A Little Happy Moment

I just got this link from J's grandmother, and thought I would share it because it makes me smile.

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam. Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands ..

Take a look at HEMA's product page (catalog) - just wait a couple of seconds and watch what happens. DON'T click on any of the items in the picture; just wait.

This company has a sense of humor and a great computer programmer, who has too much time on his hands.

http://producten.hema.nl/

We are cruising through soccer-camp-week, and it is going well. Wombles and I have been having fun at home, although I've been letting him "do his own thing" perhaps a bit too much...maybe tomorrow we'll have a holiday where we just play the whole time. But it is soooo tempting to "get things done" instead!

Later this afternoon I am hoping that we can get over to a friend's house to see Marina, who did Bible Club with us last year and is wonderful in a million ways (but not in that she transferred to a school back East mid-year...waahh!). We have missed her and are so excited she's back home for a couple of weeks.

We have four weeks until school starts, and about 5 different big trips/adventures we'd like to take. We're in the winnowing process...ouch. Although just staying put and hitting the pool sounds good to me, too.

Soccer Camp!

The camps at Westmont are great (and so is the discount we can get because of J's work). This week has been Bud's first opportunity to go off to camp, and he has been loving it. We are getting tales of all sorts of games (and many colors of Popsicle). The head of the camp says that Bud is a "charger." Yep, that's a pretty good description.









J. and I had a great date last night. It's always fun to walk out on the breakwater, from which you get a panoramic view of the town framed by mountains. We've discovered it's the best way to figure out how things are connected and related here, in this town of twists and curves and hills. Definitely a must-see on the Cov tour of SB (won't you come take the tour? It's free!). Speaking of tours, here is Wombles being the tourist:



















Have a great day!

Superhero

Hello, everyone. It's been two weeks. I don't ACTUALLY have time to do a blog posting, as J. got a babysitter and we're heading out on a date pretty soon...I'm so excited! As a friend commented already (on Facebook), I get to spend time with a guy who doesn't throw things in the toilet. Yay (It's been an exciting week or so since Bud has started "reading" Calvin and Hobbes for inspiration rather than entertainment). Fortunately we haven't had to call a plumber yet, and the water balloon that got me at the desk missed the computer.

I wanted to share a couple of photos from Bud's birthday, though. Boppy and Grandma sent him a "Superhero Kit" and it was a hit. I really like all of the publications we've gotten from Klutz...if you're a parent and haven't checked them out, allow me to recommend them!

Anyway, here's Bud in his first outfit:

Whoa, slow down there, Ace! (He was running "really fast" to make his cape fly out behind him.)

Later in the week, Pixie got in on the action and they were a dynamic duo together:



One of the things I love about having Pixie at home for school is the strength of their brother-sister bond. They are best friends. This week, they are doing soccer camp at Westmont together in the mornings. Suppertime last night was full of stories from camp. Pixie let us know that she told the counselors that she and Bud had to be on the same team. :)

OK, Screaming Wombles, that's my cue...

J is home! J is home!

We survived the four days without him, and are sooo glad he's back. More on Bud's 4th birthday next time. Right now we have to get all of the furniture moved to the center of every room, and empty out all of the closets. The trim paintwork from the post-fire rehab didn't take (it's sticky), and they are doing all of the baseboards and some doors tomorrow. yeehaw.

Paint the Town

Yesterday morning we took a break from "normal" summer school to have an "art" morning. It began when Bud asked, "Hey, Mom, can we paint?" and I shocked everyone by saying "Yes!"




Although the easels were great fun, everyone ended up finger-painting. Wombles began that way, and had to be convinced that paint was "Not for Eating!!"






Bud gave me dear hand prints without my even asking:




And although Pixie painted the Eiffel Tower on her easel painting (complete with French flags...thank you, Madeline) she ended up getting in on the finger-paint action. With a different color on each finger...making Thanksgiving Turkeys (?).


Or maybe Pixie asked about painting. Either way, she is excited about switching out the artwork in the hall bathroom. The room is yellow with an array of variously sized bold red frames (Viva España). I fill the frames with the children's artwork...it is their "gallery." Pixie has been ready to switch out the lighthouse painting in the "big" frame for a new one...so we have the Eiffel tower. In my tribute-to-Spain bathroom. We'll have to have another paint day SOON!

Speaking of paint, we are almost done with fire-related painting issues. Next week we will be tearing the house apart so that all of the interior trim can be repainted...which means everything 2 feet away from baseboards, which means emptied out closets and rearranged furniture! On the upside, our exterior doors and railings were painted today, and they look great...and we didn't have to do it! Silver lining #437.

Monday is 8 months since the fire...and Bud's fourth birthday. We are gearing up, Lightning McQueen style. A trip down to Target in Ventura was on the agenda for today and was made all the more fun by having our 8-seater van completely full. 2 moms, 6 children, insanity. My friend came with me so that I could sneak away and get the last things for Bud's birthday without him knowing (J couldn't come with us). It was a huge service of love...four tantrums later we emerged and made it home victorious (after crawling through traffic on the 101). Although Bud saw something in the checkout line and yelled, "Mom! Thank you thank you for getting those Lightning McQueen racecars!!!" They are decorations for his cake, though, not the gift...so it was still a victory.

My friend also has said that she and her husband are planning on having our kids over for a meal tomorrow so that I can have a break. This sounds good, but I am not sure I can handle feeling more in debt to her than I already do. Besides the trip to Target today, :) during the school year she leads our neighborhood women's Bible study and is so incredibly gifted...and works so hard. So I constantly feel like I'm taking. How to give back?

Wow, it's nine and I need to do many things before heading to bed...like unloading the van from the Target trip while Bud's not watching, cleaning up the chicken pot pie that Wombles threw across the room while I stepped out after supper (Bud's was left on the table), checking out the new homeschool curriculum that came this afternoon, and eating dinner myself (this glorious dark chocolate that J's mom gave us just isn't going to cut it, after all.)

Oh, and spending a little while meditating on Romans 13:8:
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.

Welcome Barbecue

We have had a wonderful Fourth, with many friends coming for lunch and staying through the afternoon. Also, our supper swap friends took Pixie and Bud with them to the Montecito village parade--PERFECT (It was at 11:30, and they were going to have to miss it due to our BBQ prep).

The family we are welcoming to SB and Westmont, however, was not able to make it as they are all sick...they called and canceled this morning. Too bad! We'll have to plan another fiesta in their honor again soon. And, that meant I got to make ANOTHER cake this morning to make up for the one I would NOT be presenting at the cookout! :) Jesse took them their cake tonight, along with some leftovers for those who are inclined to eat.

Hope you have had/are having a wonderful holiday...some of you have already watched your fireworks! We're planning to stay in and watch a movie. We are not yet of and age(s) where fireworks...work.

There was plenty of sparkle, however, at our home-grown Fourth parade and Doll song and Dance show. Awesome.

The synchronized dancing held up briefly. This is after I decided everyone was sunburned enough and we moved inside.

Finally, here's the outfit Wombles got himself into this afternoon (it was HIS idea to take his shirt off, and he dressed himself from there):

Clarification

Briefly--

I just wanted to be clear that when I titled my last post "I'd rather be cakewrecking," I meant reading that blog and looking at some of the hilarious photos ("Happy Falker Satherhood,"anyone?). It usually makes me laugh. It sometimes makes me cry from laughing, and J comes in to see what's going on.

Anyway, when I posted that last link all of the photos were of Fourth-of-July cakes; appropriate, I thought, since I'm getting ready for a celebration this weekend and making two cakes to go with it. The next morning, though, there was a new posting on Cake Wrecks: all about "ladies' health" cakes. Who ever knew there was such a thing? But I assure you, my desire to be wrecking some cakes had nothing to do with any sort of minor--or major--surgery.

OK, here is the cake I finished tonight. It would DEFINITELY make Cake Wrecks, only you have to be a professional for that, and I'm just the amateur. It makes me laugh. The other one will be much more...normal.


In order to prove that I'm not taking myself too seriously, I will offer no explanations or disclaimers...which is pretty difficult. :)

Have a Happy Fourth!