Goals For 2014

It's that time of year again--new year, new goals.  Here's my list for 2014:

Run a 5K.  

Sound familiar?  Yep, one of my goals from 2013 that I failed to complete!  I hope to accomplish this goal by running in the New Year's Hustle on January 18.  After seeing David and Mary's amazing performances in their races this past December, I fear that people may accuse me of being fast by association or something. Nope, I am the slowpoke of the family. I just hope to run the entire race and still be breathing after I cross the finish line.

Make Danish pastries.

I love, love, love to bake.  Recently, we made croissants for the first time for a history project.  (I love it when education and food intersect!) They were a lot of work but so worth it.  To make Danish pastries, you start with croissant dough (yum) but add a filling in the middle (double yum).  Maybe a special treat for Valentine's Day?

Complete the chronological Bible reading plan.

I have always been one to read through the books of the Bible in order, but I feel like it's sometimes hard for me to put together the order of events from start to finish.  As I was praying about what to read during my devotional time, I came across this reading plan, which, ideally, I would finish in March. But, seriously, I'm a mom, so I am hoping to finish by the end of April.

Put together a 2013 photo book.

I know this one sounds familiar, too, right?  If I don't include it on my goals list, it won't get done.

Potty train Matthew and Jonathan.

I know I've really been dragging my feet on this one.  I have had the underwear in the drawer for at least six months but have not even let either twin put it on yet.  Not only have I never potty trained a boy, but I have never potty trained twins!  I have visions of two little boys running around the house squirting each other for fun. Gross. On top of that there are three other siblings to use as targets. Double gross. Alas, I know I can't avoid the issue much longer, so I will at least try to potty train these little guys this summer.  

Get caught up on my periodical backlog.

I have pretty much a year's worth of BHG, LHJ, Costco, and AAA magazines to read.  I really enjoy reading them, so I don't know why I haven't.  I hope to get caught up in 2014!

Open our home to someone from church at least once per month.

It is really, really difficult for me to invite people over to our home.  I'm a crummy hostess.  My house is usually messy.  To say my cooking is sub-par is being extremely generous. My kids aren't used to having people over, so they get over-excited and really, really loud and act like they have never heard of "manners" before! Nonetheless, David and I have been convicted that God wants us to fellowship more with the other members of our church family, so no more excuses! 

Learn how to crochet.

I really enjoy doing crafts with my kids.  Mary especially is interested in different crafts she can do with her hands, like weaving potholders, knitting hats, and embroidering towels.  I would like to teach her to crochet, but first I have to learn!  I think I'm just going to get some supplies at the craft store and follow this tutorial.

Build a unit for the laundry room to organize jackets, shoes, and bags.

That was pretty funny, right?  Me, build something?  When David told me how long it would take for him to get to this project, I told him that I could just build it myself.  Suddenly, it moved up in the list of priorities, ha, ha.  Well, I have a design, but I can't figure out how to paste it here, so you'll have to take my word for it that it's an ingenious use of space:)

Learn computer programming in JavaScript faster than Mary.

In December, the Khan Academy had a greeting card project to encourage kids to code during the Hour of Code. Mary really enjoyed learning to code and is eager to learn more.  I signed up for an account at the Khan Academy and am just hoping to keep one step ahead. 

       
Read Life Skills for Kids.
I came across this book when browsing through the Rainbow Resource curriculum catalog this past summer and am really looking forward to reading it, but I have to finish two other books first.

Find out David's answers to Pastor Peter's 39 questions.

Recently, our church had a Christmas party for the couples/families affinity group.  At this party, we teamed up with another couple to find out how much we knew about our spouses.  Each individual chose 15 numbers between 1 and 39 and then answered those specific questions (of a list of 39) on a piece of paper.  Then, we traded papers with the spouse of the opposite sex and tried to answer the way our spouse did. Point values were assigned to each question and awarded for each correct answer. Although David and I have a wonderful marriage, I'm pretty sure we were in the running for the lowest scoring couple with a combined score of 23.  From my calculations, the highest possible score was 65. I plan to find out the answers to all 39 questions in 2014!

Of course, all of this is secondary to keeping my kids alive, fed, and cleansed enough to be socially acceptable! Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! This year, my heart is especially full with gratitude for many special people in my life, one for each day of the month of November:

1. My Savior, Jesus Christ--for suffering in my place on the cross. 
2. My husband, David--for being a loving and faithful husband, who has stuck by me in all kinds of weather, truly he is the best thing that has happened to me apart from trusting in Jesus to be my Lord and Savior! 
3. Mary--for her love for reading and amazing memory. 
4. Maggie--for her cheerfulness at the break of day and eagerness to be my helper. 
5. Matthew--for his love of anything that has a motor. 
6. Jonathan--for being strong and boisterous and soft and cuddly all at the same time. 
7. Josiah--for being the social butterfly of the family. 
8. My mother-in-law Ann--for taking the girls dress shopping regularly. 
9. My father-in-law Bob--for always supplying us with plenty of wine. 
10. My brother-in-law Luke--for taking amazing photos of our kids. 
11. My mom--for showing me by her example how to serve others. 
12. My dad--for teaching me all about football. 
13. My stepmom--for teaching me to send thank you cards. 
14. Pastor Peter--for faithfully preaching God's word every week and being such an approachable authority in my life. 
15. Mama Esther--for always encouraging me to love God, my husband, and my children. 
16. My sister Alicia--for her love for hair, make-up and fashion. 
17. Kelly--for encouraging me to be a more fit Mama. 
18. Lin--for encouraging me to clean my BOB and iron my husband's clothes. 
19. Esther--for being such an amazing hostess even when she has a newborn! 
20. Laura--for being such a support and encouragement to me in my homeschooling endeavors. 
21. Loro--for encouraging me to be more unflappable. 
22. Sharon--for encouraging me to be a more loving and encouraging wife. 
23. SOW Teachers--for faithfully serving week after week and teaching my children about God. 
24. Pastor Chad--for teaching me about forgiveness and loving those who hurt you. 
25. Pastor Matthew--for being the first to proclaim the whole counsel of God to me. 
26. Pastor Mark--for his godly wisdom that surpasses his years. 
27. Elder Joe--for faithfully leading worship every week with substantive praise songs. 
28. Paul--for hysterical threads on Facebook. 
29. Coach Jeff--for being the most patient and encouraging soccer coach ever!
30. Our neighbors, the Mills--for being great friends and playmates.

Miscellaneous Happenings

The end of October was pretty exciting with the Reformation Celebration and our cake pop adventure. That's all small potatoes compared to the new construction going on right across the street!  Diggers. Dumpers. Earth Movers. Bulldozers. We've got it all right outside our front window. I would venture to say that most of our neighbors are less than thrilled to hear construction noise at 7am. Oddballs!  Matthew and Jonathan are ready for them by 6am!

Josiah lost his toothless grin and has already sprouted three teeth! Insert tear here. He is growing up way to fast! More tears.

David submitted his application for tenure and started working as a consultant for a drug software company in addition to his employment at UCI.  With a small part of his first check (most of which will go to paying off our mortgage), we bought a Blendtec!  I never thought I would spend so much money for a blender, but we've gone through four cheap blenders in our twelve years of marriage. Hopefully, this will be the last!  So far, we have used it to make pancake batter, lots of juice, and iced coffee yet we've only scratched the surface of its amazing culinary possibilities!  Matthew especially loves his homemade orange juice! For those of you who are interested, we decided on the Blendtec over the Vitamix because (1) it is cheaper (at least at Costco), (2) fits on the counter under our cabinets, and (3) can blend an iphone!

Lastly, I am grieved to admit that I will not meet my December goal of running a 5K with the family this year. Frankly, I'm just not a spring chicken anymore and cannot bounce back quite as quickly as I would like. I suffered a freak calf sprain earlier in the summer when I tried wearing my vibrams on the elliptical. This is my one and only claim to fame. I don't think I know of anyone else who has been able to injure themselves on an elliptical! I finally recovered from that injury and started training for the 5K, running 3 miles 3 times a week. After the second week, though, my IT band was really sore, so sore it hurt to walk. After maxing out the ibuprofen dosage for a week, a neighbor recommended I roll it out with a foam roller. I was really skeptical that the foam roller would do any good, but it has helped so much! Since I tend to be a teensy bit overambitious, I decided to limit myself to the couch to 5K training plan. If everything goes according to plan, then I should be ready for a 5K in January. I won't be able to run with the rest of the family, but I trust that God is sovereign over every detail of my life and that even what appears to me as a setback He is using for His own glory in ways that at present are mysterious to me!

Happy Reformation Day!

 

Our awesome church, Berean Community Church, held its first ever Reformation Celebration this year. Families were encouraged to come in non-scary costumes and prizes were awarded for best adult, best child, and best family costumes. I really didn't want to spend any money on costumes, so I tried to come up with some costumes for the kids from what we already had.  This year, we are reading through Reformation Heroes and learning about one reformer a week.  About a month ago, we read about Anne of Bohemia, so I thought at least one of the girls could dress up like a princess and be Anne of Bohemia.  Then, I quickly scanned the index to find another female reformer and came across the mother-daughter pair, Queen Marguerite of Narvarre and Queen Jeanne d'Albret of Navarre.  Perfect!  I thought Matthew and Jonathan could just wear our knight costumes.  Then, after reading about the queens of Navarre, the girls dubbed Jonathan the Prince of Conde and Matthew Prince Henry of Navarre.  Ummm...so that was settled I guess the day before the celebration.  But, poor Josiah, I didn't think about him until the day of.  Fortunately, Matthew and Jonathan had these really cute monkey hats when they were his size, so I dug out the monkey hat and dressed him up like a monk (ey)!  I even painted the girls' fingernails and toenails for the occasion.  Of course, they peeled it off in lightning speed.  

We had a wonderful time learning more about the history of the reformation through a skit and a presentation by our pastor.  We also really enjoyed the food and carnival games!  Maggie was the big winner of the evening.  With the closest guess of the money in the coin jar, she came home with a jar's worth of nickels and pennies--$21.97!  That's a lot of money for a five-year old.  She has such a generous heart, though, and agreed to share the prize money with Mary. 

October's Goal: Learn to Make a New Dessert

My goal for the month of October was really vague--learn to make a new dessert. Cake pops are everywhere these days, so I figured it was time I learn how to make them. Plus, I thought Mary and Maggie would have a lot of fun making cake pops. I opted for the easy route and used boxed cake mix and canned frosting. I know, can I really say that I "made" them???  Anyways, I had trouble following the recipe for "easy cake pops" because Albertson's didn't have lollipop sticks or candy melts.  I subbed popsicle craft sticks for the lollipop sticks and dolci frutta for the candy melts. I also didn't buy enough dolci frutta, so I ended up using the remaining frosting for some of the cake pops. They came out looking more mushroom-shaped than round and there were a few casualties, but they received rave reviews!  Next time, I will skip the cake mix and frosting and use lollipop sticks and candy melts.  October's goal is complete!

Josiah Loves Solids!

Among other exciting world events this past week, Josiah started eating solid foods! I was in no rush to start feeding Josiah solids for several reasons.

1. I don't mind changing the purely-breastfed-baby diapers at all, but the solid-eating-variety really stinks!
2. Introducing solids takes time--time to prepare the food and time to spoon-feed it to the baby. Time is something that's hard to come by these days!
3. I really want to hold on to this final baby-stage as long as possible!  Seriously, why does this little guy have to grow up?

My girls, on the other hand, were eager for Josiah to start eating "real food". So, I finally relinquished my hold on babyhood this past week.  I really expected that Josiah wouldn't like solids at all.  Boy, was I wrong!  This kid loves to eat and he's a pretty adorable spectacle!

  

 

A Backyard We Can Enjoy!

I really liked having a backyard consisting of mounds of dirt for a little while. The relationship turned sour, however, the moment Matthew and Jonathan began to partake of said dirt as a delicacy. Because we are frugally-minded, or, to put it more bluntly, cheap, we really wanted to landscape the backyard ourselves. To help us generate some ideas, though, we had a few companies come out and give us estimates, which, by the way, are FREE! I was astounded at the price tag on a backyard the size of a postage stamp: $20,000! Seriously??? That was all the gusto we needed to plunge head-first into the do-it-yourself-landscaping-project! Now that the backyard project is completed, I kind of understand why they wanted to charge so much. This project was so much more involved than I ever imagined it to be: 9 cubic yards of road base, 2 cubic yards of sand, 6 cubic yards of top soil, 120 retaining wall blocks, 650 square feet of pavers.  That's a lot of manual labor with only one wheelbarrow and two shovels.  We went through five pairs of work gloves combined and three cases of gatorade.  David made new friends at Home Depot's tool rental shop and the local dump (we hauled out FIVE loads of dirt from the backyard).

I am so thankful for my renaissance of a man husband, David.  He worked so hard designing the yard, researching how to build retaining walls and lay pavers, and executing the plan, which, you can see from the pictures below, required a LOT of manual labor and painstaking attention to detail.  In addition to one week of vacation, he dedicated mornings, evenings, and weekends to this project.  The backyard turned out beautifully because of him.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.  Colossians 3:23

This is a picture of the pavers and retaining wall blocks.

A big pile of road base.

Sand and topsoil.

This is a picture of the retaining wall on the left side of the patio.  We are using each of these beds for vegetables.

This is a picture of the retaining wall in the middle of the patio.

This is a picture of the retaining wall on the right side of the patio.

This is a picture of one the in-ground planters between the retaining walls.  Somehow, I forgot to take a picture of the other one.  We opted to purchase all of the plants from a local nursery that only sells plants native to this region of California.

This is a picture of the in-ground planter and pavers next to the house and opposite the retaining walls.

David laid pavers all along the side of the house and planted citrus trees next to the wall.

This is the other side of the house where we planted grapes and lemonade berry.

Mobley Art

I really have zero creative genes in my body, so art has never been a source of enjoyment for me. When I was a kid, we used to do art projects in class and then the teacher would hang everyone's creation, no matter what it looked like, up on the wall. Once, a classmate asked me which one was mine, but I refused to tell him because mine was seriously so bad. Then, he pointed to one and said, "Well, it can't be as bad as that one!" Embarrassed, I admitted, "Ummm...that one is mine." Understandably, I feel so ill-equipped to educate my children in anything artistic, but I also refuse to pay for art lessons.  I also refuse to place them in a classroom setting to fumble around on their own like me, for that certainly did nothing for me but to turn me off of art entirely. This year, however, I used some of our instructional funds to purchase a DVD-based art curriculum, Atelier Art. Now, every Thursday afternoon, we sit at the school table and watch an art lesson on the computer, pausing as necessary to keep up with the instructor. Much to my surprise, what was once drudgery is now a delight!  It is so much fun learning and growing alongside my children!

We learned about different lines.

We mixed primary colors to make secondary colors.

This was a lesson in textures.  We each made an animal with an oval-shaped piece of felt.

This past week, we explored patterns drew clowns.

The 2013-14 School Year

A lot of people have been asking what materials we are using for school this year.  For reporting purposes, our schoolwork is divided into six disciplines: English, Math, Science, History, Life Skills, and Special Interest. Below is what we are using for each child for each discipline.

Mary--2nd grade
English:

• Spell to Write and Read (Fall)
• Vocabulary from Classical Roots 4 (Spring)
• Writing with Ease Level 2
• First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind Level 3 
• McCall Crabbs Test Lessons in Reading
• Handwriting Without Tears Cursive Handwriting

Math: Saxon Intermediate 4

History: Story of the World Volume 3: Early Modern Times

Science: Exploring Creation with Zoology 3: Land Animals

Special Interest:

• English from the Roots Up Volume II
• Draw Write Now Books 2 and 3
• Reformation Heroes
• Maps Charts Graphs Book B
• Critical Thinking Level D
• Atelier Art Level 1

Maggie--Kindergarten

English:

• Spell to Write and Read
• Handwriting without Tears Letters and Numbers for Me

Math: Saxon 1

History: Story of the World Volume 3: Early Modern Times

Science: Exploring Creation with Zoology 3: Land Animals

Special Interest:

• Draw Write Now Books 2 and 3
• Reformation Heroes
• Maps Charts Graphs Book A
• Critical Thinking Level A
• Atelier Art Level 1

Additionally, the girls are taking a physical fitness class that meets once a week (on Thursdays) in Santa Ana.  There is a Target close-by, so I usually take the three boys shopping while the girls are in class.  I am enjoying being able to leisurely shop the clearance at Target.  So far, I've found a new towel for Mary, a clock for the boys' room, super-soakers to go around, items for our next car trip, butterfly nets, and a parachute!  Yep, before long, David is definitely going to have to pull on the reins!

The girls also practice their computer skills by doing math and reading lessons at i-Ready.com.  Maggie also practices math on IXL.

Additionally, we spend quite a bit of time reading books together.  This year, I am taking a new approach to read-alouds and am reading the girls the books which correspond with Mary's writing lessons.

I know it sounds like an awful lot, but it's totally manageable and fun.  There is even still time left over for soccer, riding bikes and scooters, going for walks, flying kites, knitting and sewing, piano lessons, princess school, fencing and chores!

Mama's Bootcamp

Josiah sure is a cutey, but it has been a big struggle for me to lose those extra pounds I gained while pregnant with him.  Josiah is now six months and my most comfortable clothes are still either maternity or what I consider my "fat" clothes!  The primary reason it's been a struggle to get rid of the extra pudge is that it has been really challenging to figure out a way to fit exercise into my schedule with five children. I do get some exercise--I take the kids for a walk every day.  The girls ride their scooters; the twins ride in the double stroller; Josiah rides in the Ergo. Walking is good, but not enough for me. If I could get myself out of bed early in the morning, I would certainly be able to get a workout in, but this is really difficult because Josiah still wakes up to feed at least twice in the night. Plus, my kids are early birds, so I would have to be up and ready by 5am in order to work out and shower in time to wrangle the troops.  Another possibility would be in the evening after the kids go to bed.  But, by that time, I am really exhausted, and I fear that working out would only energize me and keep me from getting the rest I need to fulfill my mommy duties.  On Monday of this week, though, I got desperate enough and started to think outside the box.  I realized that, while I don't have a big block of time, I do have small pockets of time throughout the day that I could use to exercise. So, I googled Boot Camp Workout and found some exercises at Women's Health Magazine.  I am now doing each of the following exercises for 30 second intervals twice throughout the day.

Squats
Pushups
Bicycle Crunches
Jumping Jacks
Back Extensions
Walking Lunges
Squat Jumps
Close-Grip Pushups
High-Knees
Mountain Climbers

An added bonus is watching Mama exercise is really, really entertaining for the kids, especially the jumping jacks.  The kids like to join in, too: Jonathan sits on my back for back extensions and Josiah rides around with me for squats and lunges.

I am really trying to keep my focus on being fit for the glory of God rather than looking a certain way. My goal is to take care of the body God has given me so that I can continue to honor Him by serving my family and my church.  

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."  1 Corinthians 10:31

Happy 5th Birthday, Maggie Moo!

This past Wednesday, Maggie turned five! It was a crazy, crazy week with the plague being passed from one person to the next, so poor Maggie didn't even get to pick what she wanted for breakfast or dinner:( Sweet Maggie didn't utter one complaint, though! We chose not to have a party with friends this year, so our family just celebrated this milestone at home. Now that she is a big five-year old, Maggie has been fastening her own seatbelt, can almost do a perfect somersault, and plans to begin to cut her own food!  Below are some pictures of Maggie with her gifts from loved ones!

A beautiful hat handmade by Mary.

A new princess dress-up from Aunt Alicia!

A new Hello Kitty shirt also rom Aunt Alicia!

A set of colorful dishes from Nana and Papa!

Eagerly awaiting Mrs. Sheryl's Chocolate Pie!  (By the way, in case you are wondering about the blanket sleeper, I think these girls have acclimated to Orange County.  If it gets below 75, it's COLD!)

A pink swim cap and goggles for the little fish from Gramps and Grams!

A Disney Princess towel and washcloth from Grandma Nancy.

A kick scooter like Mary's from Mama and Daddy.

My Bookshelf

We started school this past week, which means that we have a new daily schedule!  With this new schedule, I was able to build in some reading time for myself.  YIPPEE!  I found that Matthew and Jonathan go to sleep faster and sleep longer if I sit in their room until they fall asleep for their nap.  (Of course, I do have to remind them to be quiet, lie down, and close their eyes!)  So, now I sit in their room and read to myself while the girls are reading in the living room.  It's a good thing because I have a huge backlog on my bookshelf.  This is what I am hoping to read in the coming months during my reading time:

A Letter to my Grandpa

My grandpa is turning 95 in just a few days. For the occasion, I sent him our most recent family photo along with this letter about our family. After reading it, my husband thought it was worthy of a post, so I really hope you enjoy reading it, too!

Dear Grandpa K,

Happy 95th birthday! Boy, 95 years sounds like a really long time! The girls and I put exactly 95 heart stickers inside the numerals. It took us a long time, so we concluded that 95 years is indeed a very long time!

We are really enjoying living in our new home in Orange County, California! Would you believe that we have lived here for more than a year and have not used the air conditioning once??? Although it does get hot during the day, we live close to the ocean so it is cools off considerably at night. There are also very few bugs here, which is, for us, a welcome change from mosquito-infested New Orleans. I do, however, miss the fall colors and the winter snows that you get to experience! Every time I fill up the gas tank, I find myself wondering if perhaps we should relocate!

David enjoys his job teaching and researching at UC Irvine. He will be applying for tenure this year, which is actually a year-long process. I really enjoy homeschooling the children, although I never imagined myself as a stay-at-home mom, let alone a homeschooler!

Mary is now seven and has so many interests I can’t keep up! She loves to play soccer, sew, knit, and read. Her favorite subject is history; her favorite games are chess and Scrabble. Right now, she aspires to be the first woman president!

Maggie will turn five in just a few weeks. She is such a bubbly little girl and wants more than anything to be a mom! She loves to play with her baby dolls and help me with the cooking and cleaning. Even though she’s only five, she does an excellent job folding laundry! She is also very excited about her first soccer season this fall.

Matthew and Jonathan are two years old and certainly keep me running. I often marvel at how you raised my dad and Uncle Jim because I now know what a handful they must have been. The twins like to speak to one another in their own language and get a bit frustrated with the rest of us to whom it remains a mystery. They are the best of friends and can get into a lot of trouble in a hurry. They have been known to raid the refrigerator early in the morning, unload their dresser drawers during naptime, and bail water from the toilet. Even so, they are a bundle of fun for which we are ever grateful!

Josiah is now five months old and is learning new tricks every single day. He smiles for just about anyone who crosses his path and is a pretty easy-going little guy, except that he still wakes up a LOT at night. He’s a toughy and doesn’t even cry for shots or nail trimmings! As the youngest of five, he also tolerates thousands of kisses and whacks!

We hope that you have a wonderful 95th birthday celebration surrounded by your loved ones who are close. Our family is celebrating this milestone with you from sunny California.

Much love,
David, Maura, Mary, Maggie, Matthew, Jonathan, and Josiah Mobley

Update on 2013 Goals

Just when I was feeling pretty accomplished in the goal achievement department, I fell behind!  My goal for July was to revamp our Christmas devotions.  It's now almost the end of August and my progress is still hovering at zero percent!  Why did I let this happen???  No good reason!

Lame Excuse #1: I was too busy deep-cleaning the house.

Lame Excuse #2: I was too busy shoveling road base and transporting retaining wall caps and pavers.

Lame Excuse #3: I was too busy feeding Josiah, who has yet to realize the benefits of sleeping at night.

Lame Excuse #4: I was too busy playing Scrabble with Mary.

Lame Excuse #5: I was too busy playing Imaginets with Maggie.

Lame Excuse #6: I was too busy cleaning up after my two tornadoes.

Lame Excuse #7: I was too busy planning our school year.

Lame Excuse #8: I was too busy watching Call the Midwife.

Lame Excuse #9: I was too busy comparing the Vitamix to the Blendtec.

Lame Excuse #10: I forgot.

My goal for August was to go through The Child's First Catechism with Mary and Maggie.  We started going through the questions and answers at the beginning of the summer but somehow ran out of steam.  I am ready to pick it up again this week!  

I was feeling pretty crummy about my progress, but then I noticed that my goal for September was to transfer Matthew and Jonathan to toddler beds.  YAY!  This goal, which I totally forgot about, has been completed for some time now!  The transition has not exactly been smooth sailing, but I think we finally have things figured out.  Nighttime usually goes really well, but naptime is tricky.  Left to themselves, the boys will talk to each other for a long time, like two hours, and then eventually fall asleep.  Then, they wake up groggy and famished and really, really grumpy!  So, I have found that it works best if I bring a book I am reading into their room and read silently until they fall asleep.  Whatever works, right?  

Park Hopping

After many a frustrating morning, I finally figured out that the day goes so much better if we start it off at the park! We are very fortunate and have lots of parks within walking distance.  This summer, we have been taking advantage of each and every one!  The park is such a happy place for me.  I can sit and nurse Josiah.  All the kids play happily with squabbles requiring parental intervention being few and far between. The pictures speak for themselves:)

Urey Park

Lower Pool Park 

Vista Bonita Park

Gabrielino Park

The Secret Park

University Park--this one is actually not within walking distance, but it is right next to the public library.  The library doesn't open until 10 am, so we usually go and play at the park and then head over to the library.