Apple Picking!

A couple of weekends ago Jason and I took the kids to Oak Glen for apple picking! We were all very excited because we had never picked apples before. First, we stopped at the Snow-Line Orchard for apple cider donuts. Yummy! They were fresh, and steaming hot. We were also able to see apples being pressed at their cider mill.

Next, we went to the Willowbrook Apple Farm. This is a very small family affair. It was their first weekend that they were open for the season. We had a wonderful time! They had apples and other apple products available for tasting, which were all delicious. The children enjoyed seeing the horse, the chicken (there was only one, as the others were eaten by a bear!), and the little dog named SugarBear.
This was our bag of Stayman Winesap apples. The children picked a few apples and then just wanted to run around and explore.

A rare family snapshot.

It took much coaxing to get Mercy to sit for this shot.

Joshua, is always willing to pose for a picture.

We were very blessed to have had this time together as a family. We look forward to making this a family tradition.

Rememberence Day

Trusting God With All My Heart

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. -Proverbs 3:5-6

This past week has found me constantly going to this verse for comfort and peace. It is hard to see why God would try us in this way again. But knowing that I don't have to understand it, just trust in Him and His purpose, gets me through each day.

We covet the prayers of all our friends and family. It gives us comfort to know that so many are loving, caring, and lifting us up.

A Mother's Song

Bravo! I thought this was so funny. I know I have said some of these things.

Sing Praises!

We are taking our morning break from school. Joshua is rebuilding his train track. Mercy is playing quietly.

Earlier, during our math lesson, Mercy decided it was a good time to sing. "ALLELUIA! ALLELUIAAAAA! LET ME HIDE MYSELF IN THEEEEE! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! YOU ARE MY GOD! YOU ARE MY GOD!!" I thought it was a lovely song, but I told her that now was not the time for loud singing. She said, "But Mom God always wants us to sing praises to Him!"

How can I argue with that?

A Chamber Music Performance

This past Saturday we took the children to their first classical music concert, which was hosted by the Western Society of Chamber Music. Jason and I have been wanting to do this, but we were unsure of how a fidgety six year old and chatty 3 year old would do for an entire performance. So we looked at the Society's webpage, it said that each event is "fit for the seasoned concert-goer, the new listener, and the entire family." Also, the event was FREE! We decided we had nothing to lose; if the children were misbehaved we could leave early without feeling like we wasted money.

There was a pre-concert performance by a fourth grade girl playing the violin. Joshua enjoyed that since he is taking violin lessons. The concert itself started at 7:30 with a presentation of the life of Johannes Brahms. The speaker was a little hard to follow, and I have to admit that I was a little bored. But then the music started it was wonderful. It was the Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8 by Brahms. This first half of the concert lasted about an hour. Then an intermission.

The children were a little fidgety. I brought some fruit snacks for them to share, & Mercy played with a couple of stuffed animals. At the intermission we decided to leave. The children enjoyed the music, but we felt that they may not make it through the second half. Joshua said that he wanted to stay, but we promised him we would come to another performance.

I would recommend the Western Society of Chamber Music to other families. The performance was very family friendly, the theatre was spacious, and the music was great. Also, the concerts are offered free of charge (they do have a case in the lobby for donations). We will definitely plan to make it to future performances!

Angels Baseball Clinic

On Saturday, August 11, we took Joshua to an Anaheim Angel's Youth Baseball Clinic @ Chino Hills Community Park. The children were given free t-shirts & hats before they were herded around a ball field & made to listen to two-bit players & coaches spew baseball knowledge. All while sitting in the blistering sun!

No, really now. There were a couple of starting players. Outfielder Reggie Willits led the Outfield Station. Infielder Maicer Izturis (who the night before hit his 1st career Grand Slam against the Twins!) was at the Infield Station. And Ron Roenicke, Angel's bench coach, was in charge of the Batting Station.


Joshua was ready to meet some Angel's players. He was hoping for Cabrera, his favorite player. Jason was more lucky, he was hoping for Willits to be there.


Willits playing catch with the children.

Roenicke demonstrated proper batting stance to a bunch of 4-7 year olds whose eyes were glazed over.

From my standpoint, it seemed that the dads in the crowd were the most excited about the entire event. Unfortunately for them, they were made to stay off the field during the stations. Until it was time for autographs. By that time we were ready to go home & cool off. And since my guys don't care much about autographs, that's what we did.

Won't you have another glass of Mexican wine?

Boy, is it hot! Even though it doesn't feel like it, the summer is coming to an end. And the new school term is approaching fast. I am ready! Or I think I am....Kinda...Maybe not so much. Oh well. We plan to start on August 27. I have mapped out our lessons, & set some goals as to where I would like for us to be by Thanksgiving. How that all meshes out is another story. I'm relying on God & prayer to make this schooling year fun & fruitful.

We are currently enjoying the air conditioning & the cool nights. Jason likes watching his Angels & lounging in the hammock. Joshua enjoys tending our garden & playing ball. Mercy is getting pretty good on her scooter. And I love eating dinner out back; afterwards, we sit outside, sip a summer drink & enjoy all the blessings God has surrounded us with.

The Tomatoes Are Ripe!

Fresh tomatoes picked this morning from our garden.

Painting Fun @ The Sawdust Factory

Today we went to The Sawdust Factory in Upland. It is a great place to go & pick a wood project to paint & put together. They have many projects to choose from such as wall hangings, yard stakes, picture frames, cars, and trinket boxes. Between the six of us we made four yard stakes.

Aunt Brianna helped Mercy with her strawberry yard stake.

Mama Te, Marina, & Joshua painting. Don't those aprons look stylish?

Joshua & I painting the flower yard stake to put in our garden.

Group picture. Cheese!

The Big 3-0!

Happy Birthday Jason!

(Advice: Don't put 30 magical candles that won't blow out on an ice cream cake!)

More Pictures from the park

Some badminton action!

Mercy reading to me.


Ahh! A father & son moment.
(Sorry no pics of me. I was behind the camera all day.)

Another Day @ Carbon Canyon Park

Today we spent the day at Carbon Canyon Park. We packed a picnic, sporting equipment, bikes, & scooters and loaded them into the truck for a fun filled day in the California sun!

Mercy rode her tricycle & her scooter.

Jason helped Joshua to ride his bike (w/o training wheels)


We all played frisbee, badminton, & soccer.


And of course baseball!

Easter Egg Hunt in the Park

Our Homeowners Association Egg Hunt

Mercy was very excited about waking up early.
Joshua moved up an age category this year.
We came home with lots of loot!I won!
Mercy won the coloring contest in the 1-2 age category.

Our Loss

It has been three months since my last post. Our family was very busy. I kept saying “I’ll post to the blog tomorrow.” I guess today is tomorrow.

As many of you may know, in early January we found out that we were expecting our third child. Jason and I were very excited. Of course, Joshua wanted a brother and Mercy wanted a sister.

We have spent the beginning of 2007 keeping busy with home-school, field trips, little league, soccer, and enjoying friends and family. All the while praying for, dreaming of, and planning for our new addition set to arrive September 5.

This past Monday, I went in for a regular prenatal check-up. The doctor could not find a heartbeat. And an ultrasound was done. The doctor then told me that our Little One had died. I was just past my 16th week of pregnancy.

Yesterday, I went into Pomona Valley to have outpatient surgery to remove the baby. I am now home recovering physically, grieving emotionally, and being comforted spiritually.

Jason and I want to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers. We are seeking comfort from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We know that, even though it may be hard see right now or perhaps ever in this life, “all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).”

Duquitos!

This post is in honor of our dear friend Tony! We went over to his home on Christmas day & had an excellent dinner which he & his sister Anca put much work into. Tony cooked two roast ducks (each seasoned a different way), baked quince, and broccoli. Anca made an excellent pumpkin beer soup, & delicious walnut mashed potatoes. They cooked enough for a small army, but since there were only six of us, there were leftovers. Tony sent us home with duck, and today we had DUQUITOS & QUACKOS!! Thank you Mr. Vasile.

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas that is full of Christ's love & blessings!

Joshua & Mercy are all ready for Christmas! They have been learning "Joy To the World" so that they can sing it on Christmas Eve. They made out their Christmas wish lists and posted them on the refrigerator. And they made snowmen out of pumpkins leftover from our fall decorating (as seen in the picture).

The Children Playing

This video was taken in May, but I am just figuring out how to post videos.

Happy 6th Birthday Joshua!!

Yum! Birthday Cinnamon Rolls!

 

A Day Out With Thomas

Today the children went to the Orange Railway Museum in Perris for the "Day Out With Thomas" event. Joshua & Mercy on the caboose.
Say, "Thomas the Tank Engine!"

How Long Did It Take You To Vote?

Well, yesterday was Election Day and like a good little American I headed to the polls. Jason & I did not go until after he was home from work, so we expected a bit of a crowd. What we did not expect was a line about 80 people long when we arrived.

Our polling place was a homeowner’s association clubhouse in Chino (near Don Lugo). The building is set back from the street with a little parking lot out front. The line came out of the building, across the little lawn, down towards the street, & wrapped around to the sidewalk. Jason dropped me off to get in line. Good thing too, because the line kept getting longer. At one point I looked back & saw the line ended almost two houses down from the clubhouse!

We were told by the man in charge of the poll that they were having a problem with the polling machines (the paper was jamming & running out). We were all assured that we were going to be able to vote as long as we were in line by 8pm. At one point we were told that we could turn in our sample ballots and they would be counted! YEAH RIGHT! Some people did choose this option.

Finally, someone from the Registrar of Voters came out to fix the machines and the line started moving. Jason voted with a paper ballot. I voted electronically. Did our votes count?

In the end we waited over an hour and a half! As we drove off at 8:02 pm, the line was still out to the street.

First Grade: The 2nd Month

We had an exciting month! We started the month by reading Miss Nelson is Missing! to go along with our literature program (Veritas Press). At the end of that week Jason and I took Joshua to see a play based on the book at the Victoria Garden's Cultural Center. It was a great opportunity to expose Joshua to live theatre & he liked the fact that he was familiar with the story already.

In math we have been working on addition facts, counting money, telling time, fractions, reading & creating graphs, and patterns. Our reading covered some poetry, and we just started reading about Abram. Joshua is doing great in all of his studies! For the most part he has a good attitude about his work but we do have some bad days.

We had some field trips this past month:

• Disneyland! Very educational :)
• Irvine Park. We had a picnic lunch, visited the zoo, rode the train, checked out the pumpkin patch, & explored nature. We were so interested in the acorn woodpeckers we saw that we decided to study them for a week for Life Science.
• Pumpkin carving event with our homeschool group. We don't celebrate Halloween. And Joshua has never carved a pumpkin. But this was an interesting activity using a book entitled The Pumpkin Gospel. It describes how carving a pumpkin can be representative of God's saving work in a sinner's life. The inside of the pumpkin is like sin in our heart: yucky & smelly. We clean out our pumpkins just as Jesus cleans us out when He saves us, scooping out all the yucky stuff. Jesus puts a happy face on those He saves & gives us His light (the candle in the pumpkin) for us to shine for Him.

Well, November beckons with Thanksgiving, Joshua's birthday, the end of winterball, and holiday preparations!

No More Diapers!!!

Our house is now diaper free! It has been really for the last week and a half . Our little ballerina is officially now a big girl. She is not a baby anymore as she frequently likes to remind us. The Happy Girl!

Our Trip to the High Sierras

June Lake, September 22-25,2006 The family at Twin Lakes

Joshua fishing @ June Lake

Mercy & Jason fishing off the boat, June Lake

Joshua & Mercy exploring near the Owens River

 

First Grade: The 1st Month

Like many public schools (or as I like to call them government indoctrination centers), Joshua started school on the Tuesday after Labor Day. Unlike the public schools, Joshua is able to work at his own pace and be taught in a God-centered environment, by his God-appointed teachers (his parents). Yes! We homeschool!

After breakfast, we start with math (Saxon Math 2), which is Joshua's favorite subject. We do one to two lessons a day depending on the difficulty & length. Then we move on to life science (2-3 days/week). We plan on doing 20 weeks on the animal kingdom, ten weeks on the human body, & finish up with six weeks on the plant kingdom. On days we don't do science we are working through "Proper Manners & Health Habits" (Rod & Staff) and Memoria Press' Copy Book II.

We break for lunch and play time. And finish up the day with phonics (Rod & Staff), reading (R&S), literature (Veritas Press), & art (ArtPac) or some other fun activity.
Jason teaches the children their Bible & catechism in the evenings.
Of course this is on an ideal day. We take the day God gives us and try to honor Him. If that means skipping our phonics lesson to teach the children a much needed lesson on thankfulness, that is what we will do.
We start each day with prayer and hymn singing. I pray for God to lead our day, & for Him to bless us with patience & humility.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Psalm 111:10