Full heart

Tonight, Neil and I had a little heart to heart about something that's been on my mind, plans we've considered, our future, etc.  One of those talks.  There have been some extreme changes in our lives these past 2 months, including the re-alignment of Neil's territory, a move, selling our home, getting settled in a new area, doing our best to ensure happiness for the kids, despite the changes, and so much more.  With the chaos that's unfolded, there's been little time for heart to hearts.  So this one, I suppose, was overdue, and thankfully, productive. 

The details are irrelevant to this post.  Really I just want to say, because the fullness in my heart is so fresh, that I am eternally grateful for a husband who sees past my faults and just loves me.  From day one, Neil has done this.  He's just loved me, through it all.   

I recently stumbled upon this quote, and was amazed by how closely it resembled Neil.

“What really matters is that he will love you, that he will respect you, that he will honor you, that he will be absolutely true to you, that he will give you the freedom of expression and let you fly in the development of your own talents. He is not going to be perfect, but if he is kind and thoughtful, if he knows how to work and earn a living, if he is honest and full of faith, the chances are you will not go wrong, that you will be immensely happy.” - Gordon B. Hinckley

Happy 10th Anniversary, Mr. Andersen (37 days later).  Thanks for loving me.  I love you, too.

Happy Birthday, Courtney!

Please excuse my absence for the past month and a half.  We've had just a few things going on.  :)  More on that later.  For now, because I was a lame sister last year and had every intention of writing a birthday post, THEN DIDN'T, I must, before midnight tonight, pay tribute to my youngest sister (in-law - minor detail), who celebrates yet another birthday today!

Courtney Andersen: a girl who says it like it is; who knows what she wants and goes and gets it; who sends out thank you cards, even when it's not expected or necessary; who helps her niece with homework during family vacations (and shares her lollipops with her nephew), who knits and cooks and bakes; who, in two years, will be one wicked occupational therapist, and who, in two more years, will be the proud wife of Dr. Andersen, DDS.  Courtney remembers special dates, flosses her teeth daily, values the important things in life, loves her husband and dog, and is a great addition to our crazy family.

I'll have you know, Courtney, that we ate pizza for dinner tonight, followed by a freshly baked batch of pumpkin pie bites for dessert.  Let's just say, you weren't only celebrated in the South today.

When I said crazy, I was not lying.  It would not be the same without you.  {Lake Powell - September 2011}

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE SISTER! XO.

Tilden Park

Last Friday, the kids and I went with Heather and JD to Tilden Park in Berkley.  If you've never been, it's a great place to take your little ones.  This was our second time, and the kids loved it just as much as they did the first.  We rode the steam train, twice, played on the playground, fed the farm animals celery and lettuce, and rode the merry-go-round, also twice.  The kids had a blast, and it was wonderful being out of the heat.  On the drive up, there's an area to your left, where you can enjoy a stunning view of the San Francisco Bay.  Wish I'd captured it, but there's always next time.  Here's what I did capture!

That last shot of Ryan has to be one of my favorites of him to date. It tells such a happy story. Love it. It was a really great day. I am so glad Heather lives less than an hour from us.  We've enjoyed so many fun times in the two years we've lived in Ripon. Thanks again, cousin, for a fun last summer outing! 

Zoe London

Last Friday, the 27th, I spent a fair amount of the afternoon and evening at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, where my friend, Janea, gave birth to sweet little Zoe London.  She had asked me weeks prior if I would photograph the birth, and naturally, honored and delighted, I said yes.  For as long as I can remember I've wanted to witness a birth, not to watch the bloody gore of it (I saw that in 10th grade Health class, not to mention experienced it firsthand with the birth of my own two), but to just be in the room when it happens; to witness reactions, facial expressions, the bonding between mother and babe, and simply take part in the wonderful and spiritual experience.  I have also, especially for the past six months, grown to love the idea of birth photography.  I am actually to the point, now, where I'd consider doing it solely if enough opportunities presented themselves.  The idea of capturing raw footage of such a glorious occasion, being surrounded by happy people anticipating the long-awaited arrival of a sweet, perfect, new baby, and being able to provide these people with treasured photos they'll hold dear to their hearts forever sounds rewarding beyond measure.  No huge concerns about exposure, perfectly posed shots or coordinated outfits, but rather the real and now of those precious and tender moments, which SO INSTANTLY vanish.  It seems there's a new movement with birth photography, and I really would love to hop on the bandwagon.

Well, while Janea wanted to attempt a VBAC, in the end, she had a c-section (for reasons irrelevant to this post).  The hospital had extremely strict rules, including only allowing 3 visitors in the room at a time, which explains why I spent several hours sitting in the waiting area surrounded by some of Modesto's most interesting residents.  At one point I was able to go back while Jared and Janea waited on the final word from the doctor.  I snapped some pictures, then headed back to the waiting area.  Shortly after that I came home for a couple hours.  Then, just before Janea was wheeled in for her c-section, I headed back.  I was NOT welcome by hospital staff to attend and capture this part of it, which we were all bummed about, but rules are rules.

And after little miss entered the world and Janea was taken to recovery, back I went to snap more pictures, this time of big brother, Taylor, meeting his new baby sister for the first time.  It was just so neat.  All of it. And, on a side note, I can now say I have watched Olympic Opening Ceremonies from a hospital waiting room!

Thanks, Jared and Janea for allowing me to be a part of this very special day for your family.  And welcome to the world, sweet Olympic baby girl, Zoe London!

Teeth and cucumbers

Chloe has been eyeing our two largest cucumbers for a week now, begging me to let her pick them.  Each day, though they've grown significantly both in length and width, I've felt that they could use more ripening.  Well, yesterday when we took a peek and noticed their monstrous size, I decided it was time.  The kids were delighted and each picked one, then proudly displayed them for a picture!

I didn't measure them, but I'm sure they exceeded 15 inches in length.  Despite the healthy size, however, I still worried that they weren't dark enough in color.  But I worried even more that if they got any larger, they'd start to split or rot.  Well, I got it wrong all the way around, unfortunately, because they were terribly bitter to the taste, at least a good 4 inches on either end.  I don't know if you've ever eaten a bitter cucumber, but trust me, it's very BAD!  I was sad, but thankful that the middle sections of each were fine.  Upon further research, it appears I let the cucumbers sit on the vine too long, hence the bitter taste.  Lesson learned!  This morning during our morning inspection, we picked 3 more cucumbers that were about half the size.  I just ate one and it was wonderful!
 

Here's another bit of exciting news from yesterday!  Chloe lost her second tooth!  This morning I snuck in her room while she slept to make sure the tooth fairy had paid her a visit.  Thankfully, she had.

And here's this morning's harvest! 

Every day I've had this garden I've learned something new. Yesterday's lesson? Don't let the cucumbers sit on the vine too long. Today's lesson? Our watermelons will likely need to be twice the size of the 13 inch baby above before they're ready. I didn't know how large they were supposed to be before harvesting because the little label/tag I stuck in the ground when I planted what was then 2 tiny stems has disappeared in the madness of my watermelon jungle. I don't even know what type of watermelons these are, again, because I can't find the tag, but since we literally have two dozen more (no exaggeration), I figured it wouldn't hurt to experiment with this one. I think after my experience yesterday with the cucumbers, I worried, too, that if I let the watermelons sit too long, they might have adverse events like the cucumbers did.  I lifted this watermelon off the ground, smelled it, knocked on it, and inspected it just as I inspect watermelons at the grocery store.   It appeared to possibly be ready, so I just figured why not and snapped it off the vine.  Well, upon cutting into it, I instantly knew my assumptions were premature, and that I should have let it bake for at least a week longer, and possibly more. It was completely white inside and flavorless. Oh well.  It still looks pretty sitting on the table with the rest of my garden goodies.  I read a few days ago that you shouldn't plant cucumber and watermelon next to each other because cucumber can give watermelon a funny taste. I surely hope this is incorrect, or that I'm just lucky because that's exactly what I did. Their vines have even intertwined. Again, I am learning something new every day.

The largest of the zucchinis exceed even the 11 inch one we discovered upon coming home from our Yosemite trip a couple weeks ago.  That's right.  This bad boy measured over 13 inches!  I would NOT have let it grow this large had I noticed it before today, but it just blended in so well with the rest of the plant that somehow I missed it until this morning.  It's a touch seedy on the inside, but not bad at all, thankfully.  I have more zucchini than I know what to do with, but have actually managed it pretty well.  I have several cups of shredded zucchini in my freezer ready for bread, spaghetti sauce or anything else.  And I'm trying to cook with it whenever I can.  It is so good for you, and I'm trying not to let ANY of it go to waste!

And the Andersen garden adventures, and, well, adventures in general, continue...

Just another summer night

We've spent a fair amount of the summer in our yard.  Between the garden and pool, the kids have found countless ways to entertain themselves.  Last Thursday night was like any other; first tending to the garden, then slowly migrating toward the pool.  Between the warm air, perfect light and happy kids, I just had to sneak in the house to grab my camera.

I will certainly miss these warm summer nights.  I mean, how can you beat swimming until 8:30pm?  And while we're asking questions, how is it possible that school starts in one week?  Ahh!!  It goes too fast!

"Two pairs!"

Today was a pretty good day.  No plans really; nothing pressing; just time spent with my kids.  The weather was mild with temps in the low 80s and a lovely afternoon breeze.  Neil was out the door, headed to Sacramento by 6.  Ryan was in my room by 7, announcing he had stayed dry all night and would be receiving a star on his chart as a result.  He then crawled into bed with me and, to my surprise, fell asleep for another two and a half hours.  Both he and Chloe slept well past 9.  Apparently their six hour play date with friends yesterday wore them out big time.  Chloe got up first and the two of us headed out to the garden to check on our onions.  Ryan got up shortly thereafter and met us outside.  Then we came in and they each ate a slice of zucchini bread for breakfast.  The rest of the morning consisted of playing with legos, taking baths, practicing piano and some other miscellaneous things.  There was bickering, but it was minimal, which was a nice change.  Around lunch time, we headed to the park.  After that, it was onto the library to finish our daily outing.  We love the library.  I didn't start taking the kids there regularly until just recently and that makes me sad.  Why I wasn't taking Chloe from the time she was a toddler I haven't a clue.  I guess it just never really occurred to me.  But now that both of the kids are a little older, I suppose it's more manageable and meaningful.  Since school let out at the end of May, we've made a habit of going every couple of weeks.  We sit together and sift through potential books to check out, read a few out loud, and then each kiddo grabs a basket and fills it with some new favorites to take home.  The limit is 25 books, and today, we checked out exactly that.

This evening during dinner, I informed the kids that their dad would read them some of their new books before bed if they were good.  Chloe then asked Neil if they could each choose two books.  Neil nodded, then presented Ryan with the following question:

"Ryan, if Chloe chooses two books to read and if you choose two books to read, how many books will we read total?"

Chloe immediately raised her hand, eager to answer, but Neil shushed her and repeated the question for Ryan.  Ryan thought for a few seconds, then replied, "Two pairs!"

We chuckled.  Even though technically the answer Neil was looking for was "four," Ryan did answer the question correctly.  How he came up with "two pairs" I haven't a clue, but it sure took some creative thinking.  When Neil asked Ryan a third time, now holding up two fingers and then two more, he got it.  Although I'm sure it helped immensely that Chloe piped in with, "I'll give you a hint, Ryan!  It starts with "f" and ends with "our." 

During the remainder of dinner and before I had to go to YW, the kids happily yakked away about various things between taking bites of their chicken parmesan, which Chloe told me was "delish."  Their voices overlapped most of the time and much of what they said was silly and irrelevant, but they were each precious and endearing, pure and sweet, and at one point I put my fork down, sat back and just watched them with a smile on my face.  I love their enthusiastic little spirits.  I love their zest for life.  I love their bright and cheerful personalities.  I love their blue eyes.  I love how much they love me, how they rely on me, and how eager they are to share with me everything that matters to them.  I love that they won't let me leave them without a hug and a kiss, and how they wave goodbye to me through the kitchen door as I back out of the garage.  I love that they care about my feelings and opinions, and that when they do something that makes me sad, they too feel sad.  It isn't necessarily frequent that I just adore everything about motherhood, but today I enjoyed many good, healthy moments, and I just had to write about them here.  I was conversing with a friend this morning (while the kids still slept), and mentioned at one point how I sometimes wish I could take a blissful moment and trap it in a jar, only to be opened for a quick whiff when I need a boost.  Today was one of those days I could have easily captured and placed in a jar for a rainy day.  I really do love the life God gave me, as challenging as it sometimes is, and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Oh, and I do believe that from this point forward, I will be referring to four as "two pairs."  :)

Chloe's first lost tooth!

On the 1st of May, Chloe had her 6-month teeth cleaning appointment, during which Dr. Shah showed Chloe an x-ray of her teeth.  These particular x-rays were really cool in that you could see one of her adult teeth sitting directly beneath her baby tooth.  Dr. Shah told Chloe that, based on this x-ray, it wouldn't be long before the baby tooth fell out, making way for the adult tooth.  Chloe was fascinated with this concept.  Several of her friends at school had already started losing teeth, and she had been asking for months when it was going to be her turn.  Now there was light at the end of the tunnel.  Upon leaving Dr. Shah's office that day, Chloe proceeded to announce to all who would hear her that she had an "almost loose tooth."  :)

Sometime between the night of June 24th and morning of June 25th, Chloe's tooth went from being "almost loose" to "loose."  She was thrilled to make this discovery, and spent a good part of the day sitting in front of the bathroom mirror wiggling said tooth back and forth.
 

Well, Sunday (the 8th) is when the monumental event finally took place.  As I was awakening from an afternoon nap (a rarity these days, but certainly one I earned after staying up late the night before preparing a church talk and then delivering it that morning), Neil came into our bedroom and said, "Looks like the tooth fairy will be making her first visit to our house tonight."  Apparently Chloe's tooth wasn't just loose, but barely hanging on.  In fact, we worried that she might lose it in her dinner, so Neil offered to pull it out before we ate.  Surprisingly, Chloe was happy to let him.  After all, this had been a long time comin', and she wasn't going to allow fear to stand in her way!
With little to no effort, Neil gave the tooth a gentle tug and out it came.  Chloe proudly held it in her hand, then ran to the nearest mirror to admire her new grin.
Sunday night she placed her tooth inside a ziploc bag and under her pillow.  The following morning, she was delighted to find, in its place, a dollar and a First Lost Tooth certificate.

She was and is still quite proud.  And she looks oh-so-cute with that little gap in her mouth.  Won't be long before there are plenty more.  The other night I asked her if she'd please stop growing, to which she defiantly replied, "But I HAVE to!  That's what we do!"  Love her.  Congrats, little miss!

Then and now

Today marks 1 month since our second attempt at a garden.  Read about our many adventures here.

It's crazy what California soil can do in a month's time.

Needless to say, we are not lacking in the growth department.  Zucchini is on the far left (left bed), then watermelon, then pumpkin and finally, cucumbers.  The cucumbers take a bit longer to establish themselves, but in another month the entire bed will be overflowing.  My tomatoes and basil have gone nuts, as well, and we have more jalapenos and anaheims than we know what to do with.

I also spotted our first zucchini yesterday, and look forward to many more in the coming weeks.

Tomorrow I am going to finish planting the ground cover around the second bed.   Then it's just a matter of waiting for production, and enjoying the view in the meantime.  Man, oh man, I love gardening!