YOU never think they notice....but they do.

This past weekend I was in my bathroom getting ready and Eva was right at my heels. She washed her face with my facewash. She used my lotion and slathered it all over her body. She dabbled in my make-up.

After awhile she looked at me completely puzzled and said, "That's still not it Mommy....what do you use that always makes you smell so good?"

Awww....melt my heart.

I handed her my perfume. She took one sniff and her eyes lit up..."THAT'S IT!!!" she said.

My smile went from ear to ear. I love how children notice the smallest of details.

"Taking joy in living is the best cosmetic."

--Rosalind Russell

A lesson in patience...

Last night Matt is reading to Eva and Jaden the story of David and Goliath from OUR bible. This was a change because normally when we read Bible stories as a family we read from the children's bible. The wording in that bible is a lot easier for the kiddies to understand.

Regardless, Eva and Jaden sat quietly and listened intently to the story. About half way through Jaden looks at me and politely whispers, "Mommy, this is taking FOR-E-VER."

I could not hold in the giggles.

Kindergarten ROCKS!

Best Cookie EVER.

At the risk of tooting my own horn, I'll admit that I've been told I make a pretty mean chocolate chip cookie (thanks to my mom who taught me). My cookies are often requested by friends and family when I'm suppose to bring dessert to an event. My cookies even won over my husbands former boss who granted him a corner office if I made cookies for him. Gotta love that!

On the flip side of that my cookies are ANYTHING but healthy. The amount of butter and sugar in my cookies is enough to clog your arteries a million times over....and people would say, "Well...that's what makes them TASTE soooo good!"

I use to believe them...until now.


When my children and I visit our local food co-op (or the "healthy food store" as Eva and Jaden call it) I was introduced to the cookies from the Alternative Baking Company. I walked past them a million times - I'm not a huge sweet tooth - but one day decided to purchase one.

Bad idea....because they are the best cookie I've ever had.


On top of that these cookies are VEGAN!!!! Yes, you read that right. They contain no dairy, no eggs, no honey, no hydrogenated oils, no cholesterol, no preservatives, no artificial ingredients, and no refined sugars...alllllll the stuff that I was told made my cookies taste so good.

AND THEY STILL TASTE UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!

Now, I'm not naive...I know they still aren't "good" for me. After all, a cookie is a cookie. But they are MUCH better for me than traditional cookies and they taste better too!!!! The kiddies and I will occasionally purchase one to share for a special treat.

Today I figured out that you can order them online....yikes. I better hide my laptop from myself because that Pumpkin Spice cookie is calling my name!

Conversations about God...

Both of my children frequently ask questions about God. I love it. It tells me that He is on their minds and in their hearts even when it's not something we are currently discussing.

Last night Eva asked us how God can see all of us when there are so many people. Great question...and one that took a little bit of careful thought before Matt and I answered it.

I loved that the other day we were with friends and in the process of serving all of the children dinner. Some children began eating and I looked over at Eva to see her with her hands clasped, eyes closed, and praying before she ate....all by herself. My eyes welled up with tears.

I love how Jaden will get hurt and quickly say, "It's Ok...God will heal it!"

Today in the car my conversation with Jaden went like this...

Jaden: "Is God in the clouds?"

Me: "Well, the Bible tells us that Jesus went UP into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God....and when I think of UP I frequently think of the clouds and sky, do you?"

Jaden: "Yes. When can we visit God?"

Me: "We can't visit God like we visit our friends, in other words we can't drive to his house. But we do "visit" with God every time we pray and spend time talking to Him."

Jaden: "I bet when we go up in an airplane we may see Him Mommy!!!"

I could have continued the conversation, but I love the innocence of his thinking. In his mind God is up in the sky. Heck, when I was really little I use to think that God was the priest at our church!! Eva on the other hand has started to really think things through. She is asking harder questions and seeking answers.

I treasure the time I spend talking about our faith with my little ones. It's amazing to see them starting to soak it in....starting to understand.

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Matthew 19:14

Jaden FINALLY starts tennis too!

Jaden has been asking for quite awhile to start tennis lessons like his sister. We've faithfully told him we would be happy to put him in tennis....once he was completely potty trained (the little guy - loooove him - had been dragging his feet on the potty training thing). So this summer he finally worked and worked at it until he was completely ready!

And true to our word....he FINALLY started tennis!

To say he was excited is an understatement....he was BESIDE himself with excitement. The tennis courts have big windows where I sit and watch them play. Jaden would come up to the window every 5 minutes and wave to me with a big smile on his face. Every time he hit the ball well he would run over the window and make sure I was looking!!! I was cracking up!

The above pictures is one of my favorites. They were working on volleys. It cracked me up because they were the same height as the net!!!!

Needless to say, our little guy is having fun....and we are having fun watching him!

A Summer of Projects...

When Matt and I built our home we knew we still had some projects that we would tackle in the future. We enjoy that...and it is fun to continue to create your living space. This summer has been a summer of projects!! We by no means PLANNED for it to be...but sometimes one project just naturally turns into another.


One of the first projects we tackled was a "little bit" of landscaping. We had already landscaped around our house, including the back, but we wanted to landscape around our fence to provide some added privacy for the pool. We were going to do this in stages, but it just wasn't working out...so our "little bit" of landscaping ended up being a huge project....but the results were worth it!
This is where one project turns into more! Matt wanted landscape lighting outside. We had used solar lighting at our old house and we decided we wanted brighter light than that...so wire had to be run around the whole perimeter of the fence. Lucky for us, our neighbor is super handy at everything electrical so he taught Matt how to run it. At night the lights look so pretty...especially around the pool!
Then we had another dilemma that created another project!! We eventually wanted to put stone down for our landscaping (we currently had mulch). It was crazy to spend a chunk of money on mulch for the new landscaping just to scrape it up in the next year or so for stone. Soooo....we decided to put stone down. In the end we figured it would save us money. I have to admit, I wasn't a big fan of the stone idea because I loooooove the look of mulch. However, we found a stone that is very similar in color to mulch and I love the way it looks (you can see it in the picture above)!

Then I decided some of my outdoor furniture could use a little pop of color...kinda crazy what a few bright pillows will do!!!! This wasn't a big project, but it made a big difference in the way it looked (on top of that the pillows were on SALE...loooove that!)

The other major project we've been working on is our basement. We actually started this project a year ago and we've just been plugging away at it little by little. As I am typing this we have men down there laying the carpet! We are in the home stretch!!! We are allll excited to have this project under out belts!

Home projects can be a headache sometimes but in the end it's sooooo fun to see how a little elbow grease can totally transform an area!

"It takes hands to build a house....but only hearts can make a home."

--Unknown

Tour of Duty

Our area recently had the privilege of having the Tour of Duty firemen run through our area. This is a group of men and women from Australia that are running from Los Angeles to New York....with the goal of getting there for September 11th. They are doing this run to remember what happened on September 11th and to reinforce all that is good with humanity.

Stuff like that simply gives me the chills. I looooove it.

On top of that, the company my husband works for was one of the sponsors of Tour of Duty so the runners ran right to his place of employment and we were able to spend some time with them. It was AMAZING. Many of the runners are emergency personnel and you could see the care, love, and determination in their eyes. It was such a cool experience to be able to talk with them!

Here are the runners running in...(did I mention I had chills?)...

Jaden showed his support...

One of the coolest parts of the morning was that Matt and other employees were given the honor of running with them...

This little guy was given a ride in a firetruck with lights and sirens...and then given this gift by a very special Aussie fireman...

In the end the runners will have completed a cross country run...all in support of those who sacrifice their lives every. single. day. to ensure our safety. Amazing.

"The course of human history is not determined by what takes place in the skies...but rather by what takes place in our HEARTS."