It's Been Awhile!!

I feel like I've gotten lost in our summer busyness!!!

First, we took a trip out to AZ for a few days.

Then we came back and it was back and forth from LAX 6 times in two weeks, for Faith and Kylee's best friends from Illinois. (It was totally worth it!!!  We had a blast and I got a visit from my fabulous Jacki to top it off!!)

Next, the girls headed to camp, and when they got back my dad and I took the kids to visit their Great Aunt and Uncle in Portolla Valley and a small jaunt to San Fran.

And here we are.

We attempted to get back to school last week, and somewhat succeeded.  I really wanted to get some of our turn ins under our belts, and we did get some accomplished.

But this week is back to crazy.  Faith is at Disney with the youth group today, tomorrow the girls have shots and check ups, and Wednesday the boys and June bug have shots and check ups. I am sure some school will be accomplished this week, just not sure how much :)


And our biggest news, in the midst of all this we decided to MOVE!!!

When we moved here, we knew we wanted a house with a pool, but it just wasn't in the cards a year ago.  With the approach of the end of our lease we decided to look and see what was available.  We found two ads right off.

The first was not a fit, but the second house was too good to be true.

It is a great house in a GREAT neighborhood, with a pool, 5 bedrooms, and it is about what we are paying for where we are at now!!

We moved quickly, because you have to around here to get a house-with-a-pool rental. 

So, we can officially start moving our stuff over August 15th.  That is a Monday.

Not sure what happened there :)

So, I am going to spend that week moving boxes with the kids and letting them swim in their new pool, and the following weekend we will move the big stuff.

For now I am cleaning, throwing away, packing boxes and reevaluating the boxes that we have not opened in the year we have been here.

Mike loves moving Kristen :)

(sarcastic font anyone?)

Well, got to go, will write tomorrow, because there is more exciting stuff on the horizon, something about me and Mike participating in a 200 mile relay...

Kristen

Rocky Peak Trail

So we decided yesterday that we should do something we have been wanting to do since we moved here-go hiking!

We are surrounded by the gorgeous Santa Monica mountain range, but had not gotten out on the trails yet, until yesterday!

It was a beautiful day, clear blue skies, 75 degrees, and a day off!  Off to the trail we went!

We parked and walked up to the Rocky Peak Trail, and what is the first thing we saw? 

A snake.

Yeah, a snake, just all coiled up in the middle of the trail.

I took a ton of pictures of him, but didn't realize till later, that my camera was set on manual, and I hadn't adjusted it for outside :( 

Anyways, he wasn't a rattler, Mike said he was a king snake, and he appeared to be not feeling so hot. Another guy on the trail got a huge branch and moved him into the brush.

Once I figured out my camera issue, Mike and I did get some great pictures of the kids and the view.

 Love this picture, they look like little ducks :)

Brothers enjoying the view.  

They chose this pose!!

Notice they are up high, I'm not :)

Two beautiful girls

My silly boy.

Beautiful!!  Can't wait to take some winter pictures when everything is GREEN!!!

Exploring a little cave.

I think this is where I decided I really like hiking- on level ground, that is paved, when I'm wearing flip flops :)

One Year

I'm not sure how this is going to go...

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of my mom passing away.

It was both a good and a bad thing.  She had been sick for a very long time.  It wasn't a big surprise when the moment finally came.  We had been preparing for it for years.  We even had several dress rehearsals.

I remember the day the nurse pulled me into my mom's hospital room.  I was just a little girl.  They wanted to explain to me that my mom was now a diabetic, and would have to give herself shots.  She didn't want me freaking out when I saw it for the first time, so they explained the whole thing to me, in detail, so that I would understand why she would have to do this.

I remember the day, as an adult, when I first saw her half-gone foot.  For about a month, I had been taking her to her doctors appointments because she couldn't drive while her foot was "hurting" her.  The appointment was to clean out the wound on her foot.  I had no idea what this wound looked like, but in my simple mind, she had a cut on her foot.  I took her to the appointment and waited out in the waiting room for her to finish up.  She called me back to ask me something and I got the first view of her poor decimated foot.  It was at that moment that I knew she would loose her first limb.

I remember the day when my dad called me to tell me that her other leg was in danger of being amputated.  All I could think of was how was she going to make it on no legs?  She had poor balance on two legs!! 

I remember the morning I got a call from my dad, a few years back,  telling me that I had better get a plane ticket and come out, mom didn't have long to live.  My dear friends Todd and Paula gave me a ticket to go and see her.  And you know what she did after the doctor told us it was the end and we should say goodbye?  She lived.  Yep, she turned around, got better left that hospital and even went off the dialysis machine! It shouldn't have surprised us, this was the second time she had done this.

I remember the night I was sleeping on my mother-in-law's couch because she had just had surgery and I was helping her out, and the phone rang.  My Mom was going to the hospital, and would most likely have to have weekly dyalisis treatments from then on.  Her kidneys had given up.

And she lived like that for a couple of years.  She was tired a lot.  Her quality of life was poor.  She was very unhappy and felt really sick and tired much of the time.  Whenever I would go and visit her, I always said goodbye, like it was the last time, because I knew that it potentially was the last time I would ever see her. 

I remember the day my dad told me that the doctors suggested she be put in hospice.  I was out running.  I was a mile and a half from home, and I got off the phone and cried and ran the rest of the way home. 

It was a hard road for her the last ten years of her life, so her passing was a good thing.  We were happy she was out of pain, and wouldn't ever have to go and have another shot, blood draw, shunt insertion, dialysis treatment, hospital visit, or limb removal.

But this last year the sting of being motherless has been hard.  It is a really lonely feeling.  I am not going to pretend that my mom and I had a perfect relationship, because we didn't, it was far from perfect.  But what I do know is that she loved me more than her own life.  I know that she did the best she could.  And isn't that all that is required of us as moms? 

That we do the best we can.  

I miss her today, and although I am glad she isn't hurting, I would do anything to hear her laugh and have her talk to the grand babies she cherished.    

Kristen

Family Tax

Now on to family tax.

This idea came from the Oprah guy.

The idea behind family tax is simple- we all have to pay taxes.

You can't escape them.

 It is inevitable.

Everyone pays taxes.

So, why not start now!

The quarter of their allowance that gets put into the family tax fund is used for family fun.

It's that simple.

The kids love it and look forward to spending our tax money on fun family activities.

The only real stipulation to the spending of family tax is that it must be used by all the family members, on an activity that is just fun.

It really is a great opportunity for us to get creative as parents, and reminds us to have fun!  Fun can be easily forgotten when life gets crazy, so it is a good reminder.

Family tax is something our kids always look forward to.  They have never minded contributing a portion of their allowance to the tax.  Although calling it a "tax" could potentially give it a negative connotation, it really is a great opportunity to spend time together as a family, and give a positive spin on one of life's necessary requirements.

Kristen

Lettuce Wraps

We had a great time making food last night, together as a family.  It is a really fantastic part of home schooling and one of the things I love to do with the kids.

Since we had just finished a week reading about China in the mid 1900's we decided to take the kids for Chinese food on Friday.

As I got to thinking about it, I decided we would spend less money and have more fun if we just made it ourselves!

So we broke out our recipes for egg rolls, crab rangoon, and (a family favorite) lettuce wraps.  Mike and I showed the kids how to wrap the egg rolls and the won tons, they did a fabulous job!  Not one egg roll exploded, and if you have ever made them from scratch you will recognize that, that is a feat on its own!!

I have had a bunch of requests for the lettuce wraps recipe, so I thought I would post it here.  I did get this recipe somewhere, a long time ago, but I don't remember where, so I can't give credit, but I have seen other copy cat PF Chang lettuce wrap recipes that are the same as mine.

Special Sauce- combine all these ingredients, whisk and refrigerate.

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. rice vinegar
2 T. ketchup
1 T. lemon juice
1/8 tsp sesame oil

Before you serve add:

1 T. Chinese hot mustard
1-3 tsp garlic red chili paste

***This does spice it up a bit, if you don't like spicy be moderate!!!  We just give each kid their own little bowl of the sauce and let them add their own mustard and chili sauce***

Next, you need to make the stir fry sauce.  I usually double the sauce, but this is the single ingredients:

2 T. soy sauce
2 T. dark brown sugar
1/2 t. rice vinegar
3 T. veg. oil

Mix and set aside.

2 breast fillet cut in small pieces
1 cup water chestnuts
2/3 cup straw mushrooms
3T.chopped green onions
1 t. minced garlic

Use the 2 T. of oil to saute the chicken.  If you chicken isn't cut up, cut it after you cook it.  Mince chestnuts and mushrooms (I make them unrecognizable)

Add all chopped stuff and to Wok with chicken and stir fry sauce.  Cook until hot.

You can use ice berg or bib lettuce to serve.  I just wash it the lettuce and gently remove the leaves.  Then each person can scoop the filling and put the sauce on their own wrap.

I will post the recipes for the egg rolls and crab rangoon another time :)

Kristen

He's All In

I am blessed!

We just spent a great week with my dad, and I am overwhelmed with how blessed I am to have him in our lives.

It has been a tough year. When my mom passed away last May 3, I had no idea what our life would look like almost a year later. I knew we wanted to be closer to my dad but had no idea how that was going to happen.

Then God dropped us in California.

After being 2000 miles away from our family for 10 years we were finally going to be in driving distance.

Since we've been here, he has made the yucky 7 hour trek every couple of months, just to spend time with us. It isn't easy for him, but he does it because he knows how important this relationship is. We need him.

And because he pours over the kids, they respond to him in the most amazing way.

While he was here each kid expressed their desire to be near him in a different way, and it was so cool to watch.

Joshi is not a morning person, but my dad is. My dad is actually a too-early-in-the-morning-for-anyone-in-their-right-mind-person. He regularly gets up around 4 in the morning!

Yikes!

Every morning my dad was here, Joshi set his alarm for 6 o'clock, so that he could get up and spend a couple of hours with him alone.

Precious.

And once Seth was up, he was attached to his Papa's side. If my dad went somewhere his little buddy was right by his side.

Faith and Kylee spent time making sure Papa was okay. Watching out for him. Especially at Disney. They were very concerned about how he was, if he needed anything, making sure we didn't lose him :) Also, my dad, who has perfect day time vision, is essentially blind in the dark. So they spent a lot of time making sure I didn't swing him into too many walls in the dark caverns of the rides at Disney!!

These kids yearn for this relationship. We spent a lot of years too far away from grandparents, and now that they have a chance to have it they are hungry for it!

I am so glad that he chooses to be here. That he chooses to spend his time, to make the sacrifice of his comfort and his desires, to be here with us. I know he could be in a lot of places, but he chooses to be with us. I love that when he is here he is all in for whatever they want to do. If they want to play Bananagrams for hours on end, he's in. If they want to go to the park and play football or bags, he's in. No complaining, he just smiles and goes with it.

The time he is spending here is something they will never forget and it blesses me!!

Kristen

Fifi the Five Foot Vampire Goose

We have a lovely walking route, and if we do the whole thing, it is about three miles in length. It goes up hill, down hill, and past a beautiful park/golf course.

We often wait until the evening and walk it as a family after dinner, but on Mondays I go to a small group in the evening, so the kids and I have been trying to walk it in the afternoon.

Yesterday, we started down the street, it was a beautiful day, 75 degrees and sunny. The boys had brought their bikes and Kylee was running up ahead with them, while Faith and I were walking at a quick pace right behind them.

About five minutes into our walk, as we were walking by the beautiful golf course, I looked up ahead and saw three giant geese sitting by the sidewalk. As the three kids up ahead got closer to the three geese, one of the geese got up and looked quite upset.

The next thing I know she (the kids have dubbed her Fifi) began squawking and with her head low down to the ground she charged the kids!

Kylee, Seth and Joshi turned themselves around and took off back towards Faith and me. This crazy Fifi chased them down the sidewalk and even bit Joshi's tire!

By the time the three kids reached us, Joshi was in tears and they all suggested we just turn around and go down the other side of the street.

Well, I was not about to let a goose tell me I couldn't walk down the street!!

So, I told the kids we were just going to walk straight down that sidewalk, right past Fifi and we would be just FINE!

Meanwhile, Fifi had not taken her eyes off of us. We very determinedly walked back towards the three geese, and when we got about halfway there, she began screaming and charging us again!!

Okay, I admit it, I ran.

This Fifi meant business.

I decided we were going to have to just go out into the bike lane of the very busy street, and walk very quickly by this very scary avian menace.

We waited for traffic to clear and I grabbed Joshi's bike. He and I ran as fast as we could down the bike lane and got past Fifi to the other side.

Victory!!

I turned around to cheer with the other three and realized they were not behind me, they had gotten scared and were cowering on the sidewalk, being yelled at by a very angry Fifi!

I told the kids to just do what I had done, wait for the traffic to clear and run!

The girls made it.

Now, Seth was trapped on the other side of gooseland and Fifi looked like she really meant business.

She was on to our game, and at this point there was no guarantee that she was not going to follow him right out into traffic this time!

I decided to try and distract her by coming towards her from the other side, the safe side, which seemed to work. She quit giving Seth the bird-eye and came after me, which in turn made all the kids on the safe side scream.

Seth got out into the bike lane and made it to safety, and Fifi turned her goose tail and walked off towards the golf course.

We ended up stopping at a friend's house instead of continuing on our walk. By the time we got to our destination, the boys had morphed Fifi the goose into a five-foot vampire beast with huge fangs and a troll like voice.

Do you think they are going to need therapy?

Kristen

Troll! Troll! Troll!

Well, we just ended a week long visit with my best girlfriend Paula and her three boys. We had a great time and had a ton of adventures. One of the most memorable was our trip to Disney.

It was a beautiful day, 80 degrees and sunny. We had to do some convincing to get Sam and Luke to ride the rides, and with some coercion, they did ride a few.

At dinner time we decided that since they had never had In and Out Burger, that it was a must. So we left the park and hunted down one of these fine establishments. It was a hit. Everyone enjoyed it and we headed back to the park.

Now, if you have ever been to Disneyland you will hear the voice on the tram tell you to please keep your parking ticket for re-entry to the parking garage.

Which we did.

Mike was in the car in front of us, since we had ten people in our party, we couldn't make it in one vehicle.

Mike pulled up, showed the man his parking ticket, and pulled on through.

I pulled my van full of boys up to the parking man, and showed him my ticket, his response was, in a gruff voice,"Where's your Disney pass?"

This is when I realized that my parking pass was obtained because we had prepaid one vehicle on my annual pass.

Uh Oh...

So I calmly tried to explain to the man, that I have an annual pass, but it was with my husband in the vehicle in front of us, so I can't show it to him. By this time Mike had slowed and pulled to the side, but the other parking attendants started yelling at him to move on!

It was at this point that the parking attendant, not so kindly explained to me that without it he would not let me in, and slapped a bright pink "EXIT" sign on my windshield and told me to leave the park!!!

I wish I could say it was at this time that I calmly smiled and dealt with the situation in a mature adult like fashion.

But, I didn't.

I rolled up my window and as I drove away, I, well, lost my temper just a bit. It is also possible that at this time, I may or may not have called the man a Troll.

Yes, I realize this isn't my most shinning parental moment. And I also realize that with this one slip of the tongue, every uplifting and encouraging thing that I had ever said to these five boys, sitting in the back of my van, flew out the proverbial window.

There arose from the back seat a chorus of Troll slurs that you cannot even imagine! I looked at Paula and we both realized that it was going to be a long time before we were going to be able to undo this misdeed.

I calmly explained to the boys, that I had made a grievous mistake in calling that man a Troll, and I apologized to them. I told them that he was a creation of our God, therefore not a Troll, but an individual, we should respect. Further, I explained, that as Christ-followers we should not let our temper get the best of us, as I had, and we should always try and treat others with respect no matter how they treat us.

I was answered by Luke who simply said,"Mrs. Jones, it wasn't your fault, that Troll should have let us in!"

Great.

So, Mike had to exit the park, and brought me my card. We re-entered the parking garage with a chant of "Troll! Troll! Troll!" coming from the back seat, which we quickly quieted as we approached the parking troll, I mean man, who, if I might add, was just as rude the second time around as the first.

We made our way back into the park and enjoyed the rest of the evening, with only a few more mentions of the parking troll.

Kristen

Listening...

This journey we are all on is an unpredictable one.

I am finding this statement to be more and more true as the days go by.

If we think we are in control, even for a second, we are fooling ourselves.

Another true statement.

For about the last six months Mike and I have been wrestling with God. He wanted us to step out, make a change and trust Him.

We were comfortable.

We were fighting Him, because the change He wanted would take us out of our comfort zone. It would mess up our plans and make us rely more on Him.

We were miserable.

Miserable because when you fight God's will, you WILL feel conflicted.

You will feel unsatisfied.

You will feel discontented.

And until you give in and listen to Him, those feelings will not go away.

This is where Mike and I found ourselves about six months ago. After several months of not understanding these feelings we finally gave in and told God we would listen and obey.

He moved quickly.

Once we agreed to follow His will, there was peace where there was conflict.

There was satisfaction.

There was contentment.

Even in the midst of the change, which is heartbreaking, overwhelming, and scary there was this amazing amount of calm.

Now as we find ourselves leaving our friends (who are really our family) we are sad but hopeful. We will miss The Orchard, the people who have loved us, and those who have worked with us in ministering to God's people. Those people will be in our hearts forever. We are not just friends but so much more and distance can not destroy that.

Even though we are sad to leave what has been our home for the last five years, we look forward to what awaits us on the next leg of the journey.

Kristen

Am I Going To Regret This Later?

This is a question I seem to be asking myself a lot lately.

Ever since we said goodbye to our good friend Todd, this phrase has been running through my mind quite a bit.

It has made me more intentional in my decisions, and even made some decisions that would have, in the past, been quite difficult to make, a little easier.

For example, Mike going to Africa. When he came home and told me about the opportunity, my first reaction was not, "Awesome!! You should do it!!"

I wish it had been.

But that just isn't me. My first reaction when someone, especially Mike, tells me they are going to be leaving me for an extended time is never one of joy. I have all sorts of issues with loved ones traveling, that I have had to try and overcome throughout the years. I have to continually remind myself that I do not have a spirit of fear but of courage. I am getting better, but still not great at it.

So after Mike told me of this opportunity, I went through my usual thoughts of terror, and then I asked myself, "If he doesn't go, won't he, and you, regret that decision later?"

The answer was "Of course!!" If we wait for me to not to be scared, he will never go.

I am finding this question to be especially useful when it comes to dealing with relationships. We have a tendency to think we have lots of time to build and strengthen the relationships in our lives. But the reality is we don't really know what the future holds for us, who knows what tomorrow will look like.

So I would say that when it comes to spending time with your family and friends there are no excuses. Because let's face it, the economy will never be good enough, our jobs will never be less busy, life will never be less hectic, the kids will never be old enough, on and on and on...

And in the end, really, all this stuff, money, houses, cars, you name, just don't really amount to much of anything. Ask anyone who has lost a loved one. It just does not matter. But our relationships, the memories we make together as friends and families, with our loved ones, that is really what counts in the end.

Don't wait. Live with no regrets.

Kristen

WOW!!!

I just found out I am a Great Aunt!!! Long complicated story, but just came in contact with my niece for the first time since she was little, and she has a beautiful 1.5 year old daughter!! Gorgeous!!

I am sad that I missed out on so much of her life, but hope that I can be a support to her now that she a mommy!

I am hoping to meet them when I get to AZ next week.

Kristen

Scone Friday!!

Yum!! Faith has started a tradition of making scones every Thursday night while Mike and the kids and I all go on a walk around the neighborhood.

Let me tell you, she has gotten pretty good at these things. I will share the recipe with you, so you too can have scone Fridays!! Be sure to read the comments, there is one from a person who owns a cafe and she gives some great suggestions for variations on the recipe!

For the last couple of weeks she has been making chocolate chip scones but this week she shook it up a bit. This time she added apples chopped and lightly coated in cinnamon and sugar, and cinnamon. Delicious.

Enjoy!!

Kristen

Blog Break

Well the Spring semester of school is officially over for me!!

I took a break from writing on here, there was so much to do, something had to go. The blog got cut.

But I missed it. And have lots and lots of thoughts swirling around right now.

School for me was great! The thing I was most worried about was the writing portion. I had not written a college level paper in 13 years! So of course, one of my classes, Humanities 370- The Popular Arts, was super writing intensive. Huge amounts of reading, like 60+ pages a week, and tons of writing. Very challenging, but I learned so much and loved thinking about stuff! Also cool, was watching all the movies for the class. My kids now have a huge appreciation for 1930's-1960's cinema! Pretty cool.

And I ended up with a 4.0 this semester!! Still made dinner for my fam. at least 5 nights a week, schooled the kids and kept the house in a sort of order. Now that I am on break, I am feeling a bit restless. Break won't last long though, I have a 30 day summer class starting on June 1st, so I have much to prepare for before it starts.

Also learned something about myself. I think schooling the kids has really taught me some amazing organizational skills!! I was not even aware that I had them!

Lots going on this month.

Mike is going to Africa with Scott. The kids and I are going to AZ while he is away. We are all excited.

Kids are also finishing up a great school year. They have really done awesome this year, learned so much.

Faith went for an orthodontic appointment to see if her jaw and slowed down enough to possibly fix her bite with braces. Unfortunately, it looks as if we are looking at surgery as she gets older :( What a great kid though, she thought that sounded better than wearing braces for several years.

Okay, I guess that is enough for now. More later.

Kristen

Seth's Pinewood Derby!!!!

Well this is supposed to be a post about Seth's derby race, but I had these two pictures of Mike during the minus temps we had a week or so back. And since we never see Mike in a jacket let alone, his big old down jacket, I had to post this!








Shot of the outside with all that snow!!!







Okay here are the cars in Seth's second race all lined up. His is the silver shark car in the second row!






Here is Seth starting the race because he was the first car in the row!







Here are the cars racing down the track! His came in second this time around.






Brothers!!







Mom and Seth loving each other







Daddy pinning on Seth's bobcat he had just earned!











Seth pinning on the bobcat medal on his daddy.











He had a great day!







Kristen

Okay, I admit it, Facebook is taking over. It is just so easy to post pictures and stuff, it seems that my blog has become neglected. I will try and catch up a bit.

This last month seems like a blur. Christmas eve eve service at the Orchard was AWESOME!! Mike's team did such an incredible job. Loved being there with my extended Mitchell family and getting to see all of them.

Christmas morning was so much fun, the kids opened the gifts from Santa, and Nana and Papa, granny and papa, aunts and uncles. Mike surprised me with my new-to-me Macbook! I love her and am quickly becoming a Mac addict. Then we packed up and were off for three days, two nights in Gurnee, Il!!! We went to Key Lime Cove a brand new indoor water park there and had such a great time. This is our second year skipping gifts for the kids and doing a trip instead. The kids had a blast and so did we. It was so cool to spend individual time with each kid and just relax as a family.

We came home on Saturday night and Mike and I left on Sunday evening for a fabulous anniversary over night in Chicago. Mike planned the whole thing and wouldn't tell me a thing till we were almost there. He booked a night stay at the Hyatt in Chicago on the magnificent mile and we had dinner at Aria, same as last year. We loved it so much last year and it doesn't disappoint. We had a great time. Next morning we went to our favorite Lou Mitchells for breakfast and gorged ourselves on some delicious fresh baked doughnuts, omelet and potatoes. Yum!!!

And today, Mike goes back to work and I pack away Christmas.

That about does it. I will try and give the blog equal opportunity, although with school starting for me and the kids I am afraid the blog maybe put on hold till I am done....Maybe go down to monthly updates. Don't know yet.

Here is a video from the waterpark, off of Kylee's new camcorder. I snagged it and took this priceless video. Things to look for in it- sneaky guy who appears in everyone's frame, a sharing moment, and mommy attempting to duplicate Kylee's sign off. Enjoy!!!

Okay I admit it, facebook is taking over. It is just so much easier than blogging. I am ashamed.

I just posted a ton of pictures of our fun cooking decorating time together with Ms. Jen and Mr. Brad. But I will post them here too, for all of you who are not on facebook yet.







Ms. Jen set up a great assembly line with rollers, flatners, and sprinklers.









Like a fine oiled machine.








Then came the rice crispy treat houses! Yummy! Much better tasting than ginger bread houses and much, much easier to work with!





Kylee's finished house!







Seth asked Mr. Brad to help him with his house. This house had everything from a car port with a monster truck, to a satellite dish up on the roof top.











Here is the completed creation. It was very, creative.







Daddy and Joshi worked together on their winter wonderland.






Great job guys!







Faith worked alone. She did a great job. Love the logs on the side of the house!






Putting on the final touches on the roof.







And of course, Jasmine was ready and available to lick the frosting off of any one's hands when they were done!




Kristen