New Hair Cut

I decided to cut my hair short and donate it to Locks of Love. It ended up being 16 inches cut off and the look is so different. I'm still getting used to it but was definitely ready for a change. Here are before and after pictures to give you an idea of what I used to look like and what the "new me" looks like.

Planting Basil Seedlings

A month or two ago I found a basil planting system for only a dollar and finally got around to planting it today with Eli. He really enjoyed getting his hands in the dirt and spreading it around as much as he could. I've taken a picture of the planting area so we can compare it to what might come up in the weeks ahead (that is if I don't kill all the seeds).

Rancho San Antonio

Today I had the lovely opportunity to go for a walk with some ladies from our church. We went to a fun open space called Rancho San Antonio. It's a very popular place for walkers, joggers, bikers, and even a few horses. We walked about a mile in and stopped at a darling little farm they have. The kids loved seeing all the animals and Elijah especially loved kicking up the dirt and hay and getting as messy as possible ;-) We then had a snack to recharge the kids for the return trip back. We thoroughly wore out the kids and Elijah is currently down for his nap which is why I thought I'd take the time to write something in my blog since it's been ages since I last wrote anything.

Trying to peek in and see the sheep

Chasing after chickens with Tobias and Kiernan

Watching the ducks and geese with Kiernan

Getting a better view of the pigs thanks to Keri

Playing on the stage inside the barn

Getting a push from Kiernan

Anniversary Celebration

On Saturday, January 9th, we celebrated our 11th anniversary. We started our weekend getaway on Friday and spent the night in a beautiful local hotel in Saratoga. It was our first time to be away from Elijah overnight.

Stethoscope

Yesterday I had the opportunity to do some Dry Ice workshops for a special "Discovery Day" geared for junior high girls. I taught 5 classes and had such a good time with all the girls and their moms. Dry Ice is one of my favorite workshops to teach because everyone loves dry ice; it sort of just sells itself.

The whole day was geared towards the Maths and Sciences. Some of the other classes that were taught were on fingerprints, gravity, building bridges, stethoscopes, etc. I briefly met the nurse who taught on stethoscopes and she gave me one so I could let Elijah have some fun with it. It's a pretty cheap stethoscope, but you can still hear your heart beat. Eli doesn't like to have the scope in his ears for very long, but he does get a kick out of putting it on and off his neck and dragging it all over the living room.

The stethoscope is as long as he is ;-)

Labor Day Weekend

I know this is over a month old, but I still wanted to journal about my time down in SoCal to visit a good friend from Zimbabwe. This was my first long trip where it was just Eli and me. I have to admit, now that he is a little older, I was slightly nervous about being in the car with him for so many hours. He sleeps pretty good in the car, but I knew he wouldn't sleep for longer than 1 1/2 - 2 hours at a time and the trip would be at least 6 hours of driving time, maybe longer.

I loaded up the car with plenty of toys and snacks to keep him busy and pulled over 3 times for breaks where we could both get some fresh air and stretch our legs. Each time we stopped, I would stay for at least 45 minutes to an hour so Elijah could run out all his energy. We stopped at a rest-stop and I had so much fun watching Eli chase after all the birds and run to greet any dog that came close to him. We also stopped at McDonalds and since there weren't very many people in the restaurant, I let him roam around and played peekaboo with him. The trip took 8 1/2 - 9 hours, but he was such a trooper.

We had a delightful weekend visiting with Shannon who had moved from Zim to Santa Clarita to attend University at The Masters College. I have missed Zim so much since we moved back to the States, so it was so delightful to see Shanz and talk about everything. She is an amazing woman and I'm so excited about her opportunity to be here in California for her tertiary education.

It was hard not having Jerod with us on the trip, but I'm so glad we went anyway. One of the difficulties was sleeping at night. Even though Eli slept pretty good, I found it very difficult to stay asleep and kept waking up constantly because of all the moving around Eli would do in his pack-in-play. For the first 8 months or so of his life, Elijah slept in our bedroom, but in June we moved him to his own room so we all could get some better sleep. I didn't realize how active he had become in the several months since I had last slept in the same room with him. Not only was I glad to get back home to see Jerod, but sleeping in my own room was also a relief.

Here are some pictures from our time with Shanz.

Even though you can't see it very well in this picture, Elijah has a mouth full of dirt which he thought was pretty fun to taste.

Shannon and Elijah at Taco Bell (this was Shannon's first time to Taco Bell)

Playing at the Park

Lately I have enjoyed taking Elijah to the park and letting him run around, interact with other kids, and explore new areas. He loves going down the slide with me and has fun getting sand everywhere. Here are a few pictures from our adventures today.

Here, Elijah is lifting up his arms for me to take him down the slide

Trying to climb the ladder

Sand and Suds

I wrote this yesterday evening but wasn't able to post it...

It’s been so long since I’ve been able to find time to just sit and type to my heart’s content without tiredness seeping into my bones and without worry of any interruptions. I find a stillness and peace sweep over my soul as I unwind, reflect on the day and rejoice in the life God has given me. Perhaps the prospect of a “Girl’s Night Out” has a good deal to do with my mood, but regardless, I’m happy to be back at this blog if only for a brief moment.

Today was a lovely day spent with my adorable son. The day started early with the sound of my sweet boy crying out for someone to rescue him from the darkness. I hurriedly freed him from the confines of his crib and set about our morning routine with excitement. Today we were to go and visit my brother Dave. My sister-in-law Danielle had been in the hospital for just a little over a month and was finally home. I couldn’t wait to go see them and spend time with my nephew Cole. We were going to take the boys to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin and take pictures. My brother’s birthday is tomorrow (October 11th) and so I was making his favorite cookies to take to him when I got a call that Danielle had been experiencing a migraine for over 24 hours and needed to go into the clinic. My heart sunk as I realized I would not be able to see my loved ones and it ached for the pain and continual health problems my lovely sister-in-law had been and continues to face.
So, instead of a day at the pumpkin patch, I decided to take Elijah to the park and have fun hanging out with other kids and parents. I had so much fun watching Eli hobble around on the sand and go down a small slide on his own for the first time. When it came time to have a snack, I tried my best to wipe the sand off his little hands, but no matter how hard I tried, the sand was destined to enter his mouth along with the food. I finally surrendered to the inevitable and figured it was a rite of passage for a kid to eat sand.

After the park and his afternoon nap, we went to wash the car which hadn’t been cleaned in months. The mobile home park where we live has designated areas where you can wash your car so I thought the change of scenery would be fun for the little guy. Also, anything to do with water is a huge hit where Eli is concerned. As I was taking my rag across the dirty sides of my vehicle, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Elijah was splashing in the water of my bucket. The next thing I realize, he’s putting soapy hands into his mouth and spreading suds all over his face. I wouldn’t have minded except for the concern over possible diarrhea. He was not a happy camper when I pulled his hands out of his mouth, wiped his face and tried to rinse out his mouth. “No more bucket of soapy suds for you,” I proclaimed. Instead, I had to console him by letting him play with the hose which he was content with except for the times when I told him he couldn’t scrape the metal part of the hose onto the side of our car. Ah, the joys of a one year old ;-)

Girls Night Out

For the past couple of days I have not been feeling like myself. I have been super tired despite getting good sleep at night, I have been craving junk food and have had little to no inclination to exercise. On top of it all, I have also felt more cranky and the sound of Elijah's cry was cutting straight through my brain and hitting all my nerves. I felt like I needed a break of some kind.

Some people from our small group Bible study were going to go to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and so Jerod graciously offered to watch Elijah so I could go hang out with people and just have a good time. It ended up being just me and two other ladies which was just what the doctor ordered. I had so much fun being care free and a little silly. It was 75 cent night at the Boardwalk so I all together I only spent $7 and got to ride 4 fun attractions, ate a 75 cent hot dog, shared some garlic fries and some ice cream with my friends, and enjoyed the lights, music and atmosphere of the chaotic roller coaster strip. I got to bed way later than I normally do but felt so refreshed and more like myself again. Elijah even slept until 7 am this morning which rarely happens and was counted as another blessing to cap off my wonderful time with friends.

This morning on my walk I found myself just giving thanks for everything around me...the cool morning air, the sun that was mostly covered by clouds which kept the suns rays from beating down on my back or blinding my eyes, for the beautiful flowers we saw along the way, for making a new friend last night and getting to hang out with girls and just chit-chat about everything, for a wonderful hubby who understands my needs even before I do and is very willing to help out, for a cute little baby boy with whom I have so much fun. Thank you Lord for all the wonderful things you send my way and I'm sorry if I don't take the time often enough to notice them or express my gratitude.

The Giant Dipper roller coaster ride

Loving My Job

This past week I had the opportunity to teach a workshop on Gravity to first and second graders. Even though I taught the same workshop 6 different times, I never got bored with it and loved each session. I found it a challenge to assess each class and see who the possible problem children were going to be and what I could do to manage classroom discipline. I found it engaging to discover the level of understanding that each student was at and try to tailor my lesson so that everyone knew what was going on and could have a good time. Most of all, I loved seeing the look of wonder on the children's faces when you show them something new with science. This time around, the greatest response came from demonstrating centrifigal force and how I could keep a tennis ball in a plastic jar without it falling to the ground due to gravity. Then, yesterday I had a birthday party where I got to work with dry ice, cotton candy, and even ignited a hydrogen balloon on fire! What can I say, I have the best job ever! So many days I come away from it all thinking, "...and I get paid to have this much fun?!"


Here I am in my Mad Science lab coat and holding a beaker bubbling over with carbon dioxide from some dry ice.