My Superhero

Not to be confused with my hero...but still, having your own personal superhero is pretty great.


My superhero doesn't just wait around for something to happen and then have to rush, all flustered, to the scene of a crisis. MY superhero gets dressed in his superhero costume, with his superhero powers, and then comes in while I'm cleaning up breakfast dishes.

My superhero asks, "Is there a problem?

"Is there anything I can do?"

(Turns out, dishes are not something he can do.)

"Have you seen any bad guys around?"

I finally confessed there was a cat stuck in a tree in the back of the house. This is his kind of problem to solve. He rescued many, many animals that day.

I love my superhero!

And don't let the costume fool you...If you tell him he has big muscles, or ask if he's been working out, then he'll answer, "No, it's just a costume. They're actually made of foam."

I guess it's good for superheroes to have a decent grasp on reality.

Why Don't You Take A Picture...It'll Last Longer

Last weekend I had a fabulous getaway with my mom and my sister (hereafter "Miss Giraffe").

We did a whirlwind of play in San Diego. We ate. We laughed. We got lost. We rode bicycles. We recognized that we were, at times, stars in a screwball comedy, and tried to figure out what the next turn of the plot would be (Italian mafia and blue Maserati included).

We also took pictures.

After Mom took this picture, we all laughed at my fabulous green headdress. And then everyone needed to have one.


Here's Mom, showing it off in the Botanical Gardens at Balboa Park.



Miss Giraffe tried on two different sizes: Subtle,

And Not-So-Subtle.

See that guy on the left? His wife/girlfriend just yanked him out of the shot because it was so obvious I was trying to get the plant in the shot. Poor guy. But I was appreciatively embarrassed.

Did I mention that we laughed some? Yes? I grew up with two fantastically funny ladies in the house.

Right here, Miss Giraffe is getting ready to say something very, very funny. I can tell. She has that look in her eye.


I am distracted by her hand, though. Doesn't it look like something's...not quite right?



We're still not exactly sure how this could happen, but the appropriate authorities are looking into it. And she now swears her hands are no longer red, but "grapefruit" hued.

After seeing a thrilling baseball game at the "Most Scenic Ballpark in the World," we stopped to take a few more photos.

Like when I took a picture of Miss Giraffe taking a picture.


Or when Mom took a picture of Cupcake taking a picture.

(Miss Giraffe just became Cupcake...it's easier to type).

Or when I took a picture of Cupcake taking a picture of Mom taking a picture of me taking a picture of.... You get the drift.


Or maybe I'm just the weird picture-taker, and they are taking magnificent landscapes that they each are entering now in Pioneer Woman's Landscapes Photography Contest.

I'm waiting for the category, "People taking pictures," myself.

So much fun!!

And just teasing about the lobster hands.

PSA # 5

DON'T MESS WITH CHEX.

All that happened here was that Bud asked for some of this cereal. Wombles was not giving it up.

Happy Good Morning!

UPDATE: I just figured out this was Crispix, not Chex...but I'm leaving it anyway.

This One's For You

My fabulous baby sister told me today, "You need a new blog post." No-one like NBG to tell it to me straight.

However, it's 10:21 pm and I am only halfway though my fifth draft of my Bible study lesson for tomorrow morning...Matthew 27, anyone? Send help, please.

(OK, JDC, the mint chocolate chip ice cream is helping. Thank you.)

Anyway, this post is for all three of you who would rather see what I'm about to post than nothing at all. These were taken a little after 7:00 one morning two weeks ago. Love you, Viking Bud!


Please (1) supply your own captions, and (2) ignore the fact that half the drawers and cabinets in my kitchen are open for no apparent reason. Thank you.





And my personal favorite:

Today Was a Good Day

Today was a good day for lots of reasons.

The weather was wonderful. School went well. My Spanish classes went great.

Homeschool went so well, in fact, that when we all went out for recess we just stayed outside., and called it a day as far as formal lessons went..at home (Pixie still had Spanish with me and ballet elsewhere later--Wednesdays are big!).

Pixie and Bud swung on the swings, and Wombles followed me around while I was weeding. We had rain recently, which menas it is possible to pull things out of the ground. Whenever I pulled out an especially long or fat root, Wombles would take it and play with it for a while.

By the way, this particular weed is commonly known (here, anyway) as "the Obnoxious Weed." They pretend to be clover and have awful burrs and choke out everything. It's incredibly gratifying to pull them.


Had I mentioned we hadn't played outside in a bit? I needed to let the mud have time to dry up. You know what I'm talking about. The mud.

So, Wombles and I worked our way around to the side of the house. Inside a little pot inside of a larger pot housing a sad hibiscus was maybe 3/4 inch of water. Wombles asked if he "could fish in it with this stick, Mama." I thought...and thought...and thought that the water was pretty clean, and I'm right here.

I was focusing a bit much on the obnoxious weeds.



Before I knew it, I looked up and saw this:


"You'll have to wash my face, right, Mama?"

Right, Wombles.

I decided that even though (a) I had to work this afternoon, which usually means less mess allowed, and (b) Wombles happened to be wearing a shirt that is CUTE, CLEAN, and LENT TO US, I would just let him go ahead. You know, let him have the kind of day that would make a little boy want to wear a hat like this:


Seriously, how hard is it to stick a kid in the tub and wash off a little mud? I'm aware that I blow the "messiness" factor way out of proportion. I'm working on it. My kids used watercolors on Sunday, for crying out loud. I'm having a breakout week.

Today was cool, searingly sunny, and breezy. It was wonderful to be outside. That's why I cancelled the rest of school--seriously, Pixie can write a paragraph tomorrow, and cutting out names of the books of the OT and putting them in order can be fun any day. But not today.


Pixie and Bud were totally involved in their game, which involved racing and possibly royalty. Even as I watched them, my eyes kept cutting over to the left, to this:

(I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; where does my help come from?).

So grateful for sunshine and idyllic days. And, come to think of it, that this wasn't the view from the same angle:


Yep, that house in the foreground was being rebuilt from the previous fire when the fire last May came along.

But no! Peace, tranquility, beauty!...Restoration.


(My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth).



After my reverie, it was time to come back to earth. And muddy little paws. And baths.


"You'll clean my hands up, right, Mama?"


Sure thing, buddy.

And I won't even freak out when you start yelling that you've pooped in the tub.

Because you have, and that's OK.

I had recess today.


Today was a good day for lots of reasons.

This Morning

Here is a regular sight at our house when J leaves for work:


Here, the kids were chanting "Byyyeeee.....byyee....." in unison as he walked up the driveway. On mornings when they're still in the middle of breakfast when it's time for him to go, they stay at the table and sing that top-forty hit from the aughts, "Don't go to work!".

It's really popular around here, and the children can belt it out loudly and enthusiastically enough that the neighbors across the street can hear...assuming they are awake, and that there's a window open somewhere.

I, however, tend to whimper the words while clawing at the inside of the windows on the front door. J laughs and keeps walking to work. Heartless, perhaps, but "sal si puedes" is more than just a street name around here, and I don't begrudge him.

While we're on regular sights, Pixie has been very into picking wildflowers. We've had such a wet winter that there are many. Here is one recent bouquet:I really hope they are wildflowers, and that they're not actually coming from someone's yard...


Aren't they lovely? I love my Pixie bouquets!

Happy Monday!

PSA #4

We had a great Easter with Ma II up for a visit, a wonderful time of worship, an Easter Egg hunt, and a worship-ful and fun Seder with our Supper Swap friends. This marks our third Seder with them, and it was the best yet. Photos and stories soon, I hope.

Easter pictures crack me up, by the way. Maybe it's family history.