With another special visit from Grandma Beth and Grandpa Luke, a lunch at our favorite tea house was in order. The owner is so gracious and happy for us to bring along all our American Girl Dolls. We have special little chairs for them to sit at the table with us. As always, the food was delicious and our time there was precious.
What better way to end a day of strawberry picking then Strawberry Shortcake and waffles for dinner???
My favorite person in this whole world!!
I was looking back at some pictures of our trip to So Cal this winter and realized that I never posted my 6th and last post. Oops! So a little
(or a lot!) late post here…
~Part 6~ Downtown LA~
While we lived down there, I got introduced to shopping in downtown LA in the Fabric/Fashion District by one of my special girlfriends, Larissa. We were both starting small businesses and she was the one who found this place and invited me to come along on one of her shopping trips. And I loved the whole experience! It takes us about an hour from the time we meet (figuring in traffic) to get down there. The streets are lined with shops of every type of textiles you can imagine. Bolts of cloth, supplies, foam for upholstery, anything you could possible need to make or create something was right at your finger tips! And at wholesale prices! A few of the stores have set prices, but most you bargain for the best price. This is personally my favorite way to shop. I fell in love with arguing over a price of an item when we lived in Kenya and again in Gernada. But here in America, this style of shopping is not very favored. You pay the price on the tag. No other option. But not here in downtown LA. Which is probly one of my favorite reasons to shop here. That and the countless choices of everything! I bought bolts of fabric at amazing prices!
Larissa and I would comb through the stores touching and looking at all the different fabrics. Bouncing ideas off each other. Encouraging each other with new ideas. The time was always special because we did not take any of our children with, so lots of good heart talks too!!
I asked her when I saw her the first weekend of our trip back this winter if she could make a “LA Run” with me. She said yes and I was thrilled. I asked another one of my girlfriends if she would watch the 6 older children (along with her 6) and she very graciously said yes. Thank you Jamie, you blessed me that day! So Larissa, Julia and I spent the whole day shopping. And it happened to be my birthday…which made it a great day!
Notice the women pushing a cart with mannequin legs sticking out of it!
~cheryl
My children have asked a few times when I am going to do a post on our Easter Party. Tonight, I guess!
There are very few blogs that I read now days. I use to spend a lot more time on my computer, but have found that my house becomes utter chaos when I sit down and engage myself in front of my computer. School stops, chores don’t get down and most importantly to my children, meals end up being late. I am not consistent in my parenting when I am trying to focus on reading or typing or editing and because of that I get very frustrated with children who just really need me to give them my full attention. Which is completely unfair to them. With all that said, I do once in a while, after all the children are in bed, sit down and read my favorite blogs. I choose ones that encourage and uplift me. That I can relate my crazy life to. I also like to read ones that my children can read over my shoulder if they are around. They love to look at pictures of other families with lots of children just like us, doing the same sort of things that they love to do.
This brings me to tonight’s post. We have been working on the downstairs bathroom. We pretty much gutted it and tonight we began the process of putting everything back together, from the floor up. I finished peeling wall paper off and cleaning up the mess and now I am sitting here with Eric while he works on some floor stuff. We are going to tile and I am so excited. But all that remodel stuff is for another post on another day!
A few months ago, I was reading resolved2worship blog, and was inspired to have an Easter Party for my children. I loved how she was so creative in her decorating, not spending much money at all for their party. For the past few years I have thought that I wanted to do something extra special at Easter, but always have so much going on (moving, graduation…) that I never got any further in my thoughts. So after reading resolved2worhship’s blog on her party, I started brainstorming for a special party for my children. My children LOVE parties. We don’t do big birthday parties. Nope, just family parties. Mostly because I don’t ever feel like I have enough energy to pull one off that would be what the birthday child would dream off. Times seven. Just does not happen. But they sometimes ask for a party.
So I went to each one individually and personally invited them to come to our Easter Party. They were each thrilled. It became the topic of just about every conversation. They had so many questions and ideas. It was really fun to hear what everyone was thinking. I waited until two days before the party to make all our decorations. Mostly because that is just how it worked with our schedules this year. Maybe next year I will be a little more on top of things and get a head start on the planning! I went through all my craft/sewing stuff and pulled out anything I could find that was shades of white. I picked white as our theme, because really, that is what Easter is all about. Jesus died for our sins and we are washed, white as snow. The children were so creative! I put glue, glitter spray, stamps, feathers, scissors, and string on the table. I gave them fabric, tissue paper, tulle, and card stock. And the decorating began! We spent all day making different things. Each child was so fun to watch as they got more and more excited about the party.
As each creation was finished, it was brought downstairs and placed in the party room. I choose one of the front rooms mostly because it is pretty much empty and yet small enough that it gave us a cozy atmosphere. I would have loved to have been outside, but the weather here is so unpredictable and we still have too much rain to count on a nice day for an outside party. We had planned our menu earlier in the week and done our shopping the day before. We chose Good Friday, because Eric would be home that day and we all wanted to have him around. After we finished all our decorating, I would see a child just walk into the room and stand and stare at everything. A huge smile across their face.
The morning of our party was beautiful. The sun did choose to shine for a few hours. It cast beautiful rays of sunshine though the windows onto our little party. I originally had thought we would start around 11:00 am, but by 6:00 that morning I realized that it would just be pure torture to make them wait that long. So by 8:00 am, our party was in full swing!
The children took alot of these pictures. It is always fun to see what they see when their eyes are behind the camera!!
Let the decorating began!
It was Ben’s idea to use toilet paper as streams. He hung a whole roll!
And the party begins!!
~cheryl
Life is so busy around here these days. I have been working hard with the children in alot of different areas. School, chores, just plain old consistency, which my children thrive on but I struggle sticking to it. We are so excited that school is almost over and summer is finally just around the corner. The winters here are hard for me. Too much rain and too little sunshine.
A few weeks ago, Eric and I got to get away for a few days. Well, kinda. He takes his staff to a Dental Convention and spends three days in classes. I tagged along to rest, shop, and spend some precious time with Julia, who is now almost 11 months. One afternoon as we were playing, I looked at her and the light shining around her was so beautiful. I grabbed my camera so I would never forget this moment.
So her is our little Julia, 10 months old!
She looked like she was reaching through this world, up into Heaven!
Sleeping Beauty…
And here are a few from after we got back home. Laura made her a Daisy chain and Maryann wanted to take pictures of here.
~cheryl
The weather has been so unpredictable here. One minuet it is stormy with wind and rain, and the next minuet it is sunny and blue skies. It feels very much like spring. And today was the first day it has been warm in over 6 months. So I am hoping warmer days are just around the corner.
I think one of the things that I miss the most in the winter here is taking pictures. I take a few inside, but those really fun pictures of life on the outside of the house are far more exciting and fun to look at. The lighting is so much better and there are so many more opportunities available.
So, with the sun darting back and forth amongst the clouds, I grabbed my camera and headed outside. The girls and I had fun doing a little staged photo shoot. It started with me wanting to get pictures of Julia for her 8 months. Which I am about 3 weeks behind. 
Soon Laura and Maryann were picking put some outfits and props. The boys played all around us as we took pictures, helping out whenever we needed them.
my boys like dirt…
and strawberries…
and flowers for their Momma…
and their little sisters…
a chair that belonged to my Grandma
never a missed opportunity to shoot a gun…even if it is flowers!
the promise Spring is around the corner!
kinda tired of this Mom…
feeding the chicken a strawberry
Michael is our “Baby Whisper”. He can always get a baby to fall asleep. He is amazing!
and date night for my birthday!
~cheryl
We spent almost every day visiting our friends. I can not even put into words how much fun we had. To be loved on and blessed by people that you have not seen for a year and a half is such a wonderful thing. Here are some pictures from our different days with our friends.
The children got to go swimming here, and jumped off the roof into the pool. A highlight of
there whole trip!
I thought they looked like they were flying!
~cheryl
next…part 6, Los Angeles, CA
One evening while we were visiting some friends at the park, another family showed up with this GIANT ball. My children were like magnets to this new family. They followed them right over to the top of the hill and watched in great fascination as thier children climbed into the ball and rolled down the hill. We had seen this ball at Costco just the day before and they had all wanted it. So after seeing the ball in action, they all pooled their can money (this is the money they collect from turning in bottles and cans to recycle) together and asked for a trip to Costco to buy this ball.
And so the next day, as soon as school was finished, we all went into Costco, bought the ball and headed back to the park. The ball came with this little pump that lasted all of about 10 minutes. Then we were left with using our own lungs. Not a big deal right. WRONG! This ball is HUGE!! It took us over an hour of blowing up all the different chambers on it. The children would work on blowing for awhile and then run off and play. Then return again. Finally we finished and they were all ready to roll. I later (like 5 days) read on the side of the box that children should NEVER roll down a hill inside the ball. Opps. But man, did they have fun!
When we finished playing at the park, we packed up our new toy and headed over to Palm Springs to spend the weekend with Eric’s Aunt and Uncle. We had to deflate the ball to get it in the van. But inflating it back up was much easier. We took it to the country club and used their air compressor. Much better on the lungs!
The Ball in the beginning stages.
Still feeling full of energy and oxygen.
Realizing the pump is broken.
Trying to use the pump to blow air in.
Thirsty from all that blowing.
Bored from Blowing…using my nursing shawl as a Super Women Cape
There were the blowers and the observers…
Jules was the fisrt inside as they continued to inflate it.
The Maiden Voyage. The Boys let Laura go first.
I kept yelling “Be Careful..Only one child in at a time..Please, be careful!!”
Checking out the child that just rolled.
Giving sister a good push.
The crowd we started to draw. Every kid wanted one.
Little one got into the chips while I was not watching. She loved the crinkle bag.
Survived the first roll.
Walking the ball back up the hill.
I need to remember to read the warning BEFORE sending my children down huge hills!
But even if I had, I’m sure they would have tried to convince they would be just fine.
Next playground…Palm Springs
Our Favorite Uncle (I should actually say Great Uncle 
The light was so pretty on this ornamental grass.
Just loved those blue skies and palm trees.
This is how my boys roll…no shoes if they don’t HAVE to. Especially Josh.
These girls LOVE to swing!
After lots of rolling, it became a club house.
Since we were living in our trailer, we did not have any suitcases. So when I went to pack for our trip to PS,
I just grabbed the dirty laundry baskets and threw them in the car. As soon as I showe up I started
doing laundry. This is a great way to travel. But then when I was getting ready to leave, I glanced down at all my
“bags” of clean clothing and laughed. I felt sorta like a “Bag Lady”!
We spent one morning meeting up with a very dear friend, Auntie Joy. We were all thrilled
to see her and spend time with her.
~cheryl
part 5 next
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