well...wednesday's not too bad...

so. i promised pictures and an update by tuesday. that didn't so much happen. but it's only a day later...not too bad in my book. not as bad as the promised memorial day post...which still hasn't appeared anywhere on this blog. *sigh* it will come. someday. anyways. as previously discussed...we went to the beach last weekend. we drove to the central coast...five hours each way...so that john could get extremely sandy in the pismo dunes. twas great fun. kinda. well...it's not that it wasn't fun...it's just that it was a long way to drive for just two days. next time...we'll havta stay longer. for sure. elijah enjoyed the sand in his toes...i didn't let him play in it too much because it was actually really chilly and windy...he kept getting sand in his eyes...not too comfortable. so we just hung out in the trailer...i read three harry potter books (rereading all six before the seventh comes out...) and just basically chilled. our friends jake and wendy, along with their kids, hannah and austin (who is just two days older than elijah!) came to visit us on saturday night since they only live about a half hour away from the beach. we had a nice visit...though it was too short. hopefully we'll be able to see them again next time we go down. we also got to have lunch with an old friend of mine from capernwray who just happens to live in the area we were at. it was a great time to catch up, meet the husbands and share a great meal. definitely have to do that again.

anyways. here's some pictures from the weekend as well as a few from just these past few days. click on the links below to see a full sized version. enjoy! i'm off to get ready for elijah's party. lots to do...lots to do...

1. sweet smiles, 2. camping..., 3. peek-a-boo, 4. the happy family, 5. close up, 6. momma and baby at the beach, 7. yum...toes!, 8. naked bum

help me believe...

been listening to some "oldies but goodies" lately. not super old stuff...just some cds that i'd forgotten that i loved. like lifehouse (their first one), nichole nordeman (this mystery) and some other great cds. but mostly...i've been playing this song over and over and over and over...it's resonating in my soul for some reason...and i can't get enough of it...

take me back to the time when i was maybe eight or nine...
and i believed
when Jesus walked on waters blue and if He helped me, i could too...
if i believed
before rational analysis and systematic thinking robbed me of a sweet simplicity
when wonders and when mysteries were far less often silly dreams and childhood fantasys

help me believe 'cause i don't want to miss any miracles
maybe i'd see much better by closing my eyes
and i would shed this grown up skin i'm in to touch an angels wing and i would be free
help me believe

when mustard seeds made mountians move
a burning bush that spoke for You was good enough
when manna fell from heavens high just because You told the sky to open up
am i too wise to recognize that everything uncertain is certainly a possibility
when logic fails my reasoning and science crushes underneath the weight of all that is unseen?

when someone elses education plays upon my reservation
i'm the first to cave...i'm the first to bleed
if i abondoned all that seeks to make my faith informed and chic
could you?
would you?
show your self to me?

help me believe 'cause i don't want to miss any miracles
maybe i'd see much better by closing my eyes
and i would shed this grown up skin i'm in to touch an angels wing and i would be free
help me believe

i hope to get the pictures from this weekend edited today...key word being HOPE. we shall see...

"dude...you've got beets in your eyebrow."

words spoken literally minutes ago...to my son...the messy eater. he actually seems to like beets...especially when they're mixed with applesauce...then again...he likes pretty much anything when it's mixed with applesauce.

anyways. i promised pictures. and yet...i have none. actually...that's not true. i have some. but i didn't get as many resized as i wanted to today. and now...it's gonna havta wait til at least monday because tomorrow we leave for the BEACH! can i get a woot woot?!?!? super excited about that. crisp ocean breezes...75 degree days...ahh...it doesn't get much better than that.

but as i sit here typing...i realize how much i still have left to do before we go. so go i must. hopefully i'll have a full report WITH PICTURES for you on monday. or at least by tuesday. one can hope.

for now...i leave you with this:

california schmalifornia

i have come to a fascinating conclusion.

california is weird.

good conclusion, no?

so here's my thinking. i spent all day (ok...slight exaggeration...more like an hour) yesterday fighting traffic to get to the grocery store that's literally 10 miles away from my house to buy organic food when there's two perfectly good grocery stores within walking distance. why is that weird? well. maybe it's not so much that california is weird...but rather that california has made ME weird. reasons are as follows:

1. i wear sunscreen every stinkin' day of the year. even when it's cloudy. even in the winter. weird? yes. i think so. (though i just found some great every day lotion/sunscreen at target...it's made by banana boat...and it actually doesn't smell half bad. except it's not so cheap. grr. but oh well. check it out here.)
2. i worry about ticks and poison ivy and pesticides and other icky things while i watch my son play in the grass. where are the carefree days of my childhood when my brothers and i played in the woods for hours on end and the only thing we worried about was where to find a good bush to pee on? *sigh* oh alaska...how i long for your blithe summer days! (k...so maybe there were things we SHOULD have been worried about...but we were too little to really care? hmm...probably. mom...yes?)
   
3. i've turned into a harriet-housewife who wants to have her own organic garden, make homemade quilts and clothing (check out the links for some of my inspiration), shop at antique stores and make her own strawberry jam. where did this come from? is this just an age thing? because when i was little...you couldn't get me in the kitchen to help my mom cook without a pretty significant bribe...i hated sewing and gardening...and most of all...i thought antique stores smelled funny (which they kinda do...but i digress...)

seriously...i could keep going here...but i'll stop for now. i'm not really sure if it's california's fault or just growing up...but i think i'll blame it on california...it's just easier that way.

also. isn't this just the coolest bag ever? mom...seriously. if you ever want to buy me something...this is it. and i'm not even that much of a bag-lover (not like you or gayle)...so you know it's got to be seriously wicked. (reason number four should be "i say weird words like wicked and stoked"...)

pictures to come. resizing them as we "speak"...

hmmm...

happy father's day?

my poor husband...spending father's day recovering from wisdom teeth extraction.

(yes...that is a bag of peas he's holding to his throbbing jaw...)

poor baby...

uh huh...

it is currently 9.35pm...and it's still 91 degrees outside.

huh.

just for fun...more to come...

sweetness personified. love it. love him. love life.

mosaic...

more of these to come...aren't they fun?

moments...

the to-do list is a thousand miles long
and it grows longer by the minute.

long.
longer.
longest.

but right now...
this moment...
elijah is here...
cute and cuddly.
and the last thing i want to do
is leave him for a list.

he's only little for a moment...
this moment.
the list will always be there.
for now...
it's just me and my boy...
enjoying the moment.
this moment.

fiesta!

for those of you in the area (and even if you're not...you're still invited...it just might be a bit more impractical)...i just wanted to put the word out since the invitations are taking their sweet time...we're having a little celebration for elijah on the 30th of june. here's the invite...it will be sent out in the mail as soon as i get them!



we'd love to see you there!

ooo...i almost forgot.

another glimpse of lovely scrappiness...hope to get some more done soon...
(the journaling says: "GO elijah. go." and should say: "grow. play. laugh. be." along the bottom of the photo but my white pen pooped out. so. as soon as i get a new white photo pen...i'll fix that.)

here's some more that i did before elijah was born...i just added the photos...still need to add journaling to some...and find a 11x8 1/2 album that i like to store them in...

gimme s'more

it's 11am and only 67 degrees.
blissful.

so.
i've been taking a bit of a computer break.
those are always nice...
...but leave me feeling more overwhelmed when it's over than i was when it started.
emails to return...
inbox to clean out...
thousands...literally...thousands of photos to edit.
ugh.

better get started.
cuz i've got some darn cute pictures to share.
more posts comin' at cha...
...soon...ish.
i promise.

here's a photo to whet your appetite for things to come...

seriously.
the cutest little man...EVER.