“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”  –Lady Bird Johnson

Spring is one of those things you can’t help but notice. That’s the way it is with beauty. It is inspirational. When beauty surrounds you, you can’t help but feel better.

I took this photo on my walk the other day.

It’s funny how on my sick days I often feel too miserable to want to do chores, but I’m rarely feeling bad enough to not want to go out for a walk in the sunshine. It’s positively healing, isn’t it?

Even paths that lead to nowhere look best in spring.

I think that when you are surrounded by small, needy preschool darlings, (And they are darling. They can’t help that they are needy), you need to frequently step away for at least 20 minutes to regain perspective. It’s a battery re-charge that is REQUIRED to go on providing love to others. My favorite place to re-charge is a walk.

Nature is so obvious with its beauty. The Lord’s handiwork surpasses anything man can make. I’ve never been as inspired by concrete as I am by a good cliff or a stately tree. And yet, also, I love what man does with a green space. I’m always inspired by gardens of order and symmetry. Wild nature or well tended gardens, I love it all.

Do you know what else is obviously beautiful? Small children.  I’ve been mommy-ing for 10 years. I’ve rarely been truly depressed in that time because these little devils keep me so busy and challenged and yet so darn happy!

I can remember only one phase of feeling depressed, and it was during my second pregnancy. But we had just moved. Alan had to work long hours, and it was just a bad combination of hormones + circumstances. Plus, I was pregnant, so even though my depression was caused by hormones, I couldn’t take anything for it because I was pregnant.

Thankfully, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy, and with the pregnancy hormones gone, I was actually happier postpartum than I had felt in years. (I do realize it’s usually the opposite that’s true. I am grateful it didn’t hang on.)

These children bring us so much joy.

learning to blow bubbles under water

Little minds at work. Work, minds, work.

JD and his locked up latch board. He was quite proud of his accomplishments on this board. Don’t you love it when they are excited to accomplish things?

I passed this cat on my walk. I’ve always thought cats were prettier than dogs. Sorry, dog people. I will always be #teamcat.

The day I took this photo I thought my living room was so messy. Now I’m looking at it and thinking we were doing pretty good for four kids. Don’t you think?? I should chill.

P.S. How cute are my new Clarks loafers? And they are oh-so-cozy!!

JD, the ultimate Classical Conversations toddler, playing his tin whistle

I feel like JD is the quintessential Classical Conversations little bro toddler. We have to keep up our CC memory work next year because we’ve come too far to let it go. Next year, the big boys will be going to a Christian school. Daniel will be going to a neighborhood kindergarten, and JD will be home with me, but I still hope to keep up the CC memory work.

Let me tell you what JD walks around the house singing lately:

“us, us, ui, um, uuuuuu”

Yep, those are Latin noun endings, I forget which declension that is, but still, I think it’s hilarious that my two-year-old is walking around singing Latin.

I’m taken with these trees. Lovely in the day time, haunting in the evening.

my little ball player, tracing his w’s

I hope you are all having a great week. Alan and Caleb just got home from baseball practice. It’s Alan’s final stretch in completing his thesis, but you know Alan, that didn’t stop him from signing up to coach both Daniel and Caleb’s baseball teams. He’s also still teaching TNT boys at AWANA on Wednesday nights at church. He could probably use prayers even more than I can!

But we aren’t fooling ourselves. We know that we’re living a beautiful life here in California. And today we are counting our blessings, and thanking you all for always being so supportive.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—shout for joy before the Lord, the King.”     Psalm 98:4-6

because this old picture just never gets old to me *hehehe*

Okay, one more quote, because this one is just too good to not leave you with:

“Imagine a world without beauty and dare to say that the beauty is vanity.”  –positivethesaurus.com

Beauty isn’t vanity, is it? It serves a purpose, and beauty is no less of a gift than any other.

The post Beauty is no less of a gift than any other. appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

I’m not saying that I’m happy my son broke his arm, but you have to admire his all-in-spirit.

It reminds me of that quote from Finding Nemo:

Dori tells Marlin, the helicopter dad, “Well, you don’t want nothing to EVER happen to him, because then nothing would EVER happen to him.”

Simple joys. Beauty inspires happiness.

Never underestimate the power of beauty.

Togetherness

Kitchen Picnic (and hands colored with markers)

Dan’s new buddy kept shooting him with Nerf bullets, so I helped him load up his own Nerf gun and sent him back out there.

Our free-spirited JD REALLY hates wearing shoes.

Granddaddy and Nana mailed the boys new Legos. It was the biggest deal ever.

This Spiderman mask has been hanging on this picture for at least a week now. I was walking past it and just found it amusing. Looks like the work of Caleb.

Joshua hiding in my messy school closet and playing video games. If you had three brothers, you’d hide too.

Every morning. Beautiful mess.

Just cuteness.

Dressing them alike was easy. Getting a great photo, not so fast.

Alan and a few other dads took their kids on a hike.

Step 1 in planning my new schedule: listing all the things I want to do everyday. It’s completely unrealistic, but this is my 1st draft. I’d like to schedule in more prayer and walk time. Don’t worry. The boys do more school work than is listed here. This is only the parts that I have to do WITH them. This is my part alone.

“I want Nana to see my new book bag. Can you see it?”

Most exciting beach day ever! Gutsy whale to come that close to shore!

humpback whale—Look how close!!!

He just kept swimming back and forth and back and forth.

He started yelling, “Beach!! Beach!!!” as we neared the ocean. Cloud 9!

We couldn’t find little plastic shovels and buckets in the house, so we brought a pot and a real shovel. Done. The kids were quite happy.

Ok. We did find the one little blue plastic shovel.

Beauty!

“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love.”   —Mother Teresa

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Half Dome, Yosemite National Park

Yosemite is so beautiful, and yet it’s like the Grand Canyon: there’s no way for pictures to do it justice. This is a place you really should go and see yourself! We are attempting, with these photos, to show you why people love Yosemite National Park!

The Homestead Bed and Breakfast Cottages

I also want to tell you about an immaculate place to stay that we found. Now, if you are trying to see Yosemite without spending any money, I have good news for you. You can camp on the park for nothing more than your park admission fee.

I don’t camp. Nope. I do not. The last time I went camping was in 2003. Alan was in Iraq. I had not seen my friend Katie in a while, and she invited me to go camping at this big Christian concert event called One Day, in Sherman, Texas. It was like 100 degrees. We slept in tents. I didn’t know any of the songs the bands were singing. We washed our teeth using water bottles, and we used port-o-potties.

I do not use port-o-potties. Yes, I know I’m sounding like a diva, so you might as well know that I have decided that I’m okay with that. I’m an adult. If I don’t want to sleep on the ground, I don’t have to. 🙂

That camping experience truly made me empathize with Alan. I couldn’t get him out of my head that day. He was in 130 degree IRAQ, wearing “full battle rattle”, and there I was wilting in 100 degree Texas, in summer clothing. I decided that while I still felt desperately sorry for my husband, there was no reason I should subject myself to that heat any longer, so I hugged all of my dear Alabama friends, got back in my car, and drove home. They stayed there and camped another night! Now this may make me sound like a wimp, but I think it’s just pure good sense. 😉

Just so you know, I don’t think any of you will melt at Yosemite Camp grounds. With that altitude, I doubt it gets too hot. I looked it up. It gets as high as 89 degrees in the summer, but the nights still get as low as 32, so take your warm blankets and shorts, if you’re camping!!

For non-campers like Me: Try The Homestead Bed and Breakfast Cottages  This place is beautiful and clean, it’s just 10 minutes from Oakhurst, and it has Wifi! You get the personal touch of a bed and breakfast, with the privacy of a cabin. This was so much more peaceful than a hotel stay! I just cannot tell you!

The Homestead Bed and Breakfast

We stayed at the Country Cabin.

We didn’t hit the road until lunch time on day 2 of our trip. (For Day One details, click here)

We stopped off in Oakhurst and picked up more of those incredible BBQ sandwiches from Alice’s Cookhouse. As I said before, coleslaw INSIDE the sandwich–who knew!

We actually ended up doing more driving than hiking in Yosemite because we wanted to cover a lot of ground in only one day. This worked out just fine, but I was disappointed that I didn’t get more exercise.

First stop: Giant Sequoia trees

Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias

This fallen tree is so old, there are photos of the Buffalo Soldiers posing on this fallen tree, on their horses!

There is a loop you can hike and see 10 or so of these giant trees, and the loop is only around a mile. This would have been more exciting if we had not already been to Henry Cowell State Park, where they have Redwoods, in Santa Cruz. We are such spoiled tourists! But here are a couple of impressive new things we got to see:

Giant Sequoia

Forest Fires: Surprisingly important to the life cycle of the forest!

The forest fires actually help to spread new sequoias. For many years, well intending people stunted the spread of these trees by putting OUT fires. Isn’t that funny!? As it turns out, the fire heats up the cones, which releases the seeds inside of them.

tiny pinecones of the Giant Sequoias

“The Grizzly Bear” tree

Are you curious as to the difference between a Giant Sequoia and a Giant Redwood?

Well, I certainly was, so I looked it up for you and made you a little chart:

              Giant Redwoods                                    Giant Sequoias

• live up to 2,000 years                          live up to 3,000 years
• branches: up to 5ft in diameter           branches: up to 8 feet in diameter
• Bark: up to 12in. thick                          Bark: up to 3 feet thick
• Can reproduce by seed or sprout        Reproduce only by seed
• Grow taller than Giant Sequoias          Typically shorter than Redwoods
• grow in moist, coastal Nor. Cal.             live at higher altitudes, require periodic dry heat: Nor. Cal.

Driving up to Glacier Point, which is at over 7,000 feet above sea level, there was still snow on the ground!

snow, still on the ground, in mid-May

Glacier Point is a must-see. These views!!!

the half-dome of Yosemite

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park, at Glacier Point

Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park

Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park

one of the many waterfalls of Yosemite

Yosemite National Park

April, eating an Ice cream at Glacier Point

Yosemite

But let me warn you about the bathrooms…..they are a lot like port-o-potties:

I got really good at squatting…ewwww

Just for the record, Alan took that picture. I would never….but apparently I would share it on the internet, so I don’t know what that says about me…

Back to beauty:

Yosemite Falls

Alan and me at the Mariposa Grove

Wow.

feeling on top of the world

Alan and me at Glacier Point

We, in our matching sunglasses, decided that we were the King and Queen of Souvenir t-shirts. Yep. We bought Yosemite shirts too.

Yosemite

Bridalveil Fall

so silly

Yes, we did do some rock climbing, and obviously I was quite proud of myself.

“Are you coming, April?”

Alan, probably wondering if I was coming, or if I was just going to take pictures of myself.

Glacier Point

Tunnel View

These beautiful rapids are near Yosemite Falls.

This morning we slept in again, and then we headed home. Right now we are at the library, working hard again.

Hope you enjoyed the photoblog!

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20)
1{{To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. }} The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handy work.  Psalm 19:1

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This is me, showing off my Jamberry nails.

You’ve probably heard about this craze called “Jamberry”. I kept seeing it in my Facebook feed. I have a couple of friends, both which live far, far away, that sell Jamberry. I’ve seen their promotions, sure, but I didn’t get it.

What’s a Jamberry exactly? Is that a fruit? It is a real thing? Ok. It’s a nail product. Is this like Lee Press on Nails or something? What is it?

I googled it: “what is a jamberry”

Well, when you google it, all you get is virtual posters of the pretty nail designs, like this:

Anchors away!

or this:

They come in many team logos!

I think I NEED these.

Call me corny, but I’m TOTALLY considering these teacher styles. Is this the equivalent to the ’90s denham jumper with apple appliques?

You can get more classic patterns too:

I could post pics of the amazing designs all day. I’m FASCINATED!!

By the way, I’m also stubborn. I HAD to know if there is actually a jamberry fruit. Guess what! There IS!! It’s like a yellowish/purpleish Mexican tomato. Good luck google-ing it because Jamberry Nails definitely has the market cornered on the search engine results.

But that’s neither here nor there, really…..

So my friend Kristina sent me a free sheet of “nail wraps” to try out.

Have you met my friend, Kristina?

Yes, she’s pretty, but she’s also tough. This is a goat farming, home schooling three kids, sweet, Christian, home remodeling, Jamberry selling, Rheumatoid Arthritis AND Psoriatic Arthritis fighting, POWERHOUSE.

Yes, powerhouse, just ask ANYONE who knows Kristina. She’s amazing, she’s very down to earth, and you can’t not love her.

So when Kristina asks you to try on her Jamberry wraps, you try on her Jamberry wraps:

-even though I hadn’t done anything but trim my nails in like 9 years

-even though I didn’t know what a Jamberry was

-and even though I have never been to a Jamberry class and had NO idea how to put them on.

(Yes, I like diamonds too.)

Many people get to go to a class where they show you how to put these things on, but Kristina lives in Tennessee, and I live in California, so I was on my own. She did send me a YouTube video, though, of how to do it:

They are basically like stickers, but you heat them with a hair dryer before and after you put them on. I have teeny, teeny, tiny fingernails, so I used the smallest five wraps. Then I trimmed almost all of them with fingernail clippers, all the way around. I am a freak, I think. I need to buy my next set from the little girls’ section. The smallest one fit my pinkies perfectly, but after that I trimmed them with nail clippers, and that worked just fine.

They come on a sheet of paper like this:

First, I gathered my materials:

alcohol to clean nails: Well, I searched the house, there wasn’t any, so I just washed my hands and carried on….  I’m sure that’s against the rules, but the wraps are still working great.  😉

scissors: You have to cut each wrap in half: half for your left hand, half for your right.

finger nail clippers: to trim the wraps to fit your nail

nail file: finishing touches

hair dryer: to set the adhesive– You use this right before you put the wrap on and right after you put it on.

pretty nail wraps

My Tips:

As you see in the above pic, I goofed on my thumbs. Those were the first two I did, and I had no clue which wraps to use. That’s the advantage of first times. You only have to do the first time once, and then you are never a first timer again. Now I know that I only need the 5 smallest wraps for my hands.

I trimmed the excess with nail clippers, and all was well. I got the wrinkle out too. The key is to go smaller than your nail, not larger.

My only other tip: I think this will be a lot easier for someone who has experience with things like manicures and any sort of press on or stick on nails. I’d never done any of it, so it was all new to me. I remember, even on my wedding day, nails were such an after thought. I asked my friend Leigh, “Can you bring some polish or something and do my nails right before the ceremony?”

The Results

I am SO happy having pretty fingernails, I am not sure I will ever be able to go back to not caring. Having such festive fingers has been surprisingly fun. It is a MOOD lifter! I look down at them and remember that I am NOT one of the boys. Remember, I rarely get to be around another estrogen-filled person!

I’ve mentioned that I now work with middle school girls on Wednesday night. Well, let me tell you, they were IMPRESSED. I didn’t say a word about my nails, and I got so many compliments–lots of oooo’s and aaahhhh’s– on my flowery fingers.

Even my little boys have noticed! Well, sort of. Caleb asked, “Um, what is that? On your hands?”

I didn’t even know how to explain. I’m not sure what I said. Caleb replied, “Oh yeah, you’re a girl.”

OH YEAH!!!! And it’s high time I have a little more fun with that whole girl thing! 🙂 Maybe tomorrow I’ll wear a dress at home or something…..nah…

girly, girly, girly

By the way, here are a few FAQs for ya:

Jamberry wraps:

-Last 2 weeks

-Made in the USA

-completely water-resistant or proof or something….Water slides right off

-Do not chip!

-Do not contain harmful chemicals.

-Never animal tested

-Latex Free

-Non-Toxic

-Over 250 designs

She posted this photo of her Jamberry-covered nails, to demonstrate how well they hold up to the rigors of farm life:

She said this: “Just birthed 3 goat kids this week, 2 were pulled. My jams have been on for 9 days! Still look awesome! We may live in a barn but we don’t need to look like it!:)”

I thought that was pretty impressive! Thanks for the fun, Kristina! Mine have been on 5 days. I haven’t birthed any goats, but I did have my hands in lots of bread dough and diapers…..not at the same time…..ewwww…..and they are holding up great!!

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Let’s talk about hair. I have this very thick, course red hair. When I say thick, I do mean there must be a billion little hair holes in my head.  Hmm…maybe that explains more than a few things….

It isn’t really curly or straight. It’s wavy. I was SO excited when “wavy” came back in style a few years ago, but that never did really seem to mean what my hair is.  Therefore, I have been flat-ironing my hair nice and straight for ten years now.

….Until I moved to California. Coastal California. I’m having a really, really hard time fighting back the wave and the frizz here.  Imagine having beach hair every single day. I have always feared and dreaded beach hair. I’ve never known what to do with it!!!

I finally found one regiment that seems to work for cute waves.

No, no, I did not take a before picture.

OKay, yes, I did, but I wasn’t wearing any make-up in it, and the children and my blog kept me up  the night before, so I just refuse to show you the before picture….. I know–worst hair blog ever.

First, I washed my hair the night before,put a towel on top of my pillow, and slept on it damp.

When you have thick, semi-wavy hair, it takes several handfuls of this gunk.

Four to be exact. You need at least 4 handfuls of this if your hair is as dense and long as mine–more if it’s longer! What do I use? This:

It smells yummy too.

I put this stuff in my hair in the morning, once my hair is mostly dry. I’ve been loving this stuff for years b/c it helps when I wear my hair straight too. I tried moose for a while, and that was a mess. Smoothing milk was a better match for me.

After.
Just ignore the sleepy eyes. This was after several rough nights.

I took this photo my first week of home schooling, which was a rough, rough, rough, rough week. Excuse the eye bags. My eyes are now getting back to normal. 🙂

It would obviously look more polished if I curled the ends.  I do NOT have time to do that. I have a very strict rule about the boys’ schooling starting at 9am, and some days I can’t pull myself out of bed until 7am. I don’t like to spend all morning on hair, so a 2 minute hair style that required no heat-styling tools is a win-win in my book.

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We visited Carmel by the Sea this week, and I am completely in awe at the state park we found there.

This stunning state park is called Point Lobos, and if you have been, then you know. If you have not been, allow me to introduce you to my favorite state or national park in the entire U.S of A.

Carmel by the Sea may be the ritziest area that I have ever visited. I’m used to walking through streets with shops named Gap, Starbucks, and Banana Republic. This beautiful little town was designer all the way. After passing stores such as Chanel and Oscar de la Renta, I wasn’t sure I should bother to step inside the souvenir t-shirt shop.

But somehow I managed to score myself a $15 Carmel fleece jacket:

Oh, and interesting Carmel fact:  Clint Eastwood served one term as their mayor!

My favorite thing about Carmel was not the designer shopping. Let’s face it. I love pretty clothes, but I buy most of my wardrobe at Target and the NX, BX, or PX….

(NX= Navy Exchange, BX= Base Exchange, PX = Post Exchange.  For you civilian types, those are just department stores on military posts. I find their clothes to be reasonably priced, for the most part.)

The BEST part of Carmel was Point Lobos State Park.

With its breathtaking views, seal nurseries, sea lions, sunning sea mammals of many kinds, sea otters, and Bird Island, it is by far the most incredible park of any kind that I have ever been to. This place is surreal.

This was one of the best days of my summer. We saw seals galore as well as a large colony of Brandt’s cormorants. This particular species of bird lives only on the Pacific coast.

Look on the left of the hills. See those large black squares? Those are the cormorant nests. They are all perfectly spaced.

a modern day castle, by Point Lobos State Park

Seals!!!

more seals!

As we were hiking up the hills, I told Alan, “This is just so exciting for me. This is the best thing we’ve done on this whole trip.” Alan asked, “Are you serious?” Yes!!! This place is total bliss.

If you visit us in California, I will escort each of you to this park. In fact, I think Point Lobos needs to be on our regular home-school schedule.

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:

all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Psalm 8:3-9

For more photos of seals, sea lions, and sea otters, check out some of my other posts about wildlife encounters in Monterey:

Seals or Sea Lions: What is the difference?

Whale Watching in Monterey Bay

The post Beautiful Point Lobos State Park is the Easiest Place to Find Seals in the wild Near Monterey appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.