Juice Taste Test

For a school project Emilia conducted a juice taste test. She asked us which juice we thought we would prefer before the taste test. After trying each kind of juice (apple, grape, orange), she asked us which was our favorite. It was nice that all the kids participated and had fun together.

Parker at Work

He really does have a job! Here is the truck he drives every day to pick up donations for the Vietnam Veterans of America, with goods that end up at our favorite thrift store, "Red, White & Blue". Go HERE to schedule a pick up and maybe you'll see my handsome boy.

All Because Of A Hammock

I guess the hammock is the reason we've been "remodeling" our backyard for the last three weekends. When we realized it wouldn't fit the hammock frame that we already had, we needed to find another place to hang it. The perfect location was hidden by brush and branches. Very soon it will be done. As soon as we lay the bark chips I will take pictures of the results. I'm excited to have about 20 feet added to my back yard. Oh, and doesn't Emilia look adorable chillin' in the hammock?

One Of My Favorite Things

Lilac's
The sweet smell of spring, and one of my favorite of God's creations.

I am lucky enough to have one tree in my back yard with large, succulent blooms that appear fairly early in spring. They remind me of my childhood. We had a purple tree and a white tree in our backyard. (I liked the purple variety best). I would pick them and fill my mom's house with their sweet scent. I would use them to fill handmade May day baskets that my friends and I would secretly place on the neighbors door.

Now I love it when I see the buds on my own tree and know that in just a matter of days I will be able to enjoy their glory. They don't last long, so I have been picking bunches every few days and filling my home with the sweet reminder of my childhood. Just today I went out to cut a few more flowers to refill the vases and noticed the brown petals appearing. The end of another lilac season is near. But something wonderful will soon be here in it's place!

Honor Roll!

Oh Middle School. It's amazing that we all survive it. It's such a rat race....friends, fashion, phones. Choices, choices, choices! I'm lucky that my kids haven't suffered too much through those two awful years of school. In fact most of them excelled academically and socially. Here we are, down to the last year and a few months of parenting a middle school age child. It will come as no surprise that this one may be the most difficult.

I'm proud to announce that her busy social life has not impacted her academic life. She has worked hard to get good grades and has made the honor roll two semesters in a row. One more to go! And if she makes it she's asked for a trip to visit Aunt Gretchen this summer. I think she deserves it!

Way to go Emilia! Keep up the good work.

Take Your Daughter to Work Day

Last year Savannah spent the day with Mario, but this year it was Emilia's turn to follow him around Neil Armstrong Middle School for the day. She got to experience school from the inside! She learned that gangs are scary. She saw only ONE cute boy! Then she got to write Mario a referral.

The Anti-Vaccine Midwife Gets A Shot!

I'm forecasting late nights by the fire outside, afternoon iced teas with friends, lazy afternoon reading in the hammock, the dog frolicking in the grass and cleaning up the chicken poop that's everywhere. At least they give us yummy eggs to eat.

Do you want to come over and play with me?

We've been mighty busy over here creating an outdoor space that feels happy:) I'm pretty happy with the results.

Saturday morning while I ran some errands my husband went crazy! I came home and he had chopped a whole bunch of our HUGE tree off, creating a whole new shady space for our hammock. I was thrilled that he used his strong muscles and got so much done while I was gone.

He really deserved this break.
(Yes, it's an apple and hot powder)

Then I decided to paint the hen's house....

While moving things around I stepped on a chicken poop covered rusty nail while wearing flip flops! Ay Carumba, that hurt!!!! But I kept on working. (Being the dedicated backyard fixer upper that I am) Mario mentioned something about a tetanus shot. Oh that. Hmmm..... well it has been 22 years since I've had one.

No way was I going to waste that beautiful Saturday sitting in urgent care to get a freaking vaccine. I don't even vaccinate my kids for hecks sake. I'd think about it and read about it and then decide. After 24 hours (and some mighty strong words of warning from others) I did my homework and decided that YES I would get the vaccine. Statistically I was going to be ok. But on the small chance that little poop covered nail did carry some tetanus, well that's some serious sickness that I didn't want.

Sunday afternoon I consulted with the Kaiser advice nurse. I had some questions and the sweet lady was patient with me. When I told her I don't go to the doctor much she said in the sweetest voice, "I can tell". They need to make a "Navigating Kaiser Permanente for Dummies" book just for me.

On Monday I consulted with my Naturopath, who concurred on my decision to get the vaccine. So I headed to the Nurse Treatment window (they don't even charge you to go in and get vaccinated) and got my shot. I was a little pissed that I wasn't getting just the tetanus. I asked for the Td, but the snooty nurse said they had to give me the Tdap, just to be on the "safe" side, since there was an outbreak of pertussis. Oh well.

Here's the ironic shot of the anti-vaccine midwife getting a shot


Oh, and one of the finished projects, our new fire pit area.
Did I mention how happy I am with how the backyard is coming along?
AND SERIOUSLY, I LOVE COMPANY.

I'm still here.

I've been busy. And not so busy. The real reason I haven't blogged in awhile is that I haven't had much to say. But I wanted you all to know that I'm still here! Here's a little photo montage of a few things I've been up to.

Watching the dog and the girl sleep. Really, at times it seems that's all they do!

Me and my FABULOUS apprentice, the other Kelly. Together we are the Kelli/y's.

We don't look our best here, but we were having a great time. This was at a birth that we refer to as a "butter birth". Third baby, Kelly was there just a few minutes before the birth, me a little longer. Mom was amazing and the baby was born healthy. But it was early in the morning!

And here we are with the new little guy. So cute.

We had 4 births in three weeks. 3 primips (first time moms) and one multip (see above). They were all great, none were super long and we were excited to be busy, yet with perfect spacing, giving us time to recuperate.

Dinner with the Kids

Alexis is in town and we were able to spend a few hours with her on Sunday. We had dinner with all of our kids, minus Chial (in Fiji) and Parker (who knows where he was!). It was nice to have everyone together. I know it made Mario very happy. Alexis gave Mario a killer shoulder rub before she left! Lucky!

Some Changes Ahead

My husband officially resigned from his job today. He had been considering early retirement but when we looked at what he would bring home it is about half of what he makes now. I was hoping that he could stick it out for a couple more years. That way Chial would be home from his mission and hopefully the 3 adult children living with us, plus Chial, and possibly even Savannah would be out on their own. (YES, it is a possibility that I will only have ONE child home in a couple years!!) Without going into the politics too much, he was set up to fail at his job. Honestly, the biggest mistake he made was....SURPRISE....he was too nice! He covered for someone else for a full year that he should have just exposed. He was told this person was undermining him, but I believe he didn't fully grasp what was going on until it was too late to do what he should have done. By a mutual agreement with his boss he chose to resign and let the school go in a different direction. (By the way, this person has already begun to lobby for Mario's job, before the resignation was formally given. I'm a little bitter. Mario is very calm.)

Over two years ago, when I first heard that his position was available and he was thinking about applying I KNEW he would get the job. I KNEW this was where he was supposed to be. And from the moment he was hired this job has been a struggle for him, and for our family. We have all suffered because of it, but Mario most of all. I don't know why he was supposed to be there for such a short time and have this experience, but I am trying to have faith that it is for a greater purpose and something better will come along. I have complete faith in my husband and his integrity in doing his job. I have complete faith in his experience and skills. What I don't have faith in is the state of our economy and the crisis that our country is in right now. It is not a good time to be looking for a job. It is not a good time to sell a house. But as we consider our options I pray that we will be provided for.

Please pray for our family
that Mario will be able to find a better job
in a healthy work environment.

We have so much to be grateful for. I am grateful that we are able to draw from Mario's retirement if we need to. I am grateful for my experience in living on less and the knowledge I have that we will be able to do with less. I am grateful for the abundance in my business this year and the wonderful women who have entrusted me to be their midwife.

I have been nagging Mario about his health for such a LONG time, and I am grateful that this change will enable him to focus more on his health and making the life changes that he needs to to feel better. I am grateful that we have health insurance (at least until September)that enables us to see alternative health practitioners for only $5. We are both seeing a Naturopath and making changes that I hope will make us feel a whole heck of a lot better.