the Capitol Building

a couple months back our homeschool group had a field trip to the State Capitol!

it was very interesting and I was really glad we had joined them!

Zoey doesn't have school on Fridays, so she came with us!

I love palm tree lined streets!

we parked in a parking garage and this was a view on our 

walk to get to the capitol building!  love it!!!

there it is!!

the clouds were forming a pretty cool "pattern" that looked really cool above the building!

there is a lot of detail - both inside and out!

I loved the detail - I loved the wood work - I loved the floors - love!

I'll let the next few pics speak for themselves!

(I liked how it looked all blurry)

(cool elevator)

(neato pattern the lights create)

(my view of little miss)

we got to see our district's assembly office!

all the homeschool kids with the bear!!

the other side of the building!

oddly, I don't remember taking this pic?

back view from across a street!

I think it had began raining (again) while we were inside!

before we left I got pics of the seals (or whatever they're called) outside!

we saw a video on the making of this one!

so, there it is, our visit to the California State Capitol Building!

I hope to go back to take photos with my good camera ... it was so beautiful there!

 

I've done it again!

every time I think I might actually get back into the habit of blogging, I fail!  ok, so "fail" may be a bit to strong of a word ... but my precious children, please always know that I am still taking photos of you, almost daily!!!  (check out my instagram account "cathartic513)

the blog may be quiet, but our life certainly isn't!

Annicka, Jericho, Liam, & Zoey ... you are all growing and learning so much, every day!  right now mama is not doing well with keeping up with the blog ... but it is, in part, because I'm trying to do better with keeping up with YOU!!!  I love you, my sweet blessings!!

here are you older kids, being crazy while Zoey has a quiet time!  4-13-14

p.s.  I took the hubs to the airport this morning, he's off to Texas for NCOA!!  Zoey just now (4-13-14 evening) saw something out the window that sent her into an excited frenzy of saying "daddy" over and over - and "where daddy" ... I told her daddy went to Texas and she said "yay", so I scooped her up and said "daddy had to go bye-bye" - quite simply she replied, "kay".  awwww, these moments crinkle my heart!

a post without a picture. living in the moment. treasuring the little things.

the title of this post came to me while washing up some dishes, reflecting on a beautiful moment I had today with Zoey.

she came in the kitchen, I lifted her up and held her tight, then I began spinning around and around with her.

her eyes kept catching mine, then she'd look up and off to the side, her beaming smile pierced my heart.

she giggled and giggled and giggled some more.

I just stared at her face, sure to catch those eyes each time they returned to mine.

we'd take a break, I was saying "whoa, I'm dizzy" and she was saying "again, again" ... and so, we'd do it again.

I don't have a photo of this experience, and as everyone knows I am a photo girl - I love having photos to go along with any activities, regardless how boring they may be to others, but I do not have a photo of this.

this moment between just Zoey and I.  while she is still little enough to be scooped up and cuddled tight close to me.  it's one of those moments where you just want to take it all in and hold it close.  this is why I'm writing it down.

some day Zoey will be too big to be picked up, too big to be spun around - we will connect in different ways, and different things will bring on those giggles and that beaming smile.

but for today, I will treasure our spinning fun.

checkups ...

 Annicka (seen here last month with her friend, Madison - you may remember my

 post two summers ago, when our neighbors moved from Vandenberg ... well, I guess they

have family in the area we currently live, so during their visit we got the girls together a couple times!  ... I thought that was pretty cool, it was a first for us!) has grown, but the doc said

her growth won't be too much from here on out - we'll see about that!

She is 5 feet & 4 inches!

too old for weight sharing!

 Jericho (seen here after his hair cut last week, being a stinker about smiling) has

grown a lot this past year!!!  last January he was 4feet 4inches and 64 pounds - I doubt

I ever recorded that here, so I'm doing it for all the younger kids!

today he was:

4 feet & 71/8 inches (81%)

75 pounds (82%)

 Liam (seen here last week after his hair cut - yay, I can see his eyes again!)

hasn't made quite the leap that Jericho has, but he has grown!  last February he was 3 feet

& 7 inches and 42 pounds!

today he was:

3 feet & 811/16 inches (36%)

46 pounds (53%)

 she was pretty full of energy last week at her check up!

 she had to do blood work AND get shots ... she cried, but got over it quickly and still

happily said "bye" and "sank ou" (that's thank you!) to the technicians!!!

this pic is the next morning - she wasn't feeling so hot!

in fact, she sat there on the couch -after having laid with me cuddling for a good

half hour- happily watching tv for a good hour and a half before she got down and played

a bit!!!  she was pretty low key all day!

Zoey

last January she was 31 inches and 22.93 pounds

last friday she was:

36 inches (0% on typical chart, looks like 50% on DS chart)

(technically on record it's 36.22 but the thing was totally angled, so when she 

stepped out I re-measured and it looked more like 36!!)

30.86 pounds (14% on typical chart, about 50% on DS chart)

so, it's confirmed ... my kids are growing!!!  good grief our itty bit, Zoey, has shot up five inches

and managed to gain 8 pounds, that's amazing!  and Jericho had a huge growth as well!

these days I constantly use the hashtag #dontblink ... because I feel

like my kids are growing up way too fast!

 

Christmas eve 2013 ...

 once the kids had opened their ONE present (a Christmas Eve tradition),

saw that Buddy had brought one last surprise (the stockings & nightlight),

and sat cookies & soda out for Santa - they all headed for bed!

which meant time for Mama to do all the wrapping and present setting out -

while Daddy assembled a play kitchen!!!

 I take a Christmas eve pic - or two, or ten - every year!

I love how nostalgic it feels to have the lights on the tree glowing,

while all the gifts await the children!

so special!!

 I changed things up just a bit this year!  

each kid still had their own specific wrapping paper (for the "Santa" gifts), 

but I didn't put them in piles - I decided it might actually be more

fun to have them under the tree so there was a search!

I took an idea from a blog I LOVE and put a small piece of wrapping paper in each kid's stocking,

so since stockings are always first they find out which paper is theirs!!

so this year's Christmas Eve pics are a bit more "moderate" ...

and, granted - yes I do better each year at reigning myself in on the present purchases ...

but there are plenty of gifts for each child stuffed under that tree!

(including ones from the grandparents, aunt, uncle, & cousins)

 

Christmas art!!!

along with baking I tried to do a lot of "art" with the kids!

one of the days Buddy brought supplies to make these extra special pieces

of art - using the kids' hands & feet!  I really had fun with these:

(*these are on canvases - the "borders" were just for squaring purposes on instagram*)

Jericho & Liam's feet!

Zoey's foot!

each of the kids' thumb prints - this one is my absolute favorite!!

Annicka's hand!

Annicka's foot!

this one didn't make it to instagram, cause it looks so unfinished!  I'm hoping maybe we can

add some foot/hand animals or something next year??  or trees??  something!!

I think this was the only other "pic" that didn't make it to the blog already (of art)!

both Buddy and Nana gave the kids some fun little ornaments ... 

and Buddy sent paint pens with his, perfect for these projects!  then we hung them!

Christmas parties ...

Zoey, Liam, & Jericho all had school parties!!

I wasn't able to make it to Jericho's ... however, despite the fact that they

were on the same day - they were at different times, so I was able to go to both!

it was so cute and so fun!

here are some pics ...

apparently Zoey really liked the felt tree and would decorate it often!

they sang some songs for us ... well, the other kids sang - not Zoey - lol!

Zoey got to be the instrument helper - so adorable!!!

some cookie decorating!

and I (barely) managed to get a pic of Zoey with Ms Karen!

when we came into Liam's classroom, they were all lined up - ready to sing their songs!

it was beyond cute!  I did get some video before I ran out of space!