Love this Lake

I took the girls to the Lake on Monday after school. They played in the water, collected shells and pretty rocks. I sat watching and made this heart. The wind picked up and we were alone on this beach. It was so peaceful.
Will and I had been here earlier on a bike ride while the kids were in school. We had a water/cliff bar break and I had decided to comeback with the kids. My son,Liam, decided not to come with..which was fine. It was me and my daughter and my two nieces. I feel so relaxed watching the water and birds...feeling the wind on my face. I wanted the kids to enjoy that feeling. I think we'd still be there if I hadn't said 'time to go'.

Salsa Contest

There was a Salsa Contest today at work. I made my first salsa! It tastes good and a bit spicy...Will likes it.
Will has made salsas...but I think maybe once, a long time ago I might have tried one or helped to make one. So I'm calling this the 'first salsa I've ever made'
There was a recipe online that sounded good. My favorite type of salsa is Chevys salsa or LaVictoria(I don't really like chunky salsa). So that's the type of recipe I was looking for.

9 tomatos, 1 large white onion, 2 garlic cloves, 3(or more) jalepenos.
Cut all the ingredients in to 1" pieces. Put in a pan and roast/broil until charred.
-I think next time I'll let them get more black..I took the pan out when there was back tips on all the veggies.
I let everything cool fo 10 min. then I put everything(squeezed the garlic out of the cloves) into a blender. I blendered it until combined and added 1 Tablespoon of salt ..and that's it

Alot of work friends said they enjoyed my Salsa :)
One of the judges (not knowing #8 was mine) said that she thought #8 might have been store bought. It was the only blended one...most of the other salsas were chunky.

Biking w/ my kids

We biked 4-5 miles on Wednesday. Both my kids had a flat tire on their bikes and hadn't been riding for the last couple weeks. I went to the store today and bought tubes so in the evening, after school and homework, we rode. We first stopped to pick up my niece, Little Rachel. She went with us. We rode the bike trail to McKee- to G and around. Then to Grandmas house. The kids had a great time..we decided to ride bikes to school Thursday AM.

happy Birthday Riley

I feel like I just came home from the hospital with her... but it's been 7 years!
How? My little girl is 7 today.
She is a bright shiny spot in this world. Her imagination has grown, this year, along with her body and her spirit. She is sweet at times..sassy at times. She asks the most profound questions and wants to know how and why for everything. She is sensitive to emotions and especially to others. She is very concerned with how other people are treated. She is so curious..and I know that kids are generally curious..but she is more than normally curious. She cut a worm into pieces(a month ago) because she wanted to see if it would still wiggle around. When I asked if it did...she said yes, for a little while.
We got out of the car one evening and she looked up at the moon and asked if there were lights on up there. She asked about where did the water from the rivers start...if the water wasnt there before. ...just everything she wonders about ..I love to see her brain thinging about these things. She is my joy! She is my happiness(along with my Son, of course). Last night after bedtime-story she rolled her body left to right(laying on her back) and listened to her water in her stomach. She said she wanted to see what it looked like inside her body-to see into her stomach. Maybe I'll find a good book or model...

Birthday party '09

It's Liams 11th and Rileys 7th birthday! We had a Star Wars theme party - with some fairys thrown in too. We had alot of kids and alot of adults- Everyone had a good time.

the Death Star pinata

September 1, 2009 - my boy is 11 today

He's off to school now. I made our traditional birthday pancakes. ...Anything to make today special. He said "I'm a tween now..that's what 11 & 12 year olds are called". He is in that inbetween stage. Sometimes he seems older. He says he doesnt 'play' anymore... then he seems so young and cuddles with his stuffed animals and wants to take one when we go out. He goes back and forth between wanting piano lessons --then not. I'm not the parent that will let my kid quit once he's commited to something. I gave him the choice and he said he wanted to go another year so we commited to another year.
I love my son more than I can say. I have so many hopes for him. I'm so amazed (all the time) with the things he figures out. He picks up on so much and he is so talented and smart. If I compared him to a character..I'd say he's like the Brain. He just knows things and knows how things will go..he thinks into the future..he plans things out and likes to know we'll be doing. He'll say out loud our itenirary and ask if that's right...to make sure he knows exactly what to expect. Sometimes he gets upset if we spring things on him. I don't know what he'll do--he has such potential for so many things. He is a good at anything he does.
I think about 11 years and 9 months ago..how excited I was..
11 years ago..I became a mom for the 1st time and I put everything into it. It has been(and still is) so rewarding. Being a mom is the most important job ever. We moms shape the future of the world. We're putting the next generation out there. I could be raising the next nobody.. or I could be raising the next greatest ?... who knows. Both my kids have potential to do and be great. When I put my time into them I feel like I'm doing good. I stayed at home for 5 years, which was a struggle financially. But even that short of a time was a huge benifit. I'm better because of my kids. I want to be a good parent and give them as much as I can, show them as much as I can, take them to as many places as I can... Love and hug them as much as I can.
I hope someday, way in the future(after college and marriage), my Son will have a child so that he will feel that "parent" love and he'll know how much I love him.