how do you like them apples(it's the last one! i promise! well....i hope)

i still haven't made anything special with my apples.

i have been eating them though.(keeps the doctor away?)

and i did make those chocolate peanut butter thingys that i have on the side bar.

or click here.

words cannot describe them.

you just need to make them and see.

and here are my last few pictures of my baby girl.

she is my treasure.

tonight she wanted me to sing her "somewhere over the rainbow".

she stared into my eyes the whole time, smiling and sucking her thumb.




bea, if you are looking at this, I know i need to trim her nails.....at least they are sorta clean?

my children will be taught by the Lord....

Isaiah 54:11-14
"O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted.
I will build you with stones of turquoise,
your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all you walls of precious stones.
All your sons will be taught by the Lord,
and great will be your children's peace.
In righteousness you will be established:
Tyranny will be far from you;
you will have nothing to fear.
Terror will be far removed;
it will not come near you."

this verse struck a chord with me.
i love the apple orchard and that special family day that we had because i desire peace and joy for my family.
there are few days that i find it here, in this world.
but God promises me more....someday i will find my peace and all my fears will be far removed from me.
and i will walk in the house (and orchards) of the Lord, forever.....

more apple picking

Round two.....
I really really love these.
I love my family.
I love my friends.
Sigh.......
My favorite is the one on the bottom left.
I am out of focus.
Jake took it and it reminds me of the picture Erin's son took of her in the mustard fields.
I love that one Erin.
From your son's view.....so precious.
Funny. When Ty takes picture they always turn out weirdly amazing.
With Jake, not so much.
But this one is definitely an acception.
It's his view of me.
I value that.

apple picking

ok people.
i took alot of pictures at the apple farm.
and although you most likely don't want to see a million pictures of apples.....
well you don't HAVE to look.
just click away if i am boring you.
i had a blast taking them.
a sweaty blast.
it was 150 degrees and i was wearing rain boots......gross.
but the cuteness overcame and my photo loving pal, Bea and I just snapped away!
She was the brains behind all last years adorable pictures and she lived up to her reputation this year too.
We picked and snapped and ate.
all of us.
apples AND raspberries.
then we went to Apple Annies for some down home cookin' and ate some more.
that's livin' people.

stay tuned for at least 3 more posts of our applicious-ness...

and, she's off!

that's it.
she's off.
my sister, valerie left for her new home in Colorado!
now both my amazing sisters are out adventuring in other states.
i am sorta jealous.
and sorta glad it's not me.
jealous of snow and fall and seasons and new homes and open space and the unknown...
glad not to have to move my (incredible amount of) stuff from house to house.

as a send-off, ella and i took aunt val to one of our favorite places.
you know i am a sucker for the mission.
and then down to her favorite hang out, hidden house coffee.
it was sweet.
i love you sister.


ps.
she has a blog.
click here to see her perspective.
she is so brave and cool.

something they can ALL do!

FIRST THINGS FIRST.

um, since last time i posted, the followers of this blog have almost doubled.
crazy!
i give all the credit to Heather.
She posted about "the reed life" last week and WOW!
amazing what one post can do.
i feel happy, bashful, embarrassed, encouraged, sassy, popular, humbled, and excited about the new friends that this world of blogging can connect me to.
So, for all you new to the reed life,

welcome!

thank you for being interested.
THANK YOU FOR THE COMMENTS!
they are so encouraging and gracious!
really.
i am moved to see how many people will pause and give me words of advise on my son or my mothering.
you guys are GREAT!
i am grinning.

So, here we go.

One of the things that has been a challenge about having all my kids right after another, and so close together,
(go ahead and laugh all you super-heros that had your babies like 12 months apart....you guys are angels.)
is finding fun activities that they can all do well enough that i can physically manage them all.
since they all are relatively small(needy), lots of things are impossible or VERY HECTIC.
i actually kinda feel like this challenge is pretty recent, since for a while it just HAD to be separate.
ella was a baby.
and then there were the big kids.
haha! "big"
but as time goes by she is learning how to chime in and it is.....
scary, hilarious, horrifying, sweet and lots of work.
one thing they can all and will all do, right now at this moment is scooter!
yay!
so here are my babies turned big kids scootering down the street....

ok.

one more thing.

(those of you "big girl bloggers" that have been doing this for a while, go ahead and snicker, knowingly.)

i really want to answer and reply back to all those comments.

it's like there are nice understanding friends just waiting for me to come on over.

i wrote back to a few.

but not all.

that bugs me.

i want to respond to all.

but, my husband asked me to do the laundry(please! can't he see that i have better things to do!)

and i need to work on my banners for the Mariner's Boutique(yep, a tidbit come back...more info to come) and i told Ty, I'd read him a story and i need to answer a buncha emails....so

i guess i can't reply to all right now.

but hopefully soon?

i hope?

for now, please know how thrilled i am to have you all and that i have MANY new favorite blogs to catch up on!

so fun!

apple pickin' here we come!

a few of you have asked about apple picking.
we have a lovely tradition to go with some favorite friends every fall.
we go the Rileys at Los Rios Rancho.
it is so fun!


click on this picture for the website and check out the timelines of when which apples are in season when, as well as when to come for BBQ and pumpkin patches and other great activities.

get out there and get pickin'!

don't forget your camera!

last years photos are still some of my favorites.

they are taken by Bea (this was before my camera days)

thanks Bea!




maybe if I am good I'll get another kiss like this one this year?

here's to hopin'.....

ya never knooooooowwww.

vitamins and a super hero

i decided to participate with Meg and send some vitamins.
i showed the kids this.
we went to the store on Saturday morning.



Ty and Ella didn't really get it...but Jake had enough questions for all of us:)
after lots of discussion and explaining there was some silence.
then Jake says, "it seems like africa really needs a super-hero"
pause..."if i was a super-hero i'd go straight there"
*smile*
"i think if i had a super power, i'd want it to be the power to re-build broken things"
*swallow*
i needed this.
he has a great heart, and i needed to see it.
you know i needed to see it.
i can imagine God smiling down on a seven year old boy longing for......Him. Thinking of Him in his own innocent terms.
In his own way wanting to be God's hands...even if he doesn't know it yet.


after we talked Jake started practicing his "super re-builder" jumps.
that got some participation from the little guys.....

'round here

• thinkin' bout the cupcakery while i sew on buttons.
  


• playin' in the hose.
  


• evil dr. pork chop, buzz, and woody.
  


• snack tray...yesssssss.
  


• lincoln logs.
  


• tents.
  


• sunflowers.
  
  
  
  

deep breaths, a diet coke, and a craft

i feel so tense lately!
maybe i mentioned it before;)
but my 7 year old is really testing my patience lately.
mornings are so rough.
he argues and complains and cries and whines.
i do my BEST to stay upbeat.....but man!
i think because there is this part of me that feels like i'm failing and dropping the ball as a mother, when he treats his family so disrespectfully, i just really get amped up fast, you know?
like, if i can man-handle that attitude out of him i prove my success?
ew.
i end up dropping him off at school and kinda not liking him....but mostly really not liking me.

so, here are my ideas:

• an alarm clock
• a timed schedule that is posted for HIM to be in charge of...not me.
• a renewed attitude of not micro-manging him.
• letting go of some control and letting the natural result teach him to get ready instead of my annoying voice.(ex: he may not get breakfast or his stuff may be left out, which means i take it away...)
• and lastly, when i feel myself start to get really amped....relax......i did this last week after drop off.

I set up a LOVELY station outside, with my Diet Coke and a roll and some stuff to make barrettes.

I turned AWAY from my dirty kitchen, and set up my speakers that my Reedo got me for listening to Pandora on my phone and listened to George Winston Radio(recommended to me by my cute sister, val)
check out my spot.....

see how this was my saving grace?

the light was guiding me?



i made pretty things for happy characters in my life.

that cheered me up!

i even had a pretty little helper....deep breaths......

what do you think i should do about Jakers?

What do you do to relax?

i am linking up to a linky party with this post.

have you ever looked at Heather's blog called Blessed Little Nest?

if not, you should today.

if so, yay! isn't she so inspirational and creative!?

i am feeling sassy and confident just being involved with her cute party!

just me and ella-at the mall

ella asks to go to the mall every day.
one day i said yes....

i think the main reason she wants to go
is to keep her little eyes on that disney store.
that puppy is opening on tuesday.
on that day all her mickey mouse dreams will come true....
....i guess

lunch-a-mommies

my happy friend erin gave me a great idea!
her kids, like my kids, think lunch-ables are cool.
she and i agree that they are not.
to me, they are such a "daddy's in charge" kind of food.
but with a little twist, perhaps everyone will be happy.
click here to see erin's ideas on this idea that she calls....
lunch-a-mommies.
and check out what i put in mine....
my kids love them!





translation:
heart ham and man cheese describe the shapes i cut them into
sour apples describe the reason ty wouldn't eat them (too much lemon juice? oops)

peter pan

we love peter pan over here!

this is our second round of peter-pan-mania.
we went through it first when ella was an infant.
we told her she liked tink.
i made her a costume.



now she wants the REAL DEAL.
she wants top billing.
peter.
she's got the hat.
she crosses her arms.
she has NO IDEA how incredibly tinkerbell-ish she is.
there is no getting away from it.
ella is the original pouty fairy.
she can go ahead and think that she is peter.
i may even have to let her be him for halloween.
be we know the truth.

ps.

how funny is jake's face?

he thinks that is his peter pan face.

creepy.

last few days of havin' a sister 'round here....

ella and i had some special time with my sister.
we are counting down the days that we still get to live in the same state.
before i know it, i will be the only of my sisters left in Cali.
we went down to our regular hangout and walked down to the beach.
aunt val took ella up to the lifeguard tower.
the lighting was irresistible!
i had to practice my sun flare.


this last picture is one of my new favorites.....don't they look alike!?
ella looks a lot like val looked when she was small.
same hair.
same nose.
same shape face.
awwww.
we sure are gonna miss her!

you know who i just love?

ella.

not MY ella.
this ella.
she is so great!
click on this picture to see a amazing video of her in the 70s.
love it!
you will too!

daddy the hero

i have had these pictures and forgot to post them!
this is Reedo's last summer race for the summer.
we, of course, were his cheerleaders.
"go reedo, go reedo, go reedo"
not sure who the "official" winner was.
but i am sure who reedo's kids think is the best biker....
that's a win, all the way around.