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5 on Friday

1. Mason graduated from preschool this week. It wasn’t so much a graduation but more playing at the park and eating hot dogs and cookies and taking some pictures. None the less our first school year is done and I would say it was more than a success. He loved it, I loved it and even the girls liked going to school. I am so thankful for the preschool co-op we/God put together. Such a blessing.

teacherspreschoolstudents

2. The girls got tricycles for Christmas. Up until they have been pushed, pulled and a source of frustration. But as of this week both girls got the hang of pedaling. They cruise up and down the street now. You can tell they feel like “big girls” riding their bikes along side their big brother Mason who is zipping around them. It was such a gift to see the girls learn to ride their bikes before we left. Another good memory made:) Side note we really don’t make them wear helmets on these little bikes. I believe it’s a fashion statement.

girlsonbikes

3. Our neighborhood is the best. We will miss them so much. Here are most of the kids on our front yard after a fun night of playing in the street together. Ahhhh, I just love it!

neighborhoodkids

4. The kids had a “Carly date” this week. Carly is one of the kids and ours favorite students. Mason calls Carly her his best friend. Sweet. The kids love her and she is in love with our kids. So it all works out nicely. She took the kids out to the park and for ice cream for one last special time. We will all miss Carly. carlydate

5. Well friends this is it. My last post out of Chico. Boxes fill our garage. Random but organized piles are everywhere. Ziplocs of all sizes filled with all kinds of things. Suitcases piled with summer clothes, an empty fridge and pantry. Yep, our time is done here. We are doing ok, tired and slightly overwhelmed but all things considering we are doing ok. So here we go!

Next time I’ll be writing from Ohio.

Making a U-turn

I was raised on the other side of the country. I did life there for 23 years and I loved it. Then I moved to Southern California, the other side of earth. Atleast it felt like it at the time. It took me awhile to adjust to California life, especially Southern California life. But I embraced it. Looking back I can say that I have transformed into a California girl and I love it! And I love that I love it! Of course I’ll always be a midwest girl at heart (pop will is still called pop, not soda or coke). But I like the “Cali” flare I have picked up.  I am thankful for how God has used my time in California. I grew up a lot in the last 9 years, became a wife and a mom. I now know that I needed distance and space for God to grow me into the woman I am today. Now after 9 years almost to the date I am moving back to my roots. I am sad to leave the state I have grown to love. But I am excited to go back and to take my family with me. I am thankful for this unexpected door that has been opened for us and thankful for the opportunity to share my California flare with my midwest family and friends.

    5 on Friday

    1. This week I made some cute skirts out of jeans I got from the thrift store. It took me all of 30 min to make 2 skirts and they are adorable. My girls are in a “all jean” phase. So I’m trying to get a little crazy on them and get them to wear jean skirts! They did like them and I did too.

    2. We visited my friend Kyra and her kids this week. It was a full of 24 hours complete with a trip to the park, movie night with popcorn, sleepover and a trip to the train museum and picnic the next day. Whew! Did I mention the five 2 year olds among the six kids that have just been potty trained? Yeah, you can only imagine how much time we spent in the bathroom. Quite hilarious:) We had a great visit and will cherish these special memories. I love doing life with Kyra. Here are the twins and triplets in the tub together. Can we say splash zone?

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    3. This is our last “real” weekend in Chico. I say “real” because next weekend our house will be packed up into boxes upon boxes upon more boxes. Oh, my heart aches thinking of it. Anyways…we are sticking to the normal routine and making our rounds downtown: bakery, farmers market and candy store. No lie I may cry when we leave the candy store. The owners have become our friends and they love our kids like their own grandchildren. So sweet. No pun intended.

    4.We went out to dinner to our favorite restaurant with our staff team for the last time. This has been the best group of people to work with. I love them!

    staff team 2010

    5. This little bug has been giving me a run for my money these days. I just took this picture of her. She is supposed to be in bed sleeping like her brother and sister. Instead she hopped out of bed, went into the kitchen and helped herself to a cheese stick and decided to hang out with us. Ummmmm? No. But still very very cute:)

    If I had $1,000,000…

    If I had all the money and time in the world I would buy/make each person a gift who has impacted me in Chico in someway. Just to say thanks, I like you, I appreciate you, I will miss you, don’t forget me:) But time and money are not plentiful so I have to be realistic in what I can really do. I’ve been keeping myself busy each night crafting away. Oh, I love it! And I love these friends I am making them for. Here is what I have been working on: these cute barrettes. They are  and super easy and quick and just lovely. Of course I made some for myself:)

    Family Rules

    Last Fall Brian and I attended a parenting class hosted at a local church. The series we went through was the Family Discipleship Ministry by Craig Castor. We both really like it and would recommend checking it out at www.parentingministry.org/. One of the many suggestions we took from our parenting class was establishing family rules with a clearly defined discipline if when needed. This is helpful for Dad and Mom to be on the same page, for consistency and for proper expectations for the kids. So it has only been 5 months but we have finally gotten our act together over here and wrote something down. There are only 4, they are simple and broad so pretty much anything will fall under one of the 4 rules.

    1. Be respectful at all times.

    2. Listen and obey.

    3. Be kind and encouraging to others.

    4. Clean up your own messes.

    The picture above is a clever way of displaying rules. I’ve thought about doing something similar in our new home. We’ll see.

    So do you have rules at your house? How does it all work? I’m curious.

    These girls.

    lovelies

    lovelies

    I met these girls straight out of high school, as freshman at Chico State. They stepped onto campus thinking they were ready to conquer the world. Ha ha ha. So young. We’ve seen a lot together in 4 years. Boyfriends, break-ups, babies (that would be me) growth, maturity, disappointments, hurts, future decisions, family deaths, family problems, engagement and wedding soon to come, teaching, learning, lots of laughter, tears, facing our fears, helping one another, praying for one another. They are just not students to me anymore but close friends. Although I may be the one on staff leading them, I have learned just as much if not more from them. They have showed me joy and reliance in Him, vulnerability, patience and a consistent pursuit of Jesus.
    Oh how I love these girls and will miss them dearly.
    Thank you.