Research

I haven't been blogging.  I haven't even been blog reading.

But, our life has still been going along really well, in spite of that.

Pretty much exactly a month ago, 

Scott & I got to go on a local getaway for our 8 year anniversary.

We are seriously grateful that we got to get out for a whole night & day.

It was sweet!

We went to the Dream Inn, which was super hip.

This was our morning view, off the balcony. 

No fog for us.  Evening or morning.

Our time was pretty much a research trip.  And super fun.

We researched each other & together.

Teachers in service day.  Is that what you call it?

I have also spent the last month being irritated & doing minimal research 

on this iphone photo issue.

We are hugging the elephant seal sculpture at Long Marine labs.

And, we took the photo on the iphone, in the vertical position. 

I uploaded it to my computer & it is on my computer in the vertical position.

I upload it onto blogger...  horizontal.

ARGH!  

I have given up.  

And I am postin them here to show you all that we are not smart enough for an iphone.

But, while at Long Marine, we studied up on all the ocean learning there, 

so we could bring our kids & teach them all we learned.  

We petted Swell Sharks, saw little baby ones wriggling around in their egg sacks,

watched quick moving Sunflower sea stars (they just keep growing more and more arms!).

These labs are small.  But, the signage is great & educational & 

the docents are very engaging as well.

{We brought them out 2 weeks later, 

after they were daily asking us when they could go and pet the sharks, too.}

sorry about the flash & the strong reflection.  hard to see, but this is the shark petting tank.

Back to our teacher's research day...
We took a birding walk, hunting for Black-Chinned Hummingbirds.
When we finally gave up on seeing the elusive hummingbird,
we did spot two hummingbirds above us.
But, they moved on too quickly for us to see what they looked like.
It was exciting nonetheless.  I had never thought I would go birding, prior to turning 65.
Now I have.  And, I liked it.  Mostly because of my birding partner.

We ended our outing with the Santa Cruz Food Tour.
People, this was SO fun.
I love good food.  And I like walks.
So, a walking food tour of downtown sounded great to me.
But, once the tour was underway we learned it was much more than that.
We got a really fun history lesson of the city.
We learned about the handsome Victorian homes of the 1800's;
about their builders & the home owners.
We learned about Mission Santa Cruz,
and visited the only original structure still standing.
We learned about the railway that came to downtown
(and how they had to stop outside of the downtown area
and hitch the train to a team of horses,
to take it all the way to the coast without disturbing the residents & merchants.)
Our tour guide was great.  And now we love Santa Cruz more.
We highly recommend this tour to locals and to visitors.

Exploring together was a blast.  We are grateful!

ten on ten {September 2012}

A picture of something beautiful, ten times throughout our day on the tenth of September.

searching for mosquito fish, first thing in the morning

Sisters who love books

Art time

Smoothie finished

  

Water flowers have bloomed.  They weren't there first thing this morning.

Egg Vending Machine & Chicken Dance show at Glaum

Tea time & watching National Geographic - Search for the Jaguar

My favorite glass sits among dirty dishes that didn't get washed.

Quality Check on Journey Bags for foster kids in our county.

Getting dinner onto the table.

 Joining Rebekah @ Bit of Sunshine for her Ten on Ten Photo project...

I love my work

If marriage is hard work, then I love working hard.

Today Scott & I have been married 8 years.

What a gift this work is.  I am so grateful!

When I hear someone talk about, in an exhausted tone, 

what hard work marriage is, I feel a bit bummed.

I've talked about love being hard before in a letter to my kids.

It can be accurate to say that marriage is hard work.

It is not a hobby.  It requires effort.

Marriage changes what you are.

And it does take work.

But marriage needs more public praise & celebration.

I want ya'll to know, that this is work I love.

It is easy working hard to love my husband.

He works hard to make it easy.

This is a sweet job.  It just keeps getting better.

I'm glad to stay in this work for the rest of our days.

This work makes me smile.

This song, Sharpened in Time, makes me say, "Yes!  That is it!"

Being your bride has let me see 
That I’ll teach you and you’ll teach me
In this life, Oh, I’m your iron
Sharpened in time
It’s so good to be with you

Cause we’ve got an easy kind of love

The kind that makes you say 

At the end of the day

It’s more than I deserve

It kinda makes you cry 

When you look back on your life and think

Oh, God is good, more than I deserve…

Not that it’s never been work, you see

But in this life some things will be

Worth the effort

You’re worth the effort

Morning Gathering

We begin our school day together for "circle time".

We sing songs. We might dance a bit or practice clapping out rhythms.

Sometimes it might get a little loud.

Strength training of sorts & aerobic exercises are part of the routine.

(Also - if you want to vote for my kids to win more of awesome Livie & Luca shoes, 

go onto their photo contest on facebook here. 

You can vote for as many photos as you want to.)

Throwing up my hands

Recently I was talking with a woman whom I had just met.
She was a mother to one cute little toddler boy.
She admitted to me her confusion in hearing that we would want to adopt child number 5,
when she thought having one child was too hard.
Then she said, "Well, I suppose when you choose to have 5,
you just throw your hands in the air & say whatever!"
I had no response to that.
Because, I was offended.
No, I have not given up on it all!  How dare she suggest that, right?
But also, this lady didn't know me or my family.
I didn't see how to offer a polite defense.
So, I said nothing.

But I kept thinking about it.
It's not the first time I have heard a comment of this nature.
Still, it made me think.
I sort of agree.
With each child added to the family, I do throw my hands up a little higher.
Each different little soul shows me more & more how much I am unable to control.
I see more clearly the big job of being a parent.
I know my own lack.
I get it.  I am in over my head.

And I see the One who is in control.
The One who made these little people in His image.
The One who has a good plan for each of them.
The One who sustains me & even fills up my cup to overflowing.
I ask Him how I can mother all these little children well
& He says that He is more than able.
It's all about God.
I can mother these well only through Christ in me.

So I am throwing up my hands.

Dad is a Scientist

We officially began our school year today.

The kids were glad about it.  (The daddy & mommy were glad, too)

Gillian was the most glad.  She was extremely excited.

(And also excited that she lost a tooth last night.  She is loving the gaping hole in mouth.)

These three youngers participated in music, story time, painting, 

bible memory, coloring, play dough, abc exercises 

& also running around the back yard, teasing the dogs & get into some mischief.   

Gillian is so fired up about seat work, using workbooks, forming letters & doing math.

I am grateful she is such an eager learner.

This is true outside of seat work and the official school season, too.

She especially has a great memory for all the life science stuff Scott teaches the kids,

as they tromp around the yard, or read bed time books, or where ever.

These kids are so lucky to have a dad who is a scientist.  

(Though they can't believe he is one, 

because they thought "that scientists wear white coats & know everything".)

He has tons of scientific facts filed in his brain.  

When they ask him a question about a bug or a bird or a flower or a cloud 

or whatever they see in the natural world around them, he probably knows the answer.

Last week, Gillian found a couple of salamanders in our backyard, 

while poking in a hole in the driveway.  

She was looking for garbage to throw away & pulled up these guys, instead.

I get a little squeamish over critters like this.

But, learning from their father, these kids are fascinated & unafraid.

(All those cool bugs in the above pictures?  

Those are Scott's & they hang on our wall, 

greeting people at the front door as they enter our house.)

Learning inside & outside, from books & during play - 

a few blessing of learning at home together!

Empathizing with Weakness {does not mean excusing sin]

So.  I read relationship advice on Yahoo! Shine sometimes.

I do.  

Like anytime I am looking at the news headlines & there is a relationship headline, 

I click on it.

Also?  My husband occasionally does this, too.

Yes.

Recently I was mucking about in the kitchen & he was browsing the online world.

He asked me if I wanted to know, finally, finally know -
the one key to lasting & happy marriages.

Yes.  Of course I did.  Read to me Yahoo! Shine, sweet darling.

Empathy, he declared.

And I was pleasantly surprised.  I think Yahoo! Shine got it pretty right on with this one.

We both agreed.  This was a job well done.

We all want to be understood and accepted, right? 

But, as Christians shouldn't we hate the sin, you ask?  

How can we have empathy for all that bad stuff we have to witness in our spouses?

And this applies to any relationship we are in, I would think.
Parent/child, friends, siblings, etc.

Empathy is the ability to understand.
That does not mean we have to excuse sin, though.

In order for our marriages to be pointing to God's glory, 

we should be encouraging one another in holiness.

We should be growing more like Jesus. 

Allow me to quote my current book love, "Just How Married Do You Want To Be?"

"Marry a person who isn't entertained by your sin.  

Marry someone who isn't fun to be with 

whenever you are indulging in your favorite way of being unlike Christ.  

Marry someone who likes you best when you are following God, 

and likes you least when you're not.  

Otherwise, it will be too easy to fall into the trap 

of conspiring in sin with the person you marry while yet telling yourself 

'we're so good for each other'"

By God's goodness, my husband & I are, most of the time,  this way to each other.

He planned us as a good match.  We do have opposite strengths & weaknesses.

Sometimes that can make it hard to empathize with the other's weakness.

How can it be done, if you don't really struggle with the same issues to the same extent?

I think we can empathize with the weakness of the one who is different from us, 

by being grateful for their strengths.

If you look at the complete personality of yourself, 

do you not see that your strengths & your weakness are connected?  

God gave me a personality, just for me.  

It is not more prone to sin or more prone toward greatness than any other personality.

In all the things He made me strong in, if I use those apart from His truth, 

then I will end up twisting those to sin & they are my weaknesses.

Example - a person whose great strength is a nurturing heart 

will have their weaknesses within this same sphere.  

The nurturing heart may turn into a controlling person 

apart from trusting the work of the Holy Spirit in others.

Or perhaps a guilt ridden person, apart from believing God's grace.

As the empathizing party, try looking at your spouse (child/friend/whomever) 

& see what great potential is underneath that weakness.

What is the "other side of the coin"?  

That stubbornness has potential for so much, under the power of Jesus.

That obnoxiousness could have another side
of someone being able to see reasons for joy in all things.

That attention-needy person has potential for strong connection.

When we are grateful for the strengths of the personality, 

we are better able to empathize with the weakness.

And when we show empathy, correction is better received by anyone.

Perhaps empathy is key to a happy, lasting marriage.

And, accountability is a key to a growing, holy marriage.

The Great Staycation of 2012

Last week we vacationed in our home area.  

The Daddy took the week off of work & we ventured out daily for a new adventure.

It was great!

Ocean View Park.  Slides & Picnics.

Exploring new neighborhoods, via bikes & walking, too.

Rides at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Burgers at Betty's.

San Francisco Zoo.
Getting rear ended in traffic.  (no car damage, just coffee splatted all over my husband.)

Breakfast at Trailside Cafe.
Monterey Tide Pool exploration.
MY children's Museum of Monterey.

More traffic issues mean we don't make it to the Palo Alto duck pond.
We choose the Arboretum at USCS instead.

On our last day we went hiking at Henry Cowell & I did not bring our camera.
But, Gillian declared the swimming hole in Fall Creek as being "gooder than good."
It was awesome.