs reality that gets me.

Well, we are now at the end of summer and MOST of things are not crossed off, but guess what? We still did a ton of amazing things this summer.  This was one of the best summers yet, and I think it was because we just took the adventures as they came or as we felt (therefore, no time for expectations which equals success).

So our latest summer camping trip:

Powell Point/Capitol Reef: Primitive Camping and the most BEAUTIFUL camping spots we've ever seen.

 

 Powell Point

 

We hiked to Powell Point

 

Then we headed to the most beautiful place we've ever camped.

It was in the Dixie National Forest.

 

The Pine Trees were brilliant, about 60 feet high. 

 

The pictures jut don't do it justice. There is a little stream behind us. I think we will come back here every year. Don't you think a cute air stream trailer would look so good right there? 

Sigh, a girl can dream.

  

Then we headed to Capitol Reef where B and I hiked to the natural bridge in 95 degree heat (but it was beautiful) 

 And I am amazed how that girl can make friends.

 This is a family visiting from Italy. We chatted all the way back, and afterwards I asked if I could get a picture, and I explained how B has a habit of making friends with people everywhere we go and they just happen to be from all around the world, so I need to make a book with everyone she meets.

I think my next post will be called the anti bucket list ;)

*FIVE*

Five years ago I became a mother, and a whole new life was born.




















 Oh, young first time mother, Julie the things I wish I could tell you, that you would just have ignored.

I always wanted to be a mother so I thought it would come naturally and easily, and frankly, it didn't. The transition was rough. I felt like I had to figure out my identity all over again. I made it more difficult than it had to be. I have an habitual problem of making mountains out of ant hills. Motherhood has been no exception.
But motherhood has made me grow more as a human being than anything else.
I am more proud of who I am today than ever before and I have my daughters to thank for that.
I didn't lose my identity; the focus changed.
Raising human beings has forced me to evaluate the quality of human being I am. It has pushed me and motivated me to be better. Perhaps I would have done this just by maturing? But I think motherhood was a catalyst for it.

And I do believe, this is our first family photo.

And here is our girl.
-->  I often feel the urgent desire to write her apology letters all.the.time. The poor first born child a.k.a the guinea pig. The mothering failures for this child are the successes for the next one.

She made a place right in our hearts with her sparkly eyes and sweet soul.

She continues to delight us with her bright smile and thirst for adventure.

She loves arts and crafts. Her drawing skills are quite impressive, but not as impressive as this girl's social life. Just the other day, she went to FOUR different friend's houses, FOUR, and that's not counting when her friends came to our house.

She loves dance class and loves to tell jokes, jokes which usually involves "poop'.

For example, "Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it had to... go poop." She even pauses for dramatic effect and laughs her little head off after she says it.


And these were her school/dance pictures.

We Have A Teenager

Some doggie turned 13 in February and some little person insisted we MUST have a birthday party for her. So we made dog friendly cupcakes and homemade dog treats. We made party hats and we put up our birthday banner and pictures of the honorary person... or dog.

It was actually quite fun. I am glad B was so insisted. We had a fun time getting it all together.

Happy 13th Syd! You will never read this one day, but I hope we convey how much we love you around here. You are my children's greatest protector, my constant companion, and the greatest monster/ghost/whatever-B-comes-up-with EATER alive.

Easter

 Here is our little Califlower, donning my 3 year old Easter dress.

 I just couldn't get a good one of big sis, she kept dancing :)

I was a little late on signing up the girls for an Easter Egg hunt (mostly because I am indecisive - to do or not to do?) However, at a local farm they do an Easter doggie egg hunt, and that wasn't sold out and I knew they would have just as much fun (if not more) helping Syd find some eggs. And they did, they loved it. Califlower however, did NOT love the Easter bunny.

 And we all got a wagon ride.
And you maybe thinking "but what about Dixie?" Well, the dog has to be leashed the entire time, and well Dixie, is an entirely different dog on a leash. She is a bit of a feral dog I suppose, and leashes bring out a naughty behavior in her.
 

 Then we invited family over for a night of Easter Egg fun.
We did learn that the best and brightest colors are not from the egg dyeing kit but from just the normal food coloring with vinegar, we added food coloring to the egg kit colors just to make the colors brighter, bolder, and well, better.

 

B had Brad draw a cat on one of her eggs, but the egg cracked and I let C eat the egg. End.Of.The.World. 

So my niece was so kind and drew a cat on paper for B to keep forever. 

She cherishes it. It's on her nightstand.  

Then it was Easter.

 Easter baskets found.

 Later in the afternoon we finally found the Easter Eggs the Easter Bunny hid.