6 looks like box cupcakes and plastic frosting.

Because my girls prefer fake over scratch.

My soul aches about it.

6 looks like a fun birthday hat.

And ignoring the lice notice sent out the next day.

And special attention during morning music.

And taking a leap on the birthday carpet mat.

5 was a BIG year.

6 is going to be bigger.

Just ask her.

6 looks like handmade birthday cards from classmates.

And a special Croods drawing from Teacher Ian.

She’s currently a big fan.

Of the movie.

And Ian.

6 looks like Teacher Joanie lighting candles.

While sweet friends look on.

6 looks like musical chairs.

With daddy as a special guest.

And a very happy birthday girl.

6 looks like dinner at her favorite establishment.

Mostly for the sundae.

6 looks like party time!

Blue was the theme.

It’s her favorite color.

6 looks like water balloons.

Especially when it’s 80 degrees in April.

Summer, I think you might be early this year.

And we’re not complaining.

6 looks like little friends.

In fancy blue party dresses.

6 looks like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

And Annie’s fruit snacks.

And Cheese-Its.

And fruit salad.

And more plastic cupcakes.

6 looks like face painting.

Not sparkly butterflies and rainbows.

But Eep, the cavewoman from Croods.

My soul kind of aches about that, too.

6 looks like a fancy pinata.

Held up by an orange extension cord.

Which made it a little less fancy.

But the candy collectors didn’t care.

Sorry, moms.

6 looks like special presents.

And patient onlookers.

6 looks like blue sprinkles.

And giant candles.

And an Eep face.

6 looks like sharing new toys with friends.

And an extra cupcake.

6 looks like blue balloons.

And running and jumping on the front lawn.

6 looks carefree and fabulous.

Happy Birthday, baby girl.

We love you.

I struggle to find words here.

And quite honestly, I want to avoid them.

But doing so would rob God of glory.

And I’d rather not do that.

So I share my little story.

And I will be honest.

I’m very nervous.

I feel unqualified.

Many women have struggled far longer, some forever.

I don’t feel fit to share.

I’m not trying to make this my platform.

I’m not claiming to be an expert.

But I keep being brought back to God’s glory.

And my thankfulness.

And joy.

In answered prayers.

In lessons learned.

Rewind to November of 2010.

We learned we’d be adding a third little one to this house of crazy.

Shortly thereafter, we lost that baby.

I was surprised and sad.

But convinced God would give us another baby.

Quickly.

Because all our other pregnancies had happened that way.

But that wasn’t the case.

Months of waiting became years of waiting.

And this past fall, I had given up hope.

Convinced that God’s plan for us was to be a family of four.

And I was learning to be content in that.

But, really I wasn’t.

I wasn’t waiting well.

I was impatient.

And bratty.

Self-absorbed.

Jealous of pregnant friends.

Ugly.

But even though I wasn’t reflecting Jesus well,

I have never been closer to Him.

I’ve never prayed more.

Leaned more.

Relied more.

We had lots of chats, Jesus and I.

And this past Christmas, we learned of a great blessing.

In early September of this year, Lord-willing, we’ll welcome a new little baby into our home.

I am thrilled.

Overjoyed.

Thankful.

So very thankful.

For this precious new life.

But also for what I have learned while waiting.

Lean on Him always.

Not just in the valleys.

Don’t be a brat.

It’s ugly.

Rejoice with your friends.

Even when it’s hard.

And you’d rather poke their pregnant eyes out.

Be gracious to other women around you.

Not many knew of my struggle because I felt weak sharing.

And so many have more painful stories.

Be careful with your words, pregnant ladies.

Be careful with your complaints.

Many women would give anything to feel morning sickness.

Women that have struggled with miscarriage and infertility,

SHARE YOUR STORIES.

Please.

They are so powerful and give such hope.

See them as a gift.

Yes.

This new little baby is a HUGE gift.

But the waiting was more of one.

I pray Jesus never lets me forget that.

I don’t have much.

It’s abnormally cold.

And I’m doing laundry in the garage in a trench coat.

I’m really ready for sunshine and summer.

Lots going on around these parts.

Our carpet is being ripped up and the beautiful hardwood underneath that should have never been hidden is being refinished.

I cannot adequately express my elation over these interior design happenings.

We’re also having the Pergo in our kitchen replaced with tile.

10 x 20 camel colored in a sideways subway formation.

Dave is not so sure but I am joyous.

Kayla got purple glasses yesterday.

She can now “see her friends hair” which was clearly a crisis beforehand.

Ashlyn is reading.

Books about cats on mats.

With hats.

Exciting literature.

The church recently launched a few new small groups.

A women’s bi-weekly study and a once-a-month married group.

If you’re interested, “like” Hope’s Facebook Page for more details.

Dave is also scoping out a location for a mid-week service we’re hoping to start in the next few months.

Anyone have a spare warehouse they’re not using?

With heat?

That’d be great.

Thanks.

Happy weekend, friends.

Bundle up.

And GO Niners.

It’s the day before Christmas and we’re ready to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Presents are wrapped and under the tree.

Baking is done.

Christmas morning casseroles are prepped.

Family festivities commence in just a few hours.

We are excited and joyful.  And thankful for so much.

It’s been a fun month.

 It’s not every day that your dad is Santa.

At a Foster City storage unit Holiday Open House.

His throne of lies was inflatable.

Ashlyn: “Let’s go see the real Santa.  That’s just dad.”

My Little Pony and waffles under the tree lights.

It just doesn’t get more magical.

Holiday baking quality control.

They are tough.

Hope’s Second Annual Ladies Ornament Exchange.

These women are so special.

It’s my favorite church tradition.

Ashlyn and I shared the story of the birth of Christ at her school.

She replaced baby Jesus with a cat in the paper nativity scene manger.

We have some work to do.

Adressing Christmas cards while the cat lover flashes the neighborhood in her skivies.

Again, work to do.

A surprise guest at Ashlyn’s school.

Not dad.

Celebrating the servants that make Sunday mornings happen.

Dave made us put our phones in an empty chip bowl.

Our presence was his present.

“Sailing” to Madagascar.

In a triple horse-drawn carriage.

What happens when mom hides in the bedroom wrapping gifts.

Hope’s kids choir during service.

Such sweet little ones.

Singing their hearts out for Jesus.

And as Dave preached yesterday,

He’s not the reason for the season.

He’s the reason for everything.

March 2, 2001 is forever etched in my memory.

Dave was working on an ambulance in Santa Clara county.

I was working in a cubicle in Foster City.

We had just moved into our first house.

He called telling me that he and his partner had just come across a litter of puppies.

His partner was taking one, the rest were already claimed.

Except for one.

A clumsy little guy with gigantic paws.

That had already been returned once.

I asked what breed.

He told me.

I said no way.

He said ok.

Then we hung up.

Then he called back.

And I caved.

And I’m so happy I did.

He was our first baby.

He taught us so much about life, parenting and sacrifice.

And replacing couches.  And dining room chairs.  And sheetrock.  And sod.

He grew to be kind, loyal and so patient.

The best dog for our family.

He endured tea parties.

And dress-up.

And was often a puppy school teacher or student.

Or the ringmaster of a faux circus.

He loved our girls.

And they loved him.

I have peace with the fact that he lived a full life and left without suffering.

But our house is so quiet this morning.

And we are sad.

Thanks for being the best dog ever, Kobi boy.

We miss you so much.

Over the past few Sundays, I’ve left church with the same thought swirling in my head.

And holding 15 horse models, 8 Lion King figurines, 2 jackets, 4 books and a cupcake caddy.

Sometimes I feel like it would be easier to bring a suitcase.

But back to the swirling thought.

God wants us to be joyful.

He wants GOOD for us.

Not to say that things will always go “our way” or “as planned” or perfectly.

Regardless, we are to be content in all circumstances.

The unplanned, unexpected and difficult detours work for good to those who trust Him.

And it’s usually AFTER you’ve passed them that you realize this precious truth.

Our fall season has been joyful.

And just plain FULL.

We’ve done far more living than I’ve been documenting.

So this is a catch-up of sorts.

About our little family.

Because that is why I blog.

To document the happy peaks and the life-lesson valleys.

And all that’s in between.

Dave played softball on Friday nights.

And may have been ejected from a game.

For accusing the ump of having a vision impairment.

“Mommy, why is daddy not playing?”

“Ask your daddy.”

Ashlyn tried soccer for the first time.

Kayla opted out and offered to help with the banner.

And eat orange wedges.

She scored two goals all season.

For opposing teams.

And cheered like she won the World Cup.

We all have to start somewhere.

The girls started kindergarten and fourth grade.

Both have teachers that are Giants fans and love their schools.

Although Ashlyn’s not thrilled with certain extracurriculars.

“I don’t Liiiike yoga!  It’s too hot!”

Such a sad life.

Kayla enjoys helping Ashlyn with her homework.

Which is a good thing.

I wasn’t a big fan of homework in 1984 and I’m still not.

“Um.  Siri… what’s a trapezoid?”

My mom treated my aunt, cousin and I to a fun girls trip in September.

To Sin City.

Go ahead and judge away.

Every city has it’s rough parts.

I kind of feel like Vegas gets a bad wrap.

I mean.

Have you BEEN to House of Humor lately?!

Redwood City can be just as seedy.

We had a fabulous time.

And we didn’t sin.

Promise.

Perks of having a Captain for a Pop Pop?

Port access when the Disney cruise ship is in town.

Ashlyn was busy looking for the characters who were busy sight-seeing.

And wasn’t thrilled with our plan to leave the ship without swimming.

We spent a few days in the desert last month thanks to Grandma Cee Cee.

We went swimming.

We snuck in a date night while Grandma stayed with the girls.

We saw animals at the Out of Africa wildlife park.

Including an exhibit with swimming tigers and trainers waving pool toys in the air and swimming with them.

No, thank you.

Ashlyn was asking for a blue uniform shirt so she could join them.

No, thank you.

The Giants almost gave Dave a coronary in front of the Jungle Hut.

It didn’t help that all three of our phones died simultaneously during the bottom of the ninth.

And then we picked the tram back to the parking lot with the world’s slowest, chattiest driver.

That stopped unexpectedly at the meerkat habitat.

To chat about meerkats for longer than anyone needs to know about meerkats.

But Kayla kissed a giraffe and the Giants won.

So all was right with the world.

Hope celebrated it’s second birthday.

With a BBQ and baptisms after service.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate.

It’s a privilege to serve alongside such wonderful people.

Here’s to many more birthdays, sweet church.

We went to a few Giants games.

And watched lots of Giants games at home.

We drove around our city after they won the World Series.

Ashlyn fell asleep sitting up due to all the excitement.

We welcomed them back to the stadium like a nuerotic fan family.

It was crowded and the girls were starving because I forgot snacks.

And my shoulders ached.

And we saw zero players.

Good old-fashioned family fun.

Ashlyn was Silver Myst, one of the fairy princesses from Tinkerbell.

Pronounced “Shhhhilvah Mishhhhht.”

My favorite.

Kayla was Secretariat’s horse jockey, Ronnie.

In case you couldn’t tell.

The 60′s Go-Go hat was on sale at seedy House of Humor for $3.99.

Her costume never really came together because her boots were too small and she didn’t feel like changing her shirt.

So my daughter became one of those annoying, zero-effort costume wearers that don’t deserve treats.

Throw on a $3.99 hat and have at it.

Christmas card photo shoot adventures with Kim last weekend.

I love the pictures she took.

Katy is designing our card.

I can’t wait.

Ashlyn was Star of the Week on Monday.

And the teacher accidentally hit her in the eyeball with the microphone.

She recovered gracefully.

Vidal asked her what her favorite animal was and she answered lion.

Brandon asked what her favorite color was and she answered light blue.

Alvaro asked if she had a bike and she said yes.

Kyla asked what color her bike was and she said red and pink.

Adrianne asked if she had any balls and she said that she had a rainbow ball.

Very deep conversations.

She was so proud.

And so are we.

And that’s our fall so far.

Life is good.

A certain little girl in our house loves race horses.

And movies about race horses.

We’ve watched Secretariat well over 100 times over the course of the summer.

An old hymn is the heart of the soundtrack.

And we have it memorized.

God, in His providence, put it there.

Because it has zero to do with horses and everything to do with Jesus.

Kayla was baptized by her dad last Sunday.

And while she expressed a clear desire to take this next step,

I was anxious about her having a proper understanding of what she was doing.

But I am so thankful.

God gave us the grace to share, explain and teach our little girl through a movie.

A story about a horse.

With a song about Jesus and redemption and baptism as the backdrop.

Being baptized doesn’t mean we’ve won the race.

It lets everyone know we’re running.

We’ve had a busy, full summer.

Ashlyn started soccer last week.

The girls start school this week.

Hope Kids had their New Testament Graduation ceremony yesterday.

The craziness of fall is upon us.

I’m excited.

I like crazy.

We took a trip to Southern California a few weeks ago.

It’s an annual event.

Thanks to my generous parentals.

Hello, Newport Coast Villas coy pond.

I think the girls love the coy more than Disneyland.

The family’s all together!

And eating.

With Princess Celestia.

So standard.

Poolside flirting.

Discussing if and how long salt water species could survive in chlorinated water.

Make it stop.

Sunset dinner at Ruby’s.

Shirley temple shakes and Frito chili bags.

Poolside BBQ at the Burns residence.

Blog friend turned real friend.

Twin husbands.

Fun night.

Disneyland!

Tinkerbell shades was excited.

Radiator Springs, Population 57.8 billion.

But worth it.

The new Cars ride was magical.

Our car raced my parents and Ashlyn and they won.

Ashlyn called us losers.

And said “you guys couldn’t do it.”

Thank you, Ashlyn.

My dad’s Disneyland motto?

Just say no to food courts.

So we ate our monogrammed pastries and threatened our children to behave like the fancy people.

It’s a Small Air-Conditioned World.

Our favorite.

With smoothies.

Also, our favorite.

Fun, full day.

We all slept well that night.

And spent the next few days relaxing.

Participating in poolside extracurriculars.

Rainbow tye-dye.

All kinds of hippie awesome.

Coke breaks in the shade.

Swimming is tough work you know.

Sneak-away Fashion Island shopping trips for the girls.

Mom doesn’t understand selfies.

And beach days.

Building sandcastles.

Digging for sand crabs.

Heaven for my rainbow-toed girls.

Thanks so much, Mom and Dad.

We love you!

Early May:

“KK, what do you want to do for your birthday this year?”

“I would like a nature hike, mama.  And Jon can be our tour guide.  Because he’s great at identifying species.  And we’ll need adventure kits.  With clipboards.  And I’d like cupcakes that are wormy, kind of dirty but also cute.”

She’s always knows exactly what she wants.

So party planning is easy.

It was 127 degrees that day.

Perfect temperature for a hike.

If you’re hiking in a pool.

But my nature-loving girl and her adventurous little friends were unphased by the heat.

And ready to tackle the trail.

So was UCLA Biology grad and Kayla’s hero, Jon.

The mini-explorers learned about buckeye butterflies, spittle bugs and banana slugs.

He explained, in awesome detail, everything they might encounter along the way.

And even scouted the trail a week beforehand to help with the clipboard checklist.

He’s my hero, too.

 They saw lots of bugs.

And beautiful shrubs and trees.

Like the majestic Oregon Oak and the California Wax Myrtle.

Some even saw a California King snake!

On the menu?

Bottled water and juice boxes.

Sun Chips, granola bars and trail mix.

And “cute and wormy” treats.

Thanks to all for braving the heat and bugs and snakes.

And avoiding the poison oak.

You gave our girl a very special day.

Um.

Hi.

So.

Dave’s home!

Woohoo.

Serious woohoo.

We missed him.

Ashlyn was disappointed he did not bring her a real cheetah.

Have I mentioned that I love that she is a nerd?

The Super Moon had her in a frantic tizzy.

We had our annual meeting with the school district to decide Ashlyn’s future.

Super easy?

No.

Super happy with the results?

Yes.

She’ll stay at her current school for the summer program and next year for Kindergarten.

And continue with intensive speech therapy, 5 days a week.

Exactly what we wanted and all on the district’s dime.

Booyah.

Summer is almost here!

And my little fishies couldn’t be happier.

Ashlyn cannon-balled solo in the deep end.

Then grabbed on to the neck of a Russian-speaking man we did not know.

That was fun.

She survived.

To play mama with Abi.

Abi didn’t like that game very much.

Dave took all his ladies out for Mother’s Day.

Minus my mom who decided a cruise to Europe with my dad was more fun that lunch at Celia’s.

Rude of her.

I taught Kayla how to clean the bathroom.

And she likes it.

Happy Mother’s Day to me.

Ashlyn likes the gas at the dentist.

I like Ashlyn liking the gas at the dentist.

And Lion King live streaming on the ceiling.

Pediatric Dentistry is where’s it’s at.

Every Wednesday, Grandma Cee Cee picks the girls up from school and keeps them ’til dinnertime.

Everyone loves Wednesdays.

Except her cat.

I cleaned out our pantry yesterday.

And if you live anywhere BUT the San Francisco Bay Area, don’t make fun of my pantry.

Unless you’re rich, you don’t have pantries here.

We convert cabinets to pantries.

Lean and mean.

 

 

Happy Friday, friends!