Hello Monday|thirteen

**I think I may have to start calling these entries "Whoosh! There goes Monday!" Haha! 

I started this on Monday very early in the morning and then I took a break and it wasn't long before I was hearing the news about the tragic bombing in Boston at the finish line of their Marathon.  I didn't watch the news because I did not want to have the images burned into my mind.  I can still picture so much of 9/11 and I just didn't think I could do it.  I listened, with a heavy heart, to the news on the radio as I ran errands with my husband. It had both of us silent as we listened to the details. We are still praying for the city and we are still praying for our beloved country.**

  

hello  Monday Mugshots. This week's mugshot is in collaboration with A Year in the Life of an Art Journal.  They give a prompt every 15th and 30th of every month. Here's today's prompt:PROMPT: What's your Story? (everyone has a story about a person, event, emotion, feeling, whatever, tell me yours)
SHOOTERS Shoot your mug with a stack of books.
BOOKERS: Focus on lots of journaling! Use stencils or masks. If you don't want your journaling to SHOW, journal THEN PAINT! Cover your journaling with your paints and embellishments!! 

hello lifeguard training and summer job!  My Hannah has been attending Swim/Aquatics camp at Lake Perris for the last several summers.  Last year, she worked as a volunteer helper to the lifeguards.  I was so proud of her.  There are two sessions of camp that last two weeks each time. Campers learn to swim or improve their technique if they already swim, learn about nutrition, CPR and basic first aid.
Well, this past Saturday they had their once a year testing to qualify for a possible position in the program for the PAID summer job.  She had to swim 1000 meters in 20 minutes or less and then run 200 m., swim 400 m, and run 200 m. in 10 minutes.  She passed!!  It was no easy task, but she did it.  She got called back for an interview that day and then today they called and told her she had been accepted.  I am so proud of her!  Training starts when school is out.

hello surprise photos.  These are just a few of the photos that I find from time to time on my phone. You can see the two guilty parties due to the "selfies" they took. Haha! Looks like my boy has a thing about taking pics of his toes...sometimes clean and sometimes not! haha!

hello prom dress shopping. Here are just a few of the dresses that she tried on.  Took us two days, but she finally chose THE dress.
hello senior prom!  Yes, my baby has her senior prom this Saturday.  She is going with a friend who sweetly asked her by spelling out "PROM?" with rose petals at school.  Can't believe it's already here. Getting kind of weepy. My baby girl.
hello etsy orders. I am so thankful for them, but what's up with them all coming in at one time? lol That's alright. I will take it!!  Lot's to do still. Mailboxes with affirmation cards, banners, journals and mini journals...

So there you go. hello monday and new beginnings.

Inspired by my friend, Lee at Embrace Life, Hello Monday provides a peek into the coming week - in all its glory. Join us and Lisa for the Hello Monday fun.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”    

~~Nelson Mandela

March Photo A Day :: Day Ten|Loud

My daughter's (borrowed) bass guitar.  I love that she is getting past her fear of playing in front of people. She has been playing with our worship team at church.  I love it!  It can definitely get loud! She practices with ear phones. For that, we are thankful. =)  Taken with my Android Revolution Edited with Pixlr-o-matic

Simple Things ~ Oldest to Youngest...

Hannah Joy and Marco Joseph

There may be an almost 12 year gap between these two, but they sure do love each other.  I know that they'll always be close and that makes my momma heart happy.

Be sure to join Rebecca over at Simple As That to share your Simple Things.

Simple Things ~ Not so simple...

Feeling a bit better after having some pain medication in her system. ;)

I know this is not the typical choice of picture for Simple Things, but this was not a typical week.  My daughter Hannah, who is 15, woke up at about 2:30 Tuesday morning.  She was very sick.  She was in great pain and was vomiting horribly.  When we realized that there was nothing we could do to comfort her, my husband took her to the emergency room.  After a very long wait and a cat scan, we were told it was her appendix and that she would have to have surgery that day.  As you can imagine, we were all scared and relieved at the same time.  Even though it was a pretty common surgery, nobody wants to hear that their child is going to have to experience something like that.  However, we were very glad and thankful that the doctor diagnosed it right away and that it was nothing worse.  By 2:30 that afternoon, she was having her appendix removed.  About two hours later, we were on our way home.  It was like a whirlwind.
At the end of the day, my sweet daughter was asleep in her own bed.  She has been recovering nicely.  I keep looking back to that day and how fast it all happened.  She received several visitors that night.  Would you believe me if I told you that through this crazy, scary, quick experience we received several blessings?  God knows what they are and I'll keep them private for right now - but I just want to share that I am amazed. Simply amazed at God's provision and His timing.  Sometimes a not so simple situation turns out to be very simple after all. =)

Join Rebecca Cooper and many others on Sundays to share your Simple Things.

The Circus is in town!

Hannah the Lion Tamer and Taryn is the Concessions Girl...don't know the real name for that one...haha

Hannah's Sunday School teacher is hosting a Circus themed party and everybody is supposed to dress up. Fun right??

I think they look adorable and I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures!!

Tomato Bites...

On Tuesday, it will be 5 weeks since I got back to eating a paleo or primal type diet. Of course, I should technically put an asterisk there by those words because I am still enjoying some dairy products like cheese and I do indulge in sugar-free flavored creamer in my coffee in the morning... Anyway, I'm not doing that bad. I feel energetic and strong. I haven't really had any moments where I thought I'd have a "breakdown" and I've lost about 16 lbs. so far.

Fast forward to this afternoon when I got to talking with a friend about how I'm getting a pizza craving. Then my kids start saying that they would really like it if dad would pick up some Little Caesar's for them. Oh, no...I'm getting weak. Even $5 pizza sounds good. I start getting panicky.

I had to think quick. I called my oldest over and asked if she felt like throwing something together for me. She's more than happy to oblige (I just love her!).

In just a few minutes she presented me with these beauties. They were sooo good. Not the same as pizza, but I got the taste that I was looking for and I ate enough of them to feel full. They are now going to be a regular staple!! Try it out for yourself.

Here's what she used:

Amorosa tomatoes on the vine from Trader Joe's (little larger than cherry tomatoes)

Oven roasted turkey breast from TJ's

Shredded monterey jack and cheddar cheese

Mrs. Dash seasoning

Tapatio hot sauce.

Just slice the tomatoes, put a bit of turkey on top, cheese, and seasoning. Put it under the broiler for about 5 minutes - more if you want to cook down the tomato - just watch that the cheese doesn't burn up too bad. Add hot sauce if you want. ENJOY!! So satisfying. =) Another day, another victory.

It's summertime and the livin' is...

easy?? Well, that's how the song is supposed to go, right? School is officially out and I now have one child going into pre-school, one into first grade, one into jr. high and one that is a junior in high school. What were we thinking when we had them almost 4 years apart?? Oh, yeah. We weren't thinking. haha! Well, it keeps us on our toes that's for sure.

Here's Taryn and Hannah. Hannah curled the back of Taryn's hair for her. I thought that was very sweet of her. =) Taryn chose this dress on her own for promotion - of course we found it at TJ Maxx! Hannah got her dress at TJ Maxx too, I think. She just wanted to wear it for last day of school. My beautiful girls...

This is Taryn's main teacher. She has two others that teach different subjects. They work as a team and have a goal of preparing the kids, not for junior high, but for college! She loves them and they love her and show it!

Here's Naomi with her teacher once again. They had a fun "field" day for their last day of school. They got to play some water games, as well as the giant, colorful parachute!

I was so pleased with all three of my girls this school year. They all made incredible progress and did so well. We are now preparing ourselves for our family vacation and I just really can't wait. I feel like I can't even get excited though, because so much is going on. Once I get on that airplane, I'm going to take a big SIGH and try to just let it all goooooo....
Next time I post, it may be from Washington state!!

So...technically...

...my eldest child went on her first date. Not a real date date, but a very good friend of hers had a swim banquet at his high school and he asked her to be his date, so... lol

She's known Steven since they were in kindergarten and they are the best of friends. Of course the moms of these two were just beaming, but hey - don't mind us. hardee har har...

Did I mention he brought a rose? =)

Her friend Megan was there also...she is an amazing swimmer and represented her school well!

I thought they both looked really great. She had a fun time and was even back at home before I got back from shopping with the other kids. I've got to share a few pictures of course!

30 Day Photo Challenge | Day 2

Day 02 A picture of you and your children.

Simple Things ~ Give Life!

My daughter gave blood this past Friday at her school's blood drive. I was really proud of her. She hates needles - but she really thought about how this could help someone in need and decided to do it. She said that everything was fine unti the very end. As soon as she was done giving blood - she fainted! She ended up being fine and said that she'd still like to donate again next year. This simple thing made me happy this week. I love my Hannah girl.

Want to share your simple thing each week? Join us by clicking on the button and seeing what it's all about!

You Can Soar...

I gave this little ATC card to my daughter Hannah on Monday. I made it the night before as I sat at my craft table and thought about her and prayed for her. She would be facing her first "real" week of high school finals this week. Good grades do not always come easily for her. She has to study hard and really apply herself.
I have been very proud of how well she has transitioned from being homeschooled or going to a small Christian school her whole life to going to a very large public high school that has very high academic standards. She makes good choices and shows strong balance in her life. She loves fun, music and friends like any normal teenager - but she also loves the Lord and it is evident in her walk.
I wrote her a little note on the back of the card telling her how proud I was of her. I never really heard that growing up - and I hope that she knows how important it is to me that she believes me. =)

*I used watercolors for the background. I first painted it red and then after it dried, I painted a wash of black over that. I then took an absorbant paper towel and blotted it dry. I was pretty happy with the result. I then painted the black circles...I love circles =) and then sharpied around them. Then I stamped the bird images using Staz On Jet Black. I believe they are Studio G brand found in the $1 section at Michael's. I colored in the heart using a red Glaze pen and finished it off by writing "Soar" and adding details with my Black PITT artist pen. Those have become a favorite, by the way!*