I'd rather be cakewrecking

Well, we're having a wonderfully warm week--it seems like JUNE GLOOM might actually be over for the summer! That would be great. I am a summer-lovin' girl, an am ready for it to get here.

It didn't help that in the third week of May, I hopped in the car and drove out to Las Vegas to meet my sister and some other friends for a long weekend. Natalia and I spent a LOT of time sitting by the pool talking, flipping through magazines, and luxuriating in not being at work. It was AWESOME! I LOVE hanging out with my sister! ...I love her so much that I won't post the "Trophy wife" photo, although I really want to do so.

Here we are striking a pose:


And here is a haphazard shot I took of the sunset behind me when I was driving; there's something exhilarating about holding the camera out of the car window while you're heading down the highway.


Anyway, the point of this little (old-and-new? Remember? I'm catching up!) trip down memory lane is that it was deliciously warm in Las Vegas and I drove six hours home to land in May Gray. Which is followed by June Gloom. And I am rejoicing that "home" seems to have caught up with summer, perhaps even a little early!

The Vegas time was really fun, as well as giving me space to think, and to miss the children, and to remember that there is more to me than "Mom." Now, that had very little to do with Vegas as a town and a whole lot to do with having space and hanging out with Natalie, but there it is. I hope we can get together every year!

Side-note: The total of 13 hours alone in the car were so refreshing. Among other things: my music, Tim Keller, and the entire production of Les Miserables from start-to-finish without a stop (except intermission, which conveniently hit when I could stop and refuel). Aaaahhhhh!

This week we are on the ground and running again. We resumed out supper swap last night, which I may have mentioned before? Once a week we have supper with another family of dear friends here, and we take turns each week which of us is hosting. It's very nice to be back in our home and able to walk back and forth between. Here's a shot of our two eldest and their two eldest during after dinner dress up (did I mention it was dinner theatre?).



We are having a cookout this weekend--mainly to welcome the newest member of J's department at the college--but we'll throw in a little Fourth, too. I'm planning on making a cake using a recently acquired cake pan which is shaped like the United States. I'll definitely let you know if it qualifies for Cakewrecks.

Now, I have to head out--my summer reading this year is the Bible, and I'm trying to get the whole thing done in three months...which means I need to get some more in before I go to bed. Thanks for checking in!

So, Another Time Warp

The epic water fight we expected when I last blogged never materialized. It rained--hard--most of the day. Next time.

One week after the children and I arrived home, we were on the road up to beautiful Quincy, CA. We would have probably left on Friday, but found out that we weren't legal to drive because our smog certification had expired. SO I spent Saturday morning at our local homeschooling group's curriculum sale (picture a Wheaton church sale, if you can, only for books and other cool stuff!) We have provisionally decided to homeschool again next year--ahem, incorporate our own private school (California legalese talk). Next year, since Pixie will be in First grade, we'll have to jump the legal hoops. Any suggestions for a school name? I'm going to need one!

I am going to try to a little catch-up and a little current events at the same time...it'll take a while to get caught up, but I thought I'd sprinkle the old in with the new. So first off, here is one of my current ABSOLUTE FAVORITE pictures of our three, from D & M's wedding in April:


The wedding really, really was beautiful. Think a gorgeous garden and relaxed people (beautiful of course) and attention to detail. Think perfect weather and strawberry lemonade in mason jars (I hear. I was partial to the strawberry lemonade mimosa--also in a mason jar). Hear fun, delicious LIVE music along with the wind in the trees. And regret the smoked cheddar pimiento cheese sandwiches, if you were not thereto have some! We had picnic lunches in boxes and used linen napkins (carefully collected by the bride) that were so gorgeous that more than one person I know wiped chocolate on trousers because the napkins were too pretty!

Classic Bud--and classic Pixie

We have been back from Quincy for two days. Over the past two months I've spent more time away than at home, and I'm glad to be back and have summertime. The pace here in summer is delightful. Imagine an entire neighborhood where summer is spent with people catching their breath, working on projects, and taking things a little more slowly...a little closer to Southern-style. There's a gallon (well, almost) of sweet tea in the fridge!

Yesterday, freshly home from Q-town (the trip I will blog about in detail soon...I hope) we discovered that we had THREE artichokes ready! We (meaning J) have been fighting back the yard chaos since the fire, and now have a little garden going. We are using it more as landscaping around the yard than having a large garden plot, although we do have tomatoes in a raised bed and an herb garden.



Anyway, we harvested those artichokes and they were simply the best we'd ever had. So tender and tasty!! And we had it with home grown beef raised by J's parents....delicioso. We're sorry Joy and Ron couldn't join us for dinner...there will be no beef and fresh artichokes at breakfast tomorrow. We'll see what we can do, though. :)

OK, here's a quick moment with Wombles from this evening. J had just caught him eating the dirt. Besides his general...dirtiness...I'd love to point out the custom sandbox cover in the background. J made it while I was out of town, and it is PERFECT. I fear cats and critters no more.


Hope to have more soon--
thanks so much for checking in!

PS The honeysuckle is coming back!!

Three Weeks!

SO, it has been awhile...and I'm not really back even now. I AM back from four days in Las Vegas with my sister (thank you thank you, Jesse, for the vacation!), but I've left again three days later to go to Atlanta to see that sister married last weekend. It was a wonderful privilege to stand as matron of honor. I am so happy for Natalie and Kraig. I can't get photos up now, but for a sneak peek check out Catherine's shots on http://www.mylifephotoblog.com/natalie-and-kraig-2/ .They are gorgeous!

I'm hanging out in Georgia with my parents, the flower girl and the two ring bearers. The child wrangler for the wedding weekend had to fly home on Sunday in order to resume teaching Monday morning at 8:00am. I am pretending the flight home this weekend alone with the three does not exist (much like R.O.U.S's.) When I get home I will finally get to see the photos I took last weekend at the wedding, and then inflict my favorites upon you.

We have been going full-tilt and having a blast here with my grandmothers. There is a huge water war scheduled for tomorrow. Last time we were here (my brother's wedding five weeks ago!), my father, Pixie and Bud had a huge water fight with water pistols. Dad has bought some for mom, me, and Wombles...so tomorrow promises to be epic. Bud keeps yelling how there will be "SIX!!"

OK, I lied about photos....I leave you with a flower girl shot my mom took in the bride's room shortly bvefore the ceremony (and strongly encourage you to peek at my gorgeous baby sister and her wacky bridesmaids shots on the blog aforementioned).

A Normal Weekend?

I am here at the computer basking in the delights of a full and productive day. 26 hours ago I was completely freaking out about the amount of chaos. There is a lot of chaos--we still have not returned to "normal" since moving home; our bedroom, office and garage are still loaded with boxes from the move; many of the ones in the garage contain items that still need to have ashes wiped off of them; and we had started a rather large yard project that made me feel like everything was CRAZY! I did not handle it well.

Today, though, we both worked and took time to "play" and it was wonderful. This morning after J. got some writing done at the office we went downtown to the living history day at the Presidio--a fun and FREE activity.

Bud and Pixie grinding corn as one step of tortilla-making

By far their favorite "exhibit"--the archeological dig. The trench was, ah, stocked--but with authentic pieces recovered from the site. We talked about how Uncle D. did this!


Mmm, chocolate--but I'm not ready to give up coffee or tea.

Pixie picked out "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" at the music exhibit.

After we got home this afternoon, we got a lot done working in the yard. We had had some large rocks/small boulders moved around the property on Friday afternoon, and doing a lot of the fine work was a lot of fun. We're VERY pleased with the results. It was delightful to be working, and have the kids join in; Pixie and Bud borrowed shovels to move dirt, and the Wombles ran and got his sandbox shovel and joined in. It would have been great fun even if we hadn't also achieved wonderful things outside, including a new wall around our raised bed--which J. made complete with flat rocks on top, so it's a bench! Love it!

J.'s grading is over, and we are feeling the relief of having less pressure. It's great. Happy Weekend to you!

Six Months Later

My three little oak trees!

Back in February, I posted photos and thoughts as I reflected on the first three months after "our" fire. At that point we were still in the rental, with nearly a month left to go before we could move home again. The "fire things" still seemed somewhat distant, even as we lived in the immediacy of constantly reacting to some ramification or other.

The tree with the small crack in February.

After we moved home, the first three weeks were a little traumatic in ways that I did not expect. I thought I had come to terms with where life was now. However, living in the midst of the slabs of our neighbors' homes was not the same as "coming by"--the price of the fire is evident from every window, on each trip in the car. From our mailbox I can see the place on the hillside where the fire started. I wasn't prepared for how sad it would be to come home.

After a few weeks, however, things evened out and, of course, there is reconstruction everywhere! And now, at the six-month mark, I can pop out and walk to the barranca where 40-foot flames swept through and take a few shots. It is greener yet than in February.

Every tree in the grove is tagged. At some point, the dead ones will be removed.

Can you tell the difference between the ones that are living and the ones that are not? The morning after, there was no visible difference. Now it is extremely clear (at least in person).

Shedding its old, burned bark for the new!

When I worked on the February post, I had Isaiah 61 constantly running through my head. This time around, I have a song from the album Seeds of Faith: you can't hear the tune (I just turned it on in iTunes) but it sings:

If anyone
Is in Christ
He is a New Creation
He is a new creation
The old has gone
The new has come
He is a new creation
He is a new creation
..............
The old has gone
The new has come
He is a new creation
YOU are a new creation
The old has gone
The new has come
You are a new creation
You are a new creation

You get the general idea. I wish you could hear it. The music goes well with it, and it goes well with anything (being, as it is, 2 Corinthians 5:17). The pictures of the sprouts taking over the trees, the old bark falling off and revealing the fresh and healthy...and strong...new bark beneath, fills me with a painful kind of hopefulness, longing and contentment all at once.

Thanks for checking in!

Never a Dull Moment

We are back to normal today, with J.'s Mayterm class starting this morning and all systems go at home, too. On Sunday night, J. did a lot of the unpacking, but we are not finished yet. Considering that we are still under an evacuation warning, I think that's OK. Earlier this morning J. was informed that although the fire is back in the wilderness right now, if the winds pick up tonight and fan it up (the way it was going last week--see photos from last Wednesday) it would reach Mountain Drive in about 45 minutes. My guess is that at that rate our yard is about another 10-15 minutes.

So, there's the fire update. Here are a few fun photos from our last couple of days:

Our first evacuation stop: the playground. Those aren't clouds behind him!

Pixie and the strawberries at MaII’s

Uncle Dale tirelessly pushed Pixie and Bud in the hammock, although Bud used it more as a launching pad than anything else. His favorite exit was a somersault.

Yesterday, Wombles went AWOL for a few minutes. I found him playing in our bathroom sink. ???

Bud and Wombles climbed into the wheelbarrow this morning. They had a lot of fun, and I don’t have all of the dirt out of Wombles’ scalp yet.

The sign of peace when we came back from our evacuation: a spiderweb on the play set.

We're Home!

We are home--Hooray! I won't be uploading pictures tonight because I want to do a little Mother's Day celebrating. :)

On our way home from LA, we saw a little "parade" of4-6 large fire engines heading the opposite direction--south. Home for them, too! Always a wonderful sight to see the firefighters heading home. We were cheered.

After our return, our neighbor across the street welcomed us back and added "Let's hope it's for good"--a reminder that the fire's still burning up canyon (as if the near-constant helicopters weren't reminder enough!). I sure hope we don't have to leave again.

Other good news is that the total count on destroyed homes is much lower than first thought, for which we are very grateful.

Happy Mother's Day!!